Journey

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Journey's Bio: In 2008, Journey introduced a new singer to the world, Arnel Pineda, with the release of their 14th studio album ("Revelation") and an extraordinarily successful world tour. It was the latest chapter in a rock and roll saga that started more than 35 years ago and has produced some of the best-known rock songs of the 1970's and 80's.

Journey's story begins in Northern California with guitarist Neal Schon, a child prodigy who dropped out of high school to join Santana just prior to the San Francisco band r ecording its third album. Schon, while in high school, had been jamming with Santana keyboardist Gregg Rolie, who ultimately would follow Schon into Journey.

The union of Santana and Schon was short-lived, but in that time period, Schon would meet a man who b elieved that a band formed around his guitar work would be a viable entity. When Schon left Santana, he explored the idea of a power trio with two former members of Sly and the Family Stone, drummer Greg Errico and bassist Larry Graham. Playing funk, however, limited Schon's amount of soloing, which prompted him to look for another musical vehicle. Walter "Herbie" Herbert, a guitar tech for Santana who had added management duties to his job, approached Schon in early 1973 about forming a guitar-centric ba nd. Herbert has said Schon was, quote, 'the quintessential guitar expressionist of the time', and to further his career, Herbert connected Schon with two members of the popular local act Frumious Bandersnatch, former Steve Miller Band bassist Ross Valory and g uitarist George Tickner. They enlisted drummer Prairie Prince, a member of the Tubes, and the all-instrumental act began performing as the Golden Gate Rhythm Section.

They developed a local following, one that was strong enough for San Francisco FM station KS AN to hold a contest to see if a better name could be given to the GGRS. The contest yielded the moniker Journey. New name in place, Rolie joined the band in the summer of 1973. The first edition of Journey developed a largely instrumental progressive rock sou nd. The first change in personnel came in early 1974 when Aynsley Dunbar, a British drummer who spent time in the bands of Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa and John Mayall, took the place of Prince, who decided to stay with the Tubes.

CBS/Columbia Records signed that l ineup in November 1974, but by the time "Journey," their debut album, was released, Tickner had left to attend medical school. Tickner, whose compositions were the backbone of Journey's earliest repertoire, was not replaced, making the band a single- guitar outfit.

Each of the band's first three albums - "Journey" (1975), "Look Into the Future" (1976) and "Next" (1977) - charted higher than the previous release. And the band maintained a grueling touring schedule, staying on the road nine months per year performing music that Schon has referred to as "a rock and roll version of the Mahavishnu Orchestra." But sales were not as strong as the label had hoped and the band was asked to hire a full-time lead singer. (Rolie had handled vocals from behind his keyboards).

The first vocalist brought in was Robert Fleischman, who joined the band for a summer tour in 1977. While his songwriting contributions to the band included, Wheel In The Sky, and Winds Of March, personality clashes resulted in Fleischman promptly leaving the band. A young drummer and singer, Steve Perry, who had contacted Herbert several times, also received an endorsement from CBS, leading to him being tapped as Journey's new lead singer in October 1977. Not all of the members were sold on the idea of bringing the singer into the fold. But at their first meeting, in a hotel room, Schon and Perry collaborated on what would eventually become the song Patiently. … Read more