Tom Scholz on His Hammond B3 Organ

Bonus clip from the Soundbreaking documentary.

[@jlrutube1312]

I don't know why people think Tom is so great. Yes, he is a fantastic keybordist... and yes, he is an awsome guitarist, and yes, he is really good on bass and is great on drums... and yes, he did write all of the music and all of the melodies and the lyrics for the number one album in his day... and well he did build his own recording studio on a shoestring budget and invent several electronic devices to get a unique sound.... and also to be honest, he did play every single instrument on the recordings except for drums on just one song... and he got four big hits on just his first album. But besides that, he's.... well.... I can't remember what I was going to say.

[@PianoMan-hx3ev]

Name me somebody that can do that today...Probably a few, BUT they didn’t have ProLogic, Protools and Daws back in those days.

[@daveb9370]

And he’s an MIT graduate.

[@markrichards5630]

Yep, everyone loves the small guy fighting the system, trying for success.. and then when he makes it and makes it big- tear him down.

[@markrichards5630]

@Chistoper Robertson Based on?

[@yugewear6100]

But it's not like he did all that while working full time as a senior engineer at Polaroid. Or that the first time he heard himself on the radio was during work at said job. Oh wait...

[@ironheart9122]

Am I the only one who got chills when he started playing Foreplay?

[@MrBigGoomba]

IRON HEART Nope...

[@threalismaradona9899]

not at all

[@thecman26]

I was really hoping he'd play it, very happily surprised 😮!

[@redmirage13]

God NO ! He's really an underrated genius. Foreplay/Longtime is in my top 5 favourite songs of my entire lifetime.

[@jerrymunson4155]

I actually got a bit choked up knowing that music made like that is forever in the past.

[@tkeaneo]

Name another rock musician who can play keyboard like that and shred on the guitar like he can. He's not just playing cutesy chords on that organ. He's got serious chops! He's one talented dude.

[@rareform6747]

Don't Forget the Rockman , thats a game Changer at my house and old Technology . Use them into two JCM 2000's . Addictive !

[@Fordham1969]

Well perhaps not as classical sounding as this,but Steve Winwood while still a teenager played both pretty damn good keys and lead guitar,another under appreciated genius.

[@mcmike100]

Stevie Winwood

[@funkster007]

Although not nearly as well known, Tony Macalpine is a beast on both keyboards and guitar.

[@steveseim]

I agree! Tom actually mentions Steve at about the 1:00 mark. :)

[@listillolordoc7604]

No keyboard today beats the sound of these old organs.

[@simplecarnivore]

Tubes all the way

[@threalismaradona9899]

They were and are the greatest keyboard for Rock, Blues Jazz you name it

[@joe6096]

Analog for the win. The old tube stuff has a richness and warmth that no digital keyboard could ever reproduce.

[@tieukhavu8832]

Nord clavia keyboards can reproduce all the back to the roots sounds as well.

[@threalismaradona9899]

I have a modern hammond and leslie not as good but better than carrying 500 pounds around

[@super_terram]

One of the best songs ever written

[@jackkofroth3520]

Nope. We all get chills when Foreplay begins. Just another incredibly talented musician who blessed us with timeless tunes.

[@ksutton1207]

Tom is such an understated genius. The dynamic control and virtuosic playing he has on that thing is unreal.

[@adrianreyes4702]

Love this guy. A gifted, brilliant Engineer, intellectual, and creative musical genius, yet the most humble, down to earth guy out there. Engineers/ musicians today cannot even replicate the one-of-a-kind sounds from the guitar pedals he designed, and engineered himself. I was so Blessed to grow up listening to his music as a kid.

[@redmirage13]

Right ! you've said it all in three lines.

[@corylombard]

YOU TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH. I LOVE THIS GUY.

[@corylombard]

Engineers ARE THE GODS OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!

[@geovanfernandorodrigues9814]

Really at the time I think it was the most expressive and contagious sound of a guitar. So much so that many guitar heroes of today were inspired by the sound he made. I think for the time it was too much! He really is a genius!

[@steelekiller8540]

What he said at the end made me laugh so hard lol. Boston forever!!

[@acoustic61]

I love the way Tom uses old analog instruments and recording technology.

[@d-d-i]

Trouble is that digital equipments have caught analog stuff, at least in certain areas. And Tom's obsession with old style recording tech makes his working pace so slow. He should have moved into creating excellent singles rather than mediocre/poor albums. I mean, he can play the instruments in the old fashioned way, but using high-tech digital tools to record them saves a ton of time, when you don't have to fiddle with tapes etc. Someone should someday show him proper modern recording tools, and compare them to his recordings.

