I played a very small part in Rock History back in 1975.

My Uncle Joe, Dr. Iannone, lived with his wife Martha and their three children, Nina, Lisa and Christopher in a Southern Style mansion in West Orange, NJ. I spent many happy days at their home during family gatherings and holidays.

Nina’s husband, Robert Belott, was a New York photographer, and at times I assisted him during photo shoots. One day he called me and asked if I knew of a rock group called Aerosmith. I didn’t, and neither did many other people, but he was assigned to do their breakthrough album cover, “Toys in the Attic.” He said he needed me to work through the weekend and design a set at his studio that looked like an attic. We would need a truckload of weathered wood and a lot of props to make it work.

The thought of trying to create the right feeling in one weekend seemed overwhelming but then the thought occurred to me … Uncle Joe’s house! His attic had six rooms with tall ceilings and one in particular was unfinished. I suggested calling their manager to see if a location shoot would be acceptable. Aunt Martha said it was OK with her and Aerosmith agreed to do it.

We met the band in midtown Manhattan and they followed Robert and me in two white stretch limos to New Jersey. We made our way to the attic up the elegant curved staircase to the second floor and then up the tiny curved back staircase to the attic.

The set was propped with toys they requested and the lighting was tested the day before. All that was left to do was pose the band and shoot.

Steven Tyler and his mates had very little to say and I’m sorry to admit that such a once-in-a-lifetime experience didn’t impress me very much, until the album made them famous. After all, they weren’t the Rolling Stones.