Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf | |
---|---|
Steppenwolf in August 2006 |
|
General information | |
Genre (s) | Rock , psychedelic rock , hard rock |
founding | 1968, 1974, 1980 |
resolution | 1972, 1976 |
Website | www.steppenwolf.com |
Founding members | |
John Kay (until 1976, since 1980) | |
Michael Monarch (until 1969) | |
Rushton Moreve (until 1969, 1978) | |
Goldy McJohn (until 1975) | |
Jerry Edmonton (until 1976) | |
Current occupation | |
John Kay (until 1976, since 1980) | |
Danny Johnson (since 1996) | |
Gary Link (1982–1984, since 2009) | |
Michael Wilk (since 1982) | |
Ron Hurst (since 1985) | |
former members | |
Larry Byrom (1969–1971) | |
George Biondo (1970–1976) | |
Nick St. Nicholas (1969–1970, 1977, 1978, 1980) | |
Andy Chapin (1975) | |
Bobby Cochran (1974-1976) | |
Wayne Cook (1976) | |
Tom Pagan (1977) | |
Kent Henry (1971–1972, 1977) | |
Tony DeSanti (1977) | |
Jimmy Hunter (1977) | |
Jamie James (1977) | |
Evan Smith (1977) | |
Tony Flynn (1978, 1979-1980) | |
Jack White (1977-1980) | |
Jerry Posin (1978) | |
Bob Simpson (1978) | |
Ruben DeFuentes (1978, 1979–1980) | |
Armond Blackwater (1978) | |
Frankie Banali (1978) | |
Peter McGraw (1979) | |
Paul Nauman (1979) | |
Rick Reed (1979) | |
René Bernard (1979) | |
Robbie Roberti (1979) | |
Tommy Holland (1979-1980) | |
Geoff Emery (1979-1980) | |
Dick Jurgens (1979–1980) | |
Steve Riley (1979-1980) | |
Tim West (1980) | |
Mark Frere (1980) | |
Gerry Brown (1980) | |
David Bam Bam Shibley (1980) | |
Nick Graham (1980) | |
Paul Conroe (1980) | |
Lawrence Hammock (1980) | |
Danny Ironstone (1980) | |
Michael Palmer (1980-1984) | |
Chad Peery (1981) | |
Brett Tuggle (1981) | |
Welton Gite (1982) |
Steppenwolf is an American - Canadian hard rock band from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Her most successful songs were Born to Be Wild , Magic Carpet Ride and The Pusher .
Band history
The front man and singer John Kay was born as Joachim Fritz Krauledat on April 12, 1944 in Tilsit ( East Prussia ). When he was four years old, his mother fled with him from the Soviet occupation zone to Hanover . This experience was processed in the song Renegade on the album Steppenwolf Seven . After ten years in West Germany, where the young Joachim on the Soldatensender BFN and AFN to rock'n'roll met the family in 1958 emigrated to Canada .
Kay's first band, The Sparrow , an experimental folk group in the Yorkville neighborhood of Toronto and later in San Francisco , had little success, and so Kay re-formed the band with drummer Jerry Edmonton , keyboardist Goldy McJohn , the 17-year-old up-and-coming Guitarist Michael Monarch and bassist Rushton Moreve . Other sources name the German bassist Nick St. Nicholas as a founding member. He was a member of The Sparrow and had already left the band when it became Steppenwolf. At that time he was playing for TIME. After the departure of Moreves, he returned and replaced him. The name "Steppenwolf" was chosen after the novel of the same name by Hermann Hesse . In 1968, the debut album Steppenwolf was recorded in just four days .
The song Born to Be Wild (US No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100), written as Mars Bonfire by former Sparrow member Dennis Edmonton , brother of drummer Jerry Edmonton, became the band's first hit in 1968. When this song accompanied the title sequence in the 1969 road movie Easy Rider with the Harley Davidson motorcycles driving over the Colorado Bridge and Route 66 , the band suddenly became world famous. In the film, the song The Pusher was also accompanied by a drug deal, the profit of which is symbolically hidden in the form of dollar notes in the fuel tank painted with the US flag . The original song was written by country singer and actor Hoyt Axton ; it is directed against for-profit drug trafficking , but defends the individual right to use drugs . Also in live performances, such as in the music store , John Kay embodied the image of the grim rocker and outlaw in black leather with dark sunglasses. He wears the glasses because of a congenital achromatopsia ; he is considered legally blind (blind according to legal regulations, his eyesight is 21%) and is therefore not allowed to acquire a driving license.
