Journey, The #38 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Three

 

(Continued from Part Two)

 Evolution and Departure have each also sold over three million copies.   While touring to support the album, Journey recorded the live album Captured, a two-million seller.  The Mainstream Rock chart debuted in 1981, just the place for Journey to catch hold.  The single "The Party's Over (Hopelessly In Love)" made it all the way to #2, and music directors began to take notice (their disc jockeys already were well aware of how great this group was.)

The group was clearly building momentum, but co-founder Rolie left.  Rolie recommended Jonathan Cain, keyboardist of the Babys.  Journey to this point was a solid group; the addition of Cain gave them an excellent keyboardist and songwriter to go with an elite guitarist in Schon and one of the best lead singers on the planet in Perry.  They were now arguably the most talented band in the world and set up nicely for great things ahead.

 

In 1981, Journey released the album Escape.  The band finally hit the big time with "Who's Crying Now", a #3 smash in Canada and #4 in the U.S. that leads off, not coincidentally, with keyboard work from Cain.

 "Stone In Love" reached #13 on the Mainstream Rock chart, another solid song from this Bay Area supergroup. 

 Escape rose to #1 on the Album chart and went on to sell over nine million albums in the United States alone.  Journey released the great rocker "Don't Stop Believin'" next, #2 in Canada, #6 in the U.K. and #9 in the United States.  It showcases the keyboard work of Cain.  

Today, "Don't Stop Believin'" is one of the most downloaded songs in history.  Journey earned a nomination at the American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Album.

 

"The guy can write love songs in his sleep," Cain said of Perry in the liner notes for the box set Time3.  When Journey's next single was released, people around the world became aware of the tremendous vocal abilities of Perry.  "Open Arms" rushed out of the gate to claim the #2 position, which it held for six weeks.  It is one of The Top #2 Songs of the Rock Era* as well as one of The Top 500 Songs*.  

  Journey released the album Frontiers in 1983.  "Separate Ways" rushed to #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart and #8 Popular. 

Frontiers went to #2 on the Album chart and has sold over six million units in the U.S.  "Faithfully" represented the immediate contribution of Cain, who wrote it, with Perry giving another amazing vocal performance.  With a peak of #12, it is another of The Top Underrated Songs*.

 Another underrated song, "Send Her My Love", stalled at #23.  Some novice listeners apparently couldn't hear the intriguing drumming from Smith, who borrowed from a drum part in Miles Davis' "In A Silent Way".  "The drummer was Tony Williams," Smith said in 2011, "and he played quarter notes with a cross-stick on the snare drum--a very hypnotic groove."

  "Edge of the Blade" is the highlight on Side Two of the album.

  

The frantic pace of a supergroup necessitated a break, with Perry and Schon working on solo albums from 1982-85.  During this hiatus, Journey released two tracks which didn't make it onto Frontiers, "Ask The Lonely" for the movie soundtrack Two of a Kind...

 

and "Only The Young" for the movie soundtrack Vision Quest.  The latter climbed to #3 on the Mainstream Rock chart and #9 overall.

Journey continues with Part Four!

Journey, The #38 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

The next year, Herbert fired Dunbar, who joined Jefferson Starship.  Steve Smith, a drummer who trained at the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, replaced him, and Journey released the album Evolution in 1979.  

 

The lead single, "Just The Same Way" was treated in much the same way as previous singles, but is nonetheless a solid track.  It draws upon the group's layered harmony vocals, which producer Roy Baker brought with him from his work with Queen.  Baker had Perry and Rolie double and triple their parts.

 Journey achieved what then was by far their biggest foray into the music scene with "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'", a #12 song in Canada and #14 in the United States.  

 

The liner notes on their compilation album Time3 say that Perry wrote "Too Late" about a friend from his hometown who gotten messed up with drugs.

 

 Perry's reflective vocals lead the way, and then the bridge of "Do You Recall" hooks us with those stacked vocals.  

  

   Journey showed off their progressive chops with "Daydream". 

  "When You're Alone (It Ain't Easy)" has the perfect blend of Perry's lead vocals and Schon's guitar.  

   

We also want to feature "Lovin' You Is Easy".

 Although the 1980 album Departure wasn't much better than Evolution, and certainly was nowhere near Infinity, it holds the distinction of being Journey's first Top 10 album.  "Any Way You Want It" stalled at #23, although it did quite a bit better than that for the stations which played it. 

