Joe Perry said Dave Davies and The Kinks treated Aerosmith terribly: “He gave us no respect”
The journey Joe Perry went on throughout Aerosmith’s career was never about becoming one of the biggest rock stars in the world.
He was more than happy to play the fastest, loudest music that anyone had ever heard, and even if he ascended to the greatest heights that anyone else ever did in the music industry, he was still starstruck whenever he met one of his idols. But even though Perry was proud to stand next to people like Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck later on in life, there were some bands that proved to him why he shouldn’t meet his heroes every single time he went on the road.
Then again, Aerosmith knew no other life than being on the road for most of their careers. Their first album wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire, and while they cultivated their ‘Blue Army’ by going from one town to the next and building a following, they weren’t about to slow down when making their masterpieces. Toys in the Attic and Rocks were among the finest hard rock albums of that time, and they were managing to give every one of their naysayers a kick in the ass on tracks like ‘Last Child’.
The comparisons to The Stones and Zeppelin were all still there, but there was no one else who had the same sense of groove that they had. When talking about their influences, a lot of funk bands are criminally overlooked, and while ‘Walk This Way’ does have a lot of Zeppelin DNA in it, there are more than a few times where it sounds closer to what James Brown’s rhythm section would have done if they were told to make a rock and roll song.
But if there was any genre that Perry was devoted to, it was hard rock. Heavy metal hadn’t quite become a major force yet, but some of the biggest names in rock and roll were teaching everyone to follow the lead of what the heavier acts of the British invasion were doing. The Beatles and The Who had pointed the way forward with their heavy tunes, but Perry felt it was a dream come true to get the chance to tour with The Kinks.
Aside from Ray Davies writing some of the greatest rock and roll tunes of the time, it was always about hearing what they could do in a live setting. ‘You Really Got Me’ was punk rock before the genre even had a name, and while Perry was over the moon about meeting one of his idols, he admitted to feeling a little bit dejected when he realised that he was just some other rock and roll diva when he saw him on the road.
Perry had been used to bands that he didn’t see eye-to-eye with, but he felt that Davies was one of the few people who treated the band terribly on the road, saying, “[He] gave us no respect. He was known for treating his support acts like shit and proved true to form. Usually the headliner has no problem allowing the opening act a sound check. Not Davies. We had to go out there cold. No matter. Kinks fans heard what they were doing and liked it.” But that just proves the band’s versatility with audiences.
You have to remember that bands will want to get on any bill they can in their early days, and since Aerosmith were able to hang tough when they were opening for the Mahavishnu Orchestra, they could certainly hold their own next to one of the biggest names in rock and roll. And while Davies did have his reservations, you’d have to wonder whether that was out of jealousy just a little bit.
Aerosmith were quickly becoming one of the biggest bands in the world, and while The Kinks still had the respect of their peers, it was no match for when songs like ‘Dream On’ started to dominate rock and roll radio. Davies still wanted to assert his dominance as a legend of rock and roll, but he may not have realised that he was witnessing a changing of the musical guard right before his eyes.
