Aerosmith - Pink

Interview with Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton

The bad boys from Boston are back in vintage fashion with a new concert CD and DVD (on the Sony dual disc format) called Rockin' the Joint: Live at the Hard Rock Hotel. Performed in 2002, this show finds Aerosmith returning to their sweaty roots by blowing the dust off several old relics and laying them down in a small club setting like it was 1972 again. Breaking from their rehearsal schedule as the road vets prepare for a year-long world tour, original bass player Tom Hamilton afforded Bullz-Eye a few minutes recently to tout the strengths of Rockin’ the Joint, share his take on illegal downloads, and explain why his son might already be a better musician than he is.

Bullz-Eye: Tom Hamilton, what a treat. The man responsible for what I’ve long considered the great thundering bass line in any song in rock and roll, “Train Kept a Rollin’”. Love it.

Tom Hamilton: (laughs) Thanks, man.

BE: Speaking of that, the “Rockin’ the Joint” tour…what joint did you guys rock last night?

TH: Uh, we’ve just been rehearsing. Our first show is Sunday night. We’re playing a place called Mohican Sun, which is a casino in Connecticut. It’s this gigantic casino/hotel/massive entertainment complex kinda thing. It’s a really cool place. It’s set up for concerts like an arena, but the sound is better, it’s a bit smaller.

Aerosmith - Crazy

Interview by Joy Williams

Interview by Joy Williams

first published in Shark, Germany

They got it all. They lost it all. And then they got it all back again. The story of Aerosmith—and no one can deny it's very much an ongoing story—begins like that of any number of rock bands. They were a bunch of middle-class kids who loved the rock'n'roll that they grew up listening to, and decided to get together and make some noise themselves.

But from that point on, Aerosmith started breaking ground as they set out on a path very much their own. By the middle of the '70s, Aerosmith were the rulers of rock in America, excelling at all the excesses of the day. But by the beginning of the '80s, some of the band members seemed unlikely to be living, much less flourishing, in the early '90s. "In 1978, Aerosmith represented the living spirit of American rock'n'roll," says David Krebs, Aerosmith's original manager. "To see them destroy themselves through immense disregard for anything but self-indulgence was a tragedy."

Aerosmith - Amazing

Aerosmith

Biography

Aerosmith is a prominent American rock band. Three of the members, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, andTom Hamilton had originally met in Sunapee, New Hampshire in the late 60’s, but had not yet formed a band together. In 1970, the three decided they would form a band together, and that Boston, Massachusetts would be the place to do it. Later they met up with Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (rhythm guitar).

The band enjoyed major popularity throughout the 1970’s, with rock anthems like “Dream On” - but they split from 1979-84 due to serious substance abuse and drug addictions that contributed to their decline. The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia reportedly said they were “the druggiest bunch of guys I’ve ever seen.” Jimmy Crespo replaced Joe Perry during those five years. However, in 1984, chiefly due to the tireless efforts of Joe Perry’s then manager, Tim Collins, to reform the band, Aerosmith was born again. Despite his own client Perry’s insistence that it was unthinkable, Collins succeeded in helping the band resolve old differences and ultimately overcome their addictions. By 1989, the band had completely stopped their drug abuse. They went on to enjoy a resurgence in popularity that has made them one of top-selling and most popular rock bands in the world today. Their greatest worldwide hit was “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” from the blockbuster-hit movie “Armageddon”.