  "Someday Soon" is an optimistic song, and fitting that Journey enjoyed a highly successful tour in promoting the album.

  

Just like "Feeling That Way" and "Anytime" are linked on Infinity, so it is that "Good Morning Girl" and "Stay Awhile" are tied due to appearing in successive order on Departure.  The former, a gorgeous ballad, resulted from a jam session with Perry and Schon, while "Stay Awhile" showed another side of Perry's vocals.

   

"Walks Like A Lady" began as a rough draft from Perry, Schon added a blues-type riff, and Smith picked out his brushes with Rolie playing a groove on a Hammond B3.

Join us for more Journey on Inside The Rock Era for Part Three!

Journey, Part One

Journey, the #38 Artist of the Rock Era, Part One

"One of the best bands ever."

"Journey is amazing."

"The vocals and music give me chills."

"Incredible voice and band.  Period."

"Legendary band, both in the studio and on stage."

"Journey is a fantastic band. No band will ever be able to match their beautifully crafted songs."

"They put out so many great songs."

"Journey will go down in history as one of the best."

"Immensely talented band."

"Outstanding Rock & Roll band! Real musicianship!"

"Awesome! Some of the best music ever made."

"Incredible group. Steve Perry is one of the best front men ever."

"Journey is the greatest band of the '80s."

Santana alumni Neal Schon (lead guitar) and keyboardist Gregg Rolie started this group in San Francisco in 1973 that included bassist Ross Valory, rhythm guitarist George Tickner and drummer Prairie Prince from the Tubes.  Herbie Herbert, formerly manager of Santana, agreed to guide the new act.  They called themselves the Golden Gate Rhythm Section and set out with the goal to back up some of the top Bay Area artists.

Soon after, the band set their sights higher to be a legitimate recording and performing act.  A radio contest to rename them didn't produce satisfactory results, but the group decided on Journey, suggested by roadie John Villaneuva.  

Journey performed live for the first time at the Winterland Ballroom on New Year's Eve, with Rolie also handling lead vocal duties in the early years.  Prince went back to the Tubes, however, with the group deciding upon Aynsley Dunbar as his replacement.  On February 5, 1974, the new lineup debuted at the Great American Music Hall and, with Herbert's help, signed a recording contract with Columbia Records.
Journey released their self-titled album in 1975, but Tickner departed soon after.  Rolie delivered some of his best vocals here on "Anyway".  

 

This jazz-influenced number showed that, while Rolie and Schon's experience with Santana was invaluable, they wanted to set Journey on its own path.  This is "To Play Some Music".

 

This song was named after a comet that was then approaching Earth's orbit.  "Kohoutek" resulted from some of Journey's earliest rehearsals.  Amazing guitar playing from Schon and top-of-the-line drumming from the dependable Dunbar.

 

Rolie's expressive vocals are at the center of this track--"You're On Your Own".

Neither their debut nor their 1976 album Look into the Future sold well.  The bandmembers believed they knew why, so Dunbar, Schon and Valory took vocal lessons to add harmonies to Rolie.  Schon sang lead on two songs on the 1977 album Next.  That album didn't do any better.  Here is one of those songs with Schon on lead vocal--"I Would Find You". 

 

This is the heavy rocker "Hustler".

Another of Journey's best early songs is "Here We Are".

Columbia wasn't impressed with their output and especially with their lack of sales.  They told Journey to change their style and add a frontman pronto.  Journey decided upon Robert Fleishman, but he didn't work out and left before the year was up.

A puzzle is a good analogy to putting together a good rock group, but said group also has to have a bit of magic.  Journey found both the missing piece and tremendous magic with the hiring of lead singer Steve Perry in 1977.  Herbert also hired producer Roy Thomas Baker, who came with a resume that included lifting the careers of both Queen and Nazareth.

Journey came up with one of The Top Underrated Albums of the Rock Era*, the 1978 LP Infinity.  Infinity is the precursor to worldwide success for the group, but at the time, its songs got airplay on Album-Oriented Rock stations but little else.  When Journey made it big, fans discovered this gem and helped it eventually sell over one million copies.  Infinity might not contain the giant hits of future albums, but it is right up there with their career best.  

