Growing up with Joe? It was all like "Leave It To Beaver." We spent lots of time together. When he visited my home he always greeted "Mr. and Mrs. Wright." And likewise when I visited his, I greeted "Mr. and Mrs Perry." When he started to grow his hair, Nana and Papa [Tom and Betty Malloy. Tom was the chief of police in Hopedale from 1943 until 1963] still welcomed him because his manners were impeccable. As long as the manners were ok, one was welcomed. They couldn't figure his hair or mine, but as long as it was clean, they just scratched their heads and said, "OK."
The first band that I was ever in was called "The Chimes of Freedom." In the Aerosmith biography, the members of the old band were misnamed... I got left out. It was Joes first band as well. So in 2001, when Aerosmith played in Charlotte, NC, I brought the book. I told Joe, "I have a bone to pick with you." He said, "Bill, you and I never had a harsh word in our lives." I said, "Okay, read this." He said,"This is not true." He crossed out the mis-information, corrected and signed it. I no doubt own the only accurate version of that book in the world. In 2001, I had two frames from a 1966 video reduced to a photo. I had them copied, matted and framed. It was Joes 50th birthday. One, I signed to my old friend Joe for his 50th birthday. I had another made for him to sign. We have the same photos hanging in our homes. He signed mine "To Bill, the first great step in a wonderful journey..all the best, Joe Perry."
The funniest part is that my date was 22 year old. When Alex Onexchuck's wife saw the pictures, she called and said, "For the love of God, Wright, can't you wait until they get their braces off?" Funny part was, I just wanted to see my old pal Joe. I don't care how famous he is...and when he sees me, he doesn't act famous. Now, the 22 year old wanted to meet Steven Tyler. Here is where the story gets funny. In the early 70's, my old band opened for Aerosmith. Long story, but Steven and I got into a shoving match. Fast forward to the present. Wendy (22) said, "Will we meet Steven?" I told her that I had no clue. I just wanted to say hello to a friend of 45 years. Well, we were backstage. I gave Joe the picture, he pointed me out to his wife and she said, "Oh my God, that's Bill, the guy you always talk about." Well, the rest of the band was flying; Joe and his family were using a bus. And the NC State cops wanted him to get rolling, they had to escort him to the highway. So Joe apologised for making it a short visit. I asked him the way to the men's room. He pointed the way and took off. As I was walking back down the hall toward Wendy, Steven passed me. I said, "You're a long way from Hopedale." He stopped, looked, hugged me me and said "*#*% #*&*, it's Bill *%&#^ Wright....what the *%#* are you doing with a cane?" Well, there's some stories, pardon the language, but that is the way that is was.
In all seriousness, the guys and I have put some music together. One song celebrates Hopedale...and I would rather play a Wednesday night Band Concert than Madison Square Garden. There are four songs that celebrate being raised in New England textile towns. There are a few venues back home that we want to play. Lowell, Hopedale and wherever the Blackstone/ Slatersville stage is.
E-mail number 2, the next morning.
I should never answer emails after a long night of shooting pool with the guys. To get more detailed about Joe/Hopedale/Bands, well, there really isn't a whole lot of detail. I don't expect that our lives were much different than yours was. Hopedale was a nice place to be raised, plenty to do in the summer and winters we just walked back and forth to each others houses, hung out and "batted the breeze"...more than likely about hating school. Things changed a bit when the whole Beatle thing happened...several of the guys got instruments so we had an activity. Jam sessions were held at the Alden house. Winters up on the third floor, big room in the front....summers in the barn outback That all probably started in 1964-65 and lasted perhaps a couple of years.
About that time or shortly thereafter Joe got shipped off to Vermont Academy to finish high school (he didn't, but that was the plan) and his folks had a place in Sunapee, NH. So by then we saw less and less but wrote letters (wish I'd saved them) and he'd pop in when he was in town. He spent a little bit of time in town when I was in college. He was working in the foundry but that was about the last I saw of him on a regular basis. I guess that the real message is we were all just plain old kids being raised in Hopedale. These days when I see Joe, I don't see a rock star. I see a guy I've know for forty-five years. He doesn't talk about the band much, just inquires about old family and friends. He's just a kid from Hopedale who leaves his rock 'n roll persona on stage. We're just a couple of middle aged men sitting on a sofa, sometimes with a couple of guitars. Most people would find us as dull as watching geese poop on the shores of Hopedale Pond.
E-mail number 3, a few hours later.
