Journey Co-Founder George Tickner Passed Away at 76
Written by Jessi Entel on July 7, 2023
On July 5th, the original guitarist and Journey co—founder George Tickner died at the age of 76.
Introduced to the band by the Journey’s late manager Herbie Herbert, Tickner played a pivotal role in the success of their first three albums before leaving to for Stanford University Medical School to pursue his Ph.D.
Former bandmate Neal Schon posted on Facebook, “Rest peacefully, Dr. George Tickner. You will be missed immensely.” Schon continued, “Herbie’s waiting to greet you.”
Herbert discovered Tickner while he was in the Berkley, California based band Frumious Bandersnatch. They developed a local fan following, performing at some of the largest venues in the Bay Area, including an opening gig for Canned Heat and the Mothers of Invention at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Fransisco in February 1967. The band also produced three self-released EP’s.
Frumious Bandersnatch was mainly known for bandmates going on to better things, like bassist Ross Valory who followed three former bandmates into Steve Miller’s band before joining Tickner in Journey.
RIP George you now fly with the Angels ????????✝️???????? https://t.co/jOug74sJxD
— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) July 5, 2023
Tickner brought a sound on the guitar that was vastly different than Carlos Santana, who Schon and fellow band co-founder Gregg Rolie has worked with for years.
In the liner notes for Journey’s Time3 box set, Rolie said, “He [Tickner] came up with chordings I have never heard.” Rolie continued, “He had these massive hands, and he would de-tune his strings and come up with these voicing that nobody else could.”
On Jounrney’s self-titled 1975 album, Tickner wrote three of the seven songs on the album, including “Of a Lifetime”.
He left the band before the debut of Journey’s 1976 album ‘Look Into the Fire’, that featured two more songs co-written by Tickner. Although Tickner left the band, he did not leave the music industry. Valory and Tickner co-founded a recording studio called the Hive. Tickner also participated in Journey’s 2005 reunion at the Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony.
Tickner’s cause of death is currently unknown.
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