Foreplay/Long Time

"Foreplay/Long Time"
Song by Boston from the album Boston
Released	1977
Recorded	1975
Genre	Hard rock, progressive rock
Length	7:47 (2:25 for intro "Foreplay")
Label	Epic
Writer	Tom Scholz
Producer	John Boylan & Tom Scholz
Boston track listing
Peace of Mind (2) "Foreplay/Long Time" Long Time (3B)

"Long Time"
Single by Boston
from the album Boston
Released	1977
Genre	Hard rock
Length	3:05
Label	Epic
Producer	John Boylan & Tom Scholz
Boston singles chronology
"More Than a Feeling" (1976) "Long Time" (1977) "Peace of Mind" (1977)

"Foreplay/Long Time" is a song by the rock band Boston, released on the band's eponymous debut album, and as their second single, on Epic Records in 1976. It combines an instrumental introduction, "Foreplay", to the main song "Long Time", generally played as one on the radio and listed as one track on the album. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1977.

In an interview for the Best of Boston CD, Scholz said that "Foreplay" was the first song he ever recorded, and he did this on a two-track machine in his basement.

Content

"Foreplay" is a progressive instrumental prelude, primarily consisting of rapid triplet arpeggios on Hammond M3 organ (contrary to popular belief, the song was not recorded on a B3, as Tom Scholz had a limited budget at the time and was unable to afford one) with a bass part doubled by a clavinet, and drums, with lead guitar joining at the end. According to Tom Scholz, leader and producer of Boston, the synthesizer-like swoops were not produced with synthesizers, but rather by scraping a pick along a string of a guitar.

In popular culture

In 2004, "Long Time" was used as the background music for a series of television commercials, titled Timeless, for NASCAR, featuring a hypothetical race between drivers and cars of all eras of NASCAR competition.

"Foreplay/Long Time" is featured as a playable track in the video game Rock Band. It is the final song in the Vocal Solo Tour. The track was played during Part 1 of the Season 2 finale of the television show Supernatural.

Personnel

• Tom Scholz - guitars, organ, clavinet; bass on "Long Time"
• Brad Delp - vocals
• Sib Hashian - drums
• Barry Goudreau - rhythm guitars; lead guitar on "Long Time"
• Fran Sheehan - bass on "Foreplay"

Cover versions

• Rascal Flatts played a cover version of "Foreplay/Long Time" in concert, which was released on the album Rascal Flatts LIVE.
• Phish celebrated their first concert at Great Woods in Mansfield, Massachusetts by opening with "Foreplay/Long Time". They had covered a bluegrass arrangement earlier in their careers, but this was the first time they played the full electric version that is heard on the album.