http://new.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=60689&section=valleyrr

By John Lamb, The Forum
Published Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Things are coming full circle for the man who helped write "Wheel in the Sky."

At 50, Neal Schon is looking at starting all over, again.

The co-founder of the classic rock band Journey isn't ready to shut down the
Bay-area group, just to bring it back to its beginnings, the jazz rock band
Schon started at 19.

"We were like one of the original jam bands," the guitarist says from a tour
stop in Temecula, Calif. "In those days, San Francisco looked at us like we were
the Grateful Dead on steroids. Like high-octane jamming."

Through the 1970s, the band's sound became more condensed, winding down from
extended solos to 1980s radio-ready anthems and power ballads like "Any Way You
Want It," "Don't Stop Believin' " and "Separate Ways," all wrapped around the
operatic vocals of Steve Perry.

Schon and a revamped Journey lineup play the Red River Valley Fair Saturday. The
guitarist says though Perry and drummer Steve Smith have left the fold, fans
should still expect the classics.

"Journey is Journey," Schon says. "People that buy tickets to come see us want
to hear the greatest hits and they want to hear stuff that they're familiar
with."

Although fans want the songs they know, Schon still has a creative drive to
branch out and play new material.

"If it wasn't for the people there that love it, I would really have a hard time
playing it, period, all this time," Schon says of the Journey hits. "The only
thing that's really frustrating for me is that you can't really try new stuff
out on them when you've got a greatest hits audience."

One remedy, Schon considers, is a side project of the current lineup, including
longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain, bassist Ross Valory and new members, drummer
Deen Castronova and singer Steve Augeri, and returning to Journey's jamming
roots. To stifle fan confusion, Schon suggests using a truncated version of the
name, like JRNY. Schon says a 2002 four-song disc by Journey, "Red 13," was
praised by guitar aficionados, but panned by fans.

A prolific collaborator (having worked with Night Ranger's Jack Blades, John
Waite in Bad English and recently a second go-round with Sammy Hagar), Schon cut
his chops at 15 with legendary guitarist Carlos Santana.

Schon admits he was a hot dog guitarist when he met Santana, but the elder
musician took him under his wing.

"Playing next to him, I picked up the melodic side as well as the passionate
side of him, you know, slowing down and holding a note," Schon says. "He made me
slow down, not too much, but a bit."

One pairing fans shouldn't look forward to anytime soon is a reunion with Perry.
The singer left after a 1996 tour, though in the group's episode of "Behind the
Music" on VH1, Perry said the group left him behind after he opted to have hip
surgery.

"I think it was more one-sided than it was about the whole band," Schon says of
the show. "I definitely felt that there were some very special editing rights
that someone had. I feel like a lot of the best stuff, from people like our old
manager Herbie Herbert and people that were around the band for years got left
on the cutting floor."

These days Perry is reclusive, making few public appearances. He did, however
walk the red carpet for the premiere of the Oscar-winning movie "Monster," for
which he was credited with being a music consultant after licensing Journey's
"Don't Stop Believin'."

When Perry was asked during a radio morning show last November on Arrow 93 in
Los Angeles if he ever missed being onstage, he replied, "I don't need it
anymore like I did." Later in the interview the reclusive singer added, "You
know, every now and then I must tell you I get a hunger, I do get a hunger it's
not gone believe me."

Schon insists he's been trying to communicate with Perry for the past three
years about releasing old footage, but with no avail. Perry produced a greatest
hits DVD of Journey's videos and concert clips that was released late last year.

Schon says Journey was never a good video band, but has a sense of humor about
the clips, including the video for "Separate Ways," which was viciously skewered
by "Beavis & Butthead."

"When I don't laugh, my kids do," he says.

Now married to a woman from Waseca, Minn., Schon has three daughters and a son,
16, who appears to be following his father's footsteps, favoring the faster,
louder licks.

"Journey is a different beast, and I've got a lot of other beasts inside me that
will be coming out shortly," Schon says.


regards,

RDB
owner -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CyberPink/ pink floyd discussion
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MetalGodz/ general rock discussion
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sandr/ general discussion