Listen To Rare Recording Of Steve Perry Performing Before Joining Journey

Steve Perry is best known for being the lead vocalist of the rock band Journey. He’s also had some classic hits post-Journey, but only a few people could guess the life of this fantastic musician before he got the sweet gig of being the main singer for this arena-rock group.

It seems like Perry had been a singer for a lot of groups before his journey with Journey came along. Steve Perry, in his early 20s, relocated to Sacramento to form a band with future music producer and drummer/guitarist/singer Scott Mathews, who was just 16 at the time. They named their band Ice, had unique songs, and were destined for great things. However, Ice broke up because they weren’t being managed properly, Mathews was still in high school, and nobody really paid attention to their music.

Sometime after meeting Tim Bogert (who had previously worked with Jeff Beck), Denver Cross, and Eddie Tuduri in New York City in 1975, Perry relocated to Thousand Oaks, California, and established the progressive rock band Pieces with them. After trying for almost a year and a half without success, the band broke up. He also tried out for the part of Captain Beyond’s replacement for Rod Evans, although he was ultimately not cast in the role.

After that, in his mid-20s, Perry settled in Banta, California, a suburb of Tracy, where he led the band Alien Project. After Richard Michaels, the band’s bassist was murdered in a car accident, he was almost ready to give up music altogether. Even though Perry had returned to Lemoore with no intention of continuing his singing career, his mother insisted that he take a call from Walter “Herbie” Herbert, the manager of the failing San Francisco band Journey. The rest then is history.

This rare 1974 recording of Steve Perry and his local rock band, San Andreas Fault, playing the timeless hit “Summertime,” is shown before Perry joined Journey. The video also shows the circumstances surrounding this performance as well.