The song that Joe Perry said still gives him goosebumps

The legendary Aerosmith co-founder and guitarist Joe Perry started his career six decades ago, in 1965, when he was still a teenager. Since then he had the chance to see the evolution of Rock and Roll music up-close and obviously see a huge number of incredible artists playing over the years.

Although he had many incredible musical experiences and heard a lot of music, there are a few songs that still makes him get emotional. He even revealed once, which is the song that still gives him goosebumps.

The song that the Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry said still gives him goosebumps

Perry was heavily influenced by the music made in the United Kingdom in the 60s and early 70s and some of his biggest heroes appeared there during that era. Two of them are John Mayall and Eric Clapton, who worked together and released in 1966 the album “Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton”.

As Joe Perry told Guitar World in 2013, the song “Steppin’ Out”, from that album, is one that still gives him goosebumps. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard such intense playing and such a great solo with so much attitude on it. And the tone was revolutionary. Everybody else played with that country twang up ‘tiI then. The Beatles had some juice when it came to distortion. But Clapton was finally able to break through those early studio engineers’ fear of overloading.”

He continued:

“He defined the sound that guitarists spend the rest of their lives trying to get. There’s so much expression in his phrasing and the harmonics. That song still gives me goosebumps,” Joe Perry said.

The song was originally composed and recorded by the American artist L.C Frazier, also known as Memphis Slim in 1959. Besides Mayall and Clapton, at the time the band covered the song, was formed by John McVie (Bass) and Hughie Flint (Drums).

Perry is really a big fan of the track and even included the song many times on the setlist of his solo shows. The song was played many times during his most recent Joe Perry Project tour in 2023.

It is one of his favorite albums of all time

In an interview with Best Life magazine in 2004, Joe Perry listed his 10 favorite albums of all time. One of them, of course, was “Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton” (1966). He explained that it was a really important album for him in the early days of his passion for music.

“This came out in 1966 and was an important record for me growing up. It was hands down the cornerstone for the classic Les Paul blues sound. The song ‘All Your Love’ was one of the first songs Aerosmith learned together as a band. And the instrumental ‘Steppin’ Out’ just kicks ass. There’s so much fire on this record. I still listen to it and shake my head,” Joe Perry said.

Before he became famous with Aerosmith, Joe Perry had the chance to see John Mayall live

By the late 60s, many incredible British bands were touring across the United States. Boston was one of those cities where they used to visit. So Perry had the chance to see many amazing acts in small clubs and one of them was John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers.

However, at that time Clapton was no longer a member of the group. But he saw them with the amazing future Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, who was in the band for the first time from 1967 to 1969.

He recalled that experience in an interview with Rock Scene Magazine back in 2018 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). “He (Mick Taylor) was playing a Les Paul, SG, slide guitar. That’s when I got turned on to slide guitar as well. The main thing is (I started) underneath the songs and seeing who is playing these things,” Joe Perry said.