Who Really Played Aerosmith’s "Train Kept A Rollin’" Guitar Solos? | Steve Hunter In The Trenches

[@RyanRoxieOfficial]

Watch the full length podcast episode here 🔗 kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIjNo6R4mL6hisU

[@jammer70s]

For years, I never realized my two favorite guitar players were Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner!

[@tomdecuca3627]

Steve and Dick Wagner were like Gods where I come from. All the 70s musicians looked up to them back then. Their guitar lines shaped a lot of music. A lot of hits!!

[@BigPoppa-t3z]

They made Lou reeds album Alice album Aerosmith albums gold. Back then they were session guys.

[@GTX1123]

It's one of THE MOST amazing stories in rock history behind what became an ICONIC cover that put Aerosmith on the map. For 40 yrs the secret was kept that it wasn't Joe or Brad but Steve Hunter - and Steve WAS JUST NOODLING on the second pass?!! i.e. absolutely articulate, precise, perfect phrasing at a blistering tempo w modal changes where he doesn't miss a note. WOW 🤯🤯🤯

[@shanemcconnell1736]

When I was a kid, my two favorite guitar players were Joe Perry, Aerosmith, and Glenn Buxton, Alice Cooper. Turns out neither guy was playing the licks I was listening to.. Back in the 80s I figured it out just listening to billion Dollar babies and train. Kept a Rollin, after I heard rock ‘n’ roll animals. I met Joe Perry, one time, and we were alone, I asked him right through his face who played the solos on train, kept a Rollin. He said he did, this was before the Internet when everybody knew the truth, I had to keep a poker face, because I knew the truth, still love, joe though.

[@musicguy3725]

Great episode. Initially burst my bubble a little hearing one of my favorite bands using session guys, but in retrospect, makes me totally respect and admire the work the unsung session heroes did (including the Wrecking Crew and Nashville Cats).

[@jackiekowal2]

I hope there is a part 2!!!!😍🙏

[@CUBICUB]

The best, intro to sweet Jane live🤯🤯🤯

[@doniezzi6474]

Absolutely

[@claudiaboniny]

VERY COOL Episode!!! 😎🎸🎶🎵🎼💥

[@naomijevons4441]

Brilliant episode

[@RyanRoxieOfficial]

Thanks!

[@excidedous]

"DETROIT" Featuring Mitch Ryder produced by Bob Ezrin and Steve Hunter on guitar still my favorite album.

[@DonnaLovesMusic]

Awesome guitar solo! 🎸

[@jaimeb2339]

I knew that studio musicians played on famous albums, but not to the extent as detailed in this podcast. Here's to the guys who made music for generations but never got the credit. Rock on!

[@jaydee9968]

These are some of my favorite solos going all the way back to when I was 15 years old, and they still are. They fit the song like a glove. Back then all my buddies and I thought it was Joe Perry. When I found out it wasn't Perry or Whitford I completely lost whatever respect I had left for Aerosmith. I have no problem with bands using session guys, but Steve and Dick absolutely should have been credited with such utterly EPIC solos. I've had learning these solos on my bucket list and am finally working my way through them. Thanks for the great guitar work and the awesome interview. I've always wondered who the "Jon Pearson" who is credited with trombone on Same ol' Song and Dance is because I share his name, grew up around Boston, and played lots of trombone back then. I joked with my friends that I sat in on that session. LOL I've never been able to find out who actually played [honestly, I can't even hear a trombone part on that song].

[@billlanglotz1346]

The decending run on train kept a Rollin and back in black at exactly the same!

[@DB-sd5qw]

During the recording of “Get Your Wings” Joe & Brad were still developing as guitar players. They were struggling a bit with their guitar parts for TKAR so Producer Jack Douglas looked for outside help to bring the song to life. Legend has it that Joe and Brad were not happy about the idea but Steven was all for it. I can remember watching Aerosmith perform the song on The Midnight Special and the lead guitar parts that Joe played live were abbreviated versions of what were on the record. There were also additional parts on the “Wings” record that Dick Wagner played on but this was kept secret as Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter did not receive any credits for their contributions. RIP Dick Wagner, gone but not forgotten.

