“He gets right to the point”: The rock legend Joe Perry called the Ernest Hemingway of rock
When discussing some of the best rock bands of the 1970s and beyond, Aerosmith often gets lumped in the same categories as acts like The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, and more. All this despite the fact that each member of the category operates on their own plane. Joe Perry, the band’s imperial guitarist, for one, channelled the anguish of neurodivergence into his playing, adding an extra flavour to the genre as a whole.
During his school years, Perry’s undiagnosed ADHD often landed him in trouble, whereby teachers and his parents would often pin his behaviour down to an innate yearning for disruption. The thought of sticking something so arduous and frustrating out only fuelled his fire to search for another outlet. “It was looked at as a discipline problem when I was in school,” the musician explained. “After I left school, I had forged my way into this thing called rock ‘n’ roll and it was less of an issue.”
Perry’s search for a true calling, along with his love for rhythm and blues-infused rock, pushed him in the right direction, and soon, he transitioned from a protégé into a well-established guitarist in his own right. Still, his bluesy, hard rock tone didn’t just come from nowhere: he studied many of the greats before him, mixing his admiration of names like Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Chuck Berry with his own emotional and technical intensity.
Most of the time, the mention of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll stalwarts evokes associations with Elvis Presley. While there are a number of reasons why he became the staple of the era, the ‘Father of Rock and Roll’, Chuck Berry, created the blueprint that many others would attempt to emulate. Like Perry, Berry’s interest in music began at an early age, and he was influenced by his time’s blues and swing music.
Not only did Berry possess an indisputable talent for his distinctive guitar riffs and clear diction, but he also infused an element of storytelling into his work, crafting catchy, narrative-driven anthems that made him an iconic performer. According to Perry, there’s no one quite like Berry. Well, there was one other person like Berry, despite the two occupying two distinctive spaces entirely.
“As a songwriter, Chuck Berry is like the Ernest Hemingway of rock and roll,” the musician wrote in Rolling Stone. “He gets right to the point,” he continued. “He tells a story in short sentences. You get a great picture in your mind of what’s going on, in a very short amount of space, in well-picked words. He was also very smart: He knew that if he was going to break into the mainstream, he had to appeal to white teenagers. Which he did. Everything in those songs is about teenagers. I think he knew he could have had his own success on the R&B charts, but he wanted to get out of there and go big time.”
According to Perry, Berry’s impact was so monumental that his work can be heard across many genres to this day, making it an integral part of teenage listening habits and school curriculums. “And kids today are playing the same three chords, trying to play in that same style. Turn the guitars up, and it’s punk rock. It’s the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. I hear it in the White Stripes, too,” Perry explained.
Concluding: “People will always cover Chuck Berry songs. When bands go do their homework, they will have to listen to Chuck Berry. If you want to learn about rock & roll, if you want to play rock & roll, you have to start there.”
For Perry, who possessed a mind that often flitted between ideas with a little too much ease, the ability to focus on the subject and deliver notes or words with pinpoint precision and unwavering power, the work of both Berry and Hemmingway provided a welcome source of inspiration.
