One on One with Brad Whitford

One on One with Brad Whitford

by Alan Sculley

When bands like Journey, Styx, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, or Kansas look at Aerosmith, one would have to think they feel at least a hint of envy and jealousy.

Each of the bands started out in the early 1970s, but where those other bands are often viewed as nostalgia acts and have had difficulty getting new songs on radio or MTV, Aerosmith remains a chart-topping act. In fact, if anything, Aerosmith, recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, may now be bigger than ever. Not only have the band’s most recent releases Pump, Get A Grip and Nine Lives been platinum-selling hits, the ballad “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” recorded by Aerosmith for the Armageddon movie soundtrack in 1998, became the group’s first number one single. Guitarist Brad Whitford isn’t sure why his band — unlike virtually all of Aerosmith’s peers — has escaped the nostalgia trap. But he’s not complaining.

“I think it has to do with good fortune,” said Whitford. “Like the thing with Armageddon, which gave us the first number one single we’ve ever had, I think some of the things we do or the way we perform [help], and then you have something like that come along that puts you right out in front, so you’re at the top of the heap. That just I think changes peoples’ perceptions. And I think we always have felt like underdogs. So it was always like we were trying a little harder, I think. We were always sort of kind of on the back burner with all the contemporaries. It seemed like somehow all of our contemporaries were doing it a bit better or were higher on the charts. But as time went on, suddenly a lot of those contemporaries just kind of disappeared, for whatever reason, whether it was personnel [changes]… A lot of those bands, Styx and REO, Van Halen, they weren’t able to deal with their inner conflicts as a band.

“I think when you have those personnel changes, I think it changes certainly the band and the dynamics of the band,” Whitford said. “People, I think, in the band lose a little faith, and I think the fans lose a little faith. And then the perception changes. And if you don’t have anything current, it’s very quick, you can go into the nostalgia realm very quickly in this business.”

But those familiar with Aerosmith’s history know even this band wasn’t immune to personnel changes. By the late 1970s, with band members in the throes of serious drug habits and internal conflicts increasing, the band fractured.

First to leave was guitarist Joe Perry, who, along with vocalist Steven Tyler, had been the group’s chief songwriter. Whitford left two years later, in 1981. The remaining members — Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton, and drummer Joey Kramer — hung together as guitarists Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay filled the vacated slots.

But with two key players gone and drugs becoming an ever-increasing problem, Aerosmith’s music and chart success suffered, as forgettable albums like Night In The Ruts (1979) and Rock In A Hard Place (1982) came and went. By then, the band had hit rock bottom.

But unlike Journey, Styx, Kansas, and other ’70s bands, the five original band members not only got back together — the reunion happened in 1984 after Whitford and Perry went to see the then-current version of Aerosmith at a show in Boston — they’ve stayed intact ever since.

After making the comeback album, Done With Mirrors, in 1985, Tyler and Perry entered rehab and the results of a newly clean and sober Aerosmith paid dividends in the form of 1987’s Permanent Vacation, an album that went platinum with such singles as “Rag Doll,” “Dude (Looks Like A Lady),” and “Angel.”

And the hits have been coming ever since, as Pump (1989), Get A Grip (1993), and Nine Lives (1997) not only went platinum, but delivered multiple radio hits, including “Janie Got A Gun,” “Amazin’,” “Cryin’,” and “Pink.” The band’s new album, Just Push Play, seems destined to follow suit, having already delivered a hit single with “Jaded.”

To Whitford, the key to Aerosmith’s survival — beyond freeing themselves from the drugs and drinking — was coming to accept each other as individuals.

“I think there’s a tendency for a long time with bands, to try and change each other,” he said. “What you learn eventually is you can’t. You can’t change this guy or that guy to be the way you want them to be. But a lot of bands fall into that. Why isn’t this guy more like this and more like that?’ And you lose sight of the good parts that the person brings to the band, or the elements that work. You start focusing maybe on the elements that don’t work.”

These days the five members in Aerosmith seem more content and at peace than at any time since their reunion. One factor was once again overcoming a bout of internal conflict, while the experience of making the Just Push Play album has also contributed to Aerosmith’s feel-good vibe.

The new disc follows two records — Get A Grip and Nine Lives — that were filled with turmoil. Both had to be re-recorded after original versions were rejected by the band’s labels — Geffen and Columbia, respectively.

The Nine Lives sessions, in particular, were surrounded by major upheavals — most notably a serious rift that threatened to split the band. Tyler was the target of press speculation surrounding his increasing attitude, with inferences being made to a relapse into the drug habit that had played a key role in nearly destroying the band during the early 1980s.

When confronted by the band, Tyler vehemently denied any relapse, but with Aerosmith seemingly on the brink of a split, the group entered counseling, where each band member confronted the situation. In clearing the air, the band blamed their manager, Tim Collins, for orchestrating many of the rumors and conflicts and fired him. A lawsuit stemming from the firing recently was settled out of court.

With Just Push Play, Aerosmith took full control of their music, as Tyler and Perry (with help from the group’s songwriting collaborators, Mark Hudson and Marti Frederiksen) assumed production duties for the first time.

Oddly enough, Whitford noted that Tyler and Perry didn’t initially plan to produce Just Push Play. Tyler, Perry, Hudson, and Hendrickson simply set up shop in Perry’s home studio and began writing songs and recording demos. As time went on, though, it became clear the demo recordings were polished enough to serve as finished tracks on a CD.

When Columbia executives Don Ienner and Polly Anthony heard the in-progress CD, they gave the band the green light to finish the record, with no big-name producer needed.

The finished product suggests Aerosmith is best served when left to its own devices in the studio. To be sure, a few songs on Just Push Play seem like they were written to cater to radio, such as the ballad “Fly Away From Here” (which fits the mold of “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”) and “Jaded,” a tune that strikes a balance between being a sweet ballad and full-bodied mid-tempo rocker. But elsewhere, a different, yet familiar, side of the band emerges.

While Just Push Play has its share of modern touches (note the hip hop-like rhythms of the title song or “Trip Hoppin’” or “Outta Your Head”) songs like “Under My Skin,” and “Light Inside” frequently evoke the bluesy, groove-laden raw edge of the band’s early albums.

“We’re famous for our ballads and stuff, but on our own, any given day, it’s basically a guitar band and it’s pretty hard-edged,” Whitford said. “We still live under the influences of all the things we grew to love when we were first starting out, everything from Zeppelin to Cream to the Stones, to Hendrix, the Beatles. Those things don’t go away. You might expand your horizons as far as what you listen to and everything, but it’s still like that first love. That stuff always comes through. So I think that hard edge was allowed to be there on the record. And I just think that elements of it are just so reminiscent of [the] sounds or the feeling maybe you get from Toys In The Attic or Rocks, you get that same kind of feeling about it. That’s kind of what I get from it.”

Aerosmith and Fuel will be at Hersheypark Stadium on June 22.