Bands that found their art in San Francisco

If Cleveland or Memphis in the late 1950s was ground zero in the birth of rock'n'roll, San Francisco in the 1960s and 1970s was the Fertile Crescent of its evolution, says classic rock guitarist-singer Steve Miller.

"San Francisco was the most vibrant music scene of the 20th century, so, let's start right there," Miller says. "It was really magic compared to the rest of the musical world that I was involved in. The rest of it was a bunch of gangsters running nightclubs and stealing stuff from musicians. It was very goofy. San Francisco was extremely real. It was much, much more than just bands and music. It was a true social phenomenon."

The San Francisco scene spawned the Steve Miller Band and the rock band Journey, who from 1976-82 each sold more than 20 million albums and together had nearly 20 top-10 hits, many of which still are popular nearly 40 years later. The two groups - along with fellow San Francisco group Tower of Power - have taken to the road in North America this summer for a tour.

The Steve Miller Band and Journey have never before shared the stage - surprising since Journey bassist Ross Valory came from the Steve Miller Band and Journey guitarist Neal Schon once backed singer Paul Rodgers (of Bad Company) when he opened for the Steve Miller Band. Schon says that in that fertile San Francisco music scene, he was busy first as a member of Santana, "and I'd never really seen Steve Miller until later".

The Steve Miller Band took off with the No1 hit The Joker in 1973, but had their commercial peak starting in 1976 with the hits Take the Money and Run, Rock'n Me, Fly Like an Eagle, Jet Airliner and Jungle Love. Their last hit was the No1 Abracadabra in 1982. Their 1978 Greatest Hits album sold more than 13 million, among the top 30 bestselling albums ever in the US.

Journey, meanwhile, hit the top 20 in 1979 with Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin', then had a run of hits through 1983 with Who's Crying Now, Open Arms, and their only No1 hit, Separate Ways (Worlds Apart). Their 1988 Greatest Hits album sold 15 million, making it the No15 bestselling US album ever. Journey's career was revived in 2007 when their hit Don't Stop Believin' was used in the final scene of the series finale of the HBO hit The Sopranos, then in the 2009 pilot episode of the smash television show Glee.

The popularity of the former prompted Journey, who had been on hiatus, to reform with Filipino singer Arnel Pineda, whom the band discovered on YouTube, replacing vocalist Steve Perry. Journey released Revelation, just their second album in nine years, and saw it hit the top five and go platinum.

Journey released another album, Eclipse, in 2011. And Schon says that as soon as the tour with Steve Miller Band is finished, they intend to record music they're working on now. "We have material," he says. "I believe after this tour is over, I'm going to get in the studio … and we're going to finish up."