Photo: Victor Chavez/WireImage
Steven Tylerisjumping back in the music saddleto pay homage to the legendary sound of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
The venue is still a working studio that was once home to legendary musicians from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, and theAerosmithfrontman is sharing exclusively with PEOPLE behind-the-scenes footage from his recording of The Rolling Stones’ hit “Brown Sugar” with Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt.
“Five years of our career from ’71 to ’75, all Rolling Stones said we were the cheap imitation of The Rolling Stones, and I thought after ’76, I’ll take it!” Tyler, 70, says in the video. “I love The Stones — baddest boy on the block.”
“Me and Steven have talked about doing something for almost 25 years — we’ve never recorded together — and I finally called him and I said, ‘I’ve never asked you for anything, but I think you’re gonna wanna do this one,'” Bettencourt added. “He didn’t even flinch, so it just began there, and then the great musicians that you guys had down here started with that.”
Rick’s son and studio co-owner Rodney Hall tapped artists like Tyler,Chris Stapleton,Willie Nelson,Kid Rock,Lee Ann Womack,Chord Overstreetand more to trek down to Muscle Shoals to re-record a song of their choice that came out of the famed studio, reviving hits like"Mustang Sally,““I’ll Take You There” and more.
“You walk in and the magic just starts falling into place — the horn section, the music, the vibe, the spirit, the people we work with,” Bettencourt said about recording in the famed studio. “Still, we remained very respectful to The Stones and their version.”
“Steven is brutal on like doing anything, and he looked at me in that moment, he’s like grabbing my hand as we’re listening to it going, ‘We surpassed what we thought this was gonna be,’ [and] that is special,'” Bettencourt said about working with the Grammy award-winning singer.
A portion of the proceeds from album sales benefit the GRAMMY Foundation as well as theMuscle Shoals Music AssociationandThe Muscle Shoals Music Foundation.
“Now to just be a part of it — a small, small, small, small part of it — and to do ‘Brown Sugar’ here is actually one of those things I’ll never forget,” said Bettencourt.
The digital album is available for download and purchase now, with the physical album out Oct. 26.
See the track list below
source: people.com
