Aerosmith to release raw and rare album Aerosmith - 1971: The Road Starts Hear

The Smiffs — (Image credit: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

Aerosmith are to release Aerosmith - 1971: The Road Starts Hear, a raw, rare and raunchy rehearsal tape from 1971, on CD and digital services on April 8 via UMe.

Recorded on guitarist Joe Perry's Wollensak reel-to-reel tape machine in 1971 by Mark Lehman, Aerosmith’s one-man road crew at the time, the seven-track release will offer fans a glimpse into the Boston band’s origin story, one year before Steven Tyler and Joe Perry’s band signed with Columbia Records, and two years before their self-titled major label debut was released.

The album features embryonic recordings of early Aerosmith classics Dream On, Walkin' The Dog and Guns N’ Roses’ favourite Mama Kin, all of which would later be recorded for the quintet’s debut album. Other highlights include Reefer Head Woman, which would later be recorded for the band’s classic Night In The Ruts album, and Major Barbara, which would later feature on 1986’s Classics Live.

Aerosmith - 1971: The Road Starts Hear was originally available on a limited-edition cassette and vinyl for Record Store Day in 2021.

Produced by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Steve Berkowitz, the release features previously unseen archived photos, images of the original tape box, and liner notes written by Rolling Stone journalist David Fricke drawing upon new interviews with the band.

Listen to an early rehearsal version of debut album deep cut Somebody below.

The album track listing is:

Side A

1. Intro - Somebody
2. Reefer Head Woman
3. Walkin' The Dog

Side B

1. Movin' Out
2. Major Barbara
3. Dream On
4. Mama Kin

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.