Barry Goudreau

 Origin: Boston, Massachusetts (USA)

BARRY GOUDREAU

Barry Goudreau

Discography:

st - 1980 (with lyrics)

Notes:

- I remember having a keen interest in music from an early age, standing in the back seat of my mother’s car, jumping up and down to the sounds of Elvis and Roy Orbison. This was pre-seat belt, of course! I decided I wanted to play guitar and asked my parents to buy me one. They felt it was just a phase I was going through and refused. By the time I was eleven years old, they had given in and borrowed an acoustic guitar from a friend and let me take lessons. As the song goes, I played until my fingers bled and they realized I was serious and had the drive to continue. They bought me my first guitar. A white 1962 Fender Stratocaster. Boy, I wish I still had that one! the first time I played guitar in front of an audience was at a church event. I played “Jingle Bell Rock”.

At age 15 I joined a band with Sib Hashian on drums, Johnny V. on guitar. Johnny seemed to know every song. He would often just call out a key and a song title, give us a count and off we would go. It was a real learning experience. We would sometimes play in a nightclub, 7 days a week, 7 sets a night. The go-go dancers were very friendly though. Sib and I played in bands together until he joined the army and went to Vietnam.

It was around this time that I met Fran Sheehan. Fran’s house was the place musicians went to jam. We had some great times there, refining our chops until the wee hours. I’m sure the neighbors didn’t appreciate it as much as we did.

I met Brad Delp when I auditioned for his high school band. Their guitar player had decided to leave and he brought me there to audition as the replacement. Brad sang Led Zeppelin’s “Communication Breakdown”. I had never heard anybody sing like that before. I will never forget it. Unfortunately I did not get the gig.

When I started college I tried to put music aside to concentrate on my studies in Geology. That didn’t last long though and soon I had a band with an old high school band mate. I was at Boston University and he was across the river at MIT. We practiced in the basement of his fraternity house and played their parties. This was the real “Animal House”, with togas and all. We decided to add a keyboard player, and I put an ad in the Boston Phoenix. Tom Scholz answered the ad. He had just graduated from MIT with a master’s degree in 5 years and was looking to do something musical outside the corporate world he had entered.

Although Tom joined as the keyboard player, he was picking up guitar quickly and was starting to write songs. The song he wrote that we played first was a classical sounding piece that would become “Foreplay”. We soon were looking to record and since Tom had a “real” job, he began to finance it. The song we recorded first in a real studio was “San Francisco Day” which would later become “Hitch A Ride” on the first Boston record. To defray the costs of recording Tom began to put together his own studio. We worked with a couple of different singers through this time, with mixed results. I remembered having auditioned for Brad’s band, and arranged to have him meet me and Tom at a club on Revere Beach for an afternoon jam session. The first song we ever played together was Allman Brothers song “Whipping Post” with me on guitar and Tom on the Hammond organ and Brad singing. It was magical!

Eventually we put together a demo tape, and brought it to New York to shop for a record contract. I remember sitting in waiting rooms, not able to get past the receptionist. I think it was these several years of constant rejection that drove Tom to continue to refine the songs and recordings to a point where they could no longer be denied. The fact that both of our original managers were radio promotion guys certainly helped. They had radio convinced it was a hit before anyone had ever heard it! Of course it didn’t hurt that the songs and recordings were everything they promised.

We were signed to Epic Records in 1975.The first album was released in August 1976. We had hope that the record would sell 200,000 copies, because that was what we felt we had to sell in order to do another record. When the record sold that many in the first few weeks we knew we had arrived.

We began to do shows that were booked before the record had come out. They were mostly in nightclubs. There was such a buzz about the band and the record, the lines at these shows often circled the block. It was really trial by fire. We didn’t have the equipment we needed or the personnel to run it. We hired people on the spot to fill out our road crew. Early on we even set up our own gear. That would soon change as we quickly went from playing in nightclubs to opening in arenas, to headlining arenas, all in the course of 6 months. The pressure was enormous on us, but our first tour was everything a rock player could have ever ask for.

