John Kay surely has one of the most recognizable voices in all of classic rock. The vision-impaired German native’s band Steppenwolf rode a wave of rootsy hard rock to stardom in the late 1960s with some of the most iconic singles of the era. “Born To Be Wild,” “Rock Me” “Sookie Sookie,” and “Magic Carpet Ride” were all over the radio in the pivotal years of 1968 and 1969, and their cover of Hoyt Axton’s iconoclastic “The Pusher” had pride of place on the Easy Rider soundtrack even if its profane refrain kept it off the airwaves.
By the early ’70s it seemed like heavy bands were becoming the norm instead of a novelty, and Steppenwolf was no longer a Top 10 singles band, although they hung on as a “biker” band and charted singles in the Top 100 well into the mid-’70s.
In fact Steppenwolf, after a slow start as the more folksy, psychedelic folk band The Sparrows, had 14 charting songs and 14 charting albums. And although best known as a heavy rock band in the boogie blues vein, they had a wider range than that, especially if you delve into the B-sides. And that’s just what you can do for the first time now. The archivists at Real Gone Music have dredged up the original 45-rpm mixes of their hit singles and put them all on a two-CD set that also includes John Kay’s solo singles and a rarity or two. It features the best-sounding version ever released of the smash hit “Magic Carpet Ride,” which, y’know, everybody needs in their collection. It was one of the main songs that made 1968 such a monster of a year for great music. Trust me, I was there.
This is truly a fun set. You don’t have to be cruisin’ on your Triumph or passing around a bottle of Jack and maybe a joint to appreciate it, although I’m sure it helps. If you were there like I was you’ll hear songs you’d forgotten all about like “Hey Lawdy Mama” and “Screaming Night Hog” with its deep-cut B-side, the fine instrumental “Earschplittenloudenboomer.” And you’ll encounter a side of Steppenwolf you may not have known about, flower-power folk numbers like “Spiritual Fantasy,” which backed “Night Hog,” or the meandering, piano-driven folk-blues “It’s Never Too Late” on the back of “The Pusher.” That one sounds like Just For Love-era Quicksilver except with a baritone lead singer! And one of the rarities, a slow, bluesy faux-live take on the classic folk-blues number “Corina, Corina.” Oh, and the nine-minute album version of the title track from their second album Monster, a political, anti-war statement that was pushed on FM radio. Another rarity is the proto-industrial instrumental curiosity “For Madmen Only,” which sounds like it could’ve helped inspire Neil Young’s live pastiche Arc. Kay and the band were running out of energy by the time of singles like “For Ladies Only/Sparkle Eyes” which to me sound like they deserved their lackluster chart showing.
There are some pretty decent sides from Kay’s early solo career, though. On his first album Forgotten Songs and Unsung Heroes from 1972, he started getting into proto-country rock with covers such as Hank Williams’ “You Win Again” (although I think Mason Proffit did it better that same year) and Hank Snow’s “I’m Movin’ On,” and sensitive singer-songwriter territory with “Walk Beside Me.” The soulful country-rock of “Nobody Lives Here Anymore” is a highlight of his second solo, 1973’s My Sportin’ Life, which also provides an over-produced Five Man Electrical Band cover, “Moonshine (Friend of Mine).” Finally there are a couple sides off the 1987 album John Kay — Lone Steppenwolf — the elegiac “Dance To My Song” and “Easy Evil,” the latter of which was practically an easy-listening staple in several other versions including Tony Orlando’s. Listening to these two, I’m not sure why I never heard Kay’s influence on Eddie Vedder’s vocal style — both gravelly baritones capable of conveying a wide range of emotion.
The CD booklet is well done, with very complete track notes and an essay covering his whole career by John Kay. With 38 tracks on two discs, this set does just what such reissues are supposed to do, give you the hits and putting them in the context of a full and varied musical journey.
(Geffen/Real Gone, 2015)
[Editor’s note: John Kay and Steppenwolf have a website.]
Leave a Reply