“Dream On’ was meant to be about
alienation, wrote Steven Tyler, its composer and lead singer of Aerosmith, in
his memoir.
“The song started with a melody in my
right hand that rocked back and forth hypnotically, out of the ether,” Tyler
wrote. “I began it in F-minor with a C, C-sharp dischord. That gave it a
haunting, Edgar Allen Poe kind of feel...”
By
the time the lyrics were completed, at a hotel near Logan Airport, it had become
an anthem of hope.
“I’ve
always said it’s about hunger, desire, ambition,” he wrote, “...a song to give
to myself.”
“Dream
On” continues to give more than 40 years after its release. In a recent incarnation, as the finale
to the Boston Marathon special of E:60 Presents, Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry
performed it with a new wrinkle.
The
E:60 version of “Dream On” is a collaboration with the Southern California
Children’s Chorus, which paired 50 fresh-faced youth, ages 11 to 17, with the two well-traveled rockers. Tyler, Perry and the chorus paid
tribute to the bombing victims of the 2013 race, and to runners everywhere.
Executive
Producer Andy Tennant saw and heard it recorded at the Vibiana, a
decommissioned cathedral in downtown Los Angeles.
“When
Steven Tyler played those first notes on piano with Joe Perry’s iconic opening
chord, I looked down at the goose bumps on my arms,” Tennant recalled.
The
idea was hatched last fall when Tennant and feature producer Heather Lombardo planned
a special to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the bombings. Tennant wanted a musical endnote to
reflect the images and story lines, and thought of Aerosmith, with its Boston
roots from the early 1970s.
ESPN
music director Kevin Wilson took the idea to Aerosmith, with whom he had worked
on a NASCAR show in the past.
Wilson suggested that the band record a special “Dream On” for iTunes,
with proceeds to go to charities for bombing victims. Aerosmith jumped at the idea.
“Steven
and Joe were excited to do something for Boston, to give back,” Tennant
recalled.
The
initial idea was for an acoustic version, with just Tyler and Perry, absent
bass or percussion, in a recording studio.
“They
never had done the song like that, just the two of them,” Wilson recalled. “It
really interested them.”
Then
Tyler and director Casey Tebo had another idea, to bring in a children’s choir. E:60 reached out to John and Lori Loftus, a couple who
founded the Southern California Children’s Chorus in 1996. They had overseen its growth to 340
members in seven choirs, and had performed to good reviews at the Oscars in
2012. They agreed.
The
Loftus’ spent a Sunday afternoon with Tyler at his West Hollywood home where
they wrote an arrangement.
“It
was clickin’,” Lori, a keyboardist, recalled. “He said ‘this’.
I said ‘Do you mean this?’
He said ‘Yeah’ and laughed.
I had ideas. He had ideas.”
The
challenge was to blend Tyler’s voice, “so big and rock and rollish”, as Loftus
described it, with the classically trained voices of the choir.
“You
keep your sound,” Loftus told Tyler.
“The children will put the force of hope behind you.”
The
arrangement tucked the choir in “from below and above” Tyler and Perry’s range,
Loftus explained. She was determined that the choir support Tyler and Perry
without “getting in their way”.
Tyler
suggested the choir echo his signature “Dream On” phrase for an angelic effect.
The
shoot took place over two days late in March. E:60 had Tennant, producer Martin Khodabakhshian, editor Tim
Horgan, four cameras, and several
photographers. Aerosmith had a
crew of about 40, including legendary audio engineer Chris Lord-Alge.
Visuals
were not a concern. Tyler and
Perry were elegant, as was the choir.
The old cathedral was atmospheric and well-lit.
“I
approached it like a music video,” said Khodabakhshian. “What’s the jib shot
look like? How to hit certain points of the song to accentuate the lyrics? How
to get the emotion on Tyler’s face and Perry’s focus on his guitar? A lot of it was hands and faces.”
Audio
was a concern. The choir’s vocals
could bleed into the mikes meant to capture Tyler’s vocals and piano, and
Perry’s electric guitar.
“That’s
where the Aerosmith crew stepped in and ensured that we captured all the audio
channels separate and distinct for the best mix,” Tennant recalled.
Prior
to the first rehearsal Tennant met with Tyler and Perry in their respective dressing
rooms. He showed them the stories
slated for the special – about victims Marc Fucarile, Aaron Hern, and Karen
Rand; runner Kris Biagiotti and her special needs daughter, Kayla; and first
responders Joe Andruzzi and Carlos Arredondo. Actor Ben Affleck voiced the piece about Fucarile, while
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady voiced the others.
“I
wanted them to have an idea of who they were performing for and to,” Tennant
recalled. “Both were deeply moved
by the stories that the victims told.”
Tyler,
Perry and the choir rehearsed the song twice on the first day at the old
church. This was “Dream On” as
never before, stripped down and minimalist.
“Not
a lot was going on, which is why it sounded so great,” said Wilson.
After
the rehearsal, Tennant recalled, Tyler remarked, “in some ways this is how I
envisioned the song would always be performed.”
Tennant
was happy, too. “The choir brought a certain mood, a certain innocence and
reflective, melodic tone that hit all the right notes for what we originally
set out to accomplish.”
Said
Wilson: “The choir added a touch
of sophistication -- a more inspirational sound. It evokes emotionally in people.”
They sang it twice, for keeps, on the
second day. After the second take
Khodabakhshian asked the choir to do it again, without Tyler and Perry, to get
tight shots of the faces.
The
final edit included two specialty shoots.
One was of items from a makeshift marathon memorial stored in a Boston
warehouse. The other was of Team
MR8, a group that runs in honor of 8-year-old Martin Richard, who died from the
second bomb blast. Khodabakhshian
shot Team MR8 at daybreak, early in March, on the quiet streets of Boston’s
Back Bay. Those shots, in slow-mo,
connected the studio/church in Los Angeles to the horror and redemption of
Boston.
“The
key to the edit was to balance the iconic rock stars with the somber and
powerful imagery of the runners,” Lombardo said.
To
her taste, it worked.
“The
overall show came across as genuine, not forced or over the top,” said
Lombardo. “We wanted the ending to
fit with that sentiment. Steven
Tyler and Joe Perry were very genuine about the reason they participated. The video is understated, all about the
song, and the imagery of Team MR8.
It fits the sentiment of just being genuine and raw.”
Aerosmith’s
new version of “Dream On” was released on iTunes at the end of July. All funds received by Steven Tyler and
Joe Perry in connection with this track will be donated to charities for those
affected by the Boston Marathon bombing.
(Posted by Steve Marantz on August 5, 2014)