Before the first tour was even over, the label was looking for another record. They wanted to know when it would be delivered. We hadn’t even thought about it! Again the pressure was on, but this time it was to follow up the most successful debut of all time, selling over 17 million copies. I had hoped that this would mean that I could be more involved in the writing and recording process, but it didn’t work out that way. Tom became more isolated. When the second album was released Tom felt as though he was turning it over before it was ready. I remember going on for our first show of the second tour without having played through the whole set. The pressure was on again. The camaraderie and good vibe of the first tour was gone. By the end of the second tour it was obvious that things would never be the same.

After the second tour ended in Europe in the fall of 1979, Tom had a group meeting and told us he was taking a year off and suggested that if we wanted to do another project, solo record or whatever, now was the time.

Although I hadn’t really thought too much about it before, I decided to try a solo record. I began to write some songs with Brad. The ideas came quickly and soon we had several songs. We brought them to Tom to see what he thought. To my surprise he asked to produce the record. I had hoped he would say he had an interest in using the songs for a Boston record. Brad and I felt that the record label would not allow Tom to produce a solo record when they were waiting for another Boston record. We continued writing. It was at this time I met Fran Cosmo, through a crew member. He contributed several songs and lead vocals to the record. It was the beginning of a long relationship. The record was done in 6 months and released in 9 months. I felt I still had enough time to promote it and still be within the year long time frame we had been given. When the album was released the label ran an ad campaign that said “millions of people have heard his guitar, we would like to introduce you to its owner”. Tom felt as though they were promoting me as the “force” behind Boston and was furious. I read the ad as they were introducing me as the “other” guitarist. I suppose the fact that both Sib and Brad appeared on the record, made Boston comparisons inevitable. Looking back, I probably would have handled things differently. The album was pulled and my relationship with Tom suffered.

In January 1980 Tom called a group meeting and told us he would no longer work with me. I felt as though I had no support in the band and I needed to leave. The band thought I wanted out.

In 1985 Fran Cosmo and I hitched up again and formed Orion the Hunter. We enlisted Bruce Smith, a bass player that Fran had been working with, along with former Heart drummer, Michael DeRosier. I had met Michael on the road at one of the many shows we did with Heart. Keyboardist Brian Maes rounded out the band when it was time to tour. We recorded a record for CBS, toured opening for Aerosmith on their Back in the Saddle tour, and had a video on MTV. The band didn’t have the success we had expected when it came time to follow up with a new record, the band folded. It was back to the drawing board again.

Brad I had stayed in touch throughout this time and had continued writing songs. He was my brother-in-law, after all!

I had worked with a couple of other singers during this time, but it was Brad I really wanted to work with. In 1990 Brad left Boston to record and tour with our new band, RTZ. Brian Maes joined as keyboardist and he introduced me to drummer David Stefanelli and former New Man bassist Tim Archibald. In an ironic twist, Tom replaced Brad in Boston with singer Fran Cosmo. RTZ released a record on Warner Brothers and toured extensively. When it came time to follow up the first record, which hadn’t achieved the success we had hoped for, and without a record label, spirits sagged and Brad left to return to Boston. The grunge era had bitten us i the ass.The demo recording from before the release of RTZ and the demos for the follow up cd are, however, available on this site. (Lost/Found)

Brad and I released the Delp/Goudreau cd in 2003. We maintained a good relationship right up until his tragic death in 2007.

In 2006 with the 30th anniversary of the first Boston record coming up,Tom Scholz contacted me to send the remasters of the first two Boston records, and his re-write of the credits for the two records. Not having listened to the records all the way through for quite some time, I pulled out my guitar and played along. I got an idea to write a song that reflected on the sound and style of the first two albums and give a nod to the fans that had followed the band for so many years. I gave the musical track to Brad who wrote lyrics that effectively thanked fans for their then, 30 years of support. Old demons arose and any reconciliation between me and Tom ended. After Bad’s death his family and I decided to re-record the song retaining Brad’s vocals and release it to the public. The song “Rockin Away” is available on i-Tunes.

My childhood friend and Boston alumnus, Sib Hashian and I had a band called Dirty Water that performed songs from the Boston catalog. During a show on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, Sib suffered a missive heart attack mid set and tragically did not survive A documentary in his honor called “Let There be Drums” is being planned with filming scheduled to begin soon.

