Joe Perry is a guitar hero with a simple philosophy. “Guitar,” he says, “is a means to an end. So many players get hung up on technique, sometimes losing the forest for the trees. You can learn all these scales and tricks, but it only comes together if it’s something you want to hear again. I can appreciate all kinds of music and self-expression. It could be jamming in a band where you play one song for 45 minutes, like Jerry Garcia with the Grateful Dead. But for me, playing guitar is all about what serves the songs…”
As a founding member of Aerosmith – the self-styled Bad Boys of Boston, widely revered as America’s Greatest Rock ’N’ Roll Band – Joe Perry has played his part in some of the most iconic rock songs of all time. In the ’70s they gave us Dream On, Sweet Emotion and Back In The Saddle. In the ’80s, Dude (Looks Like A Lady) and Love In An Elevator. And in both of those decades there was Walk This Way, originally recorded in 1975 and reborn in 1986 as a groundbreaking collaboration with Run-DMC, which became the first hip-hop single to reach the US top five and put Aerosmith on track for one of the most successful comebacks in the entire history of rock ’n’ roll.
It was way back in 1971 that the classic Aerosmith line-up was established, with Steven Tyler on vocals, Perry and Brad Whitford on guitars, Tom Hamilton on bass and Joey Kramer on drums. Together, they defined the sound of American hard rock with albums such as Toys In The Attic and Rocks, and as Joe now recalls, the inspiration for having two guitar players in Aerosmith came from two influential British groups – the early Fleetwood Mac, led by Peter Green, and The Yardbirds. “One of my favourite Yardbirds recordings is called Stroll On,” he says. “It was their version of Train Kept A-Rollin’, and it’s one of the few recordings with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck playing together. I still get goosebumps when I hear that. The two guitars come in, and to me, that’s the ultimate – that’s rock ’n’ roll! It’s so cool to get two lead guitars together and not get in each other’s way. And even if you can’t tell who is playing, it doesn’t matter. That was always something that stuck with me…”
In turn, Perry and Whitford’s hard-rocking prowess would influence a generation of guitarists growing up in the ’70s, most notably Slash, who told Rolling Stone magazine of the moment the he first heard the Rocks album at the age of 14: “It hit me like a f*cking ton of bricks,” he said. “My life changed.” In the same interview, Slash added: “When I was learning to play the guitar, Aerosmith gave me the shove. I identified with Joe Perry’s image, both visually and sound-wise. He was streamlined in a way that reminded me of Keith Richards, and had a careless guitar style that was really cool.”
As far as guitar playing goes, Joe Perry is an institution. With any number of Les Pauls, Strats or various off-kilter six-strings in hand, he has rocked and rolled for more than 50 years with Aerosmith – give or take a few years at the turn of the ’80s when he was out of the band after falling out with Steven Tyler. But all good things must come to an end, and this year the band will resume their farewell tour, titled Peace Out. The tour began in 2023, only to be postponed after Tyler blew out his voice in just the third show. In the ensuing hiatus, Joe kept busy with his other band, The Hollywood Vampires, fronted by
