Steven Tyler: vocal, harmonica
Joe Perry: rhythm guitar, slide guitar
Joey Kramer: drums
Jim Vallance: slide guitar, acoustic guitar (programmed), drums (programmed), electric guitar, organ, Fender electric bass

Recorded at Distorto Studios, Vancouver (December 1988) and Little Mountain Sound Studios, Vancouver (May 1989).

Jim Vallance: guitar, slide guitar, keyboards, bass, progarmmed drums. This is the "music minus vocals" demo I recorded in December 1988 (see story below).

Between Christmas and New Year 1988 I had a burst of creative inspiration. I recorded four tracks (music minus vocals) in my home studio, with Aerosmith in mind.

This was 10 years before MP3s were invented -- and email was still very primitive -- so I put the ideas on a cassette tape and mailed them to Steven Tyler in Boston.

It was winter in Massachusetts, with two feet of freshly fallen snow outside. Steven slid my tape into his Sony Walkman, put his headphones on, and went for a walk on the treadmill in his basement, singing along with my tape the whole time. By the end of his "walk" he'd sketched out a melody for "The Other Side " ... and the next day he worked on "Deuces Are Wild".

When the time came to select songs for Aerosmith's Pump album, "Deuces Are Wild" was a contender. Everyone loved the song ... everyone except Geffen A&R man John Kalodner!

For 30-plus years John Kalodner was a giant force in the music industry ... revered, feared and mythologized by those on the receiving end of his artistic direction. John is the only person I know -- with the possible exception of Clive Davis -- who managed to elevate the position of A&R to "celebrity status".

During his time with Atlantic Records (1976-1980), Geffen Records (1980-1994), Sony/Columbia (1994-2003) and Sanctuary Records (2003-2005), Kalodner was closely associated with a staggering list of legendary careers including Led Zeppelin, Foreigner, AC/DC, Survivor, Genesis, Asia, Bon Jovi, Billy Idol, John Lennon, Cher, and Aerosmith.

In mid-1989, myself and Steven Tyler (in one camp) and John Kalodner (in the other camp) locked horns over "Deuces Are Wild". John liked the melody and the lyrics, but he insisted we find a different title ... something other than "Deuces Are Wild". Steven and I loved the title.  It sounded good.  It worked.  Like naughty school-boys we defied John Kalodner and stood our ground.

John Kalodner stood his ground, too ... and he pulled the song off the album! 

Ouch!!

Fast-forward a couple of years, to 1993, when Aerosmith were asked to contribute a song to the compilation album "Beavis and Butthead Experience". For reasons I've never fully understood (perhaps they were in the middle of a tour?) Aerosmith decided not to record a new studio track for "Deuces Are Wild". Instead, they simply added Steven's vocal and harmonica to the "Deuces Are Wild" demo I'd recorded in my home studio five years earlier ... plus some additional guitar and drums. Other than that, it's the demo I did with Steven.