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"Let the Music Do the Talking? (4:43) |
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Joe Perry Project - Let the Music Do the Talking (Columbia) 1980 In 1978, prompted by his wife, Joe Perry decided to leaves Aerosmith's. Is this a bad thing? Of course it is, but at least we were blessed with a few awesome solo albums while he was absent from America's greatest rock and roll band. "Let the Music Do the Talking" was produced by Jack Douglas, who had also produced some of Aerosmith's best works such as "Rocks" and "Toys in the Attic". "Let the Music Do the Talking" is a guitar album that would rival anything put out by Jeff
Beck, Jimmy Page, or Eric Clapton. (All of whom are heroes of Joe Perry.) The rumor was that Joe originally intended to call the album "Guitar Wars." That would have been an appropriate title for this bombastic rock and roll record. The title track was a song Joe had written for Aerosmith's and was later re-recorded with Aerosmith for the "Done With Mirrors" LP. Personally, I think the Project version came out better.
Joe's band for this album consisted of Ralph Morman: vocals/guitar, David Hull: bass/vocals, Ronnie Stewart: drums/percussion and Joe performing rhythm and lead guitar, as well as sharing lead vocals. "Let the Music Do the Talking" sold well for Joe, selling over 250,000 copies in the U.S. alone.
I own this one on CD and vinyl, complete with picture sleeve.
Joe
Perry Project - Do The Talkin Project (CDR bootleg)
Recorded live Milwaukee, WI 1980
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"Intro" (:29) 2. "Let The Music Do The Talking" (3:57) 3. "Get The Lead Out" (3:35) 4. "Pills" (2:35) 5. "Discount Dogs" (3:58) 6. "Reefer Headed Woman" (6:19) 7. "Ready On The Firing Line" (4:24) 8. "Bone to Bone" [instrumental] (2:53) 9. "Heartbreak Hotel" (2:41) 10. "Shooting Star" (3:43) 11. "The Mist Is Rising" (6:22) 12. "Talk Talk" (3:56) 13. "Bright Light Fright" (3:01) 14. "Break Song" [instrumental] (1:46) 15. "drum solo" (4:21) 16. "Break Song" [continued] (1:11) 17. "Rockin' Train/bass solo" (8:28) 18. "Life At A Glance"(2:55) 19. "Let The Music Do the Talking" (4:20) |
 Ralph Morman & Joe Perry |
Despite the wishy sound, this disc is actually one I enjoy listening to quite a bit due to the odd mix of material. I mean what Aerosmith fan can resist Joe Perry doing covers of Bo Diddley' "Pills" and Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel"? Joe introduces "Reefer Headed Woman" as a "song written by some friends of mine." While this show was a radio broadcast, the source for this show seems to be a very old tape or something. A disc for collectors only and Joe Perry diehards only.
1. "East Coast,
West Coast" (3:07) |
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Perry not content with making solo Aerosmith records changes gears slightly to give us one charged guitar album. I remember reading a review somewhere that said, "this is one loud, destructive jam!" Good description, could not have said it better myself. There are four heavy rockers in "East Coast, West Coast," "Soldier of Fortune," "South Station Blues," and the manic "Once A Rocker. "No Substitute for Ignorance," has some of the worst vocals I have ever heard. Actually I sort of wish Joe would just sing all his own songs. Joe Perry's vocals remind me of Ace Frehley, another guitar legend, who has that "can't sing/don't care" vocal style that somehow just works. On a side note, "Buzz, Buzz" had previously been recorded by bassist David Hull's band Dirty Angels. Singer Ralph Morman recorded an album titled "We Come to Play" for Capitol Records with Punky Meadows and Mickey Jones (of Angel fame) in Bux."South Station Blues" also showed up on the Aerosmith box set "Pandora's Box." I own this one on both CD and vinyl, complete with picture sleeve.
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"Once A Rocker, Always A Rocker" (2:58) "Once a Rocker" is my least favorite Joe Perry album. Joe and his band had a new label and a new (goofy) look. New vocalist "Cowboy" Mach Bell looks like like a reject from Twisted Sister or the New York Dolls. Then there was drummer Joe Pet, who I am sure was moonlighting in Shanana. Musically, "Once A Rocker..." is Joe's most eclectic collection. However, there are some good songs on this CD. The title tracks rocks, and has that bluesy, groove that Joe is known for. Likewise, "Woman in Chains" is a good T.Rex sounding glam ballad and speaking of T.Rex, they do a cool cover of "Bang A Gong." "Black Velvet Pants" is a decent melodic rocker as well. Otherwise, this is Joe's most eccentric, hard to get into, album. I believe that "Once A Rocker" is now out of print. I own this one on CD and vinyl. |
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The Joe Perry Project - Live 4-9-82 (CDR bootleg)
Recorded live at Uncle Sam's, Hull, MA 4/9/82
1. "Interview 1"
(3:51)
2. "Toys in the Attic" (6:04)
3. "No Substitute for Arrogance" (3:37)
4. "Heartbreak Hotel" (2:13)
5. "Once A Rocker, Always A Rocker" (2:25)
6. "Down" (4:57)
7. "Buzz Buzz" (3:47)
8. "Black Velvet Pants" (4:06)
9. "I've Got the Rock N Rolls Again" (5:40)
10. "East Coast West Coast" (3:22)
11. "Let the Music Do the Talking" (1:13)
12. "Interview 2" (3:54)
Vintage show from the Perry Project featuring the "Once A Rocker" line-up plus Brad Whitford. This line-up, of course, fueled the rumor of an Aerosmith reunion, which took place a few years later. In anycase, an excellent bootleg with decent sound quality from a radio broadcast.
