Pop Quiz: Joe Perry

Pop Quiz: Joe Perry

Aidin Vaziri | When Joe Perry was not busy last year rocking out with Aerosmith, bottling his Boneyard Brew hot sauce or playing with his grandkids, the guitar player was putting riffs and poetry together for his self-titled solo album -- the first in more than 20 years. Even though it contains covers of the Doors' "The Crystal Ship" and Woody Guthrie's "Vigilante Man," Perry stays pretty much faithful to his band's stadium-filling blues-rock sound, unlike Rob Thomas, who has miraculously turned into Justin Timberlake on his solo debut.



Joe Perry of Aerosmith
Q: So, what drugs were you on when you recorded the Doors' "The Crystal Ship"?
A: I had enough left over from the old days. I've been in a permanent state of euphoria since, I don't know, 1968.
Q: Your Jim Morrison impression is not so bad.
A: I was just reading some of his poetry and putting some guitar behind it. What happened was I was just driving around and singing along to that first Doors record and I said, "I can do this." That's pretty much it.
Q: Did you try recording your hot sauce on any of the songs? You know, just like the sizzling noise for percussion?
A: No, I should have done that.
Q: If you go on tour you can come out onstage and squirt some hot sauce on your guitar and then light it on fire.
A: Well, I'm only going to do a couple live shows and TV shows, but that's a good idea.