BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Collection Of Sib Hashian, Drummer From The Band Boston, To Be Auctioned

This article is more than 4 years old.

As my college roommate Mark Hall used to say, “What do you play besides Boston?...more Boston!” (Cue air guitar.) For us and the 17 million others who bought that first self-titled album, it became the soundtrack to our bright college years. 

Having recently penned a piece on the sale of the late Walter Becker’s guitar collection, I grew doubly melancholy when I learned that the reason for this sale was the passing of Sib Hashian. 

Melancholy morphed into eeriness when I learned that there is actually a link between the two. According to Suzanne Hashian, Sib Hashian’s wife, they were so enamored of Steely Dan’s album Aja that they decided to name one of their daughters after it. 

The proceeds from the sale of the 46 lots on offer at RR Auction on November 7th will benefit the Sib Hashian Scholarship Fund, which supports music and arts programs in public schools. The items represent the music-related portion of his collection; other items, such as his art and baseball cards, will appear in other sales. Still others may never come to light, since, Suzanne says, they gave some to the “kids”. FYI- One of those kids (by marriage) is named “The Rock”- no, he was not named after Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, he is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. 

The top lot in the sale is the silver sparkle Ludwig drum kit which Hashian played exclusively on his first two tours with Boston. 

It comes with the original road cases, all of which are stenciled "Boston" or feature the ubiquitous Boston logo. According to band mate Barry Goudreau, the kit “was locked in time”; it was stored after the tour and never used since. Goudreau admits that his hearing took a beating in those days “from the Marshall stacks”, with Suzanne quickly adding, “and standing in front of Sib”. The pounding he took from the bass drum must indeed have been prodigious. Goudreau holds no grudge, though, saying that he wants the buyer to be a museum “or someone else who will take care of it”.

As a separate lot, one can buy the Nike’s Hashian only ever wore while playing the drum kit. 

According to the condition report, they feature “a distinct wear pattern on the soles resulting from Hashian's vigorous kick drum pedal work”. Appropriately, Suzanne observes that when he played, it was like “he was running a marathon”. Goudreau reveals that the sneakers “embodied him; the wear and tear tell you the story of Sib”. That wear and tear included playing with a broken ankle that entire first tour. As befit an ex-military officer, he did not even tell his band mates about the injury until after the tour. 

Almost one-quarter of the items on offer are music awards, including the Epic Records multi-platinum award he received for the debut album. 

Did the high school marching band drummer born John Thomas Hashian know that he would someday rise to such heights? Yup. According to Suzanne, in Vietnam “he announced to his men that within two years of leaving, he’d be famous”. Once the prophecy was ultimately fulfilled and the first paycheck arrived, he ran out and bought himself a green Cadillac Seville. Goudreau remembers going with him to pick it up, and remembers that it had an 8-track player. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his own favorite award in the auction is the official RIAA 8-track tape gold sales award. 

Do not look for that car to be in the sale, though. Suzanne told him at 400,000 miles “blow it up or bronze it”.

Also included in the auction will be quite a few autographed photos. 

That these were sourced directly from the family is significant. Goudreau says that fans regularly approach him at shows with material they claim was hand-signed by the band. “95% are not real”, he says, “the signatures are not even close. It’s tragic, heartbreaking”. 

My personal favorite in the sale is the Ludwig drum practice pad, which dates back to Hashian’s early teens, when he was drumming to help support his family. 

According to Goudreau, Hashian’s pre-show ritual was to make one cup of instant coffee and sit backstage pounding on this practice pad. According to the catalogue condition report, it has “heavily worn feet and other signs of age”. Not a bad description of some of us here reminiscing about 1978; still, though, even today, “It’s More Than A Feeling, When I Hear That Old Song They Used To Play...”.


Follow me on LinkedInCheck out my website