My focus in recent years has been with my band Barry Goudreau’s Engine Room. Our first cd “Full Steam Ahead” was released in 2017. Along with my longtime collaborators, Brian Maes and Tim Archibald, with Tony DePeitro on drums, and singers, Mary Beth Maes, Joanie Cicatelli, and Terri O’Soro, our new cd “The Road” will be released in 2021.

I appreciate all the support I have received over the years, and look forward to getting back out on the road to promote this new cd.

All my best to you,

Barry - 

(https://www.barrygoudreau.com/biography.htm)

- Barry Goudreau (born November 29, 1951) is an American musician. He was one of two original guitarists for the rock band Boston alongside founder Tom Scholz; both Scholz and Goudreau shared lead and rhythm guitar parts.

Goudreau had developed a musical interest at an early age and got his first guitar, an acoustic which he borrowed from a friend, at age 11. He began taking lessons and by age 13, joined his first band, the "Tornadoes". At age 15, he joined another band with future Boston bandmate drummer Sib Hashian. They would often play at nightclubs, sometimes seven times a week. Later, he met up with Brad Delp and Fran Sheehan, both future members of Boston. He auditioned for Delp's band, but did not make the cut.

When he went to college at Boston University, he sought to get a degree in Geology. He tried to put music aside to focus on school, but he soon met up with Tom Scholz who was right across the river at MIT.

Goudreau worked with Tom Scholz and Brad Delp as early as 1969 on an initial set of demo tapes, where he performed all of the rhythm and lead guitar work. These early attempts to attract record label interest did not succeed.

Later, Scholz re-worked and re-recorded some of these demo songs and wrote several new songs for a second set of demo tapes, this time with Scholz performing all of the guitar, bass and keyboard parts. This second demo set won a recording contract with Epic Records.

In late 1979, Scholz became involved in legal and contractual battles with the band's manager, and later with CBS. Thereafter, he informed the members of Boston that he would not be working on Boston material for at least a year and that they should feel free to do solo projects.

By this time, Goudreau had written many songs in hopes that Scholz would incorporate them into the next Boston LP. Scholz did not express interest in using any of Goudreau's work. In 1980, Goudreau recorded his first solo LP titled Barry Goudreau. He played all the instruments except the drums played by his bandmate Sib Hashian. Brad Delp and Fran Cosmo shared the lead vocals. John Boylan, who co-produced Boston's first album, also co-produced this album, which was commercially only modestly successful. Ultimately, it was this album that triggered Scholz at some point to ask Goudreau to leave Boston, due in part to labeling added to the outside of the record sleeve that claimed the "Boston Sound" which annoyed Scholz. For several years however, Goudreau was still officially listed as a band member.

In late 1981, Boston announced that they were working on a third album, but Third Stage did not appear until 1986, and Goudreau's contributions (if any) to the protracted recording sessions were not credited. Along the way, in 1983, Goudreau and the other four members of the classic lineup were sued by CBS for not completing the album in a timely manner.

In 1984, Goudreau formed the band Orion The Hunter and released a debut LP. This time, Fran Cosmo appeared as lead vocalist, while Delp provided backing vocals and co-wrote five of the album's songs. The album included the single "So You Ran". The band then added keyboardist and backing vocalist Brian Maes and toured in support of Aerosmith in 1984 but ultimately broke up in 1985.

In 1990, Goudreau formed the band RTZ (Return to Zero). Delp left Boston to join the band. RTZ experienced some success with the hits "Face the Music" written by Goudreau and Maes and "Until Your Love Comes Back Around" written by Maes. Delp and Goudreau felt that the record company was not supporting the band to the best of their abilities, and asked to be released from their contract. They later signed with MTM Records; however, Delp departed shortly after to rejoin Boston.

In 1997, Goudreau appeared with the Lisa Guyer Band on the album Gypsy Girl and in 2000 on the album Leap of Faith.

In 1998, RTZ regrouped to release their second album Lost with less success than the debut.

In 2003, Goudreau and Delp teamed up for their independent recording of Delp and Goudreau. The single "It's What You Leave Behind" received limited radio airplay.

