Joe Perry's memoir, "Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith," is due on October 7 and reveals plenty of juicy behind-the-scenes insights.
Part of Perry's motivation for writing the book was to finally present his version of the band's history. He told Rolling Stone, "Not a lot of truth has come out about the last 20 years of the band," he says. "We all know about the 1970s and the VH1 Behind the Music bullshit and getting the band back together, which itself is a small miracle. After that, it kind of drops off."
Here are some excerpts as published in the Sept. 27th issue of Billboard.
- Joe Perry considers Steven Tyler family, despite the fights.
He's the brother I never had, which is a lot of the basis for our dynamics. [The other band members] play an important part in mediating. Though when push comes to shove, when the two of us are in a room and it gets down to the real nitty-gritty, we have to deal with it ourselves. That's what makes it exciting. - Groupies? No thanks.
I was always kind of a one-girl guy, and I was always looking for the right girl. I finally found her [wife Billie Perry]. We have a 30-year marriage, and we're still going strong. I have a guitar with my wife's picture on it — most people don't know who it is. A lot of times I'd be standing onstage and a group of girls [would] point to the guitar. I'd point to my wedding ring and then they would all scream, because I think most people want a relationship that lasts. - Slash wouldn't give him his guitar back (at first).
When I formed The Joe Perry Project [in 1979], I basically funded the whole thing myself. I needed cash, so I sold a sought-after 1959 Les Paul guitar. When Aerosmith got back together [in 1984] and we started to make money, I started tracking down my old guitars. It turns out Slash had that guitar, so I called him up and said, "I'd like to get that back. I'll pay you whatever you want." He said, "Let me think about it." He's talked about how much of an influence Aerosmith was on his playing. This was when Guns N' Roses was riding high. I sat him down and said, "I'm not going to ask you again about it. I understand where you're coming from; at least I know it's in good hands.” So, [in 2000] I had my 50th birthday. We had a big party and Cheap Trick came to play. I was onstage jamming with them and my guitar tech walked up with the Les Paul guitar and said, "Slash gave it to you." He can use it anytime he wants. - He won't let any of his Aerosmith bandmates read the book before it comes out.
I don't want the band to see it until it's completely done. I know every one of them is wondering what's in it — especially Steven. When he gets on my nerves and we're going head to head, I'll go, "Hey, you know, I'm going through the book again, let's talk about this some more."
Aerosmith wrap up their world tour in September, and not long afterwards Perry will launch a promotional book tour. Perry told Rolling Stone, "It's a good thing it comes out after the tour," says Perry. "That kind of guarantees we'll finish up the tour, no matter what anybody thinks about the book."
-Spencer