The History of
The Joe Perry Project
The history of The
Joe Perry Project starts with Aerosmith in the spring of
1979. Now, Aerosmith had just started work on the groups
album "Night In The Ruts." They had all the
songs done in a very short time, but there was one
problem. They had no lyrics, so the album was delayed.
Now, also at this time there was another problem for Joe.
David Krebs {Aerosmith's manager at the time} called a
very rare financial meeting, in which he told Joe: "Well,
Joe, actually you're in debt to the band for room service."
Joe replied "Oh, Yeah? How much do I owe?"
David told Joe that he owed $80,000 in room service. Now,
everyone in the Aerosmith got a price of what they owed,
but none was near Joe's total. Joe told them "What
is this $80,000 Bullsh*t? What can I do about this?"
David said "Well, you could make a solo record, get
an advance and everything will be fine." Joe said
"O.K., that's a good idea." And that's how the
seed was planted for The Joe Perry Project. Still, at
that point Joe had no intention of leaving Aerosmith.
Now, in April of
1979, Aerosmith headlined the Florida World Music
Festival with Ted Nugent & Cheap Trick. Backstage,
Joe was approached by Ralph Mormon, who had been a singer
in the outrageous band Daddy Warbux. Mormon asked Joe:
"Do you know anyone who's looking for a lead singer?"
To Mormon astonishment, Joe replied "Yeah, me."
By this time, "Night In The Ruts" was getting
nowhere. At one point Joe said: "It's your album. Do
what you want with it. You've got my work. You can use it
or erase it. I'm working on something else." It was
May of 1979, the album was supposed to come out in June
and be called "Off Your Rocker." David Krebs
only took out three months worth of studio time, and
already booked 25 Huge Festivals with Ted Nugent. They
could not cancel them without devastation. It was the
worst frustration the band ever faced, going out on the
road before the album was finished. They had no choice
and Joe really freaked out. At one gig on the tour,
someone said that Ralph Mormon was available. Joe
contacted him and started work on the first Project album.
Now, at this time
Joe was still in Aerosmith. Although his wife and lawyer
both advised Joe to quit. That all changed on July 28,
1979. Aerosmith was headlined the world series of Rock At
Cleveland Stadium with Ted Nugent and Thin Lizzy.
Backstage, Tom Hamilton's wife Terry said something to
Joe's wife Elyssa. Well, one thing led to another and
Elyssa threw a glass of milk at Terry. This lead to a
fight between the two women. Although no one was hurt, it
was a good reflection of what was going on in the band.
Now, there had been a pattern at the recent Aerosmith
shows. Steven would do something to piss off Joe, and Joe
would cold-shoulder Steven on stage - it would be very
obvious - Joe making a point of not singing his vocals
and playing REAL loud. Well, this show was no different,
and this night Steven had enough, he was so angry. Now,
this lead to the now infamous fight between and Joe and
Steven. Joe said "Maybe I should leave the band".
Steven said: "Yeah, maybe you fucking should".
"Oh, Yeah?" - Joe screams as he gets up. Steven
screams: "FUCK YOU THEN! GET THE FUCK OUT OUTTA HERE!!!"
Joe stormed out, Aerosmith literally broke up over spilt
milk. Steven swore that night that he would never play on
stage with Joe Perry as long as he lived.
On October 10, 1979, Leber-Krebs issued a press release:
Joe Perry and Aerosmith announced today in New York
Perry's plans to depart the group to pursue a solo career.
Perry's departure will officially commence upon
completion of the new Aerosmith album, Night In The Ruts.
Perry will remain on CBS and will continue to be managed
by Leber-Krebs, the New York-based managers of Aerosmith.
Perry plans a january release of his solo effort, The Joe
Perry Project. His departure is described as amicable and
his desire to explore a new musical direction has been
cited as his reason for leaving the group.
Now, at this point the album was not completely done. Joe
still had to come down to the studio and do the overdubs
and leads for the album. Steven called and called Joe to
come to the studio, but Joe was to upset. Joe would not
come down. Steven later said: "This is when our
friendship broke up". After calling dozens of times
and finally getting through, Joe said: "I want
excitement, I wanna play clubs". Steven told him:
"No one in their right mind would go back to playing
clubs for the rest of their lives after being in a big
band."
Aerosmith's album "Night In The Ruts" was
released in November of 1979. It cost over a million
dollars to make, most of it in wasted studio time. Joe
played on five tracks on the album. Jimmy Crespo (Joe's
replacement), Neil Thompson, and Richie Supa contributed
the missing guitar parts after Joe left the band. The
album made the Top 20 and eventually went platinum.
This was a hard period in Joe's life. There was a short
time where he had no band, no recording contract, and no
management [he fired Leber-Krebs over the phone, saying
he would manage himself along with his lawyer Bob Casper].
It was just him and Elyssa alone in Boston. All Joe had
was the idea to do Some Music. He was psyched to do his
own thing, but a part of him wanted to be in Aerosmith. A
part of him was missing, and he just denied it.
The Joe Perry Project was put together over the summer of
1979. Ralph Mormon was the singer. Joe said: "He
reminded me a lot of Paul Rodgers [from the English Band
Bad Company], always my favorite singer after Steven".
Joe also said: "Ralph was just great, but he drank a
lot and was terrible on the road".
David Hull played bass and had a lot of rhythm - really
good. He came from a Connecticut band, The Dirty Angels.
