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When they formed back in 1973, it was the great city of San Francisco , California that brought the boys together. It all began when Herbie Herbert, who was formerly the manager of the hit group Santana, and then original member were the likes of: lead guitarist Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie on keyboards and vocals, Prairie Prince was on drums, Ross Valory on bass and George Tickner on guitar. Originally the boys, who started as the Golden Gate Rhythm Section, thought that they were going to be working as a backup group for other main acts around the Bay area. That quickly changed much in tune to their organic jazz-fusion style they developed and later perfected to an original style unlike any other group on the scene. They definitely didn't stay in the background for long.
The boys had their coming out performance on New Year's Eve in 1973 at the Winterland Ballroom, where they unexpectedly blew everyone away. Soon Aynsley Dunbar was added into the lineup on drums, and on February 5 th of 1974 the boys were debuting at the Great Americana Music Hall . This was when Journey scored their record deal with Columbia Records, and things were looking good for the boys of Journey.
Journey's beginning record releases in 1975, followed by Look into the Future in 1976, didn't do too well, and guitarist Tickner bounced on out of the group. They decided they needed make some changes, and Journey got serious about where they wanted their direction to go.
Columbia told Journey they needed to change things up, and they added the works of Robert Fleischman to help them out. Soon they went over to the more pop style, which didn't fit too well with what Journey's audience wanted, and no sooner than later Fleischman was gone.
For years and years Journey went through struggles and failures and bandmates coming and going. It wasn't until the release of their eighth album, Escape, in 1981 that they gained so much success. Their album has since sold nine times platinum, and had epic hits such as, "Who's Crying Now," "Don't Stop Belivin'," and "Open Arms". Finally Journey was coming into their own and building a solid and loyal fanbase.
Journey is and always will be a sensational rock group through all of their breakups and reunions, but the chance to see them live is not one that comes by all too often. Stay in the know for your tickets to this epic event that will definitely become a part of rock history in the making.
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