Aerosmith Biography
Aerosmith was one of the most popular hard rock bands of
the '70s, setting the style and sound of hard rock and heavy metal for the next
two decades with their raunchy, bluesy swagger. The Boston-based quintet found
the middle ground between the menace of the Rolling Stones and the campy, sleazy
flamboyance of the New York Dolls, developing a lean, dirty riff-oriented boogie
that was loose and swinging and as hard as a diamond.
In the meantime, they developed a prototype for power
ballads with "Dream On," a piano ballad that was orchestrated with
strings and distorted guitars. Aerosmith's ability to pull off both ballads and
rock & roll made them extremely popular during the mid-'70s, when they had a
string of gold and platinum albums. By the early '80s, the group's audience had
declined as the band fell prey to drug and alcohol abuse. However, their career
was far from over -- in the late '80s, Aerosmith pulled off one of the most
remarkable comebacks in rock history, returning to the top of the charts with a
group of albums that equalled, if not surpassed, the popularity of their '70s
albums.
In 1970, the first incarnation of Aerosmith formed when
vocalist Steven
Tyler met guitarist Joe
Perry while working at a Sunapee, NH, ice-cream parlor. Tyler,
who originally was a drummer, and Perry
decided to form a power trio with bassist Tom
Hamilton. The group soon expanded to a quartet, adding a second guitarist
called Ray
Tabano; he was quickly replaced by Brad
Whitford, a former member of Earth Inc. With the addition of drummer Joey
Kramer, Tyler
became the full-time lead singer by the end of year. Aerosmith relocated to
Boston at the end of 1970.
After playing clubs in the Massachusetts and New York
areas for two years, the group landed a record contract with Columbia Records in
1972. Aerosmith's self-titled debut album was released in the fall of 1973,
climbing to number 166. "Dream On" was released as the first single
and it was a minor hit, reaching number 59. For the next year, the band built a
fan base by touring America, supporting groups as diverse as the Kinks, Mahavishnu
Orchestra, Sha
Na Na, and Mott the Hoople. The performance of Get
Your Wings (1974), the group's second album and the first produced by Jack
Douglas, benefited from their constant touring, spending a total of 86 weeks
on the chart.
Aerosmith's third record, 1975's Toys in the Attic, was
their breakthrough album both commercially and artistically. By the time it was
recorded, the band's sound had developed into a sleek, hard-driving hard rock
powered by simple, almost brutal, blues-based riffs. Many critics at the time
labeled the group as punk rockers, and it's easy to see why -- instead of
adhering to the world-music pretentions of Led
Zeppelin or the prolonged gloomy mysticism of Black
Sabbath, Aerosmith stripped heavy metal to its basic core, spitting out
spare riffs that not only rocked, but rolled. Steven
Tyler's lyrics were filled with double entendres and clever jokes and the
entire band had a streetwise charisma that separated them from the heavy,
lumbering arena rockers of the era. Toys in the Attic captured the essence of
the newly invigorated Aerosmith. "Sweet Emotion," the first single
from Toys in the Attic, broke into the Top 40 in the summer of 1975, with the
album reaching number 11 shortly afterward. Its success prompted the re-release
of the power ballad "Dream On," which shot into the Top Ten in early
1976. Both Aerosmith and Get
Your Wings climbed back up the charts in the wake of Toys in the Attic.
"Walk This Way," the final single from Toys in the Attic, was released
around the time of the group's new 1976 album, Rocks.
Although it didn't feature a Top Ten hit like "Walk This Way," Rocks
went platinum quickly, peaking at number three.
In early 1977, Aerosmith took a break and prepared
material for their fifth album. Released late in 1977, Draw the Line was another
hit, climbing to number 11 on the U.S. charts, but it showed signs of
exhaustion. In addition to another tour in 1978, the band appeared in the movie Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, performing "Come Together,"
which eventually became a number 23 hit. Live!
