I can’t even count the number of times I’ve posted up some Aerosmith and tried to qualify the post by saying something like, “Well, back when they were good...”
Despite all qualifications, I happened recently to run up on some newer Aerosmith that’s pretty good. So I think I’ve found the problem: They need to cut out the shit in the studio. I found a couple of disks of demos and damned if even the crap songs from the later albums sound decent when they’re unadorned by studio fluffery. Prime example: “Living on the Edge,” which was, in my opinion, a typical late model, Aerosmith pop song. The demo shows the song stripped down and raw, before Bruce Fairburn glossed it up and turned it into mainstream mediocrity.
This collection, which was probably assembled by a fan, is titled Divers Aerosmith. I don’t know if that’s meant to be “Diver’s” or “Diverse.” Regardless, the original set had 32 songs, some of which had been released commercially, some of which had poor sound quality, and some of which just sucked (i.e. an orchestral version of “Crazy”). I trimmed the fat and ended up with 11 songs that I think are pretty quality. With the exception of “Mama Kin” and “Walk This Way,” everything comes from Permanent Vacation or newer. And, to the best of my knowledge, nothing here has been commercially released.
Bottom line: Here’s yet another Aerosmith post. You know we're all still fans.
The gossip around the Internet is that Steven Tyler is leaving Aerosmith. That move, which would for all intents and purposes break up the legendary band, seemed to be confirmed in an interview Joe Perry gave the Las Vegas Sun newspaper.
“Steven quit as far as I can tell,” Perry told the paper in an interview published Friday. “I don’t know anymore than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don’t know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don’t know.”
Most of Aerosmith’s recent world tour was canceled in August after Tyler fell from the stage at a Sturgis, S.D., concert and broke his shoulder. The band members were unhappy with Tyler over the incident. However, Aerosmith salvaged the final leg of the tour, including two shows in Hawaii and one at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before more than 50,000 fans.
Perry told the Sun he hopes to keep Aerosmith together, with or without Tyler, but he was so stunned by recent developments he doesn’t know what’s going to happen.
Meanwhile, talk on the AeroForceOne message boards was mostly about Tyler’s selfishness and the idea that “he's not Rod Stewart that split from the Faces while still in his 30's and had a whole career ahead of him.”
There’s no confirmation or denial from Steven Tyler at this point, other than a statement he made in an interview with Classic Rock magazine regarding his future plans: “It's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler, working on the brand of myself — Brand Tyler.”
In my opinion, Aerosmith is past their prime and would do well to call it a day. They haven’t been able to keep it together like the Stones have and they haven’t been able to consistently turn out rock music on a par with their earlier successes. The slick pop of albums like Just Push Play is an embarrassment to the band and to those of us who used to be fans.
Here are a couple of things from the 1991 Pandora’s Box compilation.
It’s been a couple of years ago that I posted about the Joe Perry Project, Joe’s ill-fated band during his early 80’s hiatus from Aerosmith. Despite releasing three albums that, in my opinion can stand against most Aerosmith releases, the JPP never got beyond cult status. By the mid-80’s, as we know, Joe was back in the Aerosmith fold.
Not long ago, I found a JPP live recording, taken from a show in Joe’s hometown of Boston. Although the date on the file puts this show in April 1982, based on the band line-up and the set list, it was likely a late 1983 show. In an interview before the show, Joe says the band members are singer Cowboy Mach Bell, bassist Danny Hargrove and drummer Joe Pet. Brad Whitford, who didn’t start appearing with the them until 1983, also joins the Project onstage.
In a 2000 interview with the Website d-filed.com, Mach Bell looked back on his tenure with “one of the most famous guitar players in the business.” “Joe took us on the road – and I mean road – no more Lear jets and pampering lackeys,” Bell said. “Our crew hoisted the Jolly Roger and crisscrossed the continent in rental cars and vans. We ate together at Denny’s and slept in the Motel 6 ... and had more fun than I thought was humanly possible.”
This show was probably one of the Joe Perry Project’s last, and they sound musically tight, despite the wear and tear. But there’s also the feeling that, despite it being a Boston show, the band is simply going through the motions. I’ve heard recordings of Aerosmith in Boston and the band always seemed a lot more up for the home crowd. I think that by this point in the JPP story, things were close to an end and maybe Joe felt that, despite his talk of a fourth album and further tours.
The other day, while searching through eMusic for a couple of songs, I stumbled across a bunch of compilation disks. These disks all have names like those old KTEL releases – things like Trailer Park Hits and Monster Mullet Rock. If I saw these in the cut-out bin (do they still have those?) I probably wouldn’t even give them a second glance.
As I skimmed the song titles, though, I saw these disks were filled with cover versions I’d never heard: Roger Daltrey and Slash doing “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Ted Nugent playing “Rag Doll.”