[@producer.james1]

@@d-d-i I agree. It's easier digitally, but you always get those "Oh but tape sounds warmer" kind of people all the time. I don't hear a difference most of a time.

[@d-d-i]

@@producer.james1 Yea, it's all about your own personal comfort even thou there is tools to make life easier and provide same result in the end. And 90% of the audience don't even hear the minor difference (if there is any), they just wanna have great music.

[@adamziolkowski2549]

@@d-d-i I agree. But as a young guy, I like mixing the two elements together. I love my Hammond

[@Jking0005]

That part at 3:16 when the music suddenly drops off after that climactic build to a quiet slow bridge is amazing. On the album the guitar licks in the background of that part are so beautiful and out of this world I get chills every single time I hear it.

[@thecarguy7238]

Tom scholz is a absolute genius and I love him. I don’t know how one guy can be so talented. He’s a unbelievable guitarist too.

[@joe6096]

It’s been such a long time, I think I should be going...... Tom knows only Brad could sing that.

[@PennyCross-eh8zt]

My grandblessing, Rosie, age 5, loves this tune. 😊

[@kasebier8688]

I cannot understand why this does not have 10 million views.

[@acousticbluesreview]

This is really amazing! Actually on the original 1976 Boston debut album Tom played Foreplay/Longtime on a Hammond M3, the spinet version of the almighty B3.

[@MarkLAsche]

You are correct!

[@mjklein]

I had one a M3. In the 80s. In Boston. I used it in the studio on may sessions. And, I met TS on 2 occasions. Oh, how I miss the 80s.

[@Squintintaratino]

Wish they'd make a movie about him. He heard an created an entire album by himself!

[@thetroublewiththat]

There was a documentary in the making, but Tom didn’t like some of the things past members said about him, and shut the thing down.

[@jaybro4661]

Honestly I could listen to him play that organ all day and never get bored

[@perfectionbox]

If he had joined Rush, the spacetime continuum would've imploded from talent overload. Or they would've made an album that people would stop everything and listen to it until they died from thirst 🤣

[@jeremypilot1015]

This man is so gifted There are so few who could hold a candle to this talent today

[@petercharles4846]

There is so much crap music today, then you watch Tom play on the B3 and a smile comes to your face. My God was music great then.

[@RFXLR]

I really hope Tom knows how much joy he has brought to so many through his music and innovation. I swear I got chills just listening to the whole intro! It has to be listened to with headphones or blasting out of some sort of tower speakers. No in-between!!

[@JoshOnGuitar]

Didn't miss a single note

[@starblazer5178]

The year I started highschool I met the coaches son. He found out I played guitar and asked if I was any good. I said I can play Boston, led zeppelin, and so forth. He says my dad plays keyboard you should come over one night. I was amazed when I saw his dad's set up and when he broke into Boston's foreplay/long time I nearly cried. The man was a professional and we jammed for hours.

[@louiscornale5667]

Could he play whooly bully?

[@louiscornale5667]

Only kidding Tom is fabulous

[@keyboardtek]

Tom, Having been a Hammond organ tech for 36 years I did notice the keybed on that Hammond makes quite a bit of a clunk noise when you play the keys. There is a downstop felt cushion under the keys that has probably become hard as a rock over the years. There is also an upstop key felt cushion on the black front plate that gets hard as a rock from age. Replacing both is fairly inexpensive and easy to do and will make the action feel so much better to play.

[@thetroublewiththat]

He has no part in social media and would never see this.

[@TobySpiller]

that's the sound

[@SailingSarah]

The sound no computer can reproduce!

[@markjones7803]

Designed and built the equipment, wrote the music and lyrics, played and recorded all the parts except the drums, cut the drum track apart and reassembled them t his liking. There has never and will never be another Tom Scholz.

[@neechee5150]

@markjones7803 Tom did not design or build the core of his basement studio which was a Sculley 12 track tape machine and a Dan Flickiner console. Tom did not write the song Let Me Take You Home Brad did. Brad also co-wrote Smokin. Tom did not record any of Brads vocals. Brads vocals were recorded in two LA studios by producer John Boylan. Tom did not play all of the non drum tracks either. Barry plays on three songs and his guitar work is all over Foreplay and Long Time and Barry plays all electric guitar parts on Let Me Take You Home. Fran plays bass on Foreplay and Let Me Take You Home and Brad plays 12 string acoustic on Let Me Take You Home. Although it came 30 years late, Tom finally gave credit to Brad and Jim Masdea for all of the arrangement work that they did on the songs on the first record in the post litigation liner notes from the 2006 Scholz (Not Sony) remaster of the debut Boston record.

