AEROSMITH BASSIST TOM HAMILTON DISCUSSES “TOYS IN THE ATTIC,” HIS HEALTH AND VISUAL ART
Greg Prato of the Long Island Pulse spoke with Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton. Portions of the interview appear below.
Long Island Pulse: Forty years later, how do you view Toys in the Attic?
Tom Hamilton: That one was really a moment of inspiration for us. Our second album, Get Your Wings, we were under a lot of pressure from the label because they weren’t happy with how our first album [Aerosmith] did. So, we got to that project and made a better album. When it came time to do Toys in the Attic, I think we all really wanted to step up and make a statement. The band was really getting good and our producer, Jack Douglas, was someone that we had a lot of faith in—he was becoming a great producer. Everybody just really wanted to go and kick ass. If you look at the changes between Get Your Wings and Toys in the Attic, you can see how much better we were at making records and writing songs.
Pulse: How are you doing with your throat cancer?
TH: Good. My doctor thought I was pretty much done with the cancer that I had in ’06 and then it came back a few years later. I was faced with losing my way of life…if not my life. But there’s a guy here in Boston that Adele referred to [Steven Zeitels], who does novel surgeries and was able to do a procedure that got the cancer out of my throat without having to ruin the rest of it. I just saw him the other day and he said, “You beat this one. You can keep coming to see me if you want, but I don’t think you need to worry about this cancer coming back.” I said, “I’ll come back to see you every six months from here until eternity, if it’s alright with you!”
Pulse: This is also Pulse’s Art & Music issue. Do you collect art?
TH: I do have some nice artwork that my wife and I have accumulated over the years. One of the first things we bought was from some dealer on Central Park West. We were in our twenties and had no idea what we were doing. We were just referred to this guy by a friend, who said, “They have a Georgia O’Keeffe.” So we have a little watercolor by Georgia O’Keeffe. With just a few gestures, she created something that when you first look at it, it seems abstract, but then you realize exactly what it is. It’s a picture of a woman bending down to pick up a flower.
Read more at the Long Island Pulse.
source: lipulse.com
Toys in the Attic is a great record but Get Your Wings is my favorite Aerosmith release.
“Get Your Wings,” “Toys In The Attic,” “Rocks,” Aerosmith at their best!
Doug, those three Aerosmith albums are required listening for any hard rock fan, young or old.
I saw your other posts about the Rush concert you went to. Glad you had a great time. I saw them back in May and I think that’s the best concert I’ve seen in about five years.
Absolutely James, like a fine wine, Rush gets better with time! I don’t know how they do it, most bands after 40 years start slipping, at least a little, but not Rush, they’re just as great, if not better than ever! Hey, how was Aerosmith, did you go to the show? Rock on James, happy 4th of July, cheers! 🙂
It was great! Another band that just keeps getting better with age! Bonus was I’ve never been to Hidalgo and I had no idea it was that far south. I felt like I could have thrown a rock and hit Mexico. Hope you have a great holiday weekend bro. Drink lots of beer, eat lots of bbq, celebrate our great country and listen to some kick ass rock and roll!
Doug,you nailed the trifecta. Ain’t a throwaway song on any of them. They were at their peak,living on the road and subsisting on booze and chemicals. As Joe states in his book about the era,” it seemed like the better the quality of the drugs got,the better the songs got”. Lmao. So many incredible songs on those albums,including my all time favorite A-Smith tune “No More No More”.
Anyone here a fan of Rock in a Hard Place or Done with Mirrors? “She’s on Fire”, “Darkness”, “Bitches’ Brew”, “The Hop”, “Lightning Strikes”, “Cry Me a River” … Tyler was right, you can really f–k to a good Aerosmith song. The two live albums from the mid-80s are classics too.
Tyger, I LOVE Done With Mirrors! The most UNDERRATED Aerosmith album ever! “Gypsy Boots” my favorite song on DWM, (even though they’re all great) and anybody who doesn’t listen to DWM, “Shame On You!”
Cool man! I remember Kerrang! listed DWM and that other underrated masterpiece Iommi and Hughes’s Seventh Star in their Best of 1986. Yet until I went online, I couldn’t find a single person who even knew those albums let alone liked them.
I am a huge fan of Rock In A Hard place. Tyger.Bolivian Ragamuffin is one bad ass song ,Joannies Butterfly also.Even without Perry at that point ,it was very creative album.If you have not heard that album all of you radio friendly Aerosmith fans,you are missing out.