Clarence Yu

If you’ve ever listened to the funky groove of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” or the powerful percussion of “Sweet Emotion,” then you’ve heard Joey Kramer.  Aerosmith’s legendary drummer has been with the Boston Bad Boys for the past 39 years since their inception in early 1970.

Though you’ve heard Joey Kramer play, you might not have heard him as much as the Toxic Twins Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.  Being a member of the “Lesser Known Three” with guitarist Brad Whitford and bassist Tom Hamilton, Joey has always let his musicality do the talking.  

Now, Kramer has decided to tell his own story in his new book, Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top. In the book, Joey reveals his own personal battles with drugs and alcohol, and how he kicked his addictions, only to find out that he had many more battles to fight.  Most interesting is the little known (to casual Aerosmith fans) story of Joey’s bout with depression and anxiety, most notable during the death of his father in 1997 when Aerosmith was recording their Nine Lives album.  Caught up in a nervous breakdown, Joey had to take a break during the recording, forcing the band to hire session drummer Steve Ferrone to play on the demos.  Joey eventually recovered to record the album and tour again with Aerosmith.

“Not long after I had my breakdown, I was back on the Rock and Roll trail again,” Kramer states.  “And during an interview, I chose to be forthcoming on my battle with depression and anxiety. Shortly thereafter, there was an overwhelming response from people thanking me.  And if my story can help even one person, then the four years I’ve spent writing this book was well worth the effort.”

More than just a rock and roll memoir, Kramer says that Hit Hard is a book about “life, about hitting rock bottom while my band was on the top of the world.”  Hit Hard went on sale last June 30.  
 
 
 

By Clarence Yu

AS reported on Rolling Stone Magazine, the long-awaited new album from Aerosmith has been delayed yet again. The band is citing several “health problems” as the reason for this delay.

In lieu of releasing the new album, the Bad Boys from Boston are gearing up for a US summer tour with fellow veteran rockers ZZ Top, after which the band will either resume production or release the album.

Hardcore Aerosmith fans might be disappointed at these turn of events, as the band has not released a full album of new material since 2001’s Just Push Play. However, they may be in for a treat, as the prospect of seeing them co-headline with the great ZZ Top is quite exciting. Both bands straddle the same rock/bluesy genre, and have always been respected for both their image and their musical output and creativity.

Similarly, both rock bands have touched on the disco/rap genre, with “Legs” from ZZ Top and “Walk This Way” from Aerosmith scoring big on the contemporary scene. Wouldn’t it be great to see both bands on stage jamming both songs as an encore? One can only hope.

The good news is that Aerosmith is still keeping Brendan O’ Brien on board for producing duties. O’ Brien has proven to be the en vogue rock producer of the moment, and it’s not just a fad: he’s worked his way up the hard way, producing Pearl Jam in the 90’s and serving as engineer on several landmark records such as, coincidentally, Aerosmith’s 1994 release Get A Grip. Currently, his work on AC/DC’s Black Ice and Bruce Springsteen’s Working On A Dream has reinvigorated both artists and have put them back on top at the cream of the crop.

It almost seems that O’ Brien has somehow replaced the late, great Bruce Fairbairn as THE eminent rock producer (Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Aerosmith).

At any rate, whenever Aerosmith releases the new album, it should be worth the wait, and should usher in a new era in the band’s long and storied career. Eight years without any new release is the longest dormant time that Aerosmith has ever had now.

By Clarence Yu

AEROSMITH’S Joe Perry pays homage to his idol Chuck Berry with his own recording of “Run Rudolph Run,” and it’s about time.

According to Aerosmith’s official fan website, AeroForceOne, “Joe has always loved Chuck Berry’s and Keith Richards’ version of this song and has wanted to record it for years now. He also wants to share it with all the fans right here at AF1.”

A diverse list of artists who have covered the song include Bryan Adams, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Grateful Dead and Billy Idol, a testament to the long lasting recognition of the song first made popular by Chuck Berry in 1958.

Perry is reputed to be an ardent admirer of Berry, and it shows in his previous guitar work on songs like “My Girl” off Aerosmith’s Pump (1990) and the axeman often employs Berry’s trademark double-stop licks on his own guitar solos.

The recording, available for free download at AeroForceOne, follows the tradition of a swinging, rockabilly beat as previously recorded by Keith Richards. Perry’s voice is ice cool in its lack of emotion, and it is obvious that the recording was engineered to sound like a classic ‘50’s rock and roll song: high on the reverb, with a lot of bar chords, heavy on the crash drum cymbal, with bits of piano flourishes.

Perry adds his own mark on the song with his signature buzz sounding solos throughout the song. An accompanying video recorded for the song can be viewed at YouTube.

While the song may only be of interest to die-hard Perry and Aerosmith fans, much can be said about Perry’s gesture of making the song free for download. The legendary guitarist has nothing more to prove, and in making this his gift to his fans, it shows a tender side of Perry that he rarely reveals in the rock arena. It can be viewed then as a simple gift from a human being using his God-given talent. Which is, in essence, part of the true spirit of Christmas. Download it now.

By Clarence Yu

APPARENTLY, gaming company Activision’s collaboration with rock legends Aerosmith has paid off handsomely for both parties. As reported on the Gamasutra website, the sales to date of the game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, has netted the band more revenue than any one of its album releases.

In my opinion, the success of the Guitar Hero franchise is dependent on two things: artist name association and the technology employed to make the game highly entertaining to gamers. I am a big Aerosmith fan, but not into gaming myself — thus, I was never attracted that much to consider buying the game.

Of course, there are many exceptions to my theory. I’m pretty sure that a lot of gamers who weren’t familiar with Aerosmith bought the game: some were probably intrigued, some had nothing better to do with their money and most were probably challenged by the game. Good for them. They get to enjoy themselves, while learning the music of one of the best rock bands of all time.

How does this bode for the music industry in general? For one thing, I’m pretty sure that most big name bands will start to fall in line for their share of the revenue pie. Van Halen and Metallica are examples of the next bands to be featured on the franchise. Big money is in store for both the bands and Activision. But to boast of Guitar Hero’s “music selling power” is a bit of a stretch; by reversing the logic, you can say that Aerosmith enabled Activision’s “video game selling power.”

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