Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith (Mass Market Paperback)

by Aerosmith (Author), Stephen Davis (Author) "The Pennacook called the big lake, Soonippi, "Goose Water," for the millions of migrating birds that darkened the sky above the mountains twice a year..." (more)
Key Phrases: drum riser, Joe Perry, New York, Steven Tyler (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
From Aerosmith's heyday in the late 1970s, which they spent "gacked to the nines" (as lead singer Steven Tyler puts it), to the Aerosmith of today--clean, sober, and adored by millions--the band has a long, hard history. Walk This Way chronicles the whole story: drugs, booze, and all.

Prefaced with the now familiar rock-star "intervention," when Steven Tyler's loved ones cornered him in his manager's office in 1986, the autobiography traces Aerosmith's twisted road, from their New Hampshire roots to their success in Boston to the worldwide fame that they long craved and currently enjoy. Tyler kicks off this rock & roll exposé, briefly recounting the history of his ancestors in Italy and sharing incidents from his own Northeast childhood. The book is written in interview style, with all five band members talking candidly about the good times--and the bad. We also hear from girlfriends, wives, friends, and various hangers-on.

The story of Aerosmith and their constant ups, downs, and detours never fails to grab you and force you to read another page--if only to see what train wreck awaits around the next corner. Walk This Way is a must-read for devoted fans of Aerosmith as well as anybody who wants to live the full-on '70s rock-star life--without having to go through rehab. --Paul DeBruler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
It's amazing they can still walk, period. Chronicling these grizzled rock survivors from their '70s heyday through their sobriety-fueled comeback, this oral history finds Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and cohorts readily copping to excessive partying, under-the-influence record making, band-wife catfights, lost fortunes--and drugs, lots of 'em. Each time they reach a new low in self-abuse, Aerosmith top themselves, making Walk This Way a rarity among rock memoirs--a what-now? page-turner. -- Entertainment Weekly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Avon; Reprint edition (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380795310
• ISBN-13: 978-0380795314
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (149 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #130,387 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for all Aerosmith fans., June 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith (Hardcover)

"We believed anything worth doing was worth overdoing." Those words are spoken from the famous mouth of the ever talkative, ever charismatic Steven Tyler, frontman of the East Coast rock band, Aerosmith. Indeed, that seems to be the underlying current of thought running through the pages of the recently released autobiography, Walk This Way. Overindulgence is an understatement for these Boston Bad Boys. Why then, should their ever faithful "Blue Army" of fans be any different? Aerosmith is a potent drug themselves. They keep you wheedling for more, whether it be a dying thirst for their exciting, blues-influenced brand of rock, to the ache of withdrawal you feel when they're not breezing into your nearest town with one of their awesome live shows. Once you get hooked, you can't even pick up their massive autobiography and be able to put it down, even when going back for seconds.

Walk This Way is a surprising expose from five guys who knew the story best -- Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton, and Joey Kramer -- the guys who lived through it. To fill in the gaps of consciousness are wives, ex-wives, managers, roadies, friends, and peers from the entertainment field.

The journey of Walk This Way takes you back to Tallahassee, sort to speak. It starts where it should: from the beginning, from the childhood years of all five guys in the band, their family background, and their influences that helped pave the way for their musical direction. It portrays their struggles, their frustrations, their hopes and ambitions, and even their starry-eyed dreams. Even Steven Tyler, as a young lad, had his idols as he sat for hours in front of hotels to meet the members of The Rolling Stones -- much like his fans do today. The journey called Aerosmith is one full of clouds, full of bumps, full of fights, full of brotherhood, full of triumph, and full of ideals and goals. The book takes you through the pages of history when Aerosmith got their first record deal with their self titled album, and through their second, Get Your Wings, as a band trying to make their mark in the rock and roll universe. It takes you through their countless determination in building a following by playing club after club, and being persistent. It takes you through their first big taste of success when their next two albums, Toys In The Attic and Rocks hit the public smack in the head. Suddenly they were somebody and success, money and fame walked right into their door.

Along with that fame and success came a slow destruction that was caused by the excesses of life: drugs, drinking, women, and endless touring and being on the road. The devil of drugs started to play puppet master with the band, causing what appeared to be a slow and imminent death of a band that had the chance to be destined for greatness. This cancer took hold when Draw The Line was made, and escalated during the making of Night In The Ruts. A wedge was finally driven between the two soul brothers of the band, Steven Tyler, and guitarist Joe Perry. Joe left in the middle of recording NITR. The fighting, the drugs, and the band members significant others, pried the band apart, leaving their fans wondering if rock and roll would ever be the same.

