The Back-Burner: Aerosmith Outtakes & Demos

Between all the chaos, lineup shifts, and sonic split personalities of Nine Lives, Aerosmith briefly considered opening the album not with a bang, but with a ukulele. Yes. A ukulele.

Tucked into early test pressings and pre-release copies of the album is a bizarre, charming, and completely off-brand little number called “Little Grass Shack.” It never made the final retail cut, but for those who’ve tracked it down through Sterling Sound discs, promo samplers, or fan-circulated leaks, it’s become one of the most delightfully weird Aerosmith curiosities of the late ‘90s.

What We Know

The song opens with Steven Tyler clumsily strumming a ukulele, launching into the first few lines of a vintage island tune originally recorded by Nora Aunor on her 1971 Blue Hawaii album. What follows is part cover, part ad-lib, and pure Steven — loose, goofy, and clearly improvised:

“It’s not the island fair that is calling to me,
It’s not the balmy air nor the tropical sea,
But it’s a little brown gal in a little grass skirt,
In a little grass shack in Hawaii…”

From there, Tyler riffs into his own lines:

“I know that I’ll be there,
1, 2, 3 yo,
Without my rocking chair, with my best friend Joe,
But it’s a little brown gal in a little grass skirt,
In a little grass shack in Hawaii…”

There’s no polish here. The uke is out of tune, Steven stumbles a few chords, and the vocals are loose, probably first take. But the vibe is clear: this was never meant to be a serious song. It’s a sonic postcard, a stoned smile at the start of an album that would ultimately be dragged through a complete sonic overhaul before release.

A Tale of Two Lives

“Little Grass Shack” fits naturally with the South Beach version of Nine Lives, the original Miami sessions with Glen Ballard at the helm. Those sessions leaned warmer, looser, and had a tropical haze hanging over the mixes — a sound that would’ve let “Grass Shack” breathe without irony.

But when the album was pulled back and retooled with Kevin Shirley in New York, everything changed. Shirley pushed the band toward a tighter, heavier, more aggressive sound, and “Little Grass Shack” suddenly felt like a joke in the wrong movie. By the time the official version of Nine Lives hit shelves in March ‘97, the track was gone.

Still, it was clearly in consideration. An advance copy from December 12, 1996, featured the track in the opener slot, with a reprise version is the alternate title spelling “Little Grashh Shack” closing the album. This second version is even looser, with Steven getting raunchy:

“She’s got a big wide smile that is waiting for me,
A gap so big, it’s like the big fucking sea,
But it’s a little brown gal in a little… oh shit…”

Unfinished, raw, hilarious — and not exactly retail-ready. But undeniably Steven.

A Song That Just Won’t Die

Despite being cut from the final record, Little Grass Shack kept finding its way back into Steven’s hands.

He sang it on Howard Stern in early 1997, still clearly attached to the idea of opening the album with it. He brought it out again on Oprah in the early 2000s, in a birthday message to Willie Nelson, during his 2016 solo shows, and even at a handful of Aerosmith gigs over the years.

It’s clear Steven loves the damn thing. Maybe it’s the charm. Maybe it’s the tropical kitsch. Or maybe it’s personal — Tyler’s had a home in Maui for decades, and the playful island fantasy in Grass Shack probably hits close to heart. It’s just Steven being Steven — crooning, clowning, and loving it.

Little Grass Shack is less a song and more a tone-setter — a wink before the plunge. It’s a reminder that Nine Lives, for all its tension and transformation, still had moments of levity and fun before the heavier hands took over.

It might not be a full-fledged track, but it stands tall in the great Aerosmith tradition of throwaway gems — the weird little moments that don’t fit anywhere, and yet somehow explain everything.