Steve Perry - RockLine! 1981

decided to leave. After about a year (Gregg went into the restaurant business with his dad for a while), Herbie brought Gregg and Neal together with Ross Valory, a bassist who'd once played in a band he'd managed called Frumious Bandersnatch. With rhythm guitarist George Tickner, and briefly Tubes' drummer Prairie Prince, they formed a session band called the Golden Gate Rhythm Section. But when their reputation began to equal that of the artists they played for, the musicians - and Herbie Herbert - decided it was time to be a performing band.
Of those early days, Herbie says,

"They were musicians basically. They were not the foremost entertainers," - so he set out to make them into professional performers. When Prairie Prince decided to stay with the Tubes instead of making the switch to this new group that was calling itself Journey, he was replaced by Mothers Of Invention drummer Aynsley Dunbar. It was this initial line-up - Gregg, Neal, Ross, George and Aynsley - that was signed to Columbia Records (a label that would ultimately stand by them through thick and thin). They debuted with a self-titled LP that featured the music they'd become synonymous with

There was only one big problem the group had at the time of their debut album - they were strong on those twenty minute guitar solos - the kind their predominantly male cult of followers adored - but weak when it came to vocals. For personal reasons, Ross had to drop out of the group temporarily, but the rest of the band went through vocal coaching (Herbie arranged for that) with a professional teacher named Bianca Thornton, who included sensitivity and touching exercises along with voice training. In 1976, they recorded their second album, Look Into The Future, with Gregg still handling most vocals, and in '77 Neal took on lead vocals on two of the tracks for the third Journey album called Next.
It became clear, however, to Journey's wiz-kid manager Herbie - who was an equal partner in the group - that something more than voice coaching had to be done. Gregg had, by this time, been singing lead for two bands - for a lot of years! - and the strain showed in his voice, and while the group was doing gangbusters as local celebrities, their albums weren't getting any serious radio exposure. He hired singer Robert Fleischman to take care of that. But while Fleischman performed live with the band, he wasn't around long enough to record with them.
One vocalist, Steve Perry, had appeared now and again making inquiries about Journey, but the timing wasn't right and he eventually got involved with another group. When that band was close to signing a deal with the CBS record label, their bassist was killed in a car crash and the deal was brought to an abrupt halt. It was then that Herbie heard opportunity knock twice. This time he snatched up the incredible Perry - with his mature and melodic voice - and gracefully said adieu to Robert Fleischman, who, it seems, was asking for more of the spotlight. There was simply no room in Journey for a "star."

Steve Perry on lead vocals, a brand new producer - and platinum sales status! The group finally managed to get airplay - "Wheel In The Sky" hit the charts - and the band that was already used to living on the road took off on their very first worldwide tour. Finally they were garnering national and international attention - but with success came criticism.
While the rock press loved Journey when they were jamming their way through life, they couldn't quite deal with the group's commercial success. Suddenly, there were charges that the group was selling out. Ross Valory responded to those with, "Look, any music that is sold is commercial, whether it's Van Cliburn, Ravi Shankar or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir." Steve Perry remarked, "It's ironic. A lot of people love a band when it's not successful. Then when it is successful, they figure you've sold out."
The controversy was okay. Why should the members of Journey have to defend themselves when their newfound success not only served as recognition of their talent, but gave them the resources with which to buy their own sound and lighting equipment and trucks, and ultimately own and control every aspect of their product - namely their albums and shows!?! The only real worry they had after Infinity was a problem with drummer Aynsley, who apparently found it difficult to reconcile his musical direction with that of the band. Eventually, he was asked to leave in a flurry of lawsuits.

Album number five, Evolution, was recorded with drummer Steve Smith, who worked for a band called Montrose that used to open for Journey at some of their shows. Evolution featured the hit "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" (it made the Top Twenty) and marked the beginning of Journey as a major headlining act. Their strength was still in touring though, and for a while anyway - with the financial aid of a beer company - they continued to do so (they split from that association after critics charged they were approving the mix of teens and alcohol with their endorsements).

    Departure, LP number six, took the band yet further from the sound of their previous five albums - a lot of it was recorded live/in studio (the other LPs relied on over-dubbing). While Journey was working on Departure, Columbia Records released a compilation of their first three LPs called In The Beginning. Departure was a hit too, and that made Journey one of the most consistent high earners in the rock 'n' roll business.
    Captured was the group's double-live LP, recorded in 1980 in Detroit, and it truly did "capture" the in-concert sound the group was so famous for. That was especially important for Journey as far as the east coast was concerned, for east coast rock fans were perhaps the least familiar with the band. Even internationally the group seemed to enjoy more popularity than it did in the northeast, for example, simply because of a lack of steady tour exposure. In a place like Japan, though, Journey did the soundtrack to the folk-movie Dream After Dream and became folk heroes themselves. With their next album, Escape, however, even that minor identity crisis was solved.
    With Journey in charge of their own merchandising, and spearheading a lot of their own promotion, they took on the east coast of the United States and won it over. And not only did their hit, "Who's Crying Now" expose a clear path into rock celebrity for them, it helped to introduce their newest member, former Baby's keyboardist,

Jonathan Cain. "J," as they call him, came in after founder Gregg Rolie decided sixteen years was enough for any guy to spend on the road, and left to work on solo projects. "J" seemed to be the final ingredient in the Journey recipe for success - his songwriting skills on Escape were a tremendous asset too - but certainly he was not the only important one.
Journey is a band that is as great as the sum of all its parts (that includes the dues paid along with buddies George Tickner, Prairie Prince, Robert Fleischman, Aynsley Dunbar and most certainly Gregg Rolie), and band that was not simply born, but a band that evolved into the smoothly professional troop of musicians it is today. There may still be some sour grapes on the part of some die-hard Journey fans in the press who remember them way back in '73 and who resent all the growth, but Journey is content - and they're laughing all the way up the charts!