Steve Perry, Sam Cooke, Arnel Pineda, and My Journey To Obsession

It all began so innocently. While perusing the New York Times' Arts section a few weeks ago, I checked out a review of Journey's new album, Revelation. I don't really remember what the review said, but what caught my eye was a passing mention that former Journey vocalist Steve Perry used "Sam Cooke-type vocal embellishments" in the band's melodramatic teen anthems.

Really? The "Man Who Invented Soul" and the man who sang "Don't Stop Believin'" had something, anything in common apart from being professional musicians? I had to check it out for myself.

Now, mock Journey though I may, I like several of their songs. I own a 2 CD compilation of their greatest hits, which is about one CD more than I need, but I'd still play them over Styx or Kansas or REO Speedwagon any day. And I'm a huge Sam Cooke fan, so my iTunes was loaded and ready to go. I first called up Cooke's biggest pop hit, 1957's "You Send Me," and played it back-to-back with Journey's Sopranos series-ending 1981 smash, "Don't Stop Believin'." And sure enough, there it was:

"You, you-oo-ooh, send me, honest you do, honest you do, honest you do
WHOA-AH-OH-OO-AH-OH"

"Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that FEE-LA-EE-EH-EH-EN"

Damn, they DID sound alike! Soon I was going through their catalogs, track by track, the scales falling from my ears one melismatic moan at a time. I started IM-ing and emailing my friends, commanding them to listen to "A Change Is Gonna Come" and "Lights" back-to-back so they too could agree that Steve Perry was in fact the feathered-hair, big-nosed heir to Sam Cooke's throne.

I then hit the Web to find out just how many people had made the same discovery as the authors of the Times article. I felt like I had slipped through a wormhole into a bizarre parallel universe as I read blog after blog and fan site after fan site that said, essentially, oh, of course, EVERYONE knows Sam Cooke is one of Steve Perry's biggest musical influences, and their melismatic phrasing is almost exactly the same. How had I been kept in the dark for so long?

And the question that haunted me: If Sam Cooke was one of the all-time great soul singers, and Steve Perry sounded like Sam Cooke, did that make Steve Perry a great soul singer, too? I went back to 8th grade algebra for the answer. If A=B and B=C, then A=C. No doubt about it.

I sank deeper and deeper into Perry quicksand. I stumbled onto a fan-run site where the currently retired and reclusive Perry surfaces but once a year, usually on his birthday (which, coincidentally enough, is also Sam Cooke's birthday -- this thing just keeps getting weirder), to thank the Perryheads and respond to some of their questions and comments. I didn't find out whether he'd ever thought of recording Sam Cooke's hits, arena-rock style, but I did find out that he has an innie, and prefers South Park to Family Guy.

I also found out, thanks to a recent interview in GQ, why he hasn't made made any music since splitting with Journey over a decade ago: "Sometimes, when I hear myself sing, I sound like Steve Perry, and sometimes that has a lot of memories attached to it. I'm serious.... Because it reminds me of so much."

Wait, Steve Perry can't deal with sounding like Steve Perry? Fortunately, Journey doesn't have the same problem -- they're currently on their third Steve-alike singer since the original checked out. Arnel Pineda, Journey's newest vocalist, could easily be mistaken for His Royal Steveness if Mr. Perry were shorter and of Filipino descent. But vocally, the two are so similar that Journey had the balls to re-record 11 of their biggest hits for Revelation. It's basically their way of saying "See? We still sound like Journey even with a different singer! So come on down to Knott's Berry Farm and check us out in concert this summer!" There are also a bunch of new songs that sound like... Journey.

So even if the boys in the band are acting like the divorcee who will only date women who look like his ex-wife, at least they can handle sounding like themselves, which gives them the edge as far as dealing with their past and moving on.

But don't worry, Steve Perry. I'm on my way to the Coast with some South Park DVDs and Sam Cooke albums. We'll get through this together, pal. You and me.

Comments

[mc52]

Tony,

Interesting article, describing your amazement to discover the stylistic similarities between Steve Perry and Sam Cooke. It's also interesting that the fourth sentence in the Wikipedia article about Steve Perry is the following:

"He also counts Sam Cooke and Al Jolson among his early inspirations."

