Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, New York City 1981

mark “WEISSGUY” weiss & Aerosmith

The first time I shot Aerosmith was in 1976. It was also the first time they played at Madison Square Garden, riding off their success with Toys in the Attic. I was still in high school and still sneaking in my camera into the shows. Aerosmith, along with Kiss and Led Zeppelin, were my all time favs, so it was beyond comprehension that just two years later my very first published photo would be a centerfold of Steven Tyler in CIRCUS magazine, which would begin my four-decade journey with them.

This photo of Steven was shot on December 1981 at the Power Station in NYC while recording Rock In A Hard Place with producer Jack Douglas, who worked with the Boston bad boys since their second album, 1974’s Get Your Wings. Before working again with Aerosmith in 1981, Douglas produced John Lennon’s Double Fantasy album; so it was quite an honor to be the only photographer to document the recording of the album. – weissguy