• Writer: Steven Tyler
• Producer: Adrian Barber
• Recorded: 1972 at Intermedia Studios, Boston
• Released: January 1973 (album); November 1973 (single)
• Players:
  Steven Tyler — vocals, harmonica, wood flute
  Joe Perry — guitar
  Brad Whitford — guitar
  Tom Hamilton — bass
  Joey Kramer — drums
• Album: Aerosmith (Columbia, 1973)
• Also On:
  Live! Bootleg (Columbia, 1978)
  Greatest Hits (Columbia, 1980)
  Classics Live (Columbia, 1986)
  Pandora’s Box (Columbia, 1991)
  Box Of Fire (Columbia, 1994)
  A Little South Of Sanity (Geffen, 1998)
  Young Lust: The Aerosmith Anthology (Geffen, 2001)
  O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits (Columbia, 2002)
  Devil’s Got A New Disguise (Columbia, 2006)
• “Dream On” was not a hit immediately — it only reached Number 59 in Billboard upon its initial release in 1973. It was reissued in 1976 and finally made its way into Billboard‘s Top 10, peaking at Number Six. This came at the same time Aerosmith was hot with their Toys In The Attic album and the single “Walk This Way.”
• The song’s slow pace and its dramatic buildup made it one of the first big power ballads.
• “Dream On” was the first time lead singer Steven Tyler let rip with his falsetto.
• Tyler said, “For me, this song sums up what you have to put up with when you’re in a new band. ‘Dream On’ is a great song, but it was three years before people really got a chance to hear it.”
• The song dates back to Tyler’s late teens. He recalled: “It was just this little… sonnet that I started playing one day. I never thought it would end up being a real song or anything.”
• Tyler and bassist Tom Hamilton shared an apartment on Boston’s Commonwealth Avenue, and Hamilton was frequently woken up by Tyler working the song out on the piano — which was in Hamilton’s room. Hamilton said, “Mine was the only room with a piano in it. I remember waking up and hearing Steven playing this song over and over again. It probably pissed me off then, but now I’m sure glad he kept playing.”
• Aerosmith has several times performed “Dream On” with an orchestra, including at a 1991 show which was shown on MTV.

FAST FORWARD:

• Perry left Aerosmith in 1979, with guitarist Brad Whitford leaving two years later. They rejoined in 1984, and the group has been intact ever since.
• Aerosmith has continued since then, with hit albums and singles, awards including Grammys, American Music Awards, MTV Music Awards, film and television appearances, and consecutive sold-out tours.
• Aerosmith was nominated for an Oscar in 1999 for their recording of “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” which was featured in the movie Armageddon.
• Aerosmith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 2006, they released a new best-of collection titled Devil’s Got A New Disguise, which also had some new songs on it, and they went on tour with Motley Crue. That tour only came after Tyler recovered from surgery to correct problems in his throat and leg. The shows also featured David Hull on bass, because Hamilton was recovering from treatments for throat cancer and couldn’t travel.