Aerosmith did play at the Town Hall. It was late 69 and early 70 and 71. I remember because Joanne and I were dating, but after we were married they played a couple of times as well. Joe would come over to 37 High Street after the gigs for a couple of beers. I can remember that because Billy had been born and I had to show Joe, "Lookie what I've got...a kid." He had no clue as to what to do with one. But, that leads to another story. I hadn't seen Joe for many years. I was backstage with him when he excused himself (these were the Joe Perry Project days). He excused himself, went to shoot up and came back. I was pretty disgusted and Ginny and I left.
One night Billy, Keith and I were at Lowell's Dairy having supper...back in the days when the juke box selection things were at the tables. Someone had played an Aerosmith song and Billy started saying ,"These guys are so awesome," etc. I told Billy that Joe used to bounce him on his knee. "Dad, you don't know those guys." Well, I wasn't going to engage a 16 year old in an argument and let it go.
Around 1989, my mother sent me an 8mm movie that showed Joe, John and me horsing around in the snow, and the rehearsal of the Chimes of Freedom. Dave Meade owned a video store and had the technology to convert movies to video. Well, I sent a copy to the Aerosmith office. A couple of days later I got a phone call from Joe. "Where did you get this thing?".he remembered. It was his first band. "We're playing Great Woods. I'll send 4 tickets and backstage passes."
I called Billy and Keith and told them that we should go out on such and such a night, though not where, and Dave as well. When I handed the kids the tickets and backstage passes, they said, "Where did you get these?" I just said, "Ask Joe when you meet him." Mary Perry [Joe's mother] almost had a stroke that night when I saw her and she found that my kids were 15 and 17. She figured it was a "gimme" when she saw Dave with me.
Seeing Joe is fun. But it is no more or less fun than see Dave Meade, Tom Lipsky, Al Onschuck. Cripes, when Dave and I see each other we hug like long lost lovers. We're all just friends now with a decades long history of friendship and experiences. Without regard for fame or income or whatever, we're just, "The Guys." Middle aged men referring to one another as, "The kid I hung around with." That's all we ever were and all we ever will be. But I miss Papa more than any of them.
A friend of mine, Buzz Tremblay, and I have been working on a CD. The name is "Rivers and Looms and Going Home." I'll be sending it to Dave Meade by next week. One of the tunes is all about being raised in Hopedale. Our goal? I've talked to the old band. We want to play a Hopedale Band Concert. This band has opened for Aerosmith and Arlo Guthrie. You cannot imaging what it is like to play for 14,000 people.
Please feel free to use any of this. The ramblings of someone who will never forget home, family and friends. Regarding the CAOS site (www.caos.org) there is a link to a song called "Sleepy Little Town" which is my ode to Hopedale. The link is beside the picture of Joe, John and me. Also, if you go back to the CAOS menu and click on "In the Round" you'll see my smiling face and can download another song. "Sleepy Little Town" has just been re-recorded for a new CD. Different version. Hope I could give you something to add to your collections of Hopedale history. Given that this is such a long email, print it and stack it. It will be a most effective door stop.
Sorry to hear of Elaine's aunt. Those old fragile bones. Though Papa had cancer and that is, I believe, his official cause of death, it was a broken hip that did him in. One night when I was at the hospital with him, it was the day that he found out that the hip was inoperable and he would be bedridden, he looked at me and said, "I ain't living like this, confined to a bed...sorry Billy, but it's time to go." I really think that he willed his death. You can't imagine how I miss him. My house is like a "Papa Museum"...pictures in every room, some of their old knick-knackery around as well. He was quite a guy. Billy and Keith want their kids to call me Papa. That's even scarier than when I went sky-diving a few months ago. His shoes are huge to fill. I used to dream of him all the time. This story is weird and I swear I was stone cold sober. On the morning that Abbie, my first grand-daughter was born, it was 4:00 AM. I felt a hand on my shoulder, shaking me awake. Someone was saying, "Billy, Billy, wake up" I sat up on the edge of my bed, turned on the light and there he was. He said, "Good morning, Papa"...laughed that funny laugh of his and just drifted away. There I was on the edge of the bed when the phone rang. It was Billy saying ,"Good morning Papa, Abbie is here". All I could say is, "I know"."Rocked my world. Oddly, I have never dreamt of Papa since. Never told that story to anyone until about a year ago. I told my mother. She believed me. It seems that one day she and your Dad went to visit Papa in the nursing home. He said, "Oh hi, Johnny Byrne just left." My mother said ,"Daddy, Uncle Johnny has been dead for years." He said, "I know that, but he was just standing at the end of the bed talking to me." Lot flakier than rock and roll stories.
Best to all, Bill
Click here to see Bill with Joe Perry in a pre-Aerosmith band. HOME Click here to read about Bill's Rustic Bridge wedding. Click here to read Bill's memories of the Great Blackout.