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.