In 2005, Goudreau and the members of RTZ released two CDs of songs that were earmarked for the never-realized third RTZ CD. The albums were released in the USA on Briola Records as Lost in America and Found in America. Goudreau continues to perform with Sheehan in small, local venues in the greater Boston area. He also played occasionally with Delp and Hashian until their deaths in 2007 and 2017, respectively.

On October 16, 2007, Goudreau released one final song with Delp on vocals titled "Rockin' Away". According to Goudreau, "'Rockin' Away' was written in the summer of 2006 for the 30th Anniversary of the release of the first "Boston" record. It was the last song that Brad and I wrote together. In it, Brad reflects on how he became involved in music, and thanks his many fans for their years of loyalty. It was my hope that the song might lead to a rekindling of my relationship with the band. Unfortunately it did not." The song was a minor hit in early 2008, charting up to #18 on the America's Music ranking of rock radio airplay.

Goudreau was a member of Ernie and the Automatics with Sib Hashian, Tim Archibald, Brian Maes, Michael Antunes and "car guy" Ernie Boch, Jr. Their debut album Low Expectations was released on February 17, 2009. Ernie and the Automatics disbanded in 2011.

After Delp's death, the remaining RTZ members reunited to record "Set The Songbird Free", which was written by Brian Maes. "We wanted this to be a tribute to the love and respect that we all share for our bandmate and friend Brad," recalls Maes.

On February 25, 2012, Goudreau played a three-hour set with Sheehan and others in the "All Star Jam" to benefit the Sydney and Berne Davis Art Center in Ft Myers Florida.

Goudreau formed Barry Goudreau's Engine Room with Brian Maes, Tim Archibald, Tony DePietro, Mary Beth Maes, Joanie Cicatelli and Terri O'Soro. They released their first CD "Full Steam Ahead" in September 2017. Since 2014, Goudreau has also toured with the American Vinyl All Star Band, which also includes Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. Goudreau also occasionally appears with Scrap Metal, a supergroup formed by Gunner and Matthew Nelson, twin sons of Musician Ricky Nelson.

On September 3, 2022, Goudreau was inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame while on stage at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom.

Goudreau now lives with his wife Connie in Swampscott, Massachusetts. They have two children: Sean, a mortgage executive, and Michele, a health and wellness coordinator. They also have three grandchildren, Alyssa, Sammy and Matthew. -

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Goudreau)

- Playing since he was 11, Barry Goudreau was an accomplished guitarist by the time he entered Boston University to study Geology. In the early '70's, he was playing in a band that practiced in an MIT fraternity house. They ran an ad for a keyboard player, which Tom Scholz answered, and a close friendship between he and Barry was born. Goudreau played lead guitar on several of Tom's early demo recordings, and found vocalist Brad Delp in the mid 70's. When Scholz's final demos won a contract with Epic Records in 1976, Barry was Tom's first and immediate choice to join the new band. Barry recalls, "In the early days of the band we had a tremendous camaraderie. It was more fun than you can imagine. At the same time there was tremendous pressure as well. At first all we hoped for was to sell enough records to continue with a musical career." Those hopes manifested into a collective 25 million albums between Boston and Don't Look Back. Goudreau's incredible leads can be heard on "Longtime," "Used to Bad News," "Let Me Take You Home Tonight," and "Don't Look Back." Tom says, "When Barry and I played those harmony parts or battling guitar leads, it felt like we were connected by a "Vulcan mind link." He adds, "I've never seen anyone so dedicated to honing his physical skill with guitar. Watching TV or hanging with some friends, Barry always had his SG in his hands, playing unplugged, silently conditioning his reflexes. He had lightning speed."

Following two tours and two albums with BOSTON, amidst turmoil with the band's managers and record company, Barry and Tom went their separate ways. In 1980, Goudreau released Barry Goudreau with singers Brad Delp and Fran Cosmo, which reached #88 on the Billboard charts. In 1984 he launched Orion The Hunter, joined by Cosmo and Delp again. In 1991 he formed RTZ (Return To Zero), once again with Delp singing lead vocals, releasing a self-titled album the following year. His most recent effort with Brad was in 2003, the self--titled Delp and Goudreau, a release that really showcases their talent.

