The Back-Burner: Aerosmith Outtakes & Demos

In the early 1980s, Aerosmith, one of the most iconic rock bands of the 20th century, was grappling with internal strife and external challenges. This turbulent period led to the formation of a lesser-known but intriguing side project: “Renegade.” Joey Kramer, Aerosmith’s drummer, initiated this venture at a time when the band was on the brink of collapse. Kramer himself noted that the impetus behind Renegade’s formation was Aerosmith’s impending self-destruction, exacerbated by Steven Tyler’s erratic behavior and touring issues.

The year 1979 marked a crucial juncture in Aerosmith’s storied career, as Joe Perry, the band’s lead guitarist, made his dramatic exit. Enter Jimmy Crespo, previously a member of the rock band Flame alongside vocalist Marge Raymond which, after producing two albums and embarking on a third with renowned producer Jimmy Iovine, disbanded in 1978.

This led them to approach Leber/Krebs management, a titan in the music industry known for handling the careers of some of the biggest acts of the era, including Aerosmith, AC/DC, Ted Nugent, The Scorpions, and many others. The management team, recognizing their potential, decided to build a band centered around Crespo and Raymond.

It was during this period that Crespo’s and Raymond’s paths intersected with Aerosmith. Crespo filled Perry’s shoes in Aerosmith, while Raymond’s band, Kicks, became an opening act for Aerosmith. This exposure led to Raymond capturing the attention of Steven Tyler during a performance of “Raceway.” Impressed, Tyler invited her to join Aerosmith on stage for backing vocals and tambourine during Lick and a Promise, Come Together and Train Kept a Rolling during a few dates of their 1979/1980 tour.

In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a motorcycle crash that left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record for much of 1981 and spend time away in Sunapee, New Hampshire; leaving Aerosmith in a state of flux. This upheaval was compounded in 1981 when Brad Whitford, another key member, also departed. Facing these challenges, the band found itself at a crossroads, necessitating the infusion of fresh talent to fill the void. Amidst this backdrop, drummer Joey Kramer, driven by frustration over the band’s stagnation due to Tyler’s drug issues, conceived the idea of forming a new band: Renegade.

As a family man, however, I had to take care of business, and my business—Aerosmith—was slipping seriously off the rails. There was less and less going on, but I still needed the steady income. I owned a piece of a rehearsal studio called Top Cat, and I started trying to write, doing production work, anything to try to keep the ball rolling. I even tried to start a band called Renegade.

It was the result of me finally getting to the point where I didn’t want to do what I was doing anymore, and I went and put something else together for another band called Renegade. It was during a time in Aerosmith when nothing was going on. It wasn’t vacation, it was just a time when nothing was happening because we couldn’t get together. And so, I recruited Marge Raymond, who was singing with Jimmy in a band called Flame, and I think they were from Brooklyn. And Bobby Mayo was playing with us, and Tom was gonna play bass.

Joey Kramer interview on Eddie Trunk, 2012

Renegade was a unique assembly of talent: Marge Raymond as lead vocalist, Jimmy Crespo on lead guitar, Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton on bass, Bob Mayo, known for his work with Peter Frampton, on keyboards and guitar, and Joey Kramer on drums.

The group embarked on a recording journey at New York’s Power Station studio in 1981 with producer Tony Bongiovi, with Kramer admitting they were doing “a lot” of cocaine during the sessions. Backed by CBS, they recorded an eight-track demo entirely live, emulating the Beatles’ approach to recording, 4 tracks bounced down to 2, a “total live performance”. Jimmy Crespo was the creative force behind the songwriting, holding the copyright and publishing rights.

Different sources quote different amounts of tracks being recorded, but the following 7 demo tracks are confirmed to exist:

1. One More Night
2. Do It Again
3. All Night Long
4. Badlands
5. Cinderella Dreamer
6. Ride On
7. Well Run Dry (collaboration with Steven Tyler)

“I remember there was one other track I was working on with Renegade, which Steven and I ended up collaborating on which was called something like “Well Run Dry” too” said Jimmy Crespo in an 2000 interview with the Riff and Roll website.

“One More Night” is a power ballad about regret of loosing a loved one, which was originally recorded for Flame’s 3rd album. When recorded with Renegade, all the background vocals were recorded by Marge as an overdub. Raymond eventually recorded the song with 5 different bands.

