The Back-Burner: Aerosmith Outtakes & Demos

“Ain’t that a Bitch” is an Aerosmith song released in their 1997 album, Nine Lives, however, 3 completely different songs existed with the same name during previous sessions, between 1991 and 1996, as the band explored the best way to make the song justice.

Joe and Steven recalled in a 1997 GW magazine interview when asked about their approach to writing songs:

Perry: Sometimes we start with a title, like “Ain’t that a Bitch”
Tyler: I sort of envisioned this big billboard that said “AEROSMITH” in huge letter. And I thought, “What would it say after that? What would be the most definitive thing to see? The fuckin’ funniest thing?” And it came to me: “Ain’t that a Bitch.” So we sat down and wrote it up.
Perry: And it sucked! I mean we wrote three different versions before it finally came out right. We wrote that one right at the end of the record. At the last moment. They were wheeling the amps out.
GW: So there are three different songs by you with title “Ain’t that a Bitch” in existence?
Tyler: Yeah. Good exercise, there. That kind of thing happens a lot. We had eight songs finished for this album that won’t be used. We had seven finished from Get a Grip that weren’t used. “Hole in my Soul” is a song I’ve been sitting on since Pump. At one point I thought, “this isn’t any good for Aerosmith. I’ll give it to Julio Iglesias”, I figured it could be something in French, you know? (croons) Joi de vie… mona mi… So you sit on an idea and keep trying to plug it in somewhere until it works.

GW, March 1997

One of the alternative versions of the song starts in C# and A with the line:

It’s 5 o’clock in the morning, last calls come and gone

The released version on Nine Lives was co-written by Desmond Child who had no idea the band had had 3 other attempts at writing the song before meeting him t help finalize song ideas (according to Desmond interacting with fans on Twitter and Instagram).

A 1995 South Beach demo was recorded with the song on Em where Steven more comfortably signed it live. The guitar solo was very similar to the final one. The demo featured female background singers, especially prominent during the outro jam.

The band continued to add overdubs to the original demo during 1996, including recutting the drums with Steve Ferrone and Joey Kramer, until they took the project to New York with Kevin Shirley.