 

Don't be fooled by the #45 peak for "Wheel In The Sky" in Canada or the #57 peak in the United States.  This is one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

 Infinity has gone over the three-million mark in sales, nearly all of that coming after the group became one of the most successful in the world.  There are three other amazing songs on the album that represent some of the finest work the group has ever done.  

Perry brought this gem with him to the group.  Rolie said later that the rest of the band wasn't completely sold on Perry until they harmonized together on "Lights" backstage while waiting to perform at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California.  

"Lights" stalled at #68, which has more to do with the lack of proper promotion by the record company and/or the tendency of radio station music directors to only go the "safe" route and play artists familiar to them than it does the quality of the song.

These next two songs are better heard back-to-back. They are, in fact, a legacy-defining moment for the group.  "Feeling That Way" started out as a song called "Velvet Curtain", written by Rolie.  Through some reworking, it became "Let Me Stay", which was considered for inclusion on the Next album.  Perry added the chorus to become half of the great video above.  Journey nearly scrapped the second song.  But Schon added the lyric "Anytime that you want me".  Perry and Rolie's vocals then took over.  "As soon as the vocals were put in, the song came alive," Rolie said in 2014.  "I'm glad we didn't can it!"  We believe these are two more members of that club of underrated songs--here are "Feeling That Way" and "Anytime".

 

 This song combines their new lead singer's amazing voice with Dunbar providing a great beat and Schon powering the song with his incredible guitar playing.  "Opened The Door" closed the album.

 

We love featuring these other worthy tracks in this special for they may just find a new audience.  Plus, most who listen to the entire special (as we highly recommend) will agree that not only does the artist belong among the all-time elite but they are ranked about where they should be.  People who grew up with these artists know them well, but their worth deserves to be spread across the world.  Is it obvious from not only this entire album but the final cry from Perry that he was going to be exactly what they needed to go on to greatness?

 

Here is another song we want to feature.  Interestingly, it was written when Perry, wanting to make a good impression, dropped by Schon's hotel the day after a Journey concert in Denver, Colorado.  The two wrote "Patiently" during that time.  "It was really about the determination of me wanting to get next to those players," Perry wrote in the liner notes to Time3.

You only hear music this good all at once, day after day, on The Top 100 Artists of the Rock Era*, exclusively on Inside The Rock Era.  Join us for Part Two.

Frank Sinatra, The #39 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Five

 

(Continued from Part Four)

 

In 1965, Frank released another great album, September of My Years, which captured Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards and also earned Sinatra another award for Best Vocal Performance, Male for "It Was A Very Good Year", which went to #1 on the Adult chart.  Sinatra also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

 Frank released the compilation Sinatra '65:  The Singer Today, which contained "My Kind Of Town",  a song included in the movie Robin and the 7 Hoods.  It was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards.

He also released the album My Kind of Broadway.  Sinatra also found time to star in the movie Von Ryan's Express and directed None but the Brave.  

Sinatra released the double compilation A Man and His Music, which sold over one million copies and won Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1966.

 

The single "Strangers In The Night" from the album of the same name dominated the Adult chart for seven weeks and also went to #1 overall.  "Strangers In The Night" won Record of the Year and Best Vocal Performance, Male at the Grammy Awards.

  
 "Summer Wind" kept up the momentum by also going to #1 on the EL chart.  It's a story about a summer love that is now gone but wistfully remembered by the crooning Sinatra.  We can almost feel the breeze blow when he sings it.

 

One of Frank's biggest hits, "That's Life", also topped the Easy Listening chart for three weeks.  Despite life's ups and downs, one should keep trying for soon they will be "back on top".  It is the title track from his Gold album released late in 1966.

Sinatra first heard O.C. Smith's version in 1965.  He stopped the car, called his daughter Nancy and asked her to find out who the publisher of the song was.  She did, and Frank first performed it on his television special A Man and His Music - Part II in 1966, with the arrangement from Nelson Riddle.

Sinatra won an Emmy Award for his TV special.  Frank released the live album Sinatra at the Sands, recorded at the Sand Hotel and casino in Las Vegas with Count Basie.

In 1967, he returned with the collaborative albums Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim and Francis A. & Edward K., the latter recorded with Duke Ellington.  The former, one of the best-selling albums of the year, was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Vocal Performance, Male at the Grammy Awards.  In between those two collaborations, Sinatra released the album The World We Knew.

