 The bad boys from Boston are back in vintage fashion with a new concert CD and DVD (on the Sony dual disc format) called Rockin’ the Joint: Live at the Hard Rock Hotel. Performed in 2002, this show finds Aerosmith returning to their sweaty roots by blowing the dust off several old relics and laying them down in a small club setting like it was 1972 again. Breaking from their rehearsal schedule as the road vets prepare for a year-long world tour, original bass player Tom Hamilton afforded Bullz-Eye’s Red Rocker a few minutes recently to tout the strengths of Rockin’ the Joint, share his take on illegal downloads, and explain why his son might already be a better musician than he is. “Bullz-Eye: A record like this (Rockin’ the Joint) comes out and it just makes me want to go home and dig out Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic. I had a cassette copy of Live Bootleg back in, what, ’78, ’79 when that thing came out…? Tom Hamilton: (chuckling) BE: I flat wore that thing out! So are you allowed to have a favorite Aerosmith album? TH: Yeah, sure. Picking one is really hard. But I’ll say Rocks. Toys or Rocks, it’s pretty hard to nail down which was a favorite. BE: I saw a quote from your website recently. It was Little Richard saying, “I looooove Aerosmith! They’re one of my favorite rock and roll bands. They’re full of filth and full of soul.” Why are you guys so strong and so vital 35 years later? TH: I just think we were so drastically imprinted during the ‘60s. You know, when you’re a kid and you go see a really powerful rock band, it goes deep. At least for me it did. So the next thing is, “Man, I’d really like to do that. I wanna be on stage!” And you just always keep that point of view. We’ve managed to keep that point of view, wanting to spit out the kind of stuff that really inspired us when we were just learning how to play, and do it in a way that we really love. BE: Looks like you guys are going to be touring now through the end of the year. What’s next for you guys? What does 2006 and 2007 hold for Aerosmith? TH: Well, the rest of this year and next year we’re gonna be touring pretty much straight through, but we’re gonna try and get an album out. BE: Of new material? TH: Yeah.” Read the rest of Red’s interview with Tom Hamilton here.
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