Back in the Saddle

"Back in the Saddle"
Single by Aerosmith
from the album Rocks
B-side	"Nobody's Fault"
Released	March 22, 1977
Format	7"
Recorded	February–March 1976 at Wherehouse and Record Plant Studios
Genre	Hard rock
Length	4:40
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Steven Tyler and Joe Perry
Producer(s)	Jack Douglas
Aerosmith singles chronology
"Walk This Way" (1976) "Back in the Saddle" (1977) "Draw the Line" (1977)

"Back in the Saddle" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. It is the first song on Aerosmith's pinnacle hard rock album Rocks released in 1976. The song was released as the third single from the album in 1977. It peaked at #38 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Song background

The song's main riff was written by Joe Perry on a Fender Bass VI, which gives the song its distinctive "growl". Brad Whitford plays the lead guitar part. "Back in the Saddle" also features one of the heaviest and noticeable bass lines by Tom Hamilton. The song is also notable for the slow buildup of the drum beat and guitar riff in the beginning of the song, as well as the sound effects of a galloping horse and whips, and screams and yodeling by Steven Tyler at the end of the song. A real bullwhip was intended to be used for the whip effects and hours were spent trying to get it to crack. The band members ended up cut up and hurt without making any progress. Eventually, the band decided the whip effects would be created by whirling a 30-foot cord from the studio, then by firing a cap gun to create the crack of the whip (the sound effects are more prominent in the Quadraphonic mix of the album (Columbia CAQ 34165)). When the song is performed in concert, Steven Tyler often makes more noticeable lyrical and visible references to sex. Although the lyrics, by Steven Tyler, were written with the simple idea of cowboys and sex, this song took on new meaning after Aerosmith reunited in 1984 and embarked on their Back in the Saddle tour.

Today, the song remains a staple on classic rock radio and in concert. It is arguably one of the heaviest songs of Aerosmith's Top 40 singles, and is cited by rock musicians Slash and James Hetfield as among their favorite rock songs.

The "saddle" Tyler refers to in the song is metaphorical to several sexual positions.

Cover versions

Sebastian Bach covered the song on his 2007 solo album Angel Down as a duet with Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose.

Mark Slaughter, Albert Lee, Rudy Sarzo and Frankie Banali covered the song for the Aerosmith tribute album Not the Same Old Song and Dance (Eagle Records, 1999). Additional guitars were by the album's producers, Bob Kulick and Bruce Bouillet.

In other media

• Provided theme music for the NFL season kick-off in 2003.
• It can be heard in the film License to Drive starring Corey Haim and Corey Feldman while they attend a party.
• A remake of this song, filmed in Las Vegas, served as ESPN's theme music for NASCAR in 2007.
• Was used as entrance music for the late Canadian professional wrestler, Chris Benoit during his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling. It was also used as entrance music for "Prime Time" Brian Lee during his reign as Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.
• Retired UFC fighter Randy Couture used the song as entrance music for his 2007 comeback fight against Tim Sylvia and again for his fight against Brock Lesnar, his first fight in the UFC after a legal dispute which kept him out of the sport for 15 months.
• Used as introduction music for the Oklahoma State University wrestling team after recruitment violations lifted under John Smith
• Is included on Walt Disney World's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster located in Disney's Hollywood Studios.
• Is used in the film Shanghai Noon as background music. The specific scene finds the movie's protagonists escaping the hangman's gallows.
• It appears in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and in the best-of game Guitar Hero Smash Hits as the only Aerosmith song included in the game.
• In February 2009, Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) used Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle" to boast in an ad that "The House GOP is back" due to the party's unanimous opposition in the house to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. After Stage Three Music, which owns the rights to the song, asserted the use as copyright infringement, Cantor was forced to take down the ad. Aerosmith also did not approve of its use and also wanted it taken down.^[1]
• The title of a two-part episode of Extreme Ghostbusters, where the 3 original members, who left the team, come back to face off against the Bermuda Triangle itself.
• Used in Red, when Bruce Willis character, Frank Moses, fights with Karl Urbans character, CIA Agent William Cooper, at the Central Intelligence Agency Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. The song was also used in the film's trailer and in TV spots.
• Used in The Fighter, when Mark Wahlberg's character, Mickey Ward, starts his winning streak.
• Used in the twelfth episode of Supernatural's sixth season, in the "Road So Far" montage.
• Features in fighting videogame EA Sports MMA (2010), developed by EA Tiburon
• Aloe Blacc sings a cover of the song that is used in Need for Speed when Rami Malek's character quits his job.

Chart positions

Chart	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	38

References

1. Schor, Elana. "Aerosmith to House GOP: Don't Use Our Song". Talking Points Memo, February 17, 2009, available online.