LA, Nov 05: Steven Tyler has just finished an Aerosmith show at Madison Square Garden when his cell phone rings. It's about 3 a.m. "Steven, (a newcomer) is in trouble again; can you give him a call?" Buddy Arnold asks. Tyler smiles and says, "Sure thing."
Tyler is convinced that Arnold, founder of the Musicians' Assistance Program treating drug and alcohol abuse, never sleeps. "Buddy is on call 24 hours a day," he says.

Tyler calls the newcomer. "Hi, it's Steven Tyler." The newcomer freaks out in disbelief. Tyler assures him that it is indeed him, and then he goes to work.
"Yeah, dude, someone said you were thinking about getting high, tell me about it. Because I think about it all day long, and I've got 17 years sober." The two converse a bit more and, ultimately, the newcomer decides not to get high that night.
"I love and cherish getting those phone calls in the middle of the night," Tyler says. "In the old days (the calls were), 'Hey Steven, Joe died."'

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Tyler is part of a MAP network of sober musicians who stand ready to help others get through rough patches in rehab and recovery.

Although Tyler got sober prior to MAP's existence, he says Arnold and MAP help keep him that way.

"People like us need a place to go to as soon as we start using again," Tyler says. "It's not about that I've got 17 years (clean); that's got nothing to do with it. It has everything to do that I have friend like Buddy Arnold. Remember, euphoric recall is your best friend and your worst enemy. It reminds you of how it was at one time with your girlfriend, drinking a bottle of wine or something. But people like us that put fantastic things into songs can't afford to play with these fantastic drugs anymore."

Tyler epitomized the hard-living rock 'n' roll lifestyle into the 1980s, and he says it almost killed him. He abandoned his family and broke up the band for a time. It took him three tries at various rehabs to get completely clean.

"We were musicians first and we dabbled in drugs, and then we become drug addicts dabbling in music," Tyler says. "We would feed our heads with drugs instead of with experience, (but) there's only three things you can get out of the drug scenario: jail, death or insanity."

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