A POTTED HISTORY OF AEROSMITH

 

Each month the Rockpit will feature a potted history of one of the greats. This month it’s a real labour of love for me as we look at the career of Aerosmith, who to me are simply the greatest American rock band of all time.

Aerosmith is the greatest of all American rock bands. They play hard rock with a bluesy edge. They are perhaps one of the most inspirational rock bands of the 70s and have inspired bands too countless to mention. But there is only one Aerosmith, or is there? The story may have been told a million times but it never really gets old…

 

 

HISTORY - THE 70s

 

The name Aerosmith famously comes from their drummer Joey Kramer who in his recent book ‘Hit Hard’ reveals that it came to him whilst listening to ‘Aerial Ballet’ by Harry Nilsson. Playing around with that name it was soon shortened to ‘Aero’ and after matching it with a series of other words like: cross, fish, candle and phone he came up with ‘smith’. ‘Smith’ in the sense of a craftsman, like a blacksmith or a silversmith. Aerosmith would be “Masters of getting you off the ground, getting you up, getting you high.” says Joey in the book. The name stuck with him so when the band finally got together he already had the perfect name. Thankfully gathering more votes than ‘The Hookers’ or ‘Spike Jones’.

Aerosmith formed in Boston in 1970. Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton had played together in the ‘Jam Band’ and came to Boston with the express intention of setting up a new band when the Jam Band had folded. They met Joey Kramer through Ray Tabano who knew each other from Yonkers; and whilst Joey impressed at those first rehearsals Joe and Tom informed him that they had chosen another guy to play the drums – Steven Tyler.  And there it was, Ray joined on guitar at the insistence of Steven; and Steven who knew Joey already decided to forego the drums and take the lead vocalist role.

Drugs and Aerosmith in the 70’s were to become inseparable and would eventually lead to Perry and Whitford walking away from the band; but in those early days hard work seemed to soak up the excess. Their intent in those early days was nothing more than to be well known for their ability and to play ‘good sized venues. Aerosmith’s first gig took place at Nipmuck High School in Hopkinton west of Boston.

In the days before they were signed they gigged relentlessly, playing local ‘mixers’ for Boston Uni students in return for a place to practice. The songs for the first album started to come together and were played at the live from the beginning. The band finally came together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston where all but Ray moved in together. Things started to grow bigger. 

By 1971 Ray Tabano had left the band to be replaced by Brad Whitford and the band that is still with us today started to gig in and around Boston, building a solid foundation. Brad’s arrival tightened the band musically while Ray kept in touch handling their marketing. Aerosmith this period Aerosmith rehearsed at the Fenway Theatre and soon signed their first management contract with Frank Connely who by all accounts was a ‘colourful character’ who saw Aerosmith get better and more frequent gigs. By 1972 they were supporting the likes of Humble Pie, the Kinks and Edgar Winter.  

Though Glam had by now hit America in the form of Bowie and T-Rex and started to spawn bands like the New York Dolls, Aerosmith stayed true to their blues-based roots. Frank Connely introduced them to David Krebbs and Steve Leber who began to co-manage the band with Frank before eventually taking over. Things really started moving. That year Krebbs/Leber got them the gig at Max’s Kansas City (they allegedly paid to play that night, not being on the original advertised bill). That night Clive Davis of Columbia was in the audience and signed them then and there (or rather it was Krebs who would sign the contract). That meeting was of course immortalised later in the song ‘No Surprise’ from the ‘Night in the Ruts’ album.

Their first album for Columbia, produced by Adrian Barber was released in 1973 and eponomously titled. It broke the Top 200 with little airplay. ‘Aerosmith’ was a straight-forward blues-based effort that laid down the tracks that they had been playing since they came together and threw out a few gems that are still played live to this day. ‘Dream On’ would eventually be released as a single and peak at 62 in the US.

Aerosmith were constantly on the road between then and the second more defined ‘Get Your Wings’ which was adorned with the first version of the Aerosmith logo which continued to evolve over the years. ‘Get Your Wings’ is a more satisfying album musically and the first album to be produced by Jack Douglas. The songs are deeper and just seem to have more life and substance. Back on the road Aerosmith’s constant touring was paying off and the band was attracting bigger crowds and bigger pay-checks, breaking out of Boston and hitting the Midwest more frequently. 1974 was one big tour. ‘Get your Wings’ climbed to 100 on the charts.