[@davidbrucemusicvideo]

And we thought Tom was a good guitarist and inventor. Dude kills on the keys! 😳 OK, I had to edit this comment because I just realized I am beaming with the biggest smile! Love his playing here! Thanks so much for this post!

[@larrykendrick8095]

Guru status. He still influences musicians today. I was lucky enough to see Boston on the Don't Look Back tour

[@davidsaganey641]

I saw them play at a college in Waltham, MA right before their first album broke. Sitting about 12 rows back Tom Scholz blew my mind.

[@jabocjacob7064]

Big shoutout to whoever recorded this and published it digitally so we can have it for years to come.

[@PaulJBaccash]

I can watch this 100 times and not get tired of it. Amazing piece of music.

[@bri2233]

In the 70's I had 3 guitar hero's including Tom Scholz. The 1st album was/is a masterpiece.

[@subcoolman]

Time: 0:44: I have to admit I got a big ol' smile on my face when he mentioned the tubes warming up in the B3!

[@mikewallaceguitar2538]

That's amazing. It sounds just like the record. Goes to show its the talent of the player not the studio effects or anything else.

[@catsgillhillbilly]

3:00 will give me chills for the rest of my life. Thank you, Tom.

[@paulbruno5497]

this guy is unbelievable... it's amazing what he knows.... and he can play it...

[@rkernell]

The B3 is the most distinctive instrument that I have heard and I've heard a few...

[@sogggyyy]

Always loved the keyboard solo that rolled into that funky bass riff on Hollyann.

[@TheWildbill1959]

I get chills every time I hear it

[@davidbarnkow5595]

Every day, and in every way, the Hammond becomes cemented in my mind as my favorite instrument. This intimate view of Mr. Scholz is another reason why. Thanks for the post.

[@jptaylor]

I would bet that this is the exact organ he used on the original recordings. Amazing. So cool that him playing it live in this context is captured on video!

[@rnman99]

If I remember correctly, he used an M-3, you can hear the foldback in places on the album

[@tommccann9269]

@@rnman99 M3 into a Leslie 147. M3’s don’t have foldback unless he added it. He did say in one interview the M3 he used had issues with the tones in the upper register. He also talks about a different harmonic in the M3 that B3’s didn’t have. I never understood that one. The other thing with regards to foldback is the drawbar registration he used was either 88880000 or 68860000 for most parts so foldback wouldn’t come into play anyway. IMHO foldback is overrated in the consoles. It’s tapered down to 50 Ohms and there is about a 13 dB volume hit on the foldback tones so it barely peeks through and only on the upper drawbars.

[@philf4086]

Tom Scholz - the original pre-Covid basement dweller. Except his basement was equipped with all sorts of cool gear!

[@jerrymahone3249]

@@tommccann9269 This Is what I recall as well. Haha, okay, not really, but I'm totally reading your comment and thinking, "Yeah, what this guy said. "

[@krisscanlon4051]

Van Halen Townshend and Scholtz the holy trio of axemen with keyboard chops to die for.

[@bobsage4963]

1:34 - the bit we all came here to see! 🖤

[@fw1421]

Thank you Tom for that piece of history. I love all your music,but that album was magic!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@geofftaylor8913]

Great video. Just love the sound of that B3. Nothing like it.

[@steveseim]

So cool! Steve Winwood is my *other* favorite musician, so I love the little "Gimme Some Lovin" warm-up.

[@epistte]

Winwood was another genius on a Hammond.

[@randallfranklin2548]

Never gets old hearing that!!!!

[@pg1171]

OMG! Just freakin' awesome! And the nod to Steve Winwood...fantastic! Thank you for posting this gem!

[@joequixotic3039]

Not being musically gifted myself, it's amazing thinking of Tom's perfectionism, bringing all of the elements together himself and being blessed to find Boston's voice in Brad Delp. I have listened to Foreplay-Long Time hundreds of times because my first Sony D88 Diskman came with an assortment of CD singles including Boston More Than a Feeling/Foreplay-Long Time. Maybe that's why I love it so much but I don't feel the same way about the other CD singles...

[@kevo8498]

Thank you for the great post. Wow. Loved it... Amazing guy..

