Aerosmith Fan Club

In 1979, Aerosmith recorded Night in the Ruts. Shortly after recording this album, Joe Perry left the band and formed ‘The Joe Perry Project’.

When Joe Perry left Aerosmith, the album “Night in the Ruts” fell off the charts.  The album would only produce one single to hit the charts, and that was a cover of “The Shangri-Las” Remember (Walking in the sand), which only reached #67 on the charts. Although this album was a disappointment to it’s fans when released, it did eventually go platinum several years later.

Joe Perry was replaced by Richard Supa, and then by Jimmy Crespo, formerly of the band “Flame”

During this time, Aerosmith continued to tour with new band member Jimmy Crespo, but the bands popularity began to slip.  A combination of drug induced antics, and what their fans felt was less than Aerosmith music left the band in an era of turmoil.

In early 1980, Steven Tyler collapsed on stage in Portland Maine.  In the fall of that same year, Steven Tyler had a serious motorcycle accident which left him in  hospital for two months.  Steven’s accident kept him out of the studio until 1981 was well underway.

1980 wasn’t all bad for Aerosmith however.  It was during this year that Aerosmith released their Greatest Hits album which went on to become the band’s best selling album of all time, with over 11 million copies sold.

In 1981, Aerosmith again was in turmoil after Brad Whitford decided to also leave the band.  He was replaced by Rick Dufay.  After the departure of Whitford, Aerosmith recorded “Rock in a Hard Place” in 1982.  The album however, failed to produce a major hit single and was considered a complete bust.  By this time, many Aerosmith fans ceased to exist, but Aerosmith continued to tour in support of the album.  During this tour, Steven Tyler once again collapsed while on stage after reportedly doing drugs backstage with former band member, Joe Perry.

In February of 1984, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford were present for one of Aeorsmith’s concerts.  The band members got together after the concert, and two months later, Perry and Whitford were officially welcomed back to Aerosmith.  Steven Tyler was quoted as saying that “You should have felt the buzz the moment all five of us got together in the same room for the first time again. We all started laughin’—it was like the five years had never passed. We knew we’d made the right move.”

Next Post:  Getting Clean

In 1969, Yonkers New York native, Steven Tyler was vacationing in Sunapee, New Hampshire.  There, he met a dishwasher at the Anchorage in Sunapee Harbor by the name of Joe Perry, who at the time,  was playing in a band called the Jam Band with bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer, David Scott. Steven Tyler who was a drummer/vocalist in many unsuccessful bands such as The Chain, Fox Chase and William Proud, hit it off with Joe Perry and soon after their first meeting in New Hampshire, Aerosmith was born.

In September of 1970, Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where  they met up with another Yonkers native who was an acquaintance and admirer of Steven Tyler, Joey Kramer.

Joey Kramer was studying music at Berklee College of Music at the time, but decided to quit his studies and solely focus on his impending music career.  One month later, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer got together with Steven Tyler, and Aerosmith was born.

Joey Kramer suggested the name Aerosmith for the band because it was a name that he had continuously written in his notebooks while in high School.  The name was not a hit with  the rest of the band members  at first because it reminded them of the book Arrowsmith which they were forced to read in high school.  Joey Kramer told them that it would be spelled AEROSMITH, not Arrowsmith.  The band members all agreed on the name Aerosmith, and the group began making plans for their music careers.

Soon after the foursome branded their band Aerosmith, they added another member to the group.  Ray Tabano was a childhood friend of Steven Tyler and guitar player.  He played rhythm guitar.

Aerosmith began playing local gigs in 1971, but Ray Tabano did not fit into the band and was replaced by another Berklee School of Music student, Brad Whitford.

Shortly after Aerosmith began playing local shows in Boston, a following began to occur.  In  1972 Aerosmith’s big break came by the way of a record deal.  They were signed by Columbia Records, and thus began their journey into the music world.

In 1973, Aerosmith released their first debut album called, Aerosmith, but it wasn’t until 1975 that Aerosmith broke into the mainstream music scene, with their Toys in the Attic album.  They followed with another successful album in 1976 called Rocks.  Rocks was extremely successful and Aerosmith were branded as the Superstars of hard rock.

In just a few years, Aerosmith went from complete obscurity, to becoming one of the best and most recognized hard rock bands in the world.

Their fame and fortune also brought an array of problems with drug addiction which led to the departure of Joe Perry in 1979 and Whitford in 1981.  The pair were replaced by Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay.  The band wasn’t the same however, and Aerosmith would only release one album during the period of 1980 to 1984.  Rock in a Hard Place went gold but did not equal the success of Aerosmith’s previous albums.

In 1984, Joe Perry and Whitford rejoined Aerosmith who signed on with Geffen Records.  Although a new label signaled a new beginning, it wasn’t until 1987, after the band had become sober, that they once again reached star status.

In 1987, Aerosmith released their album, Permanent Vacation which was a huge hit.  They followed with another successful album named Pump in 1989.  In 1993, Aerosmith released Get a Grip which was a huge success.

The Band has been together for 39 years and are still going strong.