Journey Guitarist Played ‘Awful’ Jam With Santana

Neal Schon recently opened up on his relationship with Santana. He recalled how they both sounded “awful” at an acid-fueled jam session.

There are many stereotypes associated with rock stars, and one of the most prominent is their use of drugs. While most modern rock musicians prioritize clean living to deliver better performances and sustain their careers for longer,plus serving as better role models, the scene was quite different several decades ago, as Neal Schon’s experiences with Santana demonstrate.

Neal Schon talks about Santana

In a recent interview with Rick Beato, the Journey guitarist shared his memories of spending late nights with fellow guitarist Carlos Santana. He recounted an incident where the decision to take acid right before an impromptu jam session quickly turned into a disaster.

“Carlos and I were hanging [out often]; we did many long rides together. We hung out all the time. He used to come to the first house that I owned in Mill Valley. Yeah, I lived way up on Mount Tamalpais, and he lived, like, a few blocks away. We were always together. We hung out all the time, and he was always dropping a lot of acid.”

“We went downstairs and tried to jam, and we listened back to the tape, and it was awful. He ended up playing drums, and I ended up playing guitar. The guitar was all out of tune. And we’re, like, going nuts down downstairs.”