(Credits: Far Out / Bent Rej / Raph Pour-Hashemi)
While Aerosmith are a band who aren’t exactly strangers to scrutiny, there is no escaping the fact that they released some great rock music.
No matter what point in their career they were at, Aerosmith were never able to escape claims that they were ripping off the Rolling Stones. It grew tiring for the band, who were simply just trying to make great rock music, but were unable to be taken seriously by a lot of rock purists.
“We’ve always just played our music and haven’t given a shit. Still, the ‘Cheap imitation of the Rolling Stones’ criticism was constant. And it hurt for the first couple of years,” said Steve Tyler, “It was constantly Mick Jagger this and Mick Jagger that – that I copied him, and Janis Joplin too. Mick was the cheapest, easiest shot. ‘Well, he looks like him, so let’s write about that’.”
Granted, those comments certainly affected the band on some level, but they didn’t let them get in the way of them making great music. Tyler still acted with the vigour and flamboyance that he prided himself on, and Joe Perry was constantly laying down great guitar lines for the band to build on top of. No matter what period of Aerosmith you’re listening to, you will hear Perry giving his all to the six-string, both in riffs and solos.
His dedication to his instrument stemmed from one thing and one thing only: his unwavering commitment to rock ‘n’ roll. His influences were scattered across genres and decades, as he was always listening to different bands and artists, each of which gave him an insight into rock music which would eventually play a part in his development as a musician. There are plenty of guitarists he’s a big fan of, but one of his favourites was the formidable Jimi Hendrix.
Jimi Hendrix is, without a doubt, one of the most influential guitar players to pick up a Fender. His ability with the guitar, as well as his excellent live shows, changed the way that people viewed what a guitar player could achieve. His style went from melodic to animalistic at the drop of a hat, meaning his songs were unpredictable and examples of musical brilliance.
While all of his songs were great, Perry felt as though the track ‘Are You Experienced’ was a good representation of everything that he loved about Hendrix. “Are You Experienced by Jimi Hendrix. The title track especially,” he said, “It summarizes everything that Jimi did inventively on guitar, in his songwriting and in his creativity. There hasn’t been anybody since who’s come close.”
Hendrix is someone who continues to baffle the musical world, even six decades after he was originally making music. He wasn’t a mainstream artist for a long time, but during his short stint as a musical figure before passing away, he did so much for rock that people are still being influenced by him to this day. Jeff Beck, who was one of the biggest guitarists in the world when Hendrix came over to London, saw the Seattle-born shredder live and knew things would never be the same.
“He came on, and I went, ‘Oh, my God’,” recalled Beck, “He had the military outfit on and hair that stuck out all over the place. They kicked off with (Bob Dylan’s) ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, and I thought, ‘Well, I used to be a guitarist.’”
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