“Do it Again” is a straight up rocker that feels related to Aerosmith’s “Bolivian Ragamuffin” that talks about a chaotic character looking for trouble. “Cinderella Dreamer” could have been a hit for radios back in the 80’s. It features Raymond’s lighter voice, rather than her big belting voice.

Renegade, at one stage, secured a record deal with Columbia (Sony) following a couple of exclusive live performances at the SIR studios, which were attended only by label executives. Despite never performing for the general public, their showcase impressed Columbia enough to commence official production. Subsequently, the band began recording basic tracks for their debut album, building upon the foundation laid by their original demos, with four or five songs being tracked in this initial phase of production. “We got to the point of putting down basic tracks for a record of which I still have” commented Joey Kramer in 2012.

I believe that was three or four more songs that we were demoing. The camaraderie of the band was phenomenal. There was some nights where we didn’t even get any work done because the great Bob Mayo, with his immense humor, had us laughing all night long.

Marge Raymond, 11/23/2023 Facebook

However, the fate of Renegade was sealed by Aerosmith’s evolving circumstances. As the industry buzzed about Renegade, Steven Tyler returned to fulfill his contractual obligations with Aerosmith, necessitating the completion of “Rock in a Hard Place” album. This development put Renegade on indefinite hold. “Sorry Marge, I have to take back my band” reminisced Raymond on what Steven Tyler told her in 1981.

We did a showcase at S.I.R. and started to cut a record. We lined up a record deal, but then Steven suddenly decided he was ready to do another Aerosmith record. Jimmy and Tom and I all belonged in Aerosmith, so that was that. We dropped Renegade and started back to work.

And then Steven started getting his act together and decided that it was time to do another Aerosmith record. So that got put on the back burner, and we went and did ‘Rock in a Hard Place.’ We started it with Tony Bon Jovi, because Tony was doing the other record.

Joey Kramer interview on Eddie Trunk, 2012

The whereabouts of the Renegade recordings have been a subject of speculation and change over the years. “I know who has the tapes” said Crespo in a Rock Interview Series conducted by Thomas S. Orwat Jr on 9/30/2010. In the same 2010 interview, Jimmy Crespo expressed a desire to release the Renegade tracks, but mentioned that legal complications have been a significant barrier. “So there’s a possibility of something going on with that, if I get all the legal issues out of the way. But with everything going on, it is a possibility”, concluded Jimmy. Crespo’s acknowledgment of these legal hurdles provides a clear insight into why these recordings remain unreleased, despite his intent to share them with the world.

However Joey Kramer’s inconsistent statements regarding the master tapes have added to the mystery, although he has more recently affirmed their existence. In a 2012 interview with Eddie Trunk, Joey Kramer claimed to have the master tapes for the Renegade tracks, by 2020, during an online MasterClass, he changed his version stating that he did not have the tapes and that doubted the recordings were in good condition after so many years.

Well I don’t have the master tapes in my possession, but they may very well be around, although at the same time, you know, if the tape wasn’t converted to digital, if it wasn’t digitized the molecules start falling off the tape and the tape starts to disintegrate after a certain amount of time, and that was quite a while ago.

Conversation with Joey Kramer Rock N’ Roll Fantasy’s MasterClass 2020/08/31

However, by 2021 he came back to his original version and said that he still had the tapes and that he would often listen to them, “the tapes are still around I still have them, and you know every once in a while I bring them out and listen to them and it was a fun thing” said Kramer during a 2021 interview with Darren Paltrowitz.

Marge Raymond kept a cassette tape copy of the demos and at some point got it transferred to CD and shared it with Joey and Jimmy. Nothing came from this effort and the tracks have remained unreleased despite ongoing fan interest. Marge eventually got a couple of the demos played during online podcasts during the 2010s. “I only have cassettes. Fortunately, I have musician friends who own great studios. One of them was kind enough to let me transfer the muddy cassettes to mp3, you need an engineer for that. He did me a favour by letting me use his studio and engineer for free.” said Marge in 2019.

Renegade has been mentioned in biographical books like “The Fall and Rise of Rock’s Greatest Band Aerosmith”, “The Biography of Aerosmith”, Joey Kramer’s “Hit Hard”, along with numerous websites on the internet. The fate of the “Renegade” recordings remain uncertain as the location of the master tapes remain a mystery, Aerosmith is mostly inactive around their farewell tour and Jimmy Crespo’s health deteriorated after he suffered a stroke around 2019.

References:
Music First Podcast with Marge Raymond
MargeRaymond.com
ReberbNation.com