“I wrote that riff on the Fender six-string bass. I saw Peter Green with Fleetwood Mac pick one up. I thought, ‘I’m gonna get one’”: Joe Perry on how he ditched his Les Pauls and Strats to write an Aerosmith classic

For over 50 years, Joe Perry has been the quintessential poster boy for the Gibson Les Paul – and, more recently, has spoken about his use of the Fender Stratocaster for Aerosmith’s ’70s studio sessions.

However, the guitar hero is a bona fide guitar collector – owning somewhere in the ballpark of 600 guitars – and he says the oddballs inspired some of Aerosmith’s most beloved tracks, too.

“I was never hung up on getting one sound and going, ‘That’s it,’ you know?” Perry states in the latest edition of Guitarist.

“From the very beginning, almost everybody I knew had one guitar, maybe two. If you wanted a different guitar, you traded sideways. I listen to a lot of guitar [being] played and there are so many different sounds; it’s really inspiring.”

1976's Back in the Saddle is characterized by the distinctive “growl” in its main riff – and it all came about thanks to Perry experimenting with a Fender Bass VI he had been eyeing for some time.

“The only reason I knew about the six-string bass was because I used to see Peter Green with Fleetwood Mac, and during one of their jams, he would pick one up. I thought, ‘When I get a little money, I’m gonna get one.’ So I got one, started messing around with it, and suddenly this riff came out.”

Aerosmith - Back In The Saddle (Audio) - YouTube

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Perry goes on to say that writing that song on the Fender Bass VI was crucial to it coming to fruition.

“The whole introduction and all those riffs just fell into place,” he reminisces. “It wasn’t like I said, ‘I’m gonna write a song with this’ – it was just this riff that was suddenly there. I grabbed it, recorded it, showed it to the band and there it was.”

Upon release, the song was a moderate commercial success. However, over time and as the band's status grew, it became one of the most well-known songs in their entire discography, as well as a live favorite.

On the topic of Aerosmith's live shows, the band announced their immediate retirement from touring and the cancellation of all remaining farewell tours in August. However, Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton has teased that this does not mean the band is well and truly over.

For more from Joe Perry, plus new interviews with Brian May and The Band’s Jim Weider, pick up issue 517 of Guitarist at Magazines Direct.