1975 was a watershed. ‘Toys in the Attic’, again produced by Jack Douglas, was huge (and is still their biggest selling album). Aerosmith became a headline act and started to grab everyone’s attention. They headlined their first stadium gig that year at the Pontiac Silverdome. The money rolled in and with the money and the constant touring (now as the big name on the bill) came the start of the real excess. ‘Sweet Emotion’ became the band’s first Top 40 hit, whilst both a re-released ‘Dream On’ and ‘Walk This Way’ broke the Top 10.

Between 1975 and 1977 Aerosmith were arguably at their popular and creative peak. ‘Rocks’ the album that followed ‘Toys’ in 1976 is a true classic. The sound is so raw and the song writing so good it spawned a thousand hard rock bands. Many of the biggest names of hard rock in the eighties and early nineties cite it as one of the most influential rock albums ever.  The touring continued apace, and although the down-side of all the continued excess really hadn’t hit at that point, Joey Kramer recalls the “Jack Daniels and rum on the drum riser and coke lines on the amps” from that time. Still they ploughed on; by 1976 they were playing shows with up to 110,000 in the audience at places like the Kingdome in Seattle.

By the end of the seventies Aerosmith were arguably one of the biggest and most popular hard rock bands on the planet. Despite only dabbling with touring outside of the US they ventured to Europe on the Rocks and Draw the Line tours but played only a handful of dates on each (it would be over a decade before they returned). This led to some less than favourable reviews from the European press, though Aerosmith did nothing to help themselves. It was on that first tour the deterioration of the band was visible on stage with Perry and Tyler fighting frequently and Tyler passing out on stage at the Lorelei Festival after only three songs.

Though Aerosmith were still selling out everywhere in the States in 1977; in places like Europe they remained rather more low key which stopped them reaching the truly global level of the Stones or Zeppelin. It was about this time when the moniker the ‘Toxic Twins’ grew up around Perry and Tyler.

1977 saw the release of ‘Draw the Line’ which was critically panned in most circles. It was certainly not on a par with either of the two preceding albums (though perversely it and ‘Night in the Ruts’ have some of my favourite songs on them). Aerosmith seemed to be on a downward spiral fuelled by the drugs and the pace of touring. ‘Draw the Line’ was the result of a lack of focus, or maybe a just focus on the wrong things. Somehow it seemed that the music all of a sudden took back seat, though in reality the decline had always been on the horizon. The actual recording of the album itself ran into a few snags with minor injuries to Perry and Tyler. It was also around this time that Aerosmith avoided buying the plane that 3 months later crashed killing half of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd.   

The stadium shows continued throughout 1977 and 1978 and the release of the ‘Live Bootleg’ double-album (double-live albums being very much in vogue with rock bands in the 70s) captured what was still certainly a great live band. The euphoria of California Jam on March 18th 1978 where 350,000 US fans grooved to Aerosmith gave way to the debacle of St Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. On July 4^th 1978 Aerosmith played the Texxas Jam at the Cotton Bowl where Tyler was carried on to the stage, and in November they played Madison Square Garden for the first time. Later that year in Hartford it was Joe’s turn to fall over drunk on stage.  A world tour was cancelled and the next album ‘Night in the Ruts’ sessions were going badly.

 

HISTORY - THE 80s

It all came to a head in 1979 just after the studio session for ‘Ruts’ were completed. Few were really surprised. Joe Perry went off to form the Joe Perry Project (asking Joey Kramer to come with him) but finally going alone. His departure was followed by that of Brad Whitford two years later in 1981; after a stop gap ‘Greatest Hits’ release in 1980 which sold well. Brad  went on to form ‘Whitford St. Holmes’ with the former Ted Nugent band guitarist Derek St. Holmes.         

