The Aerosmith Song Steven Tyler Believed Would Make Them Famous and Helped Get the Band Signed, “Mama Kin”

On August 5, 1972, Aerosmith paid out of their pockets to secure a spot at a Max’s Kansas City gig in New York City where the then-president of Columbia Records Clive Davis would be in attendance. The band played through a set including “Mama Kin,” “Make It,” Movin’ On,” and “Dream On.” Davis liked what he saw and signed the band to Columbia for $125,000 and they began work on their debut album, Aerosmith.

That evening at Max’s, it was the opening track that singer Steven Tyler was most proud of. He believed “Mama Kin” would be the band’s shoo-in to fame before Aerosmith’s greater success with “Dream On.” While the band worked on the first album, Tyler even had “MA KIN” tattooed on his left bicep with a winged heart.

Ultimately, “Mama Kin” did get Aerosmith on the charts. The song peaked at No. 75 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Dream On” went to No. 59. Unfortunately, Aerosmith’s debut didn’t get much attention from Columbia since the label was focused more on promoting Bruce Springsteen‘s 1973 debut Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. “Dream On” was rereleased in 1975 and went to No. 6 on the charts.

Still, “Mama Kin” became a fan favorite and remained on the band’s setlist throughout their career.

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Who Was “Mama Kin”?

There was no real-life person who inspired “Mama Kin.” It was a term Tyler created around a spiritual advisor, a higher power that motivated him to keep pushing through, to success. In order to achieve what he wanted he had to make sure he was Keepin’ touch with Mama Kin.

It ain’t easy, livin’ like a gypsy

Tell ya, honey, how I feel

I’ve been dreaming

Floatin’ downstream and

Losin’ touch with all that is real

Whole earth lover, keepin’ undercover

Never knowin’ where ya been

You’ve been fadin’, always out paradin’

Keepin’ touch with Mama Kin

Well you’ve always got your tail on the wag

Shootin’ fire from your mouth just like a dragon

You act like a perpetual drag

You better check it out

Or someday soon you’ll have to climb back on the wagon

It ain’t easy, livin’ like ya want to

And it’s so hard to find peace of mind, yes it is

The way I see it, you’ve got to say s–t

But don’t forget to drop me a line

‘Sleeping late in Sunapee

Tyler’s original verse Sleeping late in Sunapee was switched to a more weed-induced Sleeping late and smoking tea. The band had deep roots in the small town of Sunapee in New Hampshire. Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry would spend their childhood summers in Sunapee, and it’s where they first met.

Keepin’ touch with Mama Kin

Tell her where you’ve gone and been

Livin’ out your fantasy

Sleeping late and smoking tea

Before Aerosmith formed, Tyler also wrote their first big hit “Dream On” while in Sunapee. “The music for ‘Dream On’ was originally written on a Steinway upright piano in the living room of Trow-Rico Lodge in Sunapee, maybe four years before Aerosmith even started,” said Tyler in the 1997 band autobiography Walk This Way by Stephen Davis. “When I was 17 or 18n, I used to come home and crash there, Napoleon Blownapart on some trashy New England weed. I’d have a pipe, go in there, and play the piano. One day I realized I’d been playing too much in the key of C, so I went to F. When you’re a kid, F is the greatest.”

Tyler continued, “That’s where it started. It was just this little thing I was playing, and I never dreamed it [‘Dream On’] would end up as a real song or anything.”

Sleeping Pills

Tyler initially wrote “Mama Kin” under the influence of the Tuinal, a sleeping pill often used as a recreational drug from the 1960s through the ’80s and was later discontinued by the late ’90s. During Aerosmith’s earlier days, Tyler would take Tuinal and scat out lyrics as Perry played guitar, which they recorded.

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Guns N’ Roses

In 1986, Guns N’ Roses featured their cover of “Mama Kin” on their EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, then later on G N’ R Lies in 1988. Buckcherry also covered the song on their 2014 album Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Tyler joined the Black Crowes on stage in London at the Eventim Apollo on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, for a performance of “Mama Kin.” The show was Tyler’s first performance since suffering from damaged vocal cords in 2023.

Mama Kin Music Hall

In December 1994, the band opened the Mama Kin Music Hall in their old stomping ground of Boston, Massachusetts near Fenway Park on Lansdowne Street. At Mama Kin, the band would often give surprise performances. Tyler and founding Aerosmith member, Ray Tabano, played Mama Kin in 1994, performing Aerosmith’s “I Ain’t Got You” and “Milk Cow Blues.”

A few days later on December 19, 1994, Aerosmith officially opened the venue with a performance at the end of their two-year-long Get a Grip tour at Mama Kin with special guest and opening act Tracy Bonham. That evening took the band back to their earlier catalog with a set featuring their Tiny Bradshaw cover of “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” “Same Old Song And Dance,” and “One Way Street,” along with their two Fleetwood Mac covers—”Rattlesnake Shake,” “Stop Messin’ Around”—”Walk This Way” and more before closing on “Toys in the Attic.”

A year after its opening, Aerosmith played a secret show at Mama Kin on November 11, 1995, under the pseudonym the G-Spots. Bootleg audio recordings of the show have floated around throughout the decades, though only one in-house camera recorded the performance, which has remained locked away.

Mama Kin Music Hall closed in 1997.

Photo: Ian Dickson/Shutterstock