The band had further success with the songs Magic Carpet Ride (US 3), Hey Lawdy Mama (US 35), Rock Me (US 10) and Monster (US 39), with which the America of the Nixon era was criticized. In 1972, after turbulent years, it broke up with several line-up changes. Kay started a solo career (albums Forgotten Songs And Unsung Heroes from 1972 and My Sportin 'Life from 1973). In the mid-1970s, Steppenwolf appeared again as part of a tour, only to separate again after releasing three studio albums between 1974 and 1976. John Kay released another solo album in 1978 called All In Good Time . After some of the many former band members had used the name for their own projects, Kay secured the rights and has since performed as John Kay and Steppenwolf . The band's sworn following calls themselves Wolf Pack (" Wolf Pack "). In 2012 JOHN KAY & STEPPENWOLF celebrated the 45th anniversary of the band.
In 1974 a fragment of the founding members, consisting of John Kay, Jerry Edmonton and Goldy McJohn, met with bassist George Biondo and lead guitarist Bobby Cochran in John Kay's private studio "Sound Factory" and recorded the tracks for the LP Slow Flux . The mixdown then took place with the support of Dave Hassinger and the final mastering was carried out in "The Mastering Lab". The LP consists of the songs Gang War Blues , Children of Night , Justice don't be slow , Get into the Wind , Jeraboah , Straight shootin 'Woman (US 29), Smokey Factory Blues (written by Albert Hammond / Mike Hazlewood), Morning Blue , A fool's Fantasy and Fishin 'in the Dark . The LP cost £ 1.95 in London at the time.
Since Kay had named the band after the novel Hermann Hesse, Hesse's hometown Calw invited him to the International Hermann Hesse Festival in 2002, where other groups inspired by Hesse, such as B. Anyone's Daughter .
Others
The songs Born to Be Wild , The Pusher and Magic Carpet Ride were used in numerous film soundtracks.
Discography
Studio albums (as Steppenwolf)
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | CA | |||
1968 | Steppenwolf |
DE34 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
UK59 (2 weeks) UK |
US6th
gold
(87 weeks)US |
CA1 (11 weeks) CA |
|
The Second |
DE23 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - | - |
US3
gold
(52 weeks)US |
CA2 (25 weeks) CA |
||
1969 | At your birthday party | - | - | - | - |
US7 (29 weeks) US |
CA12 (12 weeks) CA |
|
monster |
DE27 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK43 (4 weeks) UK |
US17th
gold
(46 weeks)US |
CA12 (19 weeks) CA |
||
1970 | Steppenwolf 7 | - | - | - | - |
US19th
gold
(17 weeks)US |
CA14 (18 weeks) CA |
|
1971 | For ladies only | - | - | - | - |
US54 (11 weeks) US |
CA18 (16 weeks) CA |
|
1974 | Slow flux | - | - | - | - |
US47 (12 weeks) US |
CA20 (9 weeks) CA |
|
1975 | Hour Of The Wolf | - | - | - | - |
US155 (4 weeks) US |
- | |
1976 | Skullduggery | - | - | - | - | - | - |
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
Studio albums as John Kay & Steppenwolf
- 1982: Wolf Tracks
- 1984: Paradox
- 1987: Rock & Roll Rebels
- 1990: Rise & Shine
- 1996: Feed The Fire
Live albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | CA | |||
1969 | Early Steppenwolf |
DE31 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - |
US29 (19 weeks) US |
CA26 (9 weeks) CA |
Live, recorded as The Sparrow in 1967
|
1970 | Steppenwolf Live | - | - | - |
UK15 (14 weeks) UK |
US7th
gold
(53 weeks)US |
CA6 (28 weeks) CA |
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
Live albums as John Kay & Steppenwolf
- 1981: Live in London
- 1995: Live at 25
- 2004: Live In Louisville
Compilations
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | CA | |||
1971 | Gold: Their Great Hits | - | - | - | - |
US24
gold
(36 weeks)US |
CA19 (34 weeks) CA |
|
1972 | Rest in peace | - | - | - | - |
US62 (13 weeks) US |
CA39 (9 weeks) CA |
|
1973 | 16 greatest hits | - | - | - | - |
US152
platinum
(9 weeks)US |
CA-CA | |
1976 | The Best Of Steppenwolf - Reborn To Be Wild | - | - | - | - | - | - |
exclusively with song material