Perry and Whitford were replaced Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay. The ‘new’ Aerosmith managed a single album in the four years between 1980 and 1984: ‘Rock in a Hard Place’ in 1982 (which has its moments and certainly shouldn’t be written off). During this period ticket sales were down and all was not well in the Aerosmith camp. Tyler collapsed onstage in Portland in 1980 and was later injured badly in a motorcycle accident which took off his heel. He even grew a little beard and a moustache but it didn’t help. Tom Hamilton recalls that it finally got to the stage where they weren’t even selling out club gigs. Everyone was asking “Where’s Joe?”. Tyler again collapsed at a homecoming show in Worcester after allegedly imbibing substances with Joe Perry who had come to see the band that evening.  

The eighties were looking bad for Aerosmith with most of the band ill, addicted and once again poor they were in a spot and while they were sleeping a whole host of new rock bands had risen up to fill the void. Aerosmith looked like old news. Cue Tyler’s famous admission that most of his wealth had “Gone up his nose”. But what were they gonna do about it?

Aerosmith reformed in 1984 and the band started to ‘get clean’. It would be a long road. Geffen snapped them up. The comeback album took 2 years, and in the time since reforming they said and did all the right things. Ted Templeman was ensconced as producer but the album was recorded quickly and it shows. The songs quite simply do not stack up, it seems unfinished and that was reflected in its sales. Critics were also sceptical about a sober Aerosmith. This wasn’t to be the ‘relaunch of the Aerosmith brand; that was required.    

Salvation came from an unlikely source and at just the right time. In 1986, the year Tyler finally completed his rehab, MTV was taken over by the unlikely collaboration of NYC rappers Run-DMC backed by Aerosmith (well at least Tyler and Perry anyway) doing a remake of “Walk This Way”. Run-DMC had been under the impression that the band they were covering was called ‘Toys in the Attic’ until someone put them in the picture. Tyler’s rehabilitation prompted largely by Tim Collins the band’s new manager’s insistence led to the other members following him into sobriety over the next couple of years.

The spotlight seemed to spur them on, and whilst they relied heavily on outside writers as a safety net for their next album ‘Permanent Vacation’ was a huge success. The album launched a barrage of hits (‘Dude’ ‘Angel’ and ‘Rag Doll’ all making the Top 20) and while some critics lambasted the sound for cloning latter-day Heart or Bon Jovi, others could still see the rawness of the old band poking through the ‘hair-metal’ exterior.

MTV was Aerosmith’s friend and the exposure they received from that media quickly re-established their status as a major act. Some insisted the band had never sounded better while others still unsure by the new sound reserved judgement. One thing was for sure though by 1987 Aerosmith had the second chance that few thought they would ever see.

Tours with some of the newer rock bands they had inspired first time around cemented their following with the younger concert-going audiences. Two live albums: ‘Classics Live I’ and ‘Classic Live II’ were released in 1987 and 1988 and filled the gap before the all important second-life ‘second album’.  A strange compilation ‘Gems’ also followed in 1989, part Greatest Hits part old album tracks.

Pump in 1989 was probably the peak of the second-coming of Aerosmith. Hard Rock was big world wide in the days before ‘grunge’ erupted out of Seattle and Aerosmith were in the right place at the right time. Pump had the songs and the attitude and the airplay and sold in the millions. Aerosmith even ventured back to Europe where for the first time they had sell-out crowds. Aerosmith were big and now they were clean. They had three Top 10 and one Top 30 single from the album. Aerosmith also picked up their first Grammy.

 

HISTORY - THE 90s

Aerosmith welcomed the new decade in on the Pump Tour. As it wound up after 12 months on the road Aerosmith played their first ever shows in Australia then they took a well-earned break before embarking on recording their next album. In 1991 Aerosmith signed with Sony Music for what was reported to be over 30 million dollars even though the contract would not commence until 6 years later.

The break looked ill-timed as ‘grunge’ had already raised its ugly head and started to beat its flannel-shirted chest. ‘Get a Grip’ was released in 1993 it went on to sell 15 million copies worldwide despite the change in musical trends. It did it largely off the back of the three ballads: ‘Cryin’’, ‘Crazy’ and ‘Amazing’ which charted well in most markets, and an 18 month World Tour. Though the overuse of outside writers continued to upset some critics and older fans, the radio still loved Aerosmith and two Grammys followed.

‘Big Ones’ filled the Gap between ‘Get a Grip’ and the next studio album and wrapped up the best of the Geffen years, whilst adding three new tracks. In 1994 Aerosmith appeared at Woodstock ’94.   

