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Neal Schon

The Official Unofficial Neal Schon Myspace Page

About Me

Born February 27, 1954The son of a woodwinds player, Neal himself played the oboe for many years beginning in high school. Schon first picked up the guitar at the age of 10. He joined Santana as a teenager at the tender age of 15. Schon had been asked by Eric Clapton to join Derek and the Dominos, but decided instead to join the Santana band. On the seminal album Santana III, Neal provides an energetic and wah-laced counterpoint to Santana’s melodic, but more restrained style. Schon and Santana trade solos throughout on tunes including "Everything’s Coming Our Way", "Jungle Strut", "Toussaint L’Overture", and "Taboo". Many of these now-classic solos are incorrectly attributed to Carlos, including Schon’s impressive lead on "Everybody’s Everything". At that time, Schon played in Azteca, before moving on to form Journey, a group he continues to lead.

But his vitae also includes a pair of albums with keyboard whiz Jan Hammer, short-term collaborations with Sammy Hagar and Paul Rodgers, stints with Bad English (which also featured Journey’s Jonathan Cain and Deen Castronovo and Jonathan Cain’s former Babys bandmates John Waite and Ricky Phillips) and Hardline (which also featured Deen Castronovo), and some instrumental acoustic albums for the Higher Octave label that show an entirely different side of his artistic personality. Even as Journey’s latest lineup plays to a still-faithful body of fans, Schon is immersed in side projects such as Piranha Blues (1999) and "Black Soup Cracker" a funk outfit that features former Prince associates Rosie Gaines and Michael Bland.The late-1970s arrival of Eddie Van Halen quickly eclipsed Schon’s bravado, giving rise to a new era of the technically facile rock guitar virtuoso. Nonetheless, Schon has secured a place as a respected and influential blues rock guitarist.

Neal Schon can be heard on Michael Bolton’s The Hunger on three tracks; the Schon sound is most recognizable on "(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay". Schon’s style can best be characterized as aggressively soulful, taking obvious inspiration from 1960s-era soul singers such as Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, and blending them with blindingly fast bluesy runs similar to Johnny Winter and Alvin Lee.

Schon currently endorses Gibson guitars, and has a signature Les Paul model, but also uses Paul Reed Smith guitars. In the late 1980s, Schon also manufactured and played his own line of guitars.

Lately, Neal Schon had been playing with the band Soul Sirkus,which has recently broken up.


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Music:

Member Since: 9/22/2005
Band Website: nealschonmusic.com
Band Members: Neal Schon

Influences: Cream, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Paige, Jimmi Hendrix, Michael Bloomfield, Chuck Berry, Carlos Sanatana
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

ILAA VIP Offers for 04/16/08

ILAA VIP Offers for 04/16/08 Members have access to the VIP ticket packages. Onsale times are shown in local time.ILAA Link is: Click Here Access password this week: rossNote: There will be no purcha...
Posted by Neal Schon on Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:31:00 PST

ILAA VIP and Regular tickets clarification

There seems to be some confusion concerning tickets so please know that the ILAA VIP tickets are released for Fan CLub members to purchase the week before the regular tickets are offered. This means t...
Posted by Neal Schon on Sat, 05 Apr 2008 11:40:00 PST

Password and Link for ILAA VIP Packages week One

ILAA VIP TICKET LINK for Special Packageshttp://www.iloveallaccess.com/login_journey2008.phpF an club password this week: arnel The packages offered are listed below on the previous blog.Note: Approval...
Posted by Neal Schon on Sat, 05 Apr 2008 11:44:00 PST

PRESS RELEASE - TOUR 2008 USA

JOURNEY SET TO LAUNCH THIS SUMMER’S HOTTEST TOUR ALONG WITH HEART AND CHEAP TRICK STARTING JULY 9 IN DENVERMarch 26, 2008  Three legendary rock bands are teaming up for what is sure to be the t...
Posted by Neal Schon on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:12:00 PST

EURO/UK June 2008 Tour Update

Sun 6/8 Madrid, Spain LaRiveria Tue 6/10 Koln, Germany Ewerk Wed 6/11 Karlsruhe, Germany Schwarzwaldhalle Fri 6/13 HombergEfze, Germany Hessen State Fair Sat 6/14 Bamberg, Germany Jako Arena Sun 6/15 ...
Posted by Neal Schon on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:35:00 PST

EURO/UK June 2008 Tour Update!

Sun 6/8 Madrid, Spain LaRiveriaTue 6/10 Koln, Germany EwerkWed 6/11 Karlsruhe, Germany SchwarzwaldhalleFri 6/13 HombergEfze, Germany Hessen State FairSat 6/14 Bamberg, Germany Jako ArenaSun 6/15 Nijme...
Posted by Neal Schon on Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:22:00 PST

Press Release

JOURNEY SET TO RELEASE 'REVELATION'JUNE 3 EXCLUSIVELY AT WAL-MART  March 11, 2008 -- A new chapter in the legendary career of multi-Platinum rockers JOURNEY--Neal Schon (guitar), Jonathan Ca...
Posted by Neal Schon on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:21:00 PST

Journey website relaunched!

http://www.journeymusic.com is now live online. Be sure to check out the Discography for Audio clips and register for the New Forums!! Thanks for all your support and look forward to seeing you on the...
Posted by Neal Schon on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:20:00 PST

Website Update!

JOURNEY's newly redesigned web site, http://www.journeymusic.com will be re-launched on or around January 29. It will feature band history, tour information, photos and a new forum.JOURNEY is currentl...
Posted by Neal Schon on Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:08:00 PST

ARRIVAL 2005 CABERNET SAUVIGNON

A wine for a cause, De La Montanya Family and the members of Journey have elected to donate the proceeds to the Greater Bay Area Make-a-Wish Foundation. Limited edition of just 16 cases bottles. Limit...
Posted by Neal Schon on Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:58:00 PST