Steve Smith on Songs with Journey (excerpts)
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 1:43 amSteve Smith on Songs with Journey (excerpts)
(This was in an article last year, kind of interesting...a couple excerpts from it)..
“LOVIN,’ TOUCHIN,’ SQUEEZIN,’” with Journey (EVOLUTION, 1979): A true story from composer/singer Steve Perry, who in the liner notes to Journey’s Time3 compilation recalls seeing his girlfriend give another man this lingering kiss goodbye before he sped away in a Corvette. Perry called “Lovin,’ Touchin,’ Squeezin,’” with its nifty stuttering rhythm signature and soaring nah-nah-nah conclusion, “love justice.” This would become the first Top 20 hit for Journey.
Steve Smith: That rhythm is a simple 12/8 blues shuffle, a very traditional old-school blues feel. The song developed as a jam started by Steve Perry playing the bass. Actually, that song is reminiscent of a Sam Cooke song called “Nothing Can Change This Love”; Steve was very influenced by the great Sam Cooke. When Journey worked on writing new songs it was a collaborative effort, the band wrote collectively in a rehearsal room. The music would develop in a jam session-style situation. Most of Journey’s music was developed collectively at first and then fine-tuned into songs. I learned a lot from that situation and continue to write like that to this day. Most material for the Tone Center albums was written that way, as is much of Vital Information’s music. It’s an effective way to write because it makes the most of the creative collaboration of all of the musicians involved.
Sam Cooke: Nothing Can Change This Love
http://youtu.be/xEGS2_jl2_Y
Journey - Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' 1979 Evolution
http://youtu.be/bI7SJuItKFs
“SEND HER MY LOVE,” with Journey (FRONTIERS, 1983): One of four Top 40 hits found on this album, “Send Her My Live” went to No. 23 on the U.S. pop charts. The lonesome anthem is notable for more than an atmospheric turn by Neal Schon on guitar, however. It also includes perhaps the most notable drumming contribution on Journey’s string of familiar ballads from Smith, who contributes a slyly involving polyrhythm. Frontiers was the last full-length project Smith would work on with Journey before the one-off reunion Trial by Fire in 1996.
Smith: The rhythm for that song was inspired by the Joe Zawinul composition “In A Silent Way” from the Miles Davis album In A Silent Way. The drummer on that was Tony Williams and he played quarter notes with a cross-stick on the snare drum – a very hypnotic groove. It was one of the first jazz-rock albums, and had a particular freshness because of the use of Fender Rhodes and an open modal playing style. That was an album I’d listened to and digested, and this is a great example of drawing upon your background to come up with ideas to inspire you how to play a particular song. With “Send Her My Love,” that became an essential feel for the song — that quarter-note, cross-stick rhythm, and that comes straight from “In A Silent Way.”
Miles Davis IN A SILENT WAY (rehearsal) Vinyl LP
http://youtu.be/f-kDZoxz9NU
Journey - Send Her My Love (Live In Tokyo 1983) HQ
http://youtu.be/dPCAZscUrQY
(This was in an article last year, kind of interesting...a couple excerpts from it)..
“LOVIN,’ TOUCHIN,’ SQUEEZIN,’” with Journey (EVOLUTION, 1979): A true story from composer/singer Steve Perry, who in the liner notes to Journey’s Time3 compilation recalls seeing his girlfriend give another man this lingering kiss goodbye before he sped away in a Corvette. Perry called “Lovin,’ Touchin,’ Squeezin,’” with its nifty stuttering rhythm signature and soaring nah-nah-nah conclusion, “love justice.” This would become the first Top 20 hit for Journey.
Steve Smith: That rhythm is a simple 12/8 blues shuffle, a very traditional old-school blues feel. The song developed as a jam started by Steve Perry playing the bass. Actually, that song is reminiscent of a Sam Cooke song called “Nothing Can Change This Love”; Steve was very influenced by the great Sam Cooke. When Journey worked on writing new songs it was a collaborative effort, the band wrote collectively in a rehearsal room. The music would develop in a jam session-style situation. Most of Journey’s music was developed collectively at first and then fine-tuned into songs. I learned a lot from that situation and continue to write like that to this day. Most material for the Tone Center albums was written that way, as is much of Vital Information’s music. It’s an effective way to write because it makes the most of the creative collaboration of all of the musicians involved.
Sam Cooke: Nothing Can Change This Love
http://youtu.be/xEGS2_jl2_Y
Journey - Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' 1979 Evolution
http://youtu.be/bI7SJuItKFs
“SEND HER MY LOVE,” with Journey (FRONTIERS, 1983): One of four Top 40 hits found on this album, “Send Her My Live” went to No. 23 on the U.S. pop charts. The lonesome anthem is notable for more than an atmospheric turn by Neal Schon on guitar, however. It also includes perhaps the most notable drumming contribution on Journey’s string of familiar ballads from Smith, who contributes a slyly involving polyrhythm. Frontiers was the last full-length project Smith would work on with Journey before the one-off reunion Trial by Fire in 1996.
Smith: The rhythm for that song was inspired by the Joe Zawinul composition “In A Silent Way” from the Miles Davis album In A Silent Way. The drummer on that was Tony Williams and he played quarter notes with a cross-stick on the snare drum – a very hypnotic groove. It was one of the first jazz-rock albums, and had a particular freshness because of the use of Fender Rhodes and an open modal playing style. That was an album I’d listened to and digested, and this is a great example of drawing upon your background to come up with ideas to inspire you how to play a particular song. With “Send Her My Love,” that became an essential feel for the song — that quarter-note, cross-stick rhythm, and that comes straight from “In A Silent Way.”
Miles Davis IN A SILENT WAY (rehearsal) Vinyl LP
http://youtu.be/f-kDZoxz9NU
Journey - Send Her My Love (Live In Tokyo 1983) HQ
http://youtu.be/dPCAZscUrQY