 Sinatra sang a duet with daughter Nancy which went to #1 for four weeks on the Popular chart and led the way on the Adult chart for nine weeks.  "Somethin' Stupid" was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards and sold over one million copies.  

 Sinatra made it five Adult #1's in a row with "The World We Knew (Over And Over)".

Sinatra continued his work on the big screen in the movie Tony Rome in 1967 and its sequel Lady in Cement as well as the 1968 movie The Detective.

 

  

In 1968, Sinatra released the album Cycles, followed by the 1969 album My Way.  The title song from Cycles reached #2 for three weeks on the Adult chart.

"My Way Of Life" reached #3 among adults.

 

Paul Anka wrote "My Way" for Sinatra, which became one of Frank's signature songs.  It rose to #2 for three weeks on the Adult chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male.   

 Frank recorded "Didn't We" for the album, written by Jimmy Webb.

Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits, released in 1968, sold over two million copies.

Later in the year, Sinatra released the album A Man Alone.  In 1970, Sinatra starred in the western Dirty Dingus Magee. 

In 1970, Frank released the album Watertown and recorded another album with Jobim called Sinatra & Company in 1971.

Sinatra announced his retirement in 1971, but returned two years later for the album 'Ol Blue Eyes Is Back.  Meanwhile, Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 went Platinum.  A television special, Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra, featured Frank with actor Gene Kelly.  

The next year, Frank released the album Some Nice Things I've Missed.  Missing the live audiences, Sinatra also began performing again at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and went on a worldwide tour of the United States, Europe, the Far East and Australia.

In 1975, Sinatra performed with Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald in concerts in New York City and with Basie and Sarah Vaughan at the London Palladium, giving 140 performances in 105 days.  He appeared with John Denver in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.  On Labor Day, 1976, Sinatra organized a reunion of comedy partners Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis for the first time in almost 20 years for the "Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon".

The Friars Club honored Sinatra as the Top Box Office Name of the Century, and Sinatra received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Nevada.

In 1977, Sinatra performed before Princess Margaret at the Royal Albert Hall in London in a charity concert.  In 1979, Frank received the Grammy Trustees Award while celebrating 40 years in show business.  Also that year, former U.S. President Gerald Ford presented Sinatra with the International Man of the Year Award.

Sinatra released the album Trilogy:  Past Present Future in 1980.  One of the songs Sinatra became best known for was "Theme From New York, New York", #10 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #32 overall.

 

The album went Gold and received Grammy Award nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male (for "Theme from New York, New York") and Album of the Year.   Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen wrote this one that Frank included in the compilation--"You And Me (We Wanted It All)".

Frank's last major motion picture was The Last Deadly Sin. 

The next year, Frank released the album She Shot Me Down and the LP L.A. Is My Lady in 1984.  In 1982, Sinatra inked a $16 million three-year contract with the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.  He performed at the White House for the Italian Prime Minister and joined Luciano Pavarotti and George Shearing at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

In 1983, Sinatra received the Kennedy Center Honors.  U.S. President Ronald Reagan sad that "art was the shadow of humanity, and Sinatra had spent his life casting a magnificent and powerful shadow."

Sinatra received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Loyola Marymount University in 1984 and an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1985.

In 1986, Sinatra collapsed while performing on stage in Atlantic City, New Jersey and was hospitalized with diverticulitis.  Two years later, Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. performed in several large arenas billed as the Rat Pack Reunion Tour.

He released two final studio albums of duets and toured regularly in the 1990's.  The album Duets in 1993 became his best-selling album and was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards.  Sinatra also received the Legend award at the Grammys.  Duets II was released the following year, earning Frank another Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.

In 1994, Frank received the Legend Award at the Grammy Awards.  Sinatra continued to tour the United States and around the world until his final concerts at the Fukuoka Dome in Japan on December 19-20 in 1994.  

In 1995, the Empire State Building in New York City was lit in blue to honor Frank's 80th birthday.  

On May 14, 1998, Sinatra died after a heart attack at the age of 82.  The night after his death, lights on the Empire State Building were once again turned blue in his honor.  Lights on the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed and the casinos stopped for a full minute.