[@aerofan89]

Do you know what parts of which songs? I heard same old song and dance, and possibly sos and lord of the thighs..

[@seandouglas5429]

The thing is if you listen to one way street joe and brad play great dueling solos they could play

[@RickJames-n4d]

Steve is a fine player and a nice Gentleman.

[@gl3605]

I bought "The Alice Cooper Show" back in 1977 at the age of 12 because I liked the cover. Changed my life. If you want to hear another solo that's very much like the ones in "Train kept a Rolling" then listen to "I'm Eighteen" from that live album. Absolutely killer solos, especially the first solo which I believe is mainly Steve Hunter (I could be wrong). Wagner and Hunter...THE best.

[@laurencelevene4333]

Great album.

[@drumgk]

In the running for Guinness book of records longest question in history.

[@jfo3000]

Eddie Trunk interviewing "style". Let the talent speak 1/10 of the time.

[@DjangoThunders]

Hunter and Wagner should be in the Hall of Fame as a guitar duo, they set the stage for what was to come.

[@silkee59]

The original version was by Tiny Bradshaw

[@germangomez7667]

Great story, greetings from Argentina

[@RyanRoxieOfficial]

Thanks for watching!

[@TT64NOVASS]

I preached this for years , everybody thought i was full of shit , i wish they could all see this video, Dick Wagner And Steve Hunters killer intr on Lou Reeds Sweet Jane 'Live ' also !

[@kenmandu4499]

Let your guest talk.

[@thomasborger6548]

Thats what I was thinking

[@sixslinger9951]

pissing me off too!

[@georgeellison926]

Exactly. He thinks he's adding to the story, but he's just interrupting it.

[@demonhoopa]

Joe and Brad got the Warrant treatment from the producer lol

[@RyanRoxieOfficial]

Thank you so much for supportin' 🙏

[@robertzemko6590]

Check out Hunter's Eight Miles High instrumental from his 1977 solo lp, absolutely incredible soloing and the tone is unreal, not sure how he and Wagner got their unique signature sound.

[@slicksnewonenow]

All of the covers were good in the sense that they were tributes to the Johnny Burnette Rock N Roll Trio, but ya gotta admit that the original 1956 recording is where it's at.

[@roberteffler3382]

To me that is one of the greatest guitar tones ever recorded, not to mention the solo's themselves

[@billybob1723]

I saw Aerosmith every year in the late 70s and early 80s. If I had a nickle for every time I left a venue saying, Joe Perry sounded nothing like the album.... Joke was on me. Mr. Perry wasn't on the album.

[@kenhforrest]

Wow!

[@TheDogPa]

Ray Colcord was a totally cool dude! R.I.P. 🙏 I was a nobody kid and he treated me like an equal.

[@alanmiller2250]

I agree. It's just too neat to be Joe Perry. I could tell it was a natural righty who played it. Perry doesn't really play like that, like a natural righty. You could feel it in the notes. I never heard Perry play it like the album in my whole life.

[@strattt10]

The 3 solo's Joe does to Walk This Way are also pretty neat!

[@shasta810]

Joe Perry could never play those solos like this studio recording because this guy and Dick Wagner We're so much better.

[@sthubbins4038]

@@shasta810 Different styles. All 3 of them are incredible, but different voices on guitar.

[@nunyabusiness5075]

There are a huge amount of natural lefties that play right handed including BB King, Duane Allman, Steve Morse, Mark Knopfler and Gary Moore to name a few. 😀

[@alanmiller2250]

@@sthubbins4038 i feel that Train Kept... is the thread in all 5 decades of rock guitar. It has at least 5 guitar solos. Some of Perrys leads are so blistering but it may not match the album. Jimmy Page plays it fast, Beck plays it really neat with a dive bomb. Brad Whitford is phenomenal in his chromatic touch. Two different speeds. Train is the complete fun song.

