| "Dream On" | ||||||||
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The UK promo disc of "Dream On". |
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| Single by Aerosmith | ||||||||
| from the album Aerosmith | ||||||||
| B-side | "Somebody" | |||||||
| Released | June 27, 1973[1] 2010 (download only re-issue) |
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| Format | 7" 45 RPM | |||||||
| Recorded | 1972 at Intermedia Studios, Boston, Massachusetts[2] | |||||||
| Genre | Rock, hard rock | |||||||
| Length | 3:25 (1973 Single) 4:28 (Album/1976 Single) |
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| Label | Columbia | |||||||
| Writer(s) | Steven Tyler | |||||||
| Producer | Adrian Barber[1][2] | |||||||
| Aerosmith singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Dream On" is the first single by Aerosmith from their 1973 debut album, Aerosmith.[3] Written by lead singer Steven Tyler, this blues-influenced power ballad became their first major hit and classic rock radio staple. Released in June 1973, it peaked at #59 nationally but hit big in the band's native Boston, where it was the #1 single of the year on the less commercial top 40 station, WBZ-FM, #5 for the year on highly rated Top 40 WRKO-AM and #16 on heritage Top 40 WMEX-AM.
The album version of "Dream On" (4:28, as opposed to the 3:25 1973 45rpm edit), was re-issued early in 1976, debuting at #81 On January 10th, breaking into the Top 40 on February 14th and peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 national chart, April 10th.[4] Columbia chose to service Top 40 radio stations with a re-issue of the 3:25 edited version, thus, many 1976 Pop Radio listeners were exposed to the group's first Top 10 effort through the 45 edit.
Dream On was first played live in Willimantic, Connecticut at the Shaboo Inn. In a 2011 interview, Steven Tyler, reminisced about his father, a Juilliard-trained musician, and recalled "lying beneath his dad's piano as a three-year-old, listening to him play classical music. That's where I got that Dream On chordage," he said.[5]
Contents |
| End of year chart (1976) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[6] | 51 |
Long a concert staple, the song's piano part has been played live by Tyler. The band has also played "Dream On" with an orchestra on a couple of occasions. One of these performances, conducted by Michael Kamen, was performed live for MTV's 10th Anniversary (in 1991) and included on the soundtrack for the movie Last Action Hero. Additionally, in 2006, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry performed the song live with the Boston Pops Orchestra at their Fourth of July spectacular. On September 19, 2006, Aerosmith dedicated the song to captured Israeli soldier Ehud Goldwasser. On September 22, 2007, at a concert in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Aerosmith dedicated the song to one of their fans, Monica Massaro, who had been murdered earlier that year. In August 2010, Tyler performed much of the song on a grand piano on top of the "Green Monster" at an Aerosmith concert at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, before the rest of the band joined in to close out the song. On May 25, 2011, Tyler performed a brief rendition of the song live during the finale of the tenth season of American Idol.
A coinciding video directed by Marty Callner was also created at the MTV 10th anniversary special performance with the orchestra.
The song has appeared on almost every Aerosmith greatest hits and live compilation, including:
It also appears on both of the band's box sets.
The song "Dream On" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.[7] It is also ranked #172 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Most people consider it Aerosmith's signature song.