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Post by AeroCooper on Sept 30, 2024 12:30:01 GMT -5
Joe Perry discusses the album with Aerosmith’s best playing: “Very surprised”Tim Coffman Mon 30 September 2024 Every musician is usually their own worst enemy regarding their technique. There are some who can claim that they are God’s gift to guitar playing whenever they get up onstage, but it’s anyone’s guess whether they can actually throw down when they are working in the context of a group or have to pen a tune with some taste. While Joe Perry epitomised what it meant to have a certain touch behind the fretboard, he thought that some of the best licks he ever laid down were on Aerosmith’s Night in the Ruts. By the time the group reached the end of the 1970s, though, they had been worse for wear for over a few years. They had earned their keep as the greatest road dogs in existence, but when all of that energy is coming from the number of lines going up everyone’s noses, that doesn’t automatically lead to the most rational thinking. Which is probably why Draw the Line sounds the way it does. There are still fantastic songs throughout the track listing, but given that the production is a bit hazy and the group threw in a cover just for laughs on ‘Milk Cow Blues’, it didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that they were barely staying together because of their vice issues. Right as they were making the follow-up, though, Perry started to disconnect himself from the group. He had already faced issues with his wife getting disrespected while on tour, but during a conversation over spilt milk, Perry left for good and formed the Joe Perry Project, leaving the rest of the band wondering what the hell to do with the rest of the tapes. Even though they finished it off at half-capacity, Night in the Ruts is still a fairly solid project. The song ‘No Surprize’ is a great story-driven song about the night that they got their first record contract, and no matter how many times they milked their ballads in the modern age, Steven Tyler’s song for his daughter, ‘Mia’, is very touching for what it is. In fact, Perry was surprised to even hear himself on the final mix, telling Guitar World, “Thinking back on Night in the Ruts, that record was a nightmare. But I have to say, it features some of the best playing Aerosmith has ever done in the studio. I remember checking it out after I left, and I was very surprised they left me on it since I left in the middle of it.” Then again, it’s not like Perry’s touch had gone anywhere. He was still worthy to hang out amongst the Jeff Becks and the Jimmy Pages of the world, and considering that his first major solo release featured a song as strong as ‘Let the Music Do the Talking’, it’s not like he would suddenly forget how to write a hook the minute that Tyler wasn’t by his side spitting out some lyrics. All the talent was still there, but it hadn’t been directed in the right places, and once the group re-emerged with Done With Mirrors, they at least put themselves back on firmer ground with their audience. The magic from the early days was far from being out in full force, but it at least picked up right where Night in the Ruts in terms of raw musicians cutting loose in the studio.
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Post by aerostooge on Oct 1, 2024 8:33:30 GMT -5
I am genuinely of the opinion that Night In The Ruts had all the makings of being an absolute masterpiece, had circumstances been very different.
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nnpmk123
Pushing Play
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Post by nnpmk123 on Oct 1, 2024 11:15:35 GMT -5
I am genuinely of the opinion that Night In The Ruts had all the makings of being an absolute masterpiece, had circumstances been very different. If the split didn't happen, some of the coolest Joe Perry songs would be a part of the album and that would easily get Aerosmith the much needed headstart for the 80's |
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Post by aerostooge on Oct 1, 2024 13:40:54 GMT -5
I am genuinely of the opinion that Night In The Ruts had all the makings of being an absolute masterpiece, had circumstances been very different. If the split didn't happen, some of the coolest Joe Perry songs would be a part of the album and that would easily get Aerosmith the much needed headstart for the 80's Absolutely. And with Jack Douglas producing.... The cream of the JPP early tunes, and a better sleeve.... It could have been something really special. Alas... We can only imagine.... I read somewhere that they were due to open for Led Zeppelin at their Knebworth shows in 1979. If only.... |
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Post by jj on Oct 2, 2024 22:54:25 GMT -5
If the split didn't happen, some of the coolest Joe Perry songs would be a part of the album and that would easily get Aerosmith the much needed headstart for the 80's Absolutely. And with Jack Douglas producing.... The cream of the JPP early tunes, and a better sleeve.... It could have been something really special. Alas... We can only imagine.... I read somewhere that they were due to open for Led Zeppelin at their Knebworth shows in 1979. If only.... "a better sleeve..." Absolutely agree. Seems obvious the album art was shot to feature Chip Away the Stone, which didn't make the track list, so the artwork ended up being nonrelevant. A better cover could have made a difference. |
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Post by aerostooge on Oct 3, 2024 3:31:17 GMT -5
Absolutely. And with Jack Douglas producing.... The cream of the JPP early tunes, and a better sleeve.... It could have been something really special. Alas... We can only imagine.... I read somewhere that they were due to open for Led Zeppelin at their Knebworth shows in 1979. If only.... "a better sleeve..." Absolutely agree. Seems obvious the album art was shot to feature Chip Away the Stone, which didn't make the track list, so the artwork ended up being nonrelevant. A better cover could have made a difference. I hadn't actually made the connection with 'Chip Away....' Duh. Yeah, it does seem obvious now. Just a hastily cobbled together sleeve, bit like the album. And no logo..... |
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Post by AeroCooper on Oct 3, 2024 5:42:17 GMT -5
It pains me to hear people say this 'could have been' a great album. Not sure what you all are listening to, but to each their own I guess.
