Aerosmith – Dream On

Aerosmith played on The Midnight Special August 16, 1974

“Dream On” Single by Aerosmith from the album Aerosmith
B-side “Somebody”
Released June 27, 1973
December 27, 1975 (re-release)
Recorded October 1972
Studio Intermedia, Boston
Label Columbia
Songwriter Steven Tyler
Producer Adrian Barber
Charted No.6 in US; No.10 in Canada

Released in 1973, on the band’s eponymous debut, “Dream On” was also the first single the band ever released, and it centered on not giving up, and “the shit you put up with when you’re in a new band,” according to Tyler.

This was the first single Aerosmith released. Their manager had them share a house and concentrate on writing songs for their first album. Steven Tyler had been working on the song on and off for about six years, writing it in bits and pieces. He was able to complete it with the help of the rest of the band.

A breakthrough came when Tyler bought an RMI keyboard with money he found in a suitcase outside of where the band was staying. The “suitcase incident” became part of Aerosmith lore, as Tyler didn’t tell his bandmates that he took the money, and when gangsters came looking for it, he continued to play dumb.

Tyler’s father was a classically trained musician, and when Steven was 3 years old, he would lie underneath the piano and listen to his dad play. In his book, Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?, Tyler writes, “That’s where I got that ‘Dream On’ chordage.

Tyler’s ex-wife, actress Cyrinda Foxe, wrote a book in 1996 called Dream On where she trashed Tyler for paying little child support and other misdeeds. Tyler was not pleased with Foxe when the book came out, but they became friends once again when Cyrinda learned she had brain cancer. Tyler paid her medical bills until her death in 2002.

Steven Tyler – vocals, electric harpsichord, mellotron
Joe Perry – lead guitar
Brad Whitford – rhythm guitar
Tom Hamilton – bass guitar
Joey Kramer – drums