Sinatra has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his success in movies, music and television.  In Frank's native city of Hoboken in New Jersey, Frank Sinatra Park, the Hoboken Post Office and a residence hall at Montclair State University were named in his honor.  The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens, New York and the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles and a road near the Las Vegas Strip were named for him.  The United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp in honor of Sinatra in 2008 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death.

Some people might think a guy like Sinatra peaked in the '40's before the Rock Era began.  But a star of Frank's magnitude doesn't just go away, and he continued to enjoy tremendous success with his loyal followers--after Elvis, after the Beatles, and into the '80s.  Sinatra accumulated 68 hits after the Rock Era began to go along with his many hits (over 125) prior to 1955.  Nine of those hits reached the Top 10 on the Popular chart, dominated by teenagers, and he posted three #1's.   Sinatra scored 48 Adult hits from 1955-1984, with 20 of those reaching the Top 10 and six #1's.

According to the newspaper The Las Vegas Sun, Sinatra has sold over 150 million albums.

Sinatra won three Academy Awards from four nominations and four Golden Globe Awards out of five nominations, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, for his acting ability.  Three of his six songs nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards won the Oscar.  Frank won 11 Grammy Awards out of 32 nominations.

Frank Sinatra, The #39 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Four

 

(Continued from Part Three)

 "Stardust" is one of the most recorded, charted and popular tunes of all-time.  Sinatra got to #20 on the Easy Listening chart with it in 1962.

 Bobby Darin enjoyed a hit in 1959 with "That's All".  Sinatra covered it two years later.

Frank released the album Sinatra and Swingin' Brass and later in the year, Sinatra collaborated with Count Basie for the album Sinatra-Basie and Sinatra also conducted the instrumental album Frank Sinatra Conducts Music from Pictures and Plays.

 

"Nice Work If You Can Get It" is from the collaboration with Count Basie.  The original working title was "There's No Stopping Me Now", with the final title phrase coming from an English magazine.  George and Ira Gershwin wrote it for the 1937 movie A Damsel in Distress.

Sinatra returned to movies in The Manchurian Candidate in 1962.  The following year, he recorded The Concert Sinatra, featuring a 73-piece symphony orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle.  

In 1963, the Rat Pack was at it again in the western Sergeants 3, and Sinatra also starred in 4 for Texas and Come Blow Your Horn, the latter earning Frank a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture or Comedy.

 

The Concert Sinatra album in 1963 features "I Have Dreamed", which was introduced in the classic 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I.

 Sinatra released the compilation album Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre in 1963.  Robert Alda first sang "Luck Be A Lady" in the 1950 musical Guys and Dolls, but it became one of Sinatra's signature songs after including it on this album.  Frank also starred in the movie adaption of Guys and Dolls in 1955.

 

In 1964, Frank  teamed up again with Count Basie for the album It Might As Well Be Swing, arranged by Quincy Jones.  Over 100 versions of "Fly Me To The Moon" had been recorded by the time Frank did, but, as he did with dozens of songs, made it into his own.  Critic Will Friedwald said:

    Jones boosted the tempo and put it into an even 

     four/four" for Basie's version, but "when Sinatra 

     decided to address it with the Basie/Jones 

     combination they recharged it into a straight 

     swinger... [which]...all but explodes with energy.

One of his career best, "Fly Me To The Moon", is included on the album and is closely associated with Apollo's missions to Mars a few years later.

"The Best Is Yet To Come" is another great song on the album.  It happens to be the last song Sinatra sang in public, on February 25, 1995.  The words are also etched in Sinatra's tombstone.

 Sinatra released the album Softly, as I Leave You, which gave us this title song.  It is a popular Italian song, called "Piano", written by Tony De Vita with lyrics from Giorgio Calabrese.  It was translated into English by Hal Shaper.

Sinatra also released the album Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River and Other Academy Award Winners.

 

"The Way You Look Tonight" is an Academy Award winning song from Fred Astaire in the movie Swing Time.  The most popular version is from Sinatra.

 "Somewhere In Your Heart" was a #4 smash on the Adult chart that peaked at #32 overall.

Frank was on hand to dedicate the Frank Sinatra International Youth Center for Arab and Jewish children in Nazareth.  Sinatra and Jones performed on stage often, including at the Newport Jazz Festival of 1965.

 "When Somebody Loves You" was Frank's fourth Top 10 on the Easy Listening chart in the five years of its existence.

An amazing array of songs sung from the heart.  More to come in Part Five!