Journey weren’t always the AOR superstars they became – for much of the mid-70s, fans were largely resistant to their jazzy rock. All that changed with 1978’s mighty Infinity album and the introduction of new vocalist Steve Perry. In 2014, Classic Rock talked to Perry and keyboard player Gregg Rolie about how a huge sonic makeover set Journey on the road to superstardom.
In the following excerpt from the feature, Steve Perry talks about Journey’s first headlining tour, where they were supported by Van Halen:
“Van Halen were the opening act on the tour,” remembers Steve. “They were a brand new band back then. We were doing 3,000-seat auditoriums and they were killing us every night. It was eye-opening. We were keeping up with them, but they were certainly making us be a better band. They were so musically simple.
“Well, I was a drummer before becoming a singer and one of the things about being a drummer is that I’m kind of hard on other drummers. Foundationally you can have a really great band, but if the drummer doesn’t measure up you’re not going to do very well. But if you have a mediocre band and a great drummer you’re going to do better. So we’d do soundchecks and sometimes Aynsley [Dunbar] might not be there or be off doing something like radio promotion and I would do soundcheck for him – set his drums up and play a few songs. It started to be apparent to Neal [Schon] and to myself that the band sounded different with me because I’m a slamming R&B-style drummer, as opposed to a jazz-fusion drummer like Aynsley.
“Aynsley’s style had been perfect up to when the band changed style. As the music evolved, we started to work up some of our new ideas with me playing drums, and they didn’t sound as good with Aynsley playing them. So we toyed with that for a while, but occasionally we kept being reminded about it while jamming new ideas for the follow-up record. And then we saw Steve Smith playing drums with Ronnie Montrose, who was also one of our support bands, and we thought, ‘Help, what do we do now? Because this guy sounds like the cat.’ We started hanging out a lot – the next thing is we made a switch.”
Read the full story at Classic Rock.
Initially released in 1983, the legendary power ballad “Faithfully” by Journey has been reimagined by one of the most iconic voices in rock history. Vocalist and songwriter Steve Perry is releasing a powerful duet with celebrated singer, songwriter and guitarist, Willie Nelson on Dark Horse Records in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Farm Aid, with proceeds from the single going to the nonprofit organization.
Recorded at Ronnie’s Place in Nashville, TN, and at Steve’s studio, Love Box, the track was produced by Kent Wells and Steve Perry, engineered by Joel McKenne, Kyle Dickinson, and Steve Perry.
Additional musicians featured on the duet include Mike Rojas on piano, James Mitchell on electric guitar, Kent Wells on acoustic guitar, Scott Sanders on steel guitar, Steve Mackey on bass, Mickey Raphael on harmonica, and Nir Z on drums.
On the reimagined track, Steve Perry shares, “No one has a voice or vocal phrasing anything like Willie Nelson. Singing this duet with Willie has been something I’ve always wanted to do. After recording ‘Faithfully’ with Journey, I always felt it would be a great song for Willie too. What a wonderful experience it was to finally sing with Willie. I’m so proud of what we have accomplished together.”
Willie Nelson adds, “Working with Steve Perry on ‘Faithfully’ was a meaningful experience. It was a pleasure to collaborate on this song. I’m proud that we could create something meaningful and use it to give back through Farm Aid.”
Proceeds from the recording will be donated to Farm Aid, a nonprofit organization which has an annual music festival supporting American family farmers. The duet, “Faithfully” is available on digital streaming platforms today.
Stream/download here, and watch a video below:
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Podcasts… feel free to promote your new episodes.
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The post STEVE PERRY Reflects On VAN HALEN Opening For JOURNEY – “They Were So Musically Simple” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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In the following excerpt from the feature, Steve Perry talks about Journey’s first headlining tour, where they were supported by Van Halen:
“Van Halen were the opening act on the tour,” remembers Steve. “They were a brand new band back then. We were doing 3,000-seat auditoriums and they were killing us every night. It was eye-opening. We were keeping up with them, but they were certainly making us be a better band. They were so musically simple.
“Well, I was a drummer before becoming a singer and one of the things about being a drummer is that I’m kind of hard on other drummers. Foundationally you can have a really great band, but if the drummer doesn’t measure up you’re not going to do very well. But if you have a mediocre band and a great drummer you’re going to do better. So we’d do soundchecks and sometimes Aynsley [Dunbar] might not be there or be off doing something like radio promotion and I would do soundcheck for him – set his drums up and play a few songs. It started to be apparent to Neal [Schon] and to myself that the band sounded different with me because I’m a slamming R&B-style drummer, as opposed to a jazz-fusion drummer like Aynsley.
“Aynsley’s style had been perfect up to when the band changed style. As the music evolved, we started to work up some of our new ideas with me playing drums, and they didn’t sound as good with Aynsley playing them. So we toyed with that for a while, but occasionally we kept being reminded about it while jamming new ideas for the follow-up record. And then we saw Steve Smith playing drums with Ronnie Montrose, who was also one of our support bands, and we thought, ‘Help, what do we do now? Because this guy sounds like the cat.’ We started hanging out a lot – the next thing is we made a switch.”
Read the full story at Classic Rock.
Initially released in 1983, the legendary power ballad “Faithfully” by Journey has been reimagined by one of the most iconic voices in rock history. Vocalist and songwriter Steve Perry is releasing a powerful duet with celebrated singer, songwriter and guitarist, Willie Nelson on Dark Horse Records in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Farm Aid, with proceeds from the single going to the nonprofit organization.
Recorded at Ronnie’s Place in Nashville, TN, and at Steve’s studio, Love Box, the track was produced by Kent Wells and Steve Perry, engineered by Joel McKenne, Kyle Dickinson, and Steve Perry.
Additional musicians featured on the duet include Mike Rojas on piano, James Mitchell on electric guitar, Kent Wells on acoustic guitar, Scott Sanders on steel guitar, Steve Mackey on bass, Mickey Raphael on harmonica, and Nir Z on drums.
On the reimagined track, Steve Perry shares, “No one has a voice or vocal phrasing anything like Willie Nelson. Singing this duet with Willie has been something I’ve always wanted to do. After recording ‘Faithfully’ with Journey, I always felt it would be a great song for Willie too. What a wonderful experience it was to finally sing with Willie. I’m so proud of what we have accomplished together.”
Willie Nelson adds, “Working with Steve Perry on ‘Faithfully’ was a meaningful experience. It was a pleasure to collaborate on this song. I’m proud that we could create something meaningful and use it to give back through Farm Aid.”
Proceeds from the recording will be donated to Farm Aid, a nonprofit organization which has an annual music festival supporting American family farmers. The duet, “Faithfully” is available on digital streaming platforms today.
Stream/download here, and watch a video below:
Did you know BraveWords has an active Facebook Group where you can start your own metal discussion or take part in many other discussions. The BraveWords Facebook Group is the evolution of the old BraveWords message board from years ago.
Bands… feel free to promote your shows and albums.
Podcasts… feel free to promote your new episodes.
Radio Shows… feel free to promote your latest show.
Record Labels… feel free to promote your latest releases
Click to join and start discussing: https://m.facebook.com/groups/bravewordsmetal/
The post STEVE PERRY Reflects On VAN HALEN Opening For JOURNEY – “They Were So Musically Simple” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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