From former Parliament/Funkadelic, Lou Reed, and Alice Cooper bassist Prakash John, whose thoughts on the influence of Rock ‘n Roll Animal-era guitar tandem Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter I came across while reflecting on the death of Boston lead vocalist Brad Delp:
Wagner and Hunter – I remember this clearly – all these guys that came after Wagner and Hunter in ’73, all these guys in that band Aerosmith, and a band called Boston, they’d have those dueling guitar things, you know… leads, harmonizing – they got that all from Wagner and Hunter. These guys use to come and follow us all over the place – New York, Boston, wherever we were playing with Lou Reed. Next thing I know, I listen to their albums, and it sounds like Wagner and Hunter. And good for them, but people should acknowledge that Wagner and Hunter were the originators. They’re the guys who made that sound. If you hear that live album, Rock N Roll Animal, play the intro to “Sweet Jane.”
The original Allman Brothers Band was doing the harmonized lead guitar thing years before Rock and Roll Animal.
True, and how he thinks Aerosmith tapped into this model is beyond me. I don’t think of them as a Boston-type band. The Rock ‘n Roll Animals guys did do the ROCK harmony leads, with a certain “non-organic” tone that the Allmans would never use and that may have set the tone for Boston. I’d also venture to guess that Be-Bop Deluxe and Mick Ronson’s work with Bowie played into the Boston sound.