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Steve Perry’s First Journey Song Was About Him, but He Didn’t Know
Steve Perry wrote the song “Patiently” with Neal Schon hours after having met Journey, the band that would change his life.
But, as he told Uncle Joe Benson on the Ultimate Classic Rock Nights radio show, he’d written a set of lyrics about himself without even knowing it that night in 1977.
“Before that, the bass player in my band that was going to be signed had died in a car wreck, so I was done,” Perry said. “I called my mom and said, ‘I’m going back to my hometown. I’ve tried this, Mom, it’s not working out.’ She said, ‘Hold on! Something good will happen.’
“All of a sudden I get this phone call from Herbie [Walter Herbert], the manager in Journey, and he says, ‘I want you to meet the band.’ I think he flew me out to Denver, where they were opening for Emerson, Lake and Palmer at the time. I sat in a hotel room with Neal and wrote ‘Patiently’ that night after the gig.”
Watch Journey Perform 'Patiently' in 1977
If that wasn’t enough of a turn of fate, there was another element to the experience. “I didn’t even realize that from a Freudian standpoint, the lyrics are kind of me waiting to walk out onstage -- for my song and me to contribute to the band what I wanted to bring,” Perry admitted. “I didn’t even know that till later. Kinda scary that, actually.”
Be sure to listen to Ultimate Classic Rock Nights on more than 50 stations across the U.S. from 7PM until midnight, Monday through Friday. You can see the list of radio stations where it airs here.
Steve Perry Through the Years
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