After Tom Scholz's remastering of the first two BOSTON albums in March 2006, he and Barry reinstated contact after 25 years, rekindling a friendship neither had forgotten. Barry continues to perform on occasion in small venues in the greater Boston area. In the winter months he takes to the ski slopes whenever possible, and during the summer, he hits the water in his Formula powerboat. Barry and his wife live on the north shore of Boston with their son and daughter. -

(https://www.thirdstage.ca/boston/the-band/former-members/barry-goudreau)

- Barry Goudreau’s legendary licks have been a staple of the global music scene for many moons and his remarkable rise to the top started in Massachusetts, where his tremendous talent is still setting standards and one can still treat their ears to his sensational guitar skills.

Born in Boston on November 29, 1951, Goudreau got into music at an early age, drawn especially to guitar. “I remember listening to WMEX, Boston’s rock station, while standing behind the front seat of my mother’s ’59 Plymouth,” he says. “I loved the music, and when I saw Elvis, Roy Orbison and others on The Ed Sullivan Show, I was hooked. But it wasn’t the singer, it was the guitar I was most fascinated with, so I began to ask for my own guitar.” Not willing to buy young Barry a guitar of his own because they didn’t think he’d stick with it, his parents borrowed an acoustic guitar from his babysitter’s family. “As they say, I ‘played until my fingers bled,’ convincing my parents I was in this for the long haul,” Goudreau says. “Within months, they bought me my first guitar, a used 1962 white Stratocaster. I was in heaven! I had the same guitar as The Ventures and The Beach Boys! Boy, I wish I still had that one.’

FIRST BANDS, SIB HASHIAN, AUDITIONING FOR BOSTON

Goudreau joined his first band, The Tornados, at age 13 and at 15 he joined forces with another group that included future Boston drummer Sib Hashian. “I was in that band with Sib and Johnny V from Lynn,” he says. “We played at two places in the Combat Zone, The Novelty Lounge and Edwards Western Playhouse. When we played at Edwards, where the stage was above the bar and involved climbing up a ladder to get to it, we had to play as a three piece because four of us couldn’t fit up there.” Asked how he was allowed into the club at such a young age, Goudreau said that wasn’t an issue, but something else was. “They didn’t seem to have a problem with my age but would tell us ‘quit looking at the girls!’ who were dancing next to us in cages,” he laughs. “The band didn’t really have a name, and nobody really cared what we called ourselves, but ‘live music’ would probably fit the bill.”

In the late ‘60s, Goudreau met future Boston vocalist Brad Delp and bassist Fran Sheehan and auditioned for Delp. “I had a friend who was a guitar player in a good band who had decided to leave the group. In order not to put them in a bad spot without a guitarist, he asked me if I wanted to come to practice to meet them and audition, and I took him up on it,” he says. “I met them and played ‘Communication Breakdown’ by Led Zeppelin. The singer was Brad Delp. I had never heard anybody sing like that since I had seen Robert Plant. The band convinced my friend not to leave so I didn’t get the gig, but I wouldn’t forget Brad.”

BOSTON UNIVERSITY, TOM SCHOLZ, RANDOM SAMPLE

In 1969, Goudreau enrolled at Boston University, where he majored in geology and tried to put music aside to focus on getting his degree. “I started without a major and after taking a geology class I decided to take that on as a major,” he says. “It wasn’t until I was a few years in that I realized a career in geology usually involves working for an oil company or the government, neither of which appealed to me.”

During his sophomore year at BU, he was in a band called Random Sample with a friend from high school who was a student at MIT. “We played cover songs, mostly for parties,” he says. “And yes, there were togas.” It was through that band that Goudreau met future Boston bandmate Tom Scholz, who had just earned his master’s from MIT. “We decided to add a keyboard player so I ran an ad in The Boston Phoenix. Tom answered the ad and, after coming to the frat house to play with us, joined in. He was an excellent keyboard player and had just written his first piece of music, an instrumental, which would later be titled ‘Foreplay’ [and be included on Boston’s debut album].”

