The Journey guitarist recalls colorful times with Roy Thomas
Baker, Geoff Workman
By Peter Lindblad
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| Neal Schon - The Calling 2012 |
Some are simply eccentric, a little strange but ultimately
harmless. Others are complete loons, absolutely certifiable and more than a bit
scary – Phil Spector comes to mind. Down through rock and roll history, some of
the most interesting figures have been music producers. Journey’s Neal Schon
has run across a few in his time.
Roy Thomas Baker, famed for his work with Queen and his
innovative method of stacking harmonies, made sweet music with Journey on 1978’s
Infinity and its follow-up, 1979’s Evolution. For 1980’s Departure, as Journey put its nose to
the grindstone and put out three hit-laden records in three years, the band was
put through its paces by Geoff Workman. Though different, both men were uniquely
talented studio artists, capable of wringing the best performances possible out
of their clients. And both were a little … different.
“I remember we did have a great time with Roy Thomas Baker
and Geoff Workman; they were two characters – I mean really strong characters,
both individuals,” said Schon, who will release a new solo instrumental album
on October 23 on Frontiers Records titled The
Calling. “You know, Roy was very flamboyant. He always had this king’s
chair and he wore this king’s crown – you know, it was like Monty Python, for
real. And Geoff Workman was like a pirate, and you know, he was always smoking
a French cigarette and drinking a case of Elephant beer. It got very colorful
in the studio.”
For Schon and the rest of Journey, whose direction had
shifted somewhat with the addition of Steve Perry as vocalist on Infinity, as the band morphed from a
collection of jam-band hippies from San Francisco to architects of a
pop-infused hard rock Hoover Dam that generated hits instead of electricity, Evolution was made at Cherokee Studios
in Los Angeles at a time when they were feeling their oats.
“We had some late nights, all-night benders (laughs), I
remember that,” said Schon. “We were partying a lot as a band back then. I
remember that the studio we were working in, we came in one morning, and I
believe that Woodie – Ron Wood – and Keith Richards were in there the night
before, and a couple of the guys were still sleeping on the floor. So, it was
funny. I met them that way, and the studio was down there. We just waited for
them to get up and got out, and we got our studio time started.”
Schon waits for no one anymore, as the rushed recording
process of The Calling so aptly
demonstrates. On a break from his duties with Journey, Schon made the most of
his time, working quickly with former Journey mate, drummer Steve Smith, to
create a surprisingly heavy and progressive set of tracks that travel through
diverse musical terrain.
“I went in with a completely blank canvas, and a lot of
colors, and the colors were all the guitars and amps I brought in, and
obviously, the musicians that I played with,” said Schon. “And Steve Smith,
it’s been a while since him and I got together and played, and the creative
juices were just flowing. Really, I came in there unprepared. I hadn’t written
any material. I had a few riffs here and there, and we sort of went at it day
by day, and went about it in a similar way to when I’m working by myself at
home, where I’m sort of playing up the instruments like on a demo, where I took
a drum loop and instead of using a drum machine – which I would use at home – I
had Steve Smith there, which was much better. I had him do a tempo for a
certain riff that I would come up with, and I’d have him loop it for like eight
bars, on the Pro Tools, and I’d say, ‘Give me a half an hour or 25 minutes to
map this thing out.’”
Briefly repairing to another space, Schon continued to
sketch out the mental musical blueprints he and Smith would follow.
“And so then I’d just take a rhythm guitar and have these
definite drum loops going the whole time and I’d arrange what I’d need till the
end of the song and all the different sections – the solo section, the intro,
the heavy section … you know, all the sections and so forth, just like you’d arrange
any song,” explains Schon. “And then, at that point, Steve Smith would come
back in and would write down on paper musically what I played on guitar, the
arrangement; then we’d talk about which was the heavier section, which was the
solo section, and there’s the groove section, where the melody happens, you
know, and then he’d play with different velocity. So he’s essentially a
musician like that where he can see the landscape far in advance as well as I
can.”
Working with Smith, who was trained in jazz at the revered
Berklee College of Music prior to his joining Journey, was a revelation for
Schon.
“It was a joy to work with him; he’s actually the perfect
guy for me to work with on a project like this,” said Schon. “And so we would
then go in, replay the drum loop, play the whole song together as if we were
playing as a band, with all finished parts. And then I, immediately after that,
before we went on to another song, would slam down the lead guitar, like we’d
always do and do a couple of things, all the way through what was in my head.
We didn’t have anything written. We just kind of winged it, you know. And it
came out. It just came out. To me, that’s the beauty of this record – that it just
kind of fell out of the sky, and you know, there wasn’t a lot of thought put
into it. So whatever did come out, it was completely from the heart and soul.
It was very organic, and I love the organic way of recording where it’s not so
thought out – the old blues thinking, from all the old cats, like if you’re
thinking, you’re beaten, you know (laughs).”
Schon had more to say about his days in Journey in our
interview, and we’ll have more on that later. So, keep watching this space for
more with the guitarist, a teen prodigy who played with Santana at Woodstock,
and his incredible history.