Those are the only two singers cited as influences in the article. Its not clear what the source for this statement is; perhaps it came from one of the reviews cited at the bottom of the article.

[JavaCityGal]

I grew up in the eighties and was (and still is) such a big Journey fan that friends would say that they thought of me when they heard a Journey song. But even more than a fan of Journey -- I've always been a HUGE Steve Perry fan. The Steve Perryless Journey has totally lost my interest, and I keep hoping that Steve Perry will come out for one more CD. I believe that he did do background vocals for someone, David Pak maybe?

[Arielman]

You know, I have a cousin married to Steve Augeri, the lead vocalist for "Journey" for about seven (?) years who developed a lung ailment and had to leave the tour, and I thought I heard on the radio one day long ago, that Steve Perry was giving impromptu drumming lessons in a San Francisco public high school. Strange what you remember. This looks a little like the Reo-Styx-Journey tour, which was one of the cheaper tickets that summer, wow how they've gotten expensive. I heard Steve Augeri is back working with some of his former bandmates in "Tall Stories".

[Arielman]

I think he was a roadie for Patti LaBelle and once worked in insurance, wrote the life insurance policy for Mick Jagger he once said. Mr. Jagger is known to have cashed his in and restarted the "Rolling Stones" on tours. They did a song together for "Armageddon" it's not in the film but on the CD of the soundtrack. I'm still wondering if it was playing in the cab that was hit by the meteor fragment. Beastie Boys put Steve Tyler's song from it it off the charts.

Listening to a Brent Spiner (went to school with the Quaid brothers in Houston, TX) "Dreamland" from "The Real Brent Spiner" site.

[Arielman]

They raised quite a bit of money for the fallen Port Authority police officers after 9/11.

[DCDan]

Greetings, Mr. Giltz. How's your summer going? I'm jonesing without my AI fix.

Re Kansas v. REO, I have to disagree. Personally, I'd much rather hear Roll With The Changes than Dust in The Wind any day. ("Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky" ... and, apparently, that blasted excuse for a song, which is eternally in heavy rotation on "classic" FM radio.) Anyway, that's a subjective thing. What's factually incorrect is REO's lame, consonant-challenged lead singer on all their big hits was Kevin Cronin, not Mike Murphy, who Cronin replaced.

My recollection of Dylan's famous quote to Perry at the We Are The World session was, "You've got a hell of a set of pipes" -- which is true. Steve Perry can certainly blow. Having said that, when he sings it makes me blow chunks.

[GiannaX]

Arnel Pineda is nothing more than a mediocre karaoke singer and an amateurish frontman. Journey hasn't moved forward, it's stuck on stupid x3!

STEVE PERRY, like SAM COOKE is one of the most brilliant vocalists and performer extraordinaire of all time....EVER!!! And....he's a class act!

Steve Perry IS the VOICE of Journey. These guys need to make amends and reunite. Faux Journey hasn't had me believin'.....since May, 1998.

[auramac]

The "new" Journey is no Steve Perry. Steve Perry certainly aint no Sam Cooke, not in the same league, not even close.

[Michael Giltz]

Very fun post. You (and they) are right -- Perry does indeed throw in some runs similar to the great Sam Cooke. I never noticed that before. Of course, he's not a soul singer as you well know. But he did have a great pop voice and Journey produced a clutch of great pop songs (throw in Perry's solo "Oh Sherrie" and you've got yourself an eight song mix tape. Kansas has two good songs (Carry On and Dust in the Wind, of course) while REO Speedwagon has absolutely NONE. lead singer Mike Murphy practically has a speech impedimen and is unbearable to listen to -- especially his "r's" ("I can't fight this feeling any longerrrrrrrrrrrr!")

As for Perry, during the We Are The World sessions, I distinctly remember Perry saying that Bob Dylan had walked up to him and said something like 'We all think you have the best voice of any of us" and then walking away and I could never guess whether Dylan was serious or just jerking his chain.

[Michael Giltz]

Oops, I meant Kevin Cronin, not MUrphy who left REO in 76.

[perrysgirl]

Sorry, this girl can tell if it's Steve Perry singing. Arnel "is" just ANOTHER Perry "sound-alike". That's exactly what it is...just karaoke, baby. The journey has ended for me. No Steve Perry, no new Journey. Perry on!