[@gvc1959]

I never knew that dick wagner adn steve hunter played on that track but I'm not too surprised. The guitar work is fantastic, among my favorites.

[@tonychavez1733]

Rock and Roll animal live without a doubt is one of the best live albums of all time. So when lou came to winterland I made sure I went. What a disappointment when Steve and Dick weren't in the band... and then lou scared the hell out of me by putting a needle in his arm onstage

[@gml5347]

One of the best guitar solos

[@michaelphineas6962]

I liked the follow on Lou Reed Live better! Should have been a double album.

[@radman1102]

Tiny Bradshaw in 1951...

[@radman1102]

Yardbirds after that!

[@JulioLeonFandinho]

@@radman1102 no, Johnny Burnette in 1956

[@alanmiller2250]

@@radman1102 and then you know, there are a couple recordings of Led zep playing "Train Kept a rollin " They are all good because there's like 5 solos, you can mix it up in any order when you play. But I know Steve Hunter is the man on that song. Followed by Jeff Beck and then Joe Perry.

[@aschule5684]

It funny, even though I was still just maybe 10 or 11 I'd been familiar with Get Your Wings since it had come out thanks to an older brother, and already being a guitar enthusiast TKAR lead work was pretty impressive and assuming it was in fact Joe Perry that played that spent a lifetime crediting that to being Joe's finest work. I was beyond blown away when I heard about this for the first time some years back. Although I think when I first heard the story I'd heard it was actually Dick Wagner until Steve's wife told his side of it on line somewhere. This information all had the same (there is no Santa Claus) kinda disappointment you experience as a kid when I found out for years we were all made to believe something that wasn't in fact true at all. Then I heard about Billion Dollar Babies and further felt betrayed Dick or both Dick and Steve played on that also. So knowing this now especially as far as the Aerosmith sessions goes the unanswered question for me is "why did this even happen"? Was Joe smacked out or too messed up and unable to play? Why did this happen? We can all come to our own conclusions but I'd really love to know??

[@jfo3000]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3uwZ5yNg76bhrssi=hMsAHhP9wPgZ8Zr0 The reason it happened is because Joe simply cannot play that well. He's pretty good, but not THAT good. Imagine being the producer in the studio and Joe's Mama Kin riffage is rolling on for the length of the TKAR solos. It would get pretty redundant pretty quickly. About the time of the fourth Aerosmith album I was wondering why the magnificent lead work of Get Your Wings wasn't all over their catalog, only a flash of brilliance here and there. The Hunter-Wagner team. Alice Cooper finally took them on the road in his touring band for Welcome To My Nightmare. When I finally heard the truth it made total sense, because the brilliance of the TKAR, and I believe a few other lead breaks from GYW was sparse in their catalog. The solo to Kings And Queens, although not difficult to play, seemed way out of the Perry/Whitford wheelhouse at the time as well. Also, the half-wah tone was not something they used. It wouldn't surprise me if an outsider played that as well. 4:32

[@aschule5684]

@@jfo3000 so I had to also wonder why Brad Whitford was not actually the lead guitar player in that band? Brad actually went to Berklee and went before Aerosmith you have to be a real decent player to even be able to get in to Berklee and had to be a better player than Joe

[@frusilac999]

Brad Whitford. Source- 1984 concert witnesses in Bakersfield ca.

[@RichardNixon-y3o]

It's hard to believe that Hunter's solo on the tune is improvised. It' sounds well thought out.

[@gml5347]

It’s train it’s easy to play with but those two made it unbelievable at the time

[@gml5347]

The best solos I ever listened to were improvised

[@PearComputingDevices]

This just blows my mind. But I am going to guess this was common. What rattles me, why didn't they use session players when they where too drugged to play? Next they'll say it wasn't actually Les Paul guitars, but made to sound like it..