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Post by aerostooge on Oct 3, 2024 7:48:40 GMT -5
It pains me to hear people say this 'could have been' a great album. Not sure what you all are listening to, but to each their own I guess. The fact that it sounds half finished and 1/3 of the album is cover versions. And it has a crap sleeve. But the originals on the album are amongst some of their best, I reckon. I find it to be a frustrating album, more than anything. It really could have been better than Rocks, and that's saying something. I feel that RIAHP comes across as a more 'complete' album. I can only imagine that may have been down to Jack Douglas being back in the saddle again. |
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Post by AeroCooper on Oct 3, 2024 12:13:40 GMT -5
I love the covers, and I've also always been a big fan of the album cover. To me it embodies the raw sleaziness of Aerosmith and went well with the title they choose. That being said, I can see how the black and white, no logo look could have been detrimental.
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Post by aerostooge on Oct 3, 2024 16:19:27 GMT -5
Brilliant... Me favourite 'Smiff tune
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Post by martisucks on Oct 3, 2024 19:35:07 GMT -5
It pains me to hear people say this 'could have been' a great album. Not sure what you all are listening to, but to each their own I guess. I won't say that it could have been a great album, as the band was obviously extremely dysfunctional and broke up before the album was even completed but one thing that hurt the album was that Joe held back songs because he was planning on doing his solo album. He had some songs written, including Let The Music Do The Talking, but intentionally held some back. Jack Douglas confirmed that in the "Walk This Way" book. So, if you can imagine taking the best of "Night In The Ruts" with the best from Joe's first solo album and I would have to think you would have been left with a much stronger album. |
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gonzaloc
I Rocks
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Post by gonzaloc on Oct 3, 2024 19:46:35 GMT -5
Indeed the band did rehearse and even recorded a couple of tracks or riffs that ended up on the Joe Perry Project albums:
Discount Drugs (instrumental) – Alt version of the same track that would be released by the project in 1980, the exact same structure, but without vocals, and played by all Aerosmith’s members instead of the project (oh what could have been if Steven wrote the lyrics and sang it!).
January 31, 1979 band jam: Here the band is still in the process of figuring out the arrangement and structure for a song. Steven can be heard directing the band as they have many fail starts. Joey starts the beat at 127BPM and Brad and Tom join hitting the F# and E chords, then Joe adds the intro riff for what eventually would later be known as “Conflict of Interest” and move on to the verse riffs for the same song. Then it moves into the chorus of “Cheesecake“, until the band makes several mistakes and stop to talk about how to reiterate. Indeed an interesting combination of riffs that sounded like a happy hippie rock song from the 70s. Clearly the band had more original songs in them by the end of January, and one can see how frustrating it must have been to have to wait around for Steven to finish lyrics. Really impressive to see that 3 Project songs were almost Aerosmith songs; one has to wonder why they were not finished by the band and left for Joe to work on his solo, and instead including 2 covers in the album.
Shit House Shuffle (instrumental) – full version of the demo included in Pandora’s Box that would eventually be released as South Station Blues by the Project. It includes a couple of different riff variations, but basically the same. The Pandora’s Box version is in an open D tuning, but here they play it in open A on the album (i.e. Cheesecake).
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Post by aerostooge on Oct 4, 2024 3:36:31 GMT -5
As an aside, did anyone get to see them on this tour? Was it common knowledge at the time that Joe had gone or was it one of them where everyone was scratching their heads, wondering who that new bloke was? I think it's in Walk This Way where it mentions people in the audiences were shouting 'Where's Joe fucking Perry'?
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Post by aerostooge on Oct 4, 2024 5:27:47 GMT -5
Came up on me YouTube.... Algorithms, I suppose. This fella pretty much nails it for me.
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