[sdskelton03]

The members of Journey say they like Steve Perry, wish him the best and hope someday to resume their friendship if they cant have a working relationship.

Then they re-record an entire disc on their new album of all the famous songs he sang. That sounds like a kick in the cubes to me.

[Sportswoman]

Point of information:
Sam was shot by a hotel manger in south Los Angeles in a set up with a hooker. Sad way for a great artist to die, but, worse, she got away with it as the police never fully investigated.

[DCDan]

Sportswoman:

You may want to read Richard Guralnik's excellent, exhaustively thorough biography of Sam Cooke, especially as it pertains to his murder, and especially if you're writing a screenplay on the incomparable Mr. Cooke. It's not so clear that the hotel manager "got away" with anything; even less likely that it was a "set up."

[Nunziato]

Hmmmm....really? I don't think I can get on board with this at all. Not a Perry/Journey hater. Like you I recognize a good pop tune, but I also see a good pop tune on some Kansas and Styx records, as well. But to get Sam Cooke involved seems wrong. Perry's delivery may be soulful. But many singers that are soulful are not soul singers. Listen to Dylan sing "To Make You Feel My Love." Damn soulful. Robert Plant-"Whole Lotta Love." Soulful, but not soul singers. I just don't hear it. Sam Cooke was too amazing to be compared to anyone, even for fun. On a different note--do you think Sam Cooke would have liked Alex Rodriguez?

[sdskelton03]

Are you high?

Robert Plant is a god, and a heck of a vocalist.

[Nunziato]

Where did I knock Robert Plant?

[mamacat]

Sam Cooke was one of my favorites. I remember the day it was announced that his girlfriend had shot him. He was one of a kind.

[normathumb]

Hate to point your memory is wrong.

[LiberalBuzz]

I'm not sure if you were being totally tongue in cheek or what here.

I remember listening to Perry whine about Journey when he left making the statement that he never felt like he was a member of the band and that was when I realized he was crazy. The guy was their hitmaker and number one singer for what...twenty some years?

And he makes an idiotic comment like that??

On the other hand Sam Cooke was THE great soul singer. Perry...not so much.

BUT you'd really listen to Journey before Kansas??? Really?

Kansas had some incredible stuff on their albums. Get past the hit stuff, and you see some serious musicianship with some actual works of art. Some serious musicianship. Live they were beyond belief...well after the first tour where they seemed overwhelmed, but the second tour blew me away.

So given the choice I cannot even imagine choosing Journey's CD for anything but a frisbee when compared to Kansas.

I'll give ya the rest without an argument.

[Sportswoman]

Just as Seinfeld scored with a TV show about nothing, you have basicaly done the exact same thing with this non-comparison of Sam Cooke and Steve Perry. As someone who is co-writing a screenplay about Cooke, let me tell you that there is NO comparison. Period. End of story.
Sam Cooke wasn't just some pop singer who rolled out "Only l6" and "You Send Me." He was a gospel singer, first and foremost. His Soul Stirrers sessions LPs are simply magical in both vocalization and spirituality."A Change Gonna Come" is no pop song; it was worthy of being labeled a civil rights national anthem. While Perry is a talented rocker, please don't insult the memory of Sam Cooke with a comparison--or non-comparison--such as you have rendered. Sam deserves better.

[larryfishkorn]

Agreed. Just because Perry used (lifted, was inspired by, incorporated, etc.) the vocal stylings of Sam Cooke doesn't mean you can really compare them. Cooke was an entity, and a true reflection of the era in which he lived, from his journey (no pun) from gospel singer to pop star to music producer, to icon, activist, and voice of an important time in U.S. history. If Perry is as meaningful of his time as Cooke was of his, then the 80's were truly a vacuous time to be alive.

Now, if Perry were to record an album of Cooke's songs, we could continue the debate. Are you reading, Steve?

[normathumb]

Methinks you missed the whole point. The writer was ridiculing the comparison someone else made. A more salient point; Perry could no more be a great soul singer then I could be a French impressionist painter. This is a point Clapton has made for years when others compared him to the blues greats.