[@PeterMayer]

I've known that for more than a few years. And I think it was dick wagner who played the solo song and dance.

[@andylandAMband]

How was the pay?

[@VallinSFAS]

That Keith Emerson "Lucky Man" moment. Of course this NEVER happens on a Steely Dan album!

[@seandouglas8655]

If you listen to Aerosmith live mckeevesport 1974 Joe plays those leads live just as good if not better

[@GuitarMan3YT]

Why didn’t Joe Perry himself play the solo? I would’ve been pissed if someone else walked in and played that wasn’t even in the band

[@cathymcgookey7567]

Jack produced starz

[@j.d.thompson3505]

Joe Perry was a certified guitar God for this man's 2 minutes of noodling.

[@TeleCaster66]

Steve Hunter solo 1, Dick Wagner solo 2.

[@gonzo5648]

I remember learning abiut that years ago. I had a vision of Joe Perry and held him up in my mind, because of this song only to find the truth. I love Joe, but it was a waking moment for me to realize I never knew the truth. Jeez what great solos here!!

[@shasta810]

Train kept a Rollin always stood out on this record to be a cut above the rest of the songs and this is why!

[@robertzemko6590]

Guess what folks , if you know your guitar players then you know that Hunter/Wagner were not exclusive to just the one track from Get Your Wings but the ENTIRE album (as per producer Jack Douglas) and not just that but ALL of TOYS IN THE ATTIC too, Yes Dick Wagner played all the solos on that one too. Just listen to the solo at the end of No More No More and also Round And Round, that is classic Wagner, ALSO the solo at the end of Nobody's Fault from ROCKS (1976) is not Perry or Whitford but probably Hunter maybe Wagner, listen to it closely. Wagner goes back as far as Love It To Death with the Coop on the song Long Way To Go, I always wondered why that solo was so good. These session players could not take credit for most of what they did as per the agreement at the time. This was a very common thing back then, Kiss had Wagner do MOST of the Destroyer album as Ace Frehely was missing in action during the recording sessions and so Wagner was brought in as per Bob Ezrin. Another replacement situation was the debut lp of MOXY from 1975 in which guitarist Earl Johnson was literally replaced with none other than Tommy Bolin for the entire album when Johnson apparently walked out after a dispute with the producer JACK DOUGLAS, (Bolin was apparently next door in the next studio with Deep Purple working on the Come Taste The Band lp and made an agreement with Douglas) Wagner also did most if not all of the Coops Schools Out, Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle Of Love instead of Buxton.

[@DB-sd5qw]

Very interesting!!! I was aware of the contribution by Tommy Bolin on Moxy’s debut but didn’t know that Hunter/Wagner played on the later Aerosmith recordings. Some players freeze up in the studio when they see the recording light come on

[@williamallen7386]

My favorite song and the band didn't even play it, lol

[@DianeCooperTW]

On scale how embarrassing that would be for a rock band to call outside people to record your guitars ?

[@VallinSFAS]

The one time Joe Perry WAS NOT WORTHY!

[@bobkindle4297]

You have to ask yourself why couldn't Joe Perry or brad Whitford play the guitar solos for that song? (and a few others) Were they not talented enough?? or just too wasted at that time and place?

[@jamesmickryan982]

Joe Perry couldn’t ever play that clean, or quick. All Dick Wagner & Steve Hunter. Now i will also say Brad Whitford in my opinion was & is a better player then Joe Perry. Perry always had the spotlight compared to Brad cause of his…. Look.

[@michaelphineas6962]

By the time Joe Perry laid down the solo for Think About It on Night in the Ruts Steve Hunter wasn't that much better than him.

[@aleksanderpunk9983]

I always said Joe Perry is very overrated guitarist. OK songwriter, but average guitarist. He just had persona act in the 70’s

[@JulioLeonFandinho]

you were always saying crap, then 🤡🤡💩💩