Joe Perry discusses the album with Aerosmith’s best playing: “Very surprised”
Every musician is usually their own worst enemy regarding their technique. There are some who can claim that they are God’s gift to guitar playing whenever they get up onstage, but it’s anyone’s guess whether they can actually throw down when they are working in the context of a group or have to pen a tune with some taste. While Joe Perry epitomised what it meant to have a certain touch behind the fretboard, he thought that some of the best licks he ever laid down were on Aerosmith’s Night in the Ruts.
By the time the group reached the end of the 1970s, though, they had been worse for wear for over a few years. They had earned their keep as the greatest road dogs in existence, but when all of that energy is coming from the number of lines going up everyone’s noses, that doesn’t automatically lead to the most rational thinking.
Which is probably why Draw the Line sounds the way it does. There are still fantastic songs throughout the track listing, but given that the production is a bit hazy and the group threw in a cover just for laughs on ‘Milk Cow Blues’, it didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that they were barely staying together because of their vice issues.
Right as they were making the follow-up, though, Perry started to disconnect himself from the group. He had already faced issues with his wife getting disrespected while on tour, but during a conversation over spilt milk, Perry left for good and formed the Joe Perry Project, leaving the rest of the band wondering what the hell to do with the rest of the tapes.
Even though they finished it off at half-capacity, Night in the Ruts is still a fairly solid project. The song ‘No Surprize’ is a great story-driven song about the night that they got their first record contract, and no matter how many times they milked their ballads in the modern age, Steven Tyler’s song for his daughter, ‘Mia’, is very touching for what it is.
In fact, Perry was surprised to even hear himself on the final mix, telling Guitar World, “Thinking back on Night in the Ruts, that record was a nightmare. But I have to say, it features some of the best playing Aerosmith has ever done in the studio. I remember checking it out after I left, and I was very surprised they left me on it since I left in the middle of it.”
Then again, it’s not like Perry’s touch had gone anywhere. He was still worthy to hang out amongst the Jeff Becks and the Jimmy Pages of the world, and considering that his first major solo release featured a song as strong as ‘Let the Music Do the Talking’, it’s not like he would suddenly forget how to write a hook the minute that Tyler wasn’t by his side spitting out some lyrics.
All the talent was still there, but it hadn’t been directed in the right places, and once the group re-emerged with Done With Mirrors, they at least put themselves back on firmer ground with their audience. The magic from the early days was far from being out in full force, but it at least picked up right where Night in the Ruts in terms of raw musicians cutting loose in the studio.