Bootleg appeared late in 1978 and became another success, reaching number
13. Aerosmith recorded Night in the Ruts in 1979, releasing the record at the
end of the year. By the time of its release, Joe
Perry had left the band to form the Joe Perry Project. Night in the Ruts
performed respectably, climbing to number 14 and going gold, yet it was the
least successful Aerosmith record to date. Brad
Whitford left the group in early 1980, forming the Whitsford-St. Holmes Band
with former Ted
Nugent guitarist Derek
St. Holmes.
As Aerosmith regrouped with new guitarists Jimmy
Crespo and Rick
Dufay, the band released Aerosmith's
Greatest Hits in late 1980; the record would eventually sell over six
million copies. The new lineup of Aerosmith released Rock in a Hard Place in
1982. Peaking at number 32, it failed to match the performance of Night in the
Ruts. Perry
and Whitford
returned to the band in 1984 and the group began a reunion tour dubbed Back in
the Saddle. Early in the tour, Tyler
collapsed on stage, offering proof that the band hadn't conquered their
notorious drug and alcohol addictions. The following year, Aerosmith released
Done with Mirrors, the original lineup's first record since 1979 and their first
for Geffen Records. Although it didn't perform as well as Rock in a Hard Place,
the album showed that the band was revitalized.
After the release of Done with Mirrors, Tyler
and Perry
completed rehabilitation programs. In 1986, the pair appeared on Run D.M.C.'s
cover of "Walk This Way," along with appearing in the video.
"Walk This Way" became a hit, reaching number four and receiving
saturation airplay on MTV. "Walk This Way" set the stage for the
band's full-scale comeback effort, the Bruce
Fairburn-produced Permanent
Vacation (1987). Tyler
and Perry
collaborated with professional hard rock songwriters like Holly
Knight and Desmond
Child, resulting in the hits "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)," "Rag
Doll" and "Angel." Permanent
Vacation peaked at number 11 and sold over three million copies.
Pump,
released in 1989, continued the band's winning streak, reaching number five,
selling over four million copies, and spawning the Top Ten singles "Love in
an Elevator," "Janie's Got a Gun," and "What It Takes."
Aerosmith released Get a Grip in 1993. Like Permanent
Vacation and Pump,
Get a Grip was produced by Bruce
Fairburn and featured significant contributions by professional songwriters.
The album was as successful as the band's previous two records, featuring the
hit singles "Livin' on the Edge," "Cryin'," and
"Amazing." In 1994, Aerosmith released Big
Ones, a compilation of hits from their Geffen years which fulfilled their
contract with the label; it went double platinum shortly after its release.
While Aerosmith was at the height of its revitalized
popularity in the early '90s, the group signed a lucrative multi-million dollar
contract with Columbia Records, even though they still owed Geffen two albums.
It wasn't until 1995 that the band was able to begin working on their first
record under the new contract -- nearly five years after the contract was
signed. The making of Aerosmith albums usually had been difficult affairs, but
the recording of Nine
Lives was plagued with bad luck. The band went through a number of producers
and songwriters before settling on Kevin
Shirley in 1996. More damaging, however, was the dismissal of the band's
manager Tim Collins, who had been responsible for bringing the band from the
brink of addiction. Upon his firing, Collins insinuated that Steven
Tyler was using hard drugs again, an allegation that Aerosmith adamantly
denied. Under such circumstances, recording became quite difficult, and when Nine
Lives finally appeared in the spring of 1997, it was greeted with great
anticipation, yet the initial reviews were mixed and even though album debuted
at number one, it quickly fell down the charts. The live A Little South of
Sanity followed in 1998. Three years later, Aerosmith strutted their stuff on
the halftime special on CBS with the likes of Mary
J. Blige, Nelly,
N Sync, and Britney
Spears, just prior to issuing their heart stomping Just
Push Play in March 2001. Next up for the band was a blues album, Honkin' on
Bobo, released in 2004. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide