Why Joe Perry picked Fleetwood Mac over The Rolling Stones: “I think I’m going to stay”
There’s no real rule that says anyone has to love any specific rock and roll band. Even though some people swear by acts like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd as the greatest artists in history, there is an equal chance that the next major force in rock and roll will want nothing to do with how Roger Waters structures a song or what massive solo Jimmy Page tries to play. And despite being born and bred in the blues-rock tradition, Joe Perry always had a few favourites up his sleeve that weren’t always the norm.
When Aerosmith first formed, Perry was still developing his guitar sensibilities. The biggest names in the world of guitar were people like Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix around that time, and despite being some of the biggest names in England at the time, Perry was also transfixed by what The Yardbirds were doing even when ‘Slowhand’ left the fold.
Despite the band never getting that much traction on the charts, having Clapton, Page and Jeff Beck all in one group throughout their tenure is enough for any guitarist to get a major education whenever they start playing. If there’s one band that could be pinned on Aerosmith, though, it would have to be The Rolling Stones.
While there are a lot of Beatles’ influences in their music, one look at how Steven Tyler and Joe Perry interact brings to mind an image of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards without having to think too hard. Even when they were making things with a bit more boogie behind them, pieces of songs like ‘Movin’ Out’ and ‘Mama Kin’ from their early days feel like traditional Stones songs that happen to have a bit of a bad-boy slant to them.
When Perry was coming up as a guitar player, though, The Stones were only one facet of the blues he was listening to. The Yardbirds still held a major place in his heart, and Hendrix would always be there, but when Fleetwood Mac first came to fruition, Perry was head over heels listening to Peter Green play.
Compared to every other rock and roll star out at the time, Green seemed to go to another place whenever he played guitar, and even when getting the chance to see The Stones, Perry ended up turning it down because he couldn’t get enough of Fleetwood Mac, saying, “I remember it was either ‘68 or ‘69. I was at the Boston Tea Party out by the ticket window. Fleetwood Mac was playing. A couple of friends of mine had an extra ticket to see the Stones. They told me, ‘This could be the last tour.’ I said, ‘I think I’m going to stay and watch Fleetwood Mac.’”
While anyone would have to fork over the price of a small car to get decent tickets to a Stones show these days, nothing could come close to what Green was doing. He may have eventually started losing himself to his own mind, but listening to him tearing through tracks like ‘Albatross’ and ‘Rattlesnake Shake’ during his prime was the kind of blues rock that Perry eventually took for some of his licks on albums like Rocks and Draw the Line.
And even when ‘The Mac’ transformed into something entirely different with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham out front, there’s a reason why ‘Oh Well’ still remained a vital part of the setlist. Green might not have been firmly entrenched in the band at the time, but once someone writes something with that much swagger, it’s never going to go away.
