There's a guy on YouTube doing videos. His name is David Spuria and he calls himself The Real Music Observer. I enjoy his videos because he's talking about bands that generally don't get talked about anymore. If you're a Journey fan, you might want to check out what David is up to. Every aspect of the band seems to be covered by him.
I like David, but I don't always agree with his interpretation of things. I like that he gets people talking about the subjects that he brings up, and that's why I hope he continues to do this. He did a video asking if Kansas stole from Journey when they created their big rock and roll anthem, Carry On Wayward Son. I'll answer the question by saying, no they did not.
When you go back to the 1970's when both Kansas and Journey had gotten their record deals, neither band was really conforming to what the music industry expected of them. I will tell you this right now, neither one of those bands would have made it big had they began their run in the last few years. Back then, at least the music industry allowed bands to grow and find their sound.
Around 1976, there was pressure on these bands to come up with a hit. It forced a dramatic change in the band Journey, and it inspired Kansas to make two of the biggest hits in music history. Journey had a song on their 1976 album, A Look Into The Future, with lyrics sung by Gregg Rolie. It was called, I'm Gonna Leave You. Not a bad song, but not a big hit either. Kansas had begun to get FM attention with a song they had done called Song For America, but they were still looking for a hit.
The story of Carry On Wayward Son is an unlikely tale. Kerry Livgren wrote the song, but he didn't come to the band with this song early in the creative process. Fellow songwriter Steve Walsh was in a bit of a dry spell, so it fell on Kerry to write almost all of the content for their fourth album, Leftoverture. It was near the end of the creative process when he came to the band with Carry On Wayward Son.
This is where Journey fans sometimes try to say that Kansas stole the song I'm Gonna Leave You. The main riff in that song bears some resemblance to brief moments in Carry On Wayward Son. You can hear it just before the main lyrics begin with the, once I rose above the noise and confusion. That guitar riff may be all of about 30 seconds at a few different moments in the song. It's not even the main hook.
When they got to the studio, Kerry hadn't even written an a capella part to the song. We all know the beginning of the song when they all sing, carry on my wayward son. It was the band that came up with that together. That's an iconic moment in itself, because when fans hear that, they know what's coming. The main guitar riff in this song sounds nothing like the Journey song, and the lyrics for either of the band's songs are completely different.
In the music industry, bands may Inspire each other and sometimes write songs that sound in places similar to other bands. I can understand where a person might think that a band stole from another band. Led Zeppelin has been accused of this on numerous occasions to the point where they've had to give credit to other songwriters for some of their big hits.
It may be entirely possible that Livgren heard the Journey song, and while he was putting together what became Carry On Wayward Son, he was inspired a bit by what Journey had done. Anybody thinking that Kerry sat down and wrote that song because he heard the Journey song is either delusional or a hardcore Journey fan. This isn't what happened.
I understand that David is generating many hits on his YouTube page by talking about Journey and some of the controversies going on with the band. It certainly sparks a lot of conversation. David may be milking it just a bit because Neal Schon shared the link to his video saying Kansas had stolen from Journey. In either case, the song was not stolen in this instance. It certainly gives people cause to speculate.
Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X_2IdybTV0
I'm Gonna Leave You by Journey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TlHv6UdIIM