‘Nine Lives’ was released in 1997. Rumours of another relapse into bad habits were rife. The band changed producers, sacked their manager and Sony rejected the demos for the album. Kramer then left the band for awhile which he expends upon in his biography “Hit Hard”. When the album finally arrived some felt that it had some great songs but ultimately it was failed by the production. It didn’t stack up sales-wise either.

‘A Little South of sanity’ a Greatest Hits Live package came in 1998. It is a bit of a mish-mash collated from dates on both the ‘Get a Grip’ and ‘Nine Lives tours’ and is perhaps better avoided. Sales were poor.

The Nine Lives Tour lasted two years and during that time, despite injuries for Tyler and a close call for Joey Kramer when his car caught fire at a gas station leaving him with second degree burns the band managed to chalk up another Grammy and achieve their only number one single to date in “I Don’t want to Miss a Thing” from the film ‘Armageddon’ which starred Live Tyler, Steven’s daughter. The song actually landed Aerosmith an Academy award nomination!

  

HISTORY - 2000 TO DATE

The band celebrated 2000 with the mini-tour of Japan they christened ‘The Dragon’s Roar’ and later that year they had a new song on the soundtrack for the first Charlie’s Angels film.

In January 2001 Aerosmith finished “Just Push Play” which Joey Kramer considers one of the bands best albums, but concedes that in his opinion it is somewhat let down by the production. They entertained the crowds at half time later in January at the Super Bowl. The album hit the stores in March that year.

The Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster – Aerosmith’s own theme park ride hit the Disney Parks on both sides of the Atlantic in 2001.

When 2002 came around the band were again on tour supporting ‘Just Push Play’. Another greatest hits package followed later in the year in the form of ‘Oh Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits’, which included a new single that spawned the next ‘Girls of Summer’ Tour. In 2003 the band took to the road again, this time with Kiss as co-headliners on the ‘Rocksimus Maximus Tour’.

The band had been promising to return to their blues roots for some time and ‘Honkin’ on Bobo’ in 2004 wasn’t quite what had been expected. Instead of a retro-themed glory days revival, ‘Bobo’ delivered a live feel and some great guitar but nothing to really set the world alight, with just one original song and no hit single to propel sales. Still in 2004 we got ‘You Gotta Move’ a cool live DVD culled from performances on the ‘Bobo’ tour.  

Tyler was cameoing in ‘Be Cool’ in 2005 and Perry released another studio album (to very mixed reviews) and a new Hot Sauce. ‘Rockin’ the Joint’ a dualdisc (CD & DVD) came out later that year and Aerosmith toured again. A planned tour in 2006 was cancelled when it was revealed that Steven Tyler needed throat surgery. 

2006 saw Tyler back and the band hit the road again, this time with Motley Crue in the ‘Route of All Evil’ tour. Tom Hamilton sat out most of the tour as he recovered from being treated for throat cancer. Dave Hull stood in on bass as he would again do in 2009. The tour wound up in December that year after yet another Greatest Hits package in ‘Devil’s Got a New Disguise’ which included a couple of outtakes that had been available on the internet unofficially for a number of years.

The 2007 ‘World Tour’ hit a number of markets that had been overlooked by the band for far too long, but again failed to land in Australia or New Zealand. It was the first time the band had ventured outside the US and Japan for over ten years. Tickets sold well and stadiums were packed. They took in India and the UAE for the first time before playing further dates back in the States. At the end of the year the band were back in the studio to start work on their last album for Sony records. The wait for that record looks like lasting through 2008 and 2009.

‘Guitar Hero: Aerosmith’ was launched in 2008 and the band kept talking about re-entering the studio. A tour in spring 2009 was touted to support the as-yet unfinished album but neither materialised. A warm-up dates in February 2009 in Venezuela fell by the wayside because of Joe Perry’s knee injury.

