Aerosmith, which formed in 1970, is a band that needs no introduction. Music fans, both young and old, are familiar with Aerosmith, therefore, I am going to take you down a different path of discovery. I am going to introduce you to each Aerosmith band member, one at a time.
Starting with the man in the picture above, Ray Tabano. Ray Tabano was a childhood friend of Steven Tyler. They lived near each other in Yonkers, New York and played music together. Ray was a member of Tyler’s first band, Strangeurs. Stangeurs was a party cover band where Ray was the bassist and Steven played the drums. Ray was known as "Crazy Ray".
Once the Strangeurs dissolved, Steven Tyler wanted to continue trying to get a band together. He and Ray, along with some other friends, Joe Perry , Tom Hamilton, and Joey Kramer formed the very first Aerosmith.
Ray was rhythm guitarist in the beginning, but didn’t have quite the skills that Perry and Hamilton possessed. He was constantly being told to “practice” by Steven and his band mates. In the Autumn of 1971, Ray was let go from the band. He was replaced with Brad Whitford. Ray was ok with this, he remained with Aerosmith until 1979, taking care of their office, recording studio and maintaining a huge warehouse the band had rented, called the “Werehouse”. Ray also was the band’s biggest fan and leader of the fan club, where he got the chance to help design merchandise for the band and write the official newsletters for the band. Ray was the designer of the first logo, the iconic winged “A”.
Ray was fired in 1979, by the band’s managers. Ray, who still is a Yonkers, New York resident, went on to become a successful Chef and Caterer. Ray states from interviews, he has went to hundreds of Aerosmith concerts, and is always amazed and thankful he was a part of the band's origins.