Aerosmith released one of their earliest known recordings, Aerosmith – 1971: The Road Starts Hear (UMe), on CD and digital today in honor of their 50th anniversary, and it can now be heard HERE.
This rare 1971 track was recently unearthed in Aerosmith’s Vindaloo Vaults and was only available as a limited-edition cassette and vinyl release for Record Store Day 2021. The highly anticipated RSD release rapidly sold out and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, with No. 12 on the Top Hard Rock Albums list, No. 13 on the Vinyl Albums chart, and No. 19 on the Top Album Sales chart. Additionally, the band’s official web store now has a new 1971 collection of limited-edition items.
Mark Lehman, who owned the iconic van and became Aerosmith’s one-man road crew, recorded this historic early recording in 1971 with Joe Perry’s Wollensak reel-to-reel tape recorder, either in the band’s Boston rehearsal room in front of a few select pals or during a soundcheck for an early gig. All that is definite is that the tape captures a young, hungry rock band a year before they were founded and signed to Columbia Records, and two years before their self-titled major-label debut, which helped rocket the band to one of the most successful rock groups of all time. Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Steve Berkowitz produced the album’s release.
The album has previously unseen archives pictures, scans of the actual cassette box, and fresh interviews and remarks from the band on this long-forgotten recording, all published by Rolling Stone’s David Fricke. This historic document highlights the early, untamed brilliance of the future Hall of Fame members, including a fledgling version of “Dream On,” which they would eventually record and release on their 1973 eponymous big label debut.
Aerosmith is one of the rare bands to chart with the same song five decades later; the song had a hit in 1973, peaking at No. 59 on Billboard’s Hot 100, and then re-entered the charts in 2020, peaking at No. 4 on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs chart.
Other tracks include early demos of songs like “Somebody,” “Movin’ Out,” “Walkin’ The Dog,” and “Mama Kin,” which would ultimately be recorded for their seminal debut. The music “Reefer Head Woman,” which would later be recorded for their 1979 album Night In The Ruts, and the track “Major Barbara,” which would subsequently be featured on their 1986 CD Classics Live, are both featured on The Road Starts Hear.
Aerosmith – 1971: The Road Starts Hear Tracklisting:
| SIDE A: | SIDE B: |
| Intro – Somebody | Movin’ Out |
| Reefer Head Woman | Major Barbara |
| Walkin’ The Dog | Dream On |
| Mama Kin |
Four-time GRAMMY®-winning and Diamond-certified rock superstars Aerosmith have announced the return of their Dolby Live at Park MGM engagement, AEROSMITH: DEUCES ARE WILD, commencing Friday, June 17, 2022, as part of their ongoing 50th-anniversary celebrations. The amazing spectacle will be Dolby Live’s first live concert experience in Dolby Atmos®. Dolby Live is one of the most technologically advanced live music venues in the world, including Dolby Atmos.
AEROSMITH: DEUCES ARE WILD
June 2022: 17, 20, 23, 26, 29
July 2022: 2, 5, 8
September 2022: 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29
October 2022: 2, 5
November 2022: 19, 23, 26, 29
December 2022: 2, 5, 8, 11
Aerosmith, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary, have sold over 150 million albums worldwide, created genre-defining music videos like “Amazing,” “Crazy,” “Janie’s Got A Gun,” “Livin’ on the Edge,” and “Love in an Elevator,” and launched extravagant record-breaking global tours, most recently with their smash hit Las Vegas residency. With their 2001 performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, the band made history as the first rock band to collaborate with Run DMC on a massively commercially successful hip-hop collaboration, “Walk This Way,” and as the first hard rock band to play at a Super Bowl Halftime Show.
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