Aerosmith at this early stage of their career were still finding their ‘wings’ (excuse the pun), but from this point, the band had the attitude to take it to the next level.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Aerosmith
ALBUM: Get Your Wings
LABEL: Columbia
SERIAL: KC 32847
YEAR: 1974
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Steven Tyler – vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, harmonica, percussion * Joe Perry – guitars, backing vocals * Brad Whitford – guitars * Tom Hamilton – bass * Joey Kramer – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Additional Musicians: Steve Hunter – lead guitar (#6) * Dick Wagner – lead guitar (#1, 6) * Michael Brecker – tenor sax (#1, 9) * Randy Brecker – trumpet (#1) * Stan Bronstein – baritone sax (#1, 9) * Jon Pearson – trombone (#1) * Ray Colcord – keyboards (#3), production
TRACK LISTING: 01 Same Old Song And Dance * 02 Lord Of The Thighs * 03 Spaced * 04 Woman Of The World * 05 S.O.S. (Too Bad) * 06 Train Kept A Rollin’ * 07 Seasons Of Wither * 08 Pandora’s Box
Background
Aerosmith started off their professional life in 1973 upon the release of their low-key debut, produced by Englishman Adrian Barber, which was given no leg-up promotion wise by their record label Columbia. Why did they even bother? The label’s initial indifference was hard to fathom as there seemed to be much support for the Boston based rockers.
Things were vastly different for this second album. Jack Douglas was bought onboard as producer, with Columbia suggesting Bob Ezrin for the role. Ezrin opted for the role of a minor executive producer, instead leaving the technical side to Jack and Ray Colcord.
The Songs
Just the eight tracks, recorded at The Record Plant over a period of 28 days between Dec 1973 and Jan 1974, the album officially released in March 1974. Compared to today’s ‘wait forever’ release scheduling, they did things real fast back in the day.
‘Same Old Song And Dance’ opens up, a typical early 70’s rocker with a blues tinge. Lots of guests appear on the track, which has a high quota of brass parts plus some guitar contributions from Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper). It was the lead-off single from the album.
‘Lord Of The Thighs’ is a song about pimps and hookers on the bad side of town. It even tries to be arty and convincing in a literary fashion given it was titled from the movie ‘Lord Of The Flies’. Err no. I do like the harder rockin’ style of ‘Spaced’ which reminded me of that first Montrose album from the year before.
‘Woman Of The World’ was a co-write between Tyler and former Chain Reaction bandmate Don Solomon, that band operating out of New York City between 1964-1968. I reckon this is one of the highlights on the album, great crunching guitar rhythms and an inspired vocal performance from Tyler.
‘S.O.S. (Too Bad)’ which according to Tyler means ‘same old shit’. The song typifies Aerosmith’s future direction, gritty hard rock with themes revolving around sex, drugs, and rock n roll. ‘Train Kept A Rollin’ is a cover of a 1965 Yardbirds track which duly means THE BLUES. The original track itself goes back to the early 50’s, but Aerosmith made it a staple during this early phase.
‘Seasons Of Wither’ is an epic sounding power ballad, based on the Massachusetts winter landscape, in a location where Tyler and Kramer were holed up for songwriting. Finishing up with ‘Pandora’s Box’, this one was co-written by Kramer and Tyler as part of the songwriting sessions above. It’s all about women’s liberation, a new ‘thing’ during 1974 it would seem.
In Summary
The album only made it to a highpoint of #74 on the Billboard album charts. Three singles were released from the album (‘Same Old Song And Dance’, ‘S.O.S. (Too Bad)’ and ‘Train Kept A Rollin’) but none of them made a dent in the Billboard singles charts. Over the years, ‘Get Your Wings’ was eventually certified three times platinum in the USA.
Aerosmith at this early stage of their career were still finding their ‘wings’ (excuse the pun), but from this point onward, the band had the attitude and street-smarts to take it to the next level. Their next album ‘Toys In The Attic’ was evidence of this, with two hit singles ‘Sweet Emotion’ and ‘Walk This Way’ in the bag. Fame and fortune was assured.
Video
Same Old Song And Dance
Train Kept A Rollin’
Woman Of The World