Before that, he played bass with Buddy's Miles's band,
which is how Steven knew him. Steven introduced Joe to
David, who became Joe's druggie bud. They roomed
together, found girls to party with, copped dope. One of
the first drummers Joe auditioned at the wherehouse was
Ronnie Stewart, who worked at E.U. Wurlitzer's Music
store in Boston. People had been telling Joe he was the
best drummer in Boston that was not involved in another
band. Ronnie was jazz-oriented but played hot, funky rock
and Joe hired him on the spot.
The band played all summer and fall in Joe's basement.
Ronnie kept his day job. The Project's first gig was the
Rathskeller - in reality, a cafeteria at Boston college -
on November 17, 1979: Joe was pacing nervously around a
classroom upstairs, smoking two cigarettes at once. The
set list was written on the blackboard. Steven Tyler
came, said Hello, and left before they played. People
were kidding Joe: "Hey, you've played in arenas all
over the world. What the Fuck are you nervous about?"
The place was packed
with kids hanging from the rafters and standing on tables.
They played the Aerosmith songs "Same Old Song And
Dance", "Walk This Way" and "Get The
Lead Out". Joe sang on Jimi Hendrix's "Red
House" and Elvis's "Heartbreak Hotel". The
band walked off and the crowd started chanting, "We
Want Joe!" and "Two More!" They didn't
know two more songs. The encore was "Life At A
Glance", which Joe literally wrote the night before
the gig. And that was it. The Joe Perry Project was off
and running.
Joe had a new sense of freedom now, a focus on this new
project. He was Fucked up, but at least he had a band. He
was full of fire that they were gonna make money and have
fun. Now, from the start the fans didn't let Joe down.
They came to the clubs and supported Joe and the band
without an album, without anything except Joe's name. The
Project was rehearsing all week and doing clubs on the
weekend, like every other band starting out. They used
the clubs' PA systems and just tried to kick ass and
create some excitement.
The Project did about ten gigs before they signed an
album deal with Columbia Records. The label wasn't that
eager because Aerosmith had been bringing albums in way
late. But Joe went down and convinced them that he was a
walking, talking viability instead of the burn-out they
thought he was. As soon as Joe knew he was doing a solo
record, he called [The veteran Aerosmith producer] Jack
Douglas. Jack replied: "Fuck Yes!" Joe was
driven to write new stuff because he had a lot to get off
his chest. He had something to prove. There was an
element of risk.
They worked on the
album that winter with Jack Douglas at the Hit Factory in
New York. They cut five basic tracks in five days,
finished the album in 6 weeks, and came under budget. Joe
had pre-produced and arranged everything at the
wherehouse, so when they went in the studio and played
the tracks live. Joe said; "It was like recording
the first Aerosmith album - a soundtrack for the live
shows".
The songs came really fast. Joe wrote the riff for "Let
The Music Do The Talking" when he was still in
Aerosmith. The title of that song had to do with how sick
Joe was of talking about Aerosmith. "Conflict Of
Interest" was about David Krebs and Joe's situation
with his debts. "Rockin' Train" was kind of a
funky, R&B-type song that Joe loved to do and could
have done with Aerosmith. "Discount Dogs" was
originally titled "Discount Drugs". "Break
Song" was just a instrumental jam that had [and
always used in their live shows]. David Hull showed Joe
the riff and Joe arranged it into one minute and fifty
seconds of screaming guitar. "Shooting Star"
and "Ready On The Firing Line" were just riffs
that Joe liked. "The Mist Is Rising" was
written at four in the morning at Joe's house. And "Life
At A Glance" was about Joe's life, pure and simple.
The album, entitled
"Let The Music Do The Talking", came out on
Columbia Records in March of 1980. The cover was a
picture of nine suits sitting around a glass board room.
The reviewers were kind, but they did not get a lot of
air play. The album reached #47 on the charts and sold
over 240 copies. David Krebs admitted burying the record
on more than one occasion. Years later, Tim Collins heard
from Bruce Lundval that he made every effort to squash it
in order to get Joe back in Aerosmith.
Joe had to take the band on the road, so he rented this
tour bus for The Project. This was his dream: get on it
and go. Joe had never been on a tour bus: bunk beds,
lounge, bathroom, private compartment in the back, TV,
VCR, the whole thing. Joe knew he would be away for 6
months, so he bought $6000 worth of heroin!
The Project sold out
almost every place they played. Joe said: "They were
some of the best moments of my career". The only
thing Joe missed was Brad Whitford, his consummate string-
bending comrade-in-arms. They had built a certain
chemistry that couldn't be replaced. Joe felt naked, he
had to change his playing from long runs of notes to a
more simultaneous lead/rhythm style.
The other thing that bothered Joe was that Ralph Mormon
was terrible on the road. He got drunk before the shows
until maybe the forth show, when Joe smacked him around
for fucking up. Ralph wouldn't ride the bus, so he would
follow the band in a station wagon and would not get to
the gig on time. If the band made him ride in the bus, he
would fall asleep and piss in the bunk.
They finished the first Project tour in the late spring
of 1980. The band was getting better every night. They
were playing clubs. The next tour there would be a step
up to theaters. Joe was talking about adding a second
guitarist or a keyboard player to the Project to lighten
the load on himself a little. The last club gig of the
tour was at Joe's father's place out on long Island. Joe
fired Ralph Mormon and replaced him with Joey Mala [the
singer for the New York Club Band Revolver] for the rest
of the tour.
* * *
PART 2
|
