Raised On Radio question

[STORY_TELLER]

My impression was they auditioned a lot of people. A ton. So it's not like this guy is known. Only one story came from the whole thing. That he got there and they were waiting for Neal to arrive. He did and explained that he had just been out partying all night with Huey Lewis. That struck me as so rock-and-roll back then. Ha ha.

Very cool! And funny! Thanks for sharing.

Perry already had the connection with Londin from his Street Talk album, so it would make sense that the auditions were for the tour only.

Very rock n roll indeed, hah! A ton of drummers, huh? Wow... I wonder if in the end Perry feels like he found what he was looking for, or if he just settled on something close enough. Hard to imagine Baird was the feel he wanted. He was very heavy handed -- or footed. Heavy on the bass drum and very little finesse. I personally didn't like his playing.

Didn't know Neal and Huey knew one another. That's cool. Thanks for sharing, Memorex.

Good point re: Londin/Street Talk, Art. I think you're right. And they already had Randy Jackson on After The Fall, so there probably weren't auditions for Bass players either.

[tj]

My impression was they auditioned a lot of people. A ton. So it's not like this guy is known. Only one story came from the whole thing. That he got there and they were waiting for Neal to arrive. He did and explained that he had just been out partying all night with Huey Lewis. That struck me as so rock-and-roll back then. Ha ha.

Very cool! And funny! Thanks for sharing.

Perry already had the connection with Londin from his Street Talk album, so it would make sense that the auditions were for the tour only.

Very rock n roll indeed, hah! A ton of drummers, huh? Wow... I wonder if in the end Perry feels like he found what he was looking for, or if he just settled on something close enough. Hard to imagine Baird was the feel he wanted. He was very heavy handed -- or footed. Heavy on the bass drum and very little finesse. I personally didn't like his playing.

Didn't know Neal and Huey knew one another. That's cool. Thanks for sharing, Memorex.

Good point re: Londin/Street Talk, Art. I think you're right. And they already had Randy Jackson on After The Fall, so there probably weren't auditions for Bass players either.

Years ago I read, Time3 liner notes I think, that Huey Lewis and Journey were in the same studio recording ROR and Lewis's Fore album. Lewis was also with Perry at We Are the World.

[annie89509]

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[annie89509]

As been written about previously, majority of songs was already written and laid out (mostly by JC from SP’s vision) before the band got together in the studio to record the album. It was to incorporate drum machines and click track. Years later, Smitty said those sessions were the toughest experience of his life. He was fired, not because of displeasure or refusing to play a certain way, but just did not know how, him being still in infancy phase of his rock career (1st love started as jazz drummer). He learned, eventually, for survival. Producers only hired studio musicians, session drummers, who could play click track.

I don’t think anyone knows the full story on the Ross termination … mostly, we only got fan speculation. Drug problem? never substantiated by an insider, other than HH, who once made innuendo that RV blew all his money on drugs. However, this was not associated as reason for his firing, I don’t recall.

As someone posted above, ROR was SP’s baby, and he didn’t like the sound of the rhythm section as the songs were being played back. I doubt anyone is talking about the complete album being recorded (re-recorded) 3 whole times. More likely, SP didn’t like how the songs sounded when played back in the studio, changed musicians, songs were re-recorded, and we got the versions he wanted people to hear. Ross was shut out; he kept 3 songs with Smitty. WCTNGOF being one…my all-time favorite J. song…goosebumps every time I listen to it. You can absolutely hear Smitty’s deft fingers within the structure and musical loops. Click track would have ruined this song (lol).

In the ROR Tour Documentary (MTV produced & broadcasted on CBS late night back in the day), on dvd fan bootleg current time… SP in one sequence said (paraphrasing): “Journey, as a band, needed to evolve. Some members, unfortunately, when we re-grouped, weren’t growing, I think, in the same direction as Jon, Neal & myself were.”

Good post, however I wouldn't say Smith was still in his rock infancy stage. He had been playing rock for 8 years at this point, plus his time in Montrose prior to Journey. He was a well seasoned rock drummer in 1986. Music was changing in the mid 80s, becoming more over-produced and plastic.