When the tour finally lurched into life in June 2009 it was without Brad Whitford who had injured himself getting out of his car. Tyler then promptly injured his leg after the seventh show and the next seven dates were postponed. As soon as he was back on board Hamilton took time off to recuperate after surgery, though Whitford returned. The band had announced that they would be playing the entire ‘Toys in the Attic’ album on the tour which had obviously created a lot of interest and sales. However whilst they started out by performing ‘all’ songs from Toys (They actually didn’t get round to playing ‘You See me Crying’) the plan was quickly canned after only seven shows allegedly because of the allegedly poor response. I was heart-broken by the time I saw them in Dallas knowing that a moment of Aero-history had passed me by. Aerosmith managed another seven dates before Tyler tumbled off stage and broke his collarbone at the Sturgis date. Due to those injuries the rest of the Tour was cancelled. Rumours, denied officially by the band, currently circulate that Mr Tyler has resorted back to his bad old ways and fallen off the wagon.

2009 also saw the release of Joey Kramer’s biography ‘Hit Hard’.

Digg

 

AEROSMITH FACT FILE

 

Formed: Boston MA 1970

Personnel: Steven Tyler (Vocals); Joe Perry (Guitar); Brad Whitford (Guitar)**; Joey Kramer (Drums); Tom Hamilton (Bass)*

* Dave Hull recently filled in for Tom on a number of dates on the 2009 Tour

** Bobby Schneck covered for Brad Whitford at the start of the 2009 Tour

Former Members: Ray Tabano (Guitar); Rick Dufay (Guitar); Jimmy Crespo (Guitar)

 

STUDIO ALBUMS

 

Title	US Release Date
Aerosmith	January 13 1973
Get Your Wings	March 1 1974
Toys in the Attic	April 8 1975
Rocks	May 3 1976
Draw the Line	December 1 1977
Night in the Ruts	November 1 1979
Rock in a Hard Place	August 1 1982
Done With Mirrors	November 9 1985
Permanent Vacation	September 5 1987
Pump	September 8 1989
Get a Grip	April 20 1993
Nine Lives	March 18 1997
Just Push Play	March 6 2001
Honkin’ on Bobo	March 30 2004

TOURS

 

Aerosmith notoriously found it ‘difficult’ to tour outside of the States, especially in their early years. Maybe they were simply making enough money packing out those State-side stadiums. Even second time around it took them a number of years before Europe re-emerged as a destination. If the Devil has all of the best music, then logically he must either live in the States or Japan!

 

Dates	Tour Name
1970 - 1972	Various Tours
1973	Aerosmith Tour
1974	Get Your Wings Tour
1975	Toys in the Attic Tour
1976 - 1977	Rocks Tour
1977 - 1978	Aerosmith Express Tour
1978	Live Bootleg Tour
1979 - 1980	Night in the Ruts Tour
1982 - 1983	Rock in a Hard Place Tour
1984	Back in the Saddle Tour
1985 - 1986	Done With Mirrors Tour
1987 - 1988	Permanent Vacation Tour
1989 - 1990	Pump Tour
1993 - 1994	Get a Grip Tour
1997 - 1999	Nine Lives Tour
1999 - 2000	Roar of the Dragon Tour
2001 - 2002	Just Push Play Tour
2002	Girls of Summer Tour
2003	Rocksimus Maximus Tour
2004	Honkin’ on Bobo Tour
2005 - 2006	Rockin’ the Joint Tour
2006	Route of All Evil Tour
2007	World Tour 2007
2009	Aerosmith / ZZ Top Tour

 

 

SO WHAT TO BUY?

 

Like any band of a certain age, those uninitiated into the world of Aerosmith should probably choose a Greatest Hits package to begin with. If you favour the ‘Bluesier and earthier’ sound then go for the earlier stuff. You can pick up the 1980 ‘Greatest Hits’ package really cheap these days. If you have a little more cash the Pandora’s Box compilation rules!  If you prefer the later, more commercial stuff then pick up a compilation that focuses on the Geffen and Sony Years.  

I personally would start my collection with: Rocks; Toys in the Attic; Pump; Get a Grip; Get Your Wings; Live Bootleg; Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts.     

  

ESSENTIAL READING

 

Joey Kramer: Hit Hard. Joey Kramer with William Patrick and Keith Garde. (2009)

Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith. Aerosmith with Steven Davis.(1997)

Aerosmith: What it Takes. Dave Bowler (1997)

The Fall and Rise of Aerosmith. Mark Putterford (1996)

© therockpit.net 2009