[@PrankZabba]

3:00 - being shot into space 3:16 - that "in space" moment

[@user-vk3lv6zz1s]

Wounderful!!! Boston Sound and Tune !!! Love it !!!

[@dave49093]

Thanks for the goosebumps Tom. for sure my #1 alltime favorite band. Boston, without hesitation.

[@jesseimpersonal]

Yes, impressive as can be. Another cat that plays guitar and organ well is Stephen Stills. Sings a bit too. And of course Steve Windwood, always a surprise to hear him take a solo on a Strat.

[@BrettHoustonTube]

A freaking master playing a masterpiece. Wow.

[@BrettHoustonTube]

Where's the doc?

[@kenw.1112]

Tom you are such a Genius! I am a electronics Technician and have been for over 40+yrs. I admire you Tom . You sure are modest . The work you did on the Boston Albums is absolutely Awesome to say the least ! I love Boston such a unique sound over anything I have ever heard! Thank You !

[@KarlVPence]

I really enjoyed watching him play that Hammond organ, would to see how that works.

[@fredrickm4436]

It's unfair how one man can be so smart and talented and inventive and creative and ...

[@guitartec]

I just went from playing the guitar part to Tom's B3 to playing Hocus Pocus by Focus, so I essentially just ran the full Scholz gamut, since that's where his organ inspiration comes from

[@tinyenos2687]

Great job, thank you for posting

[@derekhorton7143]

Thanks for posting! Very cool!

[@craigjgomez]

I love it! More please.

[@Tommy71998]

you know, in my mind he just earned the $100 million of his net worth. What an incredible talent

[@antoniopola542]

I can't describe how much I respect this guy ⭐

[@michaelnc4450]

What a cool thing to see... thanks for the post!

[@MIKEx2112]

Hey kids.....This is what we call " musical genius "

[@mikekiss648]

Not only a killer electric guitar player but an insanely sick organ player.

[@bobtackett3950]

ME thanks for all that fantastic music Tom!😀

[@747jpdrummer]

Tom is the man!! Saw this live. Insane!!

[@bagcpa]

I love this version of Foreplay. They've been doing it in concert with the added part in the middle.

[@58icarus]

Priceless.

[@JohnJOHN-zp6cp]

Awesome video Mr. Scholz, If you ever get the chance, check out the Hammond Castle museum in Gloucester, Massachusetts - that man was brilliant!

[@grabasandwich]

No sampling. No looping. No auto tune.

[@SgtThump]

Love the intimacy of this video!

[@jonprosise7162]

he went from guitar to organ in concert I remember many years ago. another thing i remember is constantly in a sound guys ear while playing. I guess the guy could hear him. somebody said on a mic that designed even the main sound system

[@DaDude_R]

"Stevie Winwood will get mad at me if I keep that up..." ha

[@gastonbatuco2391]

Boston and Tom Scholz for ever👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏🤟🎸

[@Axess-sv8nq]

"If you thought I was gonna sing there - forget it!" hahaha! Nice!

[@jamesworsham7536]

Something so iconic tucked away in the corner of a basement. Just WOW

[@edwardscomputers]

what a gem!!!

[@zuripeter1888]

Tom Scholz ist a Genius

[@magneto7930]

A true genius, God bless him!

[@SailingSarah]

Even with the wizardry of modern electronics there's no substitute for the old school! Thing sounds AMAZING!

[@LeStraTele]

One of my heroes.

[@mjklein]

Incredible!

[@michaellewis9742]

So awesome man

[@ChefClary60]

Damn. What a talent.

[@johnniehh]

Excellent!!!!!!!

[@CaptainCraigKWMRZ]

But would any of us have been that surprised if he had started singing? And sounded pretty good too😂?

[@WMcgee-fb2gx]

Awesome.

[@_moosh]

I love the foreplay intro mod

[@gentlemanghost2787]

What a talent!

[@markcrowell2727]

Amazing.

[@albertcoppo]

Legendary!!!

[@michaeltate227]

If anyone is wondering where the real musical talent is in todays world, he's right there. You're welcome.

[@jimmorrison3830]

Wow that was F k N AMAZING 👏🏽 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🙏🏼👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Thank you!!!!!!!

[@henryvanderbeek2973]

That was awesome......

[@tomschmelzer1254]

Not to wonder why most of us cannot carry a tune. I don't know anyone blessed with so many gifts from God stays so special.

[@marvelousmachine9682]

Hammond made a fine instrument, you brought it to places it wasn’t intended to go

[@jamison306]

Amazing talent!!!! Wow!!!!