Art ... that was not my own opinion of Smitty..., I want to make clear. I was just relating what Smitty said in a magazine interview, as much as what I recalled of it (paraphrasing) his comments about what happened. Come to think of it ...he did not use the word "infancy" ... he said "apprenticeship" ... I'm pretty sure ... implying he was still in the "learning" stage of being a rock musician. His assessment of himself, not mine. Reading between the lines, I got the impression he was blaming himself for the firing, because he couldn't play that way. He did say he picked it up later ... after he was fired... needing to if he wanted to get work as a studio drummer. He said that was the trend the genre was going, and he should have learned it sooner. Personally, I don't know enough, musically, to know what "click track" is... (lol)

[tj]

Art ... that was not my own opinion of Smitty..., I want to make clear. I was just relating what Smitty said in a magazine interview, as much as what I recalled of it (paraphrasing) his comments about what happened. Come to think of it ...he did not use the word "infancy" ... he said "apprenticeship" ... I'm pretty sure ... implying he was still in the "learning" stage of being a rock musician. His assessment of himself, not mine. Reading between the lines, I got the impression he was blaming himself for the firing, because he couldn't play that way. He did say he picked it up later ... after he was fired... needing to if he wanted to get work as a studio drummer. He said that was the trend the genre was going, and he should have learned it sooner. Personally, I don't know enough, musically, to know what "click track" is... (lol)

[/quote]

He did use the word "apprenticeship" in the interview, which increased my respect for him tenfold. Most rock band performers are just that, performers, who don't take the time to focus on musicianship and improving themselves. Smith studied other styles, and even changed his, over the years in an effort to improve himself. I have always thought that too many performers relied solely on their talent, not working hard enough to be better. Smith, obviously has the talent, work ethic and seriousness many others don't.

[tj]

Art ... that was not my own opinion of Smitty..., I want to make clear. I was just relating what Smitty said in a magazine interview, as much as what I recalled of it (paraphrasing) his comments about what happened. Come to think of it ...he did not use the word "infancy" ... he said "apprenticeship" ... I'm pretty sure ... implying he was still in the "learning" stage of being a rock musician. His assessment of himself, not mine. Reading between the lines, I got the impression he was blaming himself for the firing, because he couldn't play that way. He did say he picked it up later ... after he was fired... needing to if he wanted to get work as a studio drummer. He said that was the trend the genre was going, and he should have learned it sooner. Personally, I don't know enough, musically, to know what "click track" is... (lol)

[/quote]

He did use the word "apprenticeship" in the interview, which increased my respect for him tenfold. Most rock band performers are just that, performers, who don't take the time to focus on musicianship and improving themselves. Smith studied other styles, and even changed his, over the years in an effort to improve himself. I have always thought that too many performers relied solely on their talent, not working hard enough to be better. Smith, obviously has the talent, work ethic and seriousness many others don't.

[Art Vandelay]

Art ... that was not my own opinion of Smitty..., I want to make clear. I was just relating what Smitty said in a magazine interview, as much as what I recalled of it (paraphrasing) his comments about what happened. Come to think of it ...he did not use the word "infancy" ... he said "apprenticeship" ... I'm pretty sure ... implying he was still in the "learning" stage of being a rock musician. His assessment of himself, not mine. Reading between the lines, I got the impression he was blaming himself for the firing, because he couldn't play that way. He did say he picked it up later ... after he was fired... needing to if he wanted to get work as a studio drummer. He said that was the trend the genre was going, and he should have learned it sooner. Personally, I don't know enough, musically, to know what "click track" is... (lol)

It's all good, Annie. Didn't mean to come off as if I were calling you out, my apologies if it came off that way. As you could probably tell from my other posts, I've been following Smith's career pretty closely for a good number of years now. I even had the opportunity to sit about 5 feet in front of his drum set at a jazz club a few years back. It was a moment that will stick with me forever. His playing and versatility opened up my eyes to many different styles of music and musicians, so I always have my eyes focused on good Smith conversation here on this board. I guess that's the beauty and magic of this band...many different musical avenues have been opened up to its fans, and we all somehow end up talking about it on this board!