Aerosmith

Aerosmith, one of America’s most tenacious, iconic rock groups, originally formed in 1970, in Sunapee, N.H. M EMBERSHIP: Steve Tyler, lead voc. (b. Steve Tallarico, Yonkers, N.Y., March 26, 1948); Joe Perry, lead gtr. (b. Lawrence, Mass., Sept. 10, 1950); Brad Whitford, rhythm gtr. (b. Winchester, Mass., Feb. 23, 1952); Tom Hamilton, bs. (b. Colorado Springs, Colo., Dec. 31, 1951); Joey Kramer, drms. (b. June 21, 1950, N.Y.).

By the age of 19, Steve Tallarico had already worked with various bands and recorded for Verve Records with his own band, Chain Reaction. The group had toured as an opening act for The Byrds, The Beach Boys, and the Jimmy Page Yardbirds. He met guitarist Joe Perry in the summer of 1970 while working at the Tallarico family resort in Sunapee, N.H. Together with the bassist in Perry’s Jam Band, Tom Hamilton, they formed the nucleus of the band that would become Aerosmith. They recruited drummer Joey Kramer and guitarist Brad Whitford and started playing anywhere they could, including high schools and in front of the student union at Boston Univ. They all shared an apartment in Boston, practiced at the Fenway Theater, and played when they could, where they could, up and down the East Coast. About this time, Tallarico changed his last name to Tyler.

Columbia Records president Clive Davis caught their act at N.Y.‘s Max’s Kansas City and gave them a $125, 000 deal. They recorded their debut album in just two weeks. It came out early in 1973, and did very well in Boston, but the rest of the country didn’t know Aerosmith yet. The group set out to change that, hitting the road, opening for bands ranging from The Kinks to The Mahavishnu Orch. The single “Dream On” topped Mass, radio, but only rose as high as #59 on the national charts.

Aerosmith went into the Record Plant in N.Y. with producer Jack Douglas to make Get Your Wings . The album garnered them some attention, especially from Circus magazine. A cover of “Train Kept A-Rollin’” got enough play on rock radio to merit release as a single. Because of this and non- stop touring, by 1975 the album went gold.

The combination of rock radio play and incessant touring powered the band’s next record, Toys in the Attic, to #11. The single “Sweet Emotion” rose as high as #36. “Walk This Way,” “Big Ten Inch Record” and “You See Me Cryin’” also got significant play on rock radio. The venues and press coverage started to grow, and the band became headliners playing for 80, 000 at Pontiac Stadium outside of Detroit in 1976.

When the group released Rocks in 1976 it quickly went platinum and rose to #3. It eventually sold more than 3, 000, 000 copies. Creem readers voted it the #1 album and Aerosmith the #1 band. While Rocks didn’t generate any pop hits, Columbia re-released some earlier singles that they felt had not received a fair shake. The double-A-sided single of “Dream On”/”Sweet Emotion” hit #3, while “Walk This Way” reached #10. Once again, the band hit the road in a big way, touring 58 cities through America, then moving on to the Far East.

Aerosmith’s next album, Draw the Line, went platinum even faster, though it peaked at #11. The group did a cameo performance in the unsuccessful film version of Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; their version of “Come Together” nonetheless hit #23. The band undertook another two-year tour, recording dates for the Live! Bootleg album, released in 1978. That hit #13 just before Christmas.

The endless togetherness and the grind of the road took its toll on the band. Tyler and Perry’s propensity to party earned them the nickname the Toxic Twins. Heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and whatever else might be circulating backstage also circulated through their bloodstream. “I was a garbage head,” Tyler once commented.

Joe Perry left the band to form his Joe Perry Project shortly after Night in the Ruts was released. The album did relatively poorly, though it went gold and hit #14. Columbia, sensing that this might mark the end of the Aerosmith era, released a greatest hits record. This impression was further exacerbated when Brad Whitford left the band to record with Ted Nugent guitarist Derek St. Holmes. Then, Tyler had to take a year off to recover from a motorcycle accident.

Aerosmith’s next album, Rock in a Hard Place, with replacement guitarists Rick Dufay and Jimmy Crespo, faired poorly on the charts, topping out at #32. Joe Perry’s two follow-up records and the Whitford/St. Holmes record also turned out to be commercial failures. On Valentine’s Day 1984, Aerosmith reunited backstage at a gig in Boston. Within two months, they signed with newly formed Geffen Records and hit the road. In the interim, however, their substance-abuse problems only got worse. At one show in Springfield, Tyler passed out and fell off the stage about 30 minutes into the set. Their Geffen debut, Done with Mirrors, continued their losing streak, topping out at #36. Pop music seemed to have left them behind.

But it wouldn’t be long before Aerosmith was back with a vengeance. After the tour, the entire band went into rehab. As they collectively kicked their abuse problems, a remarkable thing happened. One of the new sounds of pop, rap music, which had used hard-rock riffs since its beginning, would now fuel a full- fledged Aersosmith comeback. One of the most successful rap groups, Run-DMC, asked Perry and Tyler to record a rap version of “Walk This Way” with them. The single burned up the charts, going gold and rising to #4. Capitalizing on this success, Aerosmith put out Permanent Vacation, which went triple-platinum and topped out at #11, spawning three hit singles: “Rag Doll,” which rose to #17; “Dude Looks Like a Lady,” which won two MTV Music Awards and charted to #14; and the #3 single “Angel.” Aerosmith was back with a vengeance.

Their next album was even more successful. Pump rose to #5 and eventually sold seven million copies with the hits “Love in an Elevator” (#5), “Janie’s Got a Gun” (#4, a Grammy and two MTV Awards), “The Other Side” (#22 and an MTV Award), and “What It Takes” (#9).

Get a Grip solidified their standing. The album topped the charts and produced the singles “Livin’ on the Edge” (#18, an MTV Award and a Grammy for Best Performance by a Duo or Group), “Cryin’” (#12, voted the all-time favorite video on MTV, and the following year’s Grammy winner for Best Performance by a Duo or Group), “Amazing” (#24), and “Crazy” (#17).

In the meantime, their old label, Columbia, actively pursued the group and signed them to a massive contract. They immediately released a three-record, best-of compilation called Pandora’s Box, and packaged all 12 of the group’s releases for Columbia as Box of Fire . Their first new album for Columbia, Nine Lives, entered the charts at #1, and won the 1998 Grammy for Best Rock Album. Trying to cash-in on the band’s resurgence, Geffen put out A Little South of Sanity, a two-disc live retrospective of the band’s years of resurrection on that label.

Taking advantage of Aerosmith’s popularity, the makers of the film Armageddon (which starred Tyler’s daughter, Liv) got them off the road just long enough to record the Dianne Warren-penned lead track for the film, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing/’ The song topped the charts, as did the soundtrack album, which featured three other Aerosmith tunes. Once again they hit the road, taking time off to return a favor by recording a tune for Run-DMC’s comeback album.