Last Child

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"Last Child"
Single by Aerosmith
from the album Rocks
B-side	"Combination"
Released	1976
Format	Record
Recorded	1976
Genre	Hard rock
Length	3:26
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Steven Tyler, Brad Whitford
Producer	Jack Douglas
Aerosmith singles chronology
"Dream On" (1976) "Last Child" (1976) "Home Tonight" (1976)

"Last Child" is a song performed by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was written by Steven Tyler and Brad Whitford. It was released as the first single from the band's hard rock album Rocks in 1976. The song peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100, one of many in a string of hit singles for the band in the mid-1970s.

Structure

The song is one of the most famous contributions of Brad Whitford to the band, featuring his signature opening guitar notes, riff, and solo. The song opens like a slow song, with the slow, careful playing of the guitar and Steven Tyler's dreamy lyrics. But then after 22 seconds, it abruptly changes to a hard rocking bluesy song, complete with a boogie background and two-guitar interplay between Brad Whitford and Joe Perry, with Whitford playing the low notes of the song's riff on the verse and Perry playing funk chords higher up on the neck.

The melody for song was taken directly from The Guess Who's 1972 hit Heartbroken Bopper.^[1]

Legacy

Long after its release, "Last Child" continues to see regular airplay on rock radio stations and is regularly rotated into Aerosmith's concert setlist, even on their latest tour. In concert, it is often Brad Whitford's feature spot, in which Steven Tyler gives him an introduction with something like "Brad Whitford, what you got to show for yourself?" or "What you got up your sleeve?" Brad often does a little bit of an intro before playing the opening notes to the song.

"Last Child" has also been re-released on numerous Aerosmith compilations including Aerosmith's Greatest Hits, O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, and Devil's Got a New Disguise as well as numerous live collections including Live! Bootleg, Classics Live II, and A Little South of Sanity.

The song is one of Aerosmith's most funk-based tracks — modeled after the band The Meters, which Brad Whitford was listening to at the time.^{[citation needed]}

Covers and other versions

• The song is featured as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero II, with many noticeable differences: the rerecording uses a less deep tuning, and the song closes with a lengthy solo and the "home... sweet... home" verse repeated at the end, instead of the recorded fade-out. The track in the game is actually a cover of the version of Last Child found on A Little South of Sanity, not the recorded version on Rocks.

References