Read Online Steven Tyler: The Biography by Laura Jackson - Free Book Online
Authors: Laura Jackson
Ads: Link
overcame this wobble and looked forward to returning to live performance, again on support duty; this time they were backing the British band, Mott the Hoople.
Fronted by Ian Hunter, and with singles ‘All the Young Dudes’ and ‘All the Way from Memphis’ to their credit, Mott the Hoople was making an impact that autumn on US audiences. Aerosmith hitched their trailer to this wagon in October, garnering much-needed experience in playing large coliseums and auditoriums. At first, Hoople was happy that the warm-up act was so effective in building the atmosphere, but before long awareness dawned of just how avidly the crowds were reacting to the scantily clad, snake-hipped singer with outrageously overt sex appeal. For Steven, however, this tour established the point at which he could put even fleeting doubts aside. Near nightly, to his immense satisfaction, he watched overwrought teenagers leaping barriers and scrambling to climb on stage, making a grab at his legs. In December, when Aerosmith played at the renowned Whisky A Go-Go club on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, Tyler’s on-stage charisma reaped rave reviews, helping to elevate the band to a new level.
It was with a spring in their step, then, that towards the end of the year Aersomith headed to New York to record their second album at Record Plant Studios, where they would work with Jack Douglas. The influential New York-born record producer already had impressive credentials, having worked as an engineer on The Who’s album Who’s Next? as well as on John Lennon’s Imagine . At Record Plant he had brought his studio skills to bear on offerings from the New York Dolls and Patti Smith, among others. Earlier in 1973, Jack Douglas had caught Aerosmith in performance around Boston and was attracted to their raw, hard-rocking ethos. He had met them briefly in person and liked their defensive edginess - something, as a native New Yorker, that he well understood. He developed such a strong bond with the band that for a while he was nicknamed the sixth member of Aerosmith. No one was under any illusions as to how vital it was to make inroads with this follow-up album. Tom Hamilton has bluntly revealed: ‘The record label said: “If your next record doesn’t do a lot better, that is the end.”’ Initially a little intimidated to be recording in such a famous facility, they soon overcame their nerves and knuckled down with their experienced producer at the helm. Although drug-fuelled squabbles broke out, recording was completed in January 1974 and Get Your Wings was released on Columbia Records two months later. Though the album spent eighty-six weeks on the charts and eventually went gold on the back of future success, its highest Billboard ranking was number seventy-four. Three singles from the album were released throughout the year: ‘Same Old Song and Dance’; ‘S.O.S. (Too Bad)’; ‘Train Kept A-Rollin’. All failed to register on the US singles chart, hardly helping Steven to feel secure. Holding their nerve, in March, Aerosmith launched themselves on a gruelling touring schedule playing mainly support to virtually the A-Z of pop and rock bands. Said Tom Hamilton: ‘We got on the best tours we possibly could and projected as much fun as we pos-sibly could and gradually we became popular. We did that everywhere so eventually people started buying our albums. I’d say the secret to making it big in rock, and keeping it that way, is to play your balls off touring.’
Starved of radio airplay, Aerosmith had no chance of breaking that way but their grassroots following was strengthening with every live performance. This growing fan base soon came to be known as the Blue Army, largely because the band attracted strong support from America’s blue-collar community, but partly in recognition of the fact that the majority of the fans showing up for gigs were denim-clad teenage boys. In demographic terms, certainly in these early days, Aerosmith’s
Fronted by Ian Hunter, and with singles ‘All the Young Dudes’ and ‘All the Way from Memphis’ to their credit, Mott the Hoople was making an impact that autumn on US audiences. Aerosmith hitched their trailer to this wagon in October, garnering much-needed experience in playing large coliseums and auditoriums. At first, Hoople was happy that the warm-up act was so effective in building the atmosphere, but before long awareness dawned of just how avidly the crowds were reacting to the scantily clad, snake-hipped singer with outrageously overt sex appeal. For Steven, however, this tour established the point at which he could put even fleeting doubts aside. Near nightly, to his immense satisfaction, he watched overwrought teenagers leaping barriers and scrambling to climb on stage, making a grab at his legs. In December, when Aerosmith played at the renowned Whisky A Go-Go club on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, Tyler’s on-stage charisma reaped rave reviews, helping to elevate the band to a new level.
It was with a spring in their step, then, that towards the end of the year Aersomith headed to New York to record their second album at Record Plant Studios, where they would work with Jack Douglas. The influential New York-born record producer already had impressive credentials, having worked as an engineer on The Who’s album Who’s Next? as well as on John Lennon’s Imagine . At Record Plant he had brought his studio skills to bear on offerings from the New York Dolls and Patti Smith, among others. Earlier in 1973, Jack Douglas had caught Aerosmith in performance around Boston and was attracted to their raw, hard-rocking ethos. He had met them briefly in person and liked their defensive edginess - something, as a native New Yorker, that he well understood. He developed such a strong bond with the band that for a while he was nicknamed the sixth member of Aerosmith. No one was under any illusions as to how vital it was to make inroads with this follow-up album. Tom Hamilton has bluntly revealed: ‘The record label said: “If your next record doesn’t do a lot better, that is the end.”’ Initially a little intimidated to be recording in such a famous facility, they soon overcame their nerves and knuckled down with their experienced producer at the helm. Although drug-fuelled squabbles broke out, recording was completed in January 1974 and Get Your Wings was released on Columbia Records two months later. Though the album spent eighty-six weeks on the charts and eventually went gold on the back of future success, its highest Billboard ranking was number seventy-four. Three singles from the album were released throughout the year: ‘Same Old Song and Dance’; ‘S.O.S. (Too Bad)’; ‘Train Kept A-Rollin’. All failed to register on the US singles chart, hardly helping Steven to feel secure. Holding their nerve, in March, Aerosmith launched themselves on a gruelling touring schedule playing mainly support to virtually the A-Z of pop and rock bands. Said Tom Hamilton: ‘We got on the best tours we possibly could and projected as much fun as we pos-sibly could and gradually we became popular. We did that everywhere so eventually people started buying our albums. I’d say the secret to making it big in rock, and keeping it that way, is to play your balls off touring.’
Starved of radio airplay, Aerosmith had no chance of breaking that way but their grassroots following was strengthening with every live performance. This growing fan base soon came to be known as the Blue Army, largely because the band attracted strong support from America’s blue-collar community, but partly in recognition of the fact that the majority of the fans showing up for gigs were denim-clad teenage boys. In demographic terms, certainly in these early days, Aerosmith’s
Similar Books
