Former Boston Drummer Records 'Smokin' Remake

John Thomas “Sib” Hashian died last month at 67 years of age during the Legends of Rock cruise. Sib was a former drummer for Boston.

Sib plays on "Smokin '96” along with Donnie Vito (bass), Jim Collins (vocals) and Quiet Riot guitarist Alex Grossi. You can check it out below. It's a little piece of history I think.

Late BOSTON Drummer SIB HASHIAN's “Smokin’” Remake With QUIET RIOT Guitarist ALEX GROSSI Now Streaming https://t.co/YQqk5LJB19 pic.twitter.com/WukWhu7IvO

— BraveWords (@BraveWords666) April 4, 2017

Comments

[Kixchix]

Boy does the original Smokin' bring back memories lol. Must be a very young Grossi on this version which I stopped playing after 12 seconds (unlistenable). Best part of this clip is Chong in the beginning. Up In Smoke, crazy ass times.

[Darktown]

Well...that's..um...different.

[Brian C.]

Alex free up one town over from me. This must be around the time he was still playing in a locally successful band called 'Angry Salad'.

The guy gets a lot of slack for being a professional scan, but he is amazingly talented. Even back then, he could shred.

[Shawn]

Sounds like some guys having fun in the studio - quite possibly some adult beverages etc... I never got to see Boston live. I thought the Rock's comments about Sid were awesome.

[Spyke]

GREAT drum sound,,SHIT remake,,horrendous..

[Darktown]

Shawn - Brad Delp was an amazing singer, I got to see Boston maybe like a year or so before he passed, sounded just like putting the album on!
Kixchix - Amen, the sound track of my youth, haha.
I seem to remember back then when the first album came out, that there were rare copies that were sold where, On the back cover on "some" of the albums, down at the bottom, was a disclaimer of some type stating not for retail sale or not for sale to the general public, (Maybe fan club members only albums??) kind of notation. I tried looking it up but can't find anything about it, haha. (My cousin had it on hers ,so I looked at mine and I didn't have it on mine)

[Bob]

I remember when Boston's first album came out in '76. My older Sister and I both had our own copies. Mine had a little skip in "something About You." One day, when my Sis wasn't home, I pulled the old switcheroo so I had the flawless record and she had the one with the skip. I eventually came clean about it...Like 30 years later. :) I saw Boston on the Third Stage tour back in '87. Delp was singing the roof off the place. He truly was amazing. I have recordings of a few of their shows from '76, '79 and '87. Delp didn't hit every single note perfectly, but then again, no one else could have either. He was a truly gifted singer, and the leader of his own band didn't appreciate him. As for this version, it does just sound like some guys goofing around, putting a stoner metal spin on a boogie rock classic. One final note, over the years, I've seen lots of bar bands try to tackle "smokin'." The only singer, besides Delp, who I ever saw nail it was a female. Every guy, again besides Delp, could never hit those ridiculously high notes.

[Shawn]

@Darktown I envy you - and I agree I always thought Delp was a big key to their success that was a terrible day when he decided to leave us. @Bob great story - Third Stage was my best chance to see them but was deploying right before they hit the Bay Area and I was praying the ship would breakdown or we would get delayed but it did not happen.

[Gary]

What kixchix said. (You made it about 2 more seconds than I did) LMFAO. That first Boston record was stupendous. Not a throwaway track on it. May I add that learning the intro to More Than A Feeling on the guitar and playing it I study hall in the cafeteria on my buddies acoustic got me introduced to a whole new world of "older women", as I was only a freshman at the time. Didn't take me long when I got home that night to learn about 3/4's of the album...😂😂😂😂

[fletch]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWxgfTMLtc0

then...

am I driving ok? I think we're parked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8pEKwVl9tA

[Darktown]

Maui Wowie with labrador.....Bwaahaaaa....Im jut a love machine!!
Nothing better than a bunch of us sitting around imbibing on refreshments and etc, listening to the C & C albums back in the day, great stuff!!

[Brian C.]

*Alex GREW up....

Stupid autocorrect.

[Kixchix]

Gary: The power of music. Makes the ladies melt. Good for you.

Darktown: classic quotes! Thx memory can be hazy

[Him]

Saw Boston (finally) on the Walk On Tour where Delp traded vocals with Cosmo. The inclusion of two singers was actually a masterstroke on that tour, as it helped them recreate the soaring vocals towards the end of "MTAF." It was an all-around great time.

Problem was (and _WO_ and _CA_ were really the fullest manifestation of it in at least acceptable form), Scholz could never leave well enough alone. The drums became more robotic, the vocals more processed, the overall product shinier and shinier . . . until you could start seeing through the glory that was those first two albums. At a certain point, the genius of the control freak starts to suffer from a lack of contrasting and capable talents (not to slag Scholz's current band, but . . .).

It was the case that Scholz often threw talented people like Delp and Hashian under the bus when they didn't meet his exacting standards. Some, like Delp, would come back out of some sense of loyalty and/or the need of a paycheck. But what's left when you listen to his latest offering under the Boston moniker? Not much. Warmed up leftovers and odd noodling that sounds as if it composed of scraps run through a computer for editing.

The band that tours now is basically Scholz on fumes and that lady friend of his on (or with) bongos. Not really the greatest representation of the band, though still good for an evening of partially enjoyable fun (given that I will go see them this June). But you do have to squint to make it work. And that isn't the fault of fans who long for the old days The fault lies squarely with Scholz. Like so many gifted people, he is adverse to an outside ear even when his musical hearing seems to be slowly failing.

[Darktown]

HIM: I agree, mad scientist syndrome for sure.Instead of letting it breath for what it is, he always just kept tweaking, adjusting which I think made the other members feel degraded as they had no real expression or freedom to just do what they were great at. Though I didn't catch any of the tour with Mike Sweet (Stryper dude) I thought he could pull a Delp like performance that would do some of the songs justice. Now it's just a shell of itself, just the Polaroid band now...........

[Bob]

Him, your comments regarding Sholz are a much more eloquently stated exposition on my one-off line in my comment about the leader of the band not appreciating Delp. I am convinced that Scholz's constant needling of Delp is, in part, what drove Delp to take his own life. Although Delp never got a chance to see the accolades that were deservedly heaped upon him after his death, I was particularly heartened by Keith Emerson's comments. Back in 1986, Emerson was doing a movie soundtrack, and he got Delp to sing on one of the songs. I don't remember all of Emerson's quote about Delp, but I clearly remember him saying that Delp had limitless vocal range, and that he was one of the best musicians he ever worked with. Considering the heavy musical company that Emerson kept, that's quite a compliment.

[Him]

I hear you, Darktown and Bob. I always wanted Boston to just keep pushing out great albums of meticulously crafted rock. They are albums that just slide over you and make you feel good. If you stop for too long to think about them, they devolve into a caked and baked cheese-fest. They, esp. the first two albums, are meant to be enjoyed and not analyzed. They are like a summer off from school. Stop thinking too much! Just enjoy the ride.

Bob, I hate to go "there." But Delp was clearly a man with demons. And, while his problems with Boston were likely part of a larger matrix that led to his suicide, it is very clear that some of the sad--and deplorable--things he did in the weeks and months before he took his life, were more of a contributing factor. I don't want to rehash those details here.

Suffice to say, I am conflicted by how he spent his last moments on Earth. And I am equally sad about some of the events that led to those moments. I guess I will stop there. This isn't the place to parse out the tensions in talking about a man who contributed a heck of a lot to Boston's signature sound.

But, yes. Boston without something to irritate and motivate Scholz is merely a shadow.