Steven Tyler is a Rock Star -- capital R, capital S. He understands that being a Rock Star is about more than just selling records. You have to live The Life, and if you write a memoir about The Life, certain conventions have to be respected -- band fights have to be detailed, partying catalogued, hookups listed, regrets stated, a sensitive inner side revealed, redemption found -- and because Tyler understands what it means to be a Rock Star, he delivers the goods in Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? Written with Rolling Stone founding editor David Dalton (James Dean: The Mutant King, El Sid: Saint Vicious, the forthcoming Bob's Brain: Decoding Dylan), Tyler's surprisingly insightful and entertaining voice brings the familiar contours of this story alive. It's not the most original rock memoir, but it is a fun read.
Tyler was born Steven Tallarico in 1948 in the Bronx, N.Y. He had an ordinary childhood, or at least what passes for an ordinary childhood for a future rock star, though one surprising revelation is how outdoorsy he was as a kid. He spent every summer at his family's summer home in Sunapee, N.H. "I was a mountain boy, barefoot and wild," Tyler writes. "I'd come back after an afternoon of killing with my slingshot and Red Ryder BB gun with a string of blue jays tied to my belt."
But by 15, he was already getting high and already sure he wanted to be a rock star. People instantly made the Mick Jagger comparison (those lips didn't help), but Tyler reveals Janis Joplin as his idol (and the inspiration for the scarves he drapes around his mike stand).
The turning point in Tyler's life came when he saw Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton perform with their band at a show in the summer of 1969 in Sunapee. Tyler and Perry became fast friends, capping that first summer by attending Woodstock together. The next year, they formed a band, gaining notice on Boston's club circuit, but it was a gig at the legendary Max's Kansas City that landed them a record deal. Their third album, 1975's Toys in the Attic, vaulted them to superstardom.
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