Joe Perry branched out on his own, forming the Joe Perry Project, and releasing two cult hit records, Let The Music Do The Talking and I've Got The Rock `N' Rolls Again. Aerosmith plunged on and started recording Rock In A Hard Place when Brad Whitford decided to leave the fold. The band continued to crash and burn, losing money, cars, their homes, and their relationships.

Aerosmith hit bottom and seemed to be continuing on their path of destruction when the members of the band seemed to get brought together again. Joe Perry and Brad Whitford returned, along with a new manager, Tim Collins. Trying to clean up their act, they recorded their next album, Done With Mirrors, which didn't make as much noise as it should have.

It wasn't until the release of Permanent Vacation and a commitment to a sober lifestyle by all parties involved that caused Aerosmith to rise from the ashes. They were back with a vengeance with the biggest album of their career, and continued thereafter to hit the concert trails and reach even higher numbers on the charts with the release of their next two albums, Pump and Get A Grip. There was a new Aerosmith on the rise, and they were going to steamroll anyone who got in their way. The born-again Boston Bad Boys were newly sober and loving life, and the world embraced them. The last chapter winds up at the present, with their current tour and release of Nine Lives, as they continue their successful jaunt.

This book is more than a book about the drugs and the women. It is more than a book about the fame, the money, and losing it all. It digs deeper than the tantrums, the in-fighting, the "business" part of the entertainment field, and the distrust. This book covers all of that, but it has a deeper message. The pain, the struggle, the love for music that brought these five very different personalities together like brothers, and the inspirations that drove them first to the top of the world, and then to the bottom of hell, then back up to an even higher plateau . . . all of that is here in black and white. It's a frank, honest, sometimes amusing, and sometimes painful story about how each member thinks and what makes each of them tick. It is written in such a way that their personalities burn through each page. It lets you peek in on their hopes and dreams. Most of all, it is a book about survival. Aerosmith survived when others didn't. While they indeed fell as many of their peers had, it wasn't a final fall for them, and they got back up. Today, they are still standing, while others didn't get a second chance once they fell. That, I believe, is the crux of what makes Aerosmith tick. Not many lived through what they have and still be around to tell their story. With a nod of thanks in having nine lives, these five men are still on their journey, meeting their destinations a little at a time, but never stopping too long to miss the train. May they continue down that road of magic called music for a long time to come, continuing to win the smiles of millions along the way who have felt some happiness because of them.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Just one more page...", May 18, 2000

By	VoodooLord7 (Oklahoma, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is essential reading for any Aerosmith fan. Even if you hate reading, I gurantee that once you pick this book up, you will not be able to put it down. I've read it through three times, and plan on reading it again soon. Even if you think you know everything about Aerosmith, you will find out once you read this book that you were very wrong. You'll confirm things you've always suspected, learn many things you didn't know before, including some things you probably wish you didn't know. Speaking of that, people who have said that this book is in bad taste, and that it is wrong for Aerosmith to bare their souls like this and tell what really happened in their lifetime, well, you do not understand this book. This is the AUTOBIOGRAPHY of Aerosmith, UNCENSORED, not some edited kiddie show bullcrap. This is the real deal, don't wanna read about the drugs, women, and all that between tales of how the albums were made, then don't read the damn book! This is a story of human triumph, that should inspire us all, knowing that no matter how bad things get, we can always come out better than we were before. That's not saying that you should smoke dope or whatever because Aerosmith said they did it in this book and then they went out and sold 50 million albums, but apply it to your own situation. Fact is, if you love Aerosmith, then you should own this book!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True Kings of Rock 'n' Roll Decandence, May 8, 2003

By	Martin Lemos "Marty" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

I have read the Motley Crue book, and was so surprised at how decadent that group was, until I read WALK THIS WAY. Aerosmith makes Motley Crue look like a bunch of choir boys and saints. I love Aerosmith's music and was very happy to see them rise to the top once again. The book travels with the band from their humble beginnings in New Hampshire to their rise to the top of the mountain till the drugs and alcohol had them all crash and lose it all. The book ends with the release of the NINE LIVES Cd. With this book we get straight from the band members themselves the stories behind writing the hit songs, all the internal conflicts that destroyed the band, all the drug use, girlfriends, everything is covered here in this book with no one being protected. No names have changed. This book will keep you hooked as you go from one story to the next. While some of the members have different recollections of some of the events, they are not that far off and you get to whole inside look into the greatest american band their has ever been. So I suggest that if you like reading about the bands you dig, you go out and get this book. You will not be disappointed