The Three Stooges Inspired Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’
Inspiration for classic rock songs sometimes came from unexpected places. For example, Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” was inspired by The Three Stooges. In addition, Steven Tyler said the meaning of the song was cleverly disguised.
Aerosmith liked The Three Stooges so much they inspired Joey Kramer’s nickname
In his 2014 book Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry discussed the band’s relationship with The Three Stooges. “We’d jam for five or six hours at a time, stopping to run back to the apartment to catch reruns of The Three Stooges,” he said. “The TV was in Brad [Whitford]’s room, where all five of us religiously watched the episodes, no matter how many times we had seen them before.”
Perry contrasted The Three Stooges with other old-school Hollywood comedians. “The Marx Brothers may be wittier, and [Charlie] Chaplin and [Buster] Keaton are geniuses, but my heart is with the Stooges — then, now, and forever,” he wrote. In addition, he revealed Aerosmith’s Joey Kramer had the nickname “Soitanly,” which was a nod to how The Three Stooges’ Curly said “certainly.”
Steven Tyler said Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’ is a sex song inspired by The Three Stooges
In a 2012 interview with SongFacts, Tyler revealed another way The Three Stooges inspired Aerosmith. “‘Walk This Way’ came out all at once,” he said. “If you listen to the words, they’re all really filthy. If you listen closely you’ll hear that I disguised it quite cleverly.
The song title evolved from watching The Three Stooges on TV,” he said. “They walked this way and that.” The sexual lyrics of “Walk This Way” stand in stark contrast to the family-friendly humor of The Three Stooges. Despite this, “Walk This Way” shows that The Three Stooges had an impact on pop culture outside of comedy.
Why ‘Walk This Way’ might be the band’s defining song
“Walk This Way” might be Aerosmith’s defining hit. It exemplifies their sound more than any of their other songs. Tyler was always an unorthodox lyricist, and “Walk This Way” has some of his trademark unusual songwriting choices. How many other rockers would reference “Hey Diddle-Diddle” in one of their songs?
“Walk This Way” is also a defining song for Aerosmith because of its subject matter. It’s a very salacious song, and it was their first sexual song to leave a mark. Aerosmith wrote songs about numerous things, but sex remained their go-to topic. Songs like “Rag Doll” or “Love in an Elevator” or even the questionable music video for “Crazy” probably never would have happened without “Walk This Way.”
“Walk This Way” also shows off both Aerosmith’s hard-rock side and their funk side. There was probably no other band that blended the two genres and found as much success on the pop charts as Aerosmith. “Walk This Way” doesn’t have the emotional power of “Dream On” or the experimental sound of “Janie’s Got a Gun,” but it’s Aerosmith at their most Aerosmith.
“Walk This Way” is a classic stadium rock song and it wouldn’t be the same without The Three Stooges.