Joe Perry (Columbia) 2005
1. "Shakin¹ My
Cage" (4:13)
2. "Hold On Me" (4:41)
3. "Pray For Me" (4:07)
4. "Can¹t Compare" (3:52)
5. "Lonely" (4:50)
6. "Crystal Ship" (2:42)
7. "Talk Talkin¹" (3:33)
8. "Push Comes To Shove" (3:39)
9. "Twilight" (3:36)
10. "Ten Years" (4:35)
11. "Vigilante Man" (3:32)
12. "Dying To Be Free" (3:40)
13. "Mercy" (4:22)
I was quite anxious to hear some new solo material from Joe Perry. I still listen to the Joe Perry Project material regularly. I've always appreciated Joe's down to earth, blues based, guitar playing and song writing. His new solo excursion, modestly titled Joe Perry, isn't that far removed from his band's last effort "Honkin' on Bobo". In other words, this is exactly what you'd expect from Joe. This is a solo effort in the truest sense. Joe handles all the vocals, guitars, bass and keys with co-producer Paul Caruso handling the drums and percussion. As anyone who frequents this site knows, I am a huge Aerosmith fan, so I obviously have a bit of bias for Perry, but I can't really see why any fan of good guitar driven rock n roll wouldn't enjoy this album. "Shakin' My Cage" is a smokin' album opener. The only thing that might have improved it is Tyler on the mic. While I dig Joe's "can't sing-don't care" vocal style, there is no denying that the Toxic Twins together create a lethal sound. "Push Comes To Shove" has a nice groove and it's a fun song. "Twilight" & "Mercy" are nice Instrumentals. "Twighlight" in particular reminded me of something off of Satriani's first album. It just has that ethereal quality. There are a few cover songs as well, including a respectful cover of Woody Guthrie's "Vigilante Man" and a trippy cover of the Doors' "Crystal Ship". "Push Comes To Shove" is another standout cut with a good groove. "Vigilante Man" has some of Joe's signature slide guitar work reminding me of some of his work with the Project and even some of Aerosmith's late 70's work. It's also worth mentioning that Sony put some money into the packaging here. On top of a nicely laid out, 4 color booklet with spot varnishes, the entire package is in one of the new Dual Disc jewel cases that are much nicer that the typical CD case. The DVD side of the disc features the entire album in 5.1 Surround Sound, exclusive in-the-studio, behind-the-scenes and interview footage and two UMixIt tracks. While this is a nice addition, it is the music I am most interested in. The DVD is one of those things I watched once and probably won't revisit very often. The CD side, howevever, will see plenty of playtime for years to come.
Joe Perry – Have Guitar Will Travel (Roman Records) 2009
1. We've Got A Long Way To Go (4:34)
2. Slingshot (4:20)
3. Do You Wonder (5:14)
4. Somebody's Gonna Get (Their Head Kicked In Tonite) (4:10)
5. Heaven and Hell (7:19)
6. No Surprise (4:53)
7. Wooden Ships (4:56)
8. Oh Lord (21 grams) (3:27)
9. Scare The Cat (4:47)
10. Freedom (3:50)
While Aerosmith is down for a spell as Tyler heals from an accident and farts around on American Idol, Joe Perry put together his fifth solo release. Recorded at Perry’s home studio, The Boneyard, "Have Guitar Will Travel" is purposely under produced, raw and greasy. Being that this is a solo album, and not an Aerosmith record, Joe is afforded the opportunity to experiment a bit and move outside the realm of Aerosmith. Whereas the early Joe Perry Project albums sounded like Aerosmith records, “Have Guitar” pretty much stears clear of that sound. Frankly, my first thoughts were that this album sounds like a mixture of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Jerry Lee Lewis. Yes, Perry reaches back and pays homage to his roots here. In fact, the lone instrumental “Wooden Ships” is a dedication to the late, great Les Paul. This song has some firely licks and a slight jazz undertone. The rest of the album features vocal duties split between Perry and a relatively unknown German singer who goes by the moniker “Hagen”. Opening track “We’ve Got A Long Way to Go” and “Do You Wonder” are the most radio friendly of the bunch. “We Got a Long Way to Go” has a slight modern rock touch. “Do You Wonder” boasts a repetitive, catchy chorus and some bluesy qualities. “Oh Lord” is a short and delicate ballad. "Someone's Gonna Get (Their Head Kicked in Tonight)," is actually a cover of a very early Fleetwood Mac original. I could see Aerosmith recording this song. “Freedom” is the one song that reminded me the most of Aerosmith, sounding like it could have come off of “Draw the Line”. Perry’s slide guitar dominates this song. “Have Guitar Will Travel” is a solo album and probably won’t have the same crossover appeal that Aerosmith have. This will most likely only appeal to hardcore Aerosmith fanatics and those who enjoy the guitar driven rock of the 70’s.
Joe Perry - Joe Perry's Merry Christmas (Romah) 2014