I’ve ‘fessed up before that I love to hear a good cover of a good song. Rarely can a cover surpass the original, but it’s almost always interesting to hear a musician stamp a song with their own style. Case in point: Faster Pussycat. I’m not going to even get into their whole evolution from Motley Crue wanna-be’s to Marilyn Manson wanna-be’s, but did you ever think you’d hear an industrial version of “Misty Mountain Hop”? Also, check out Yngwie Malmsteen’s take on “Dream On.” Whoever’s singing is no Steven Tyler, but Yngwie just shreds the song. Joe who?
If you haven’t done so already, you need to check out eMusic. For a fair price, they have become my number one source for independent, DRM-free music. ~~~~~ (Picture Note: The pic is of Gen, singer and founding member of the Genitorturers, from the band's MySpace)
I’m waiting to hear what the president has to say about why I don’t have any money. Somehow I don’t think he’s going to give me a raise, but you never know. The talking heads at CNN have set expectations so high for this speech that anything short of an immediate economic 180 will be a deemed a failure.
While I am waiting, I thought there’d be no better way to pass the time than to listen to some 70’s guitar rock. Specifically, some Pat Travers-style 70’s guitar rock.
Pat Travers is one of those guitar cult heroes. With the exception of a couple of late 70’s singles, he never seemed to really hit it as big as he could have. Travers is a fantastic blues rock guitar player, heavily influenced by the likes of Hendrix and Jeff Beck. His 1979 live album, Live! Go For What You Know, was my introduction to the Pat Travers band. This album and the band’s follow-up, Crash and Burn, both recorded with band members Pat Thrall, Tommy Aldridge, and “Mars” Cowling, are probably Traver’s best releases.
Following those two albums, Travers was on the cusp of stardom when both Thrall and Aldridge left the band to pursue other projects. Then, in 1981, Travers released Radio Active, which was more keyboard-oriented than his previous efforts, serving to alienate his new fans and getting him dumped from his record label.
Travers battled through the 1980s and 90s, returning to small club shows but still recording and releasing albums through small, independent labels. He’s still recording and playing live, and is now – almost ironically, it seems – considered one of rock’s most influential guitarists.
So, as the president prepares to take the podium, if you get tired of listening to him, turn the sound down and check out some classic Pat Travers. You can always catch the highlights later.
I was looking through the music files last night (for Christmas music...) when I came across this live Aerosmith recording I obtained a while back. Since it was recorded just a few days before Christmas, it seems appropriate for this time of year.
I know I preface every Aerosmith post with a bitch about how they aren’t as good as they used to be, so I’ll skip that this time. You’re welcome. But I’m skipping it with reason. This recording, which comes from 1994, sounds like a band at their peak. Aerosmith perform a lot of classics, and dammit if the music doesn’t sound as good – if not better – than anything on Live Bootleg. The band is loose and having fun playing their hometown, and it shows. How often do you get a chance to hear Joe Perry improvise a Christmas song?
The recording comes – I believe – from an FM broadcast, so the sound quality is pretty decent. This show was the last on Aerosmith’s 18-month Get A Grip tour, and took place in the band’s hometown of Boston, Mass., on Dec. 19, 1994. This was also the band’s first appearance at the Mama Kin Music Hall, a club they had a part ownership stake in. (Aerosmith dissociated themselves from the club and sold their share in 1999. Mama Kin Music Hall has since changed its name.)
This post comes from the files of my love/hate relationship with Aerosmith. They’ve disappointed me so much in recent years that I can’t really consider myself a fan any more. But back in the old days? Now that’s a whole ‘nother story.
I’ve got a couple of stray tracks today from “The Other Side” single. “The Other Side” was released in 1990 as the fourth single from Aerosmith’s 1989 album Pump.
My disk says “Made in Germany” on it, so I probably picked it up as an import somewhere. The only difference from the US release is mine is lacking the LP version of “The Other Side.” Instead it has only the “Extended Club Mix,” and “The Honky Tonk Version,” along with the two other tracks, “My Girl” and “Theme from Wayne’s World.”
So let’s talk about the “Theme from Wayne’s World.” In February 1990, Aerosmith was the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Tom Hanks. During the “Wayne’s World” sketch Garth gets his cousin Barry (Tom Hanks), a roadie for Aerosmith, to talk the band into appearing on “Wayne’s World” to help publicize the band’s upcoming show. In return Wayne and Garth agree to put Barry on the air. Aerosmith makes an appearance and...
Wayne: Okay, we're just about out of time, right? But it's always been my fantasy to play with you guys. And I was wondering if you wouldn't mind singing the “Wayne's World” theme with me?
Through the 1970s, Aerosmith was absolutely one of my favorite bands. There was no doubt in my mind that they were, as they were then known, America’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band. It was not with open arms, then, that I welcomed first the Jimmy Crespo era, then the pop hits, and then the power ballads that seem to have become Aerosmith’s mainstay. Finally, the biggest blasphemy of all, the Super Bowl XXXV half time show. I put all my Aerosmith records away after that and it was a long time before I could even bear to look them. My only thought was that if this is the sort of crap Aerosmith now called music, someone give the Toxic Twins a bump. I wanted to hear them rock.
I’m still waiting. With every new album, it seems Joe Perry is promising they’re getting back to their roots, only to disappoint me with a disk three-quarters full of bubble gum. Honestly, I think the last complete Aerosmith album I bought was PUMP. Thanks to iTunes, I can do as the record industry fears and buy only a couple of songs instead of a complete album.
But enough about the Aerosmith that -- for the most part -- sucks. The 70s were when the band ruled. And that era is the one covered by the three-disk set Pandora’s Box. Released in 1991, the collection features alternate versions, unreleased songs, live renditions, and remixes, as well as touching on the various members’ solo efforts.
There’s a booklet with the set that tells the by-now-pretty-well-known Aerosmith story. I won’t go into all that. If you need a little brush up on your Aerosmith history and haven’t read “Walk This Way” (Avon Books, $25.00), I’ll suggest you do. Otherwise, of interest in the accompanying booklet are band members' comments and memories (or sometimes lack thereof) about the individual songs.
When I Needed You.mp3 Steven Tyler, pre-Aerosmith, with the band Chain Reaction, 1966. “I can’t ever forget how excited I was about being in an actual recording band. It was a total dream come true. The other side of it is that it’s a pretty lame song.” -Steven Tyler
Movin’ Out.mp3 Unreleased alternate version from the Aerosmith sessions, 1972. “We wrote that song sitting on Mark Lehman’s waterbed at 1325 (Commonwealth Avenue).” -Joe Perry “It was the first song we ever wrote together.” -Steven Tyler
On the Road Again.mp3 Unreleased song from the Aerosmith sessions, 1972. “This was one of the first songs that we learned. We played it at clubs and high school dances, and other than that, I have no recollection of the recording of it. Needless to say where I was at the time.” -Joey Kramer
Lord of the Thighs (live).mp3 Unreleased live version from “Texxas Jam”: Cottonbowl, Dallas, TX, 1978. “This song was ahead of its time. It sounds as good to me now as it did then, if not better.” -Joe Perry “Was I the Lord of the Thighs? Fuck yeah.” -Steven Tyler
I Wanna Know Why (live).mp3 Unreleased live version from “Texxas Jam”: Cottonbowl, Dallas, TX, 1978. “We were going down to the wire on Draw the Line and a lot of stuff was coming down on Steven. I always thought this song was Steven’s reaction to all the shit he was getting into at the time.” -Tom Hamilton
All Your Love.mp3 Unreleased song recorded at The Cenacle, Armonk, NY, 1977. “We weren’t into covering like the hits of the day - we were just choosing songs the songs that we loved. That’s just a typical electric blues sort of thing from the Sixties. We were formulating our style by who we covered.” -Tom Hamilton
Downtown Charlie.mp3 Unreleased song recorded at Record Plant Studios, NYC, 1979. “’Downtown Charlie’ just sounds like one of our drunken jams.” -Joe Perry
Sharpshooter.mp3 From the album Whitford/St. Holmes , 1980-81. “’Sharpshooter’ was one of the first songs Derek and I came up with. I actually wrote it while I was still with Aerosmith, but we never did anything with it. When I got together with Derek, we put it together in about a half hour.” -Brad Whitford
Jailbait.mp3 From the album Rock In A Hard Place 1982. “Even though I wasn’t around for that song, I think it’s pretty hot. I would have done it a little differently, but if anything I’m a little jealous that I didn’t play on it.” -Joe Perry
Chip Away the Stone.mp3 Unreleased alternate version recorded at Long View Farms, Mass., 1978. “It’s a Richie Supa song that we always thought was going to be a single. It’s sort of a pet song, but the public never seemed to like it quite as much as we did.” -Tom Hamilton
Helter Skelter.mp3 Unreleased song recorded at Great Northern Studios, 1975 “I don’t remember much about this one, but it certainly sounds pretty cool.” -Tom Hamilton
As a sort of afterthought, I don’t mean to be so flip about Aerosmith’s drug use and subsequent recovery. As any former alcoholic or drug addict will tell you, every day is a struggle. When I was putting this post together and looking for pictures of 1970s-era Aerosmith, I was shocked how horrible the band members, particularly Steven Tyler, looked. I’m glad they’re clean and still alive, I just wish they still played music like they did when they were wasted.
Despite all qualifications, I happened recently to run up on some newer Aerosmith that’s pretty good. So I think I’ve found the problem: They need to cut out the shit in the studio. I found a couple of disks of demos and damned if even the crap songs from the later albums sound decent when they’re unadorned by studio fluffery. Prime example: “Living on the Edge,” which was, in my opinion, a typical late model, Aerosmith pop song. The demo shows the song stripped down and raw, before Bruce Fairburn glossed it up and turned it into mainstream mediocrity. 
