He signaled early on that he would set the tone and personality of any band he would eventually lead.

Tyler attended a performance by another local group, the Jam Band, and saw Joe Perry create magic with his guitar on stage. He sensed that if they got together they could find their place in rock- and-roll history. Fast-forward to 1970. Tyler, without a band, and Perry, looking to build his dream team, joined forces and created a union that would go on to span four decades. Fresh out of high school, Tom Hamilton would play bass, and Ray Tabano would play guitar. After the band moved to Boston, Joey Kramer was recruited to play drums, and Brad Whitford replaced Tabano on guitar.

Do-It-Yourself Marketing

It wasnt long before Aerosmiths members became grassroots mar- keters, personally promoting and selling their shows, renting local town halls, and dropping posters around town. They played high schools, colleges, and anywhere there were people who would listen. Though they didnt care where they played, they obsessed about what they played. While other bands were making $1,000 per week playing popular songs penned by various artists, Aerosmith played for $300, passing up instant gratification for what the bandmates believed would be an eventual greater reward from writing its own songs. They felt that anything less would trap them into a life of chasing gigs, devoid of fame and brand identity. So, the band existed on little more than ambition and passion in those early years, sharing cramped quarters, driving to and from gigs in Tylers black Volkswagen Beetle, struggling to save enough money to eat, and occasionally swiping when they couldnt buy food. But they had vision.

After a few years of solidifying its sound, creating music, and play- ing lots of concerts, the band signed with Columbia Records in 1972. Aerosmith was released in January 1973 to little fanfare. In fact, other than a few company executives and the bands inner circle, no one really noticed that the music world had just published the first record from what would become one of Americas top rock-and-roll bands ever. There were no interviews, no reviews, no airplay, no parties- nothing more than the physical record the group could hold up as a testament to its art.

Until that point, Columbia really hadnt had much success with a hard rock band, and after listening to the album, managers felt it contained no single. No single meant a slim chance of airplay; no airplay meant no distribution; and no distribution meant no sales. Instead, Columbia seemed to be very excited about the release of a first album by a new singer from New Jersey named Bruce Spring- steen. "For every dollar they put into Aerosmith, they put a hundred into Springsteen because he fit into the folksier CBS essence," says David Krebs, Aerosmiths manager at that time, in Walk This Way. "So Aerosmith was a band that, in the early stages, happened despite Columbia."

Aerosmith recognized quickly the difficulty of getting the attention of the people inside Columbia, let alone the DJs and fans who gener- ated demand and sales. And while the band was elated to have its first record out, it was equally frustrated by having to sell a product that