DEMO TAPES, EPIC SIGNING, LEGAL BATTLE

Goudreau, Scholz and Delp worked together in late 1969 on an original set of demo tapes where Goudreau performed all the rhythm and guitar parts. That initial attempt to attract major record label interest flopped, but after Scholz re-worked and re-recorded some of these demo tracks in 1974, ABC Records promo man Charlie McKenzie helped him land a six-album deal with Epic Records. The initial result was Boston’s self-titled debut in 1976, on which Goudreau played rhythm and lead guitar on some tracks and was the highest-selling debut in history at the time.

In late 1979, Scholz got involved in legal and contractual battles with McKenzie (and later with CBS) and told the other members of the band he would not be working on Boston material for at least a year, saying that they should feel free to pursue solo projects. Goudreau had already written a lot of songs by that time (hoping to have them included on the next Boston album) and recorded his first solo disc in 1980, Barry Goudreau, bringing in Delp, vocalist Fran Cosmo (who joined Boston in 1991) and Hashian. Record labels sought to cash in on the “almost Boston” lineup and two songs, “Dreams” and “Mean Woman Blues,” received steady airplay. Some have theorized that the LP’s success may have prompted Scholz to ask Goudreau to leave Boston, which he did in 1983 after nearly eight years recording and touring with the band.

ORION THE HUNTER, RTZ, OTHER PROJECTS

In 1984, Goudreau formed Orion the Hunter and Epic released their self-titled debut that same year. Cosmo appeared as lead vocalist, Delp was credited for backing vocals and for co-writing five songs and the band included keyboardist and backing vocalist Brian Maes. After touring as Aerosmith‘s opening act, the group broke up in 1985, roughly a year after coming together.

In 1990, Goudreau assembled RTZ (meaning “return to zero”) and Delp walked away from Boston to join the new band. Maes wrote their song “Until Your Love Comes Back Around,” which earned them a solid following, but Delp and Goudreau felt that Epic wasn’t supporting the band to the best of the label’s ability and asked to be released from their contract. They signed with MTM Records but Delp departed shortly after to re-join Boston.

Goudreau appeared with The Lisa Guyer Band on their 1997 album Gypsy Girl and again on their 2000 album Leap Of Faith, and in 1998 RTZ regrouped to record their second album, Lost. In 2003, Goudreau and Delp formed the duo Delp & Goudreau; the tune “It’s What You Leave Behind” was well received commercially and critically. In 2005, RTZ issued two CDs of previously unreleased tracks that had been earmarked for their never-released third disc; the albums came out in the US on Briola Records as Lost In America and Found In America.

DELP’S, HASHIAN’S DEATHS, “ROCKIN’ AWAY,” RTZ REUNIONS

Delp performed with Goudreau in small venues until his death on March 9, 2007 and Goudreau toured with Hashian until his death mid-set during a rock ‘n’ roll cruise on March 22, 2017. On October 16, 2007, Goudreau released the final song with Delp on vocals, “Rockin’ Away,” which they’d written in the summer of 2006 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the first Boston album. It was the last song Goudreau and Delp wrote together and reached #18 in the US.

Goudreau occasionally sat in with James Montgomery’s band, then joined Ernie & The Automatics (car magnate Ernie Boch’s band) with RTZ bandmate Maes on keyboards, Tim Archibald on bass and Hashian behind the kit. They did a mini-tour with Deep Purple and their debut album, Low Expectations, was issued in February 2009; they disbanded in 2011. One year after Delp’s death, the remaining RTZ members reunited to record a song Maes wrote, “Set The Songbird Free,” a tribute to their love and respect for their lost bandmate.

These days, Goudreau fronts Barry Goudreau’s Engine Room, which includes Maes, Archibald, drummer Tony Di Pietro and vocalists Mary Beth Maes, Terri O’Soro and Joanie Ciccatelli. Their debut album, Full Steam Ahead, was issued in April 2017 and their most recent disc, The Road, was released in March 2021. He currently lives in Swampscott, Massachusetts, with his wife Connie, son Sean and daughter Michele. Fun fact: Barry Goudreau and Brad Delp were brothers-in-law; Connie’s sister was married to Delp from 1980 to 1996. -

(Notes by A.J. Wachtel: https://www.mmone.org/barry-goudreau/)