Still recovering from my trip to Los Angeles to spend a week with the congenial and extremely cool Mr Joe ‘Feckin’Perry of Aerosmith.
I used hate going to LA in the 70′s and early eighties mainly because it is a total pain in the arse to get around if you don’t have a motor.Also I was severely traumatised after my first trip which I shall relate at a later date.
Now,it’s a total pleasure to visit especially if I’m in the company of my longtime spar,workmate,partner in crime photographer Ross Halfin.Apart from his entertaining and exhausting company,he always seems to have a plane which includes an assistant with a vehicle,plenty of shopping at interesting places,and top retaurants-which are all a treat for alowly paid scribe like myself who is straddling two careers to keep the bailiffs at bay.
As usual we stayed at the ‘legendary’ Sunset Marquis- a Crossroads Motel for the media cognescenti which has adapted admirabely to cater to a broad spectrum of clients from Steve Earle to Lil’ Wayne,Billy Bob Thornton to Gabriel Byrne….there’s a wide and diverse spectrum of talent that be seen huddled around the bars and pools deep in converastion.It also features some great photos of visiting guests taken by Halfin which guarantees us first class service.I could easily set up and live in one of the villas and conduct my buisness from there.It sure as hell beats doing it from a rented council flat in Southampton and having a second job to supplement my income (this is freelance journo whinin’ blooze-edited version).
We came over to check out Joe Perry’s new solo project and also get a lowdown on the current state of affair with Aerosmith who seem to be on the verge of a terminal meltdown.Vocalist Steven Tyler seems to have gone underground after falling offstage at a recent show (you can see it on YouTube) and filmed buying a bottle of liquor (also available on YouTube) on the way to a friends funeral.Now this wouldn’t be big news if it wasn’t for the fact that Aerosmith’s have been hailed as the poster boys of recovery since their remarkable comeback in the early eighties.The reality is that their history has been littered with rumours of relapse,breakdowns,stays at rehabs and short of coming armed with a drug testing kit it’s been hard guaging the state of Tyler or Perry when I’ve interviewed them in recent years.
Perry seems to be in charge at the moment.A polite,direct,honourable and very fucking cool dude-between the restrained,edited,diplomatic answers one can feel the tension and anger he has with Tyler currently irresponsible behaviour.His solo album and gig at the Viper Rooms seems to be a way of dealing between downtime between the shows Aerosmith are commited to play before they decide what to do next.My theory is they will split after their show at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of the month,pursue seperate solo careers with touring All Star projects with Special Guests.Perry may even try to take a Tyler free ‘Smith on tour which will only work if they get a sensationl singer who is a complete antithesis of the predecessor(an American equivalent of Brian Johnson).If that doesn’t work the expect some huge Aerosmith reunion gigs to top up the coffers before they hit retirement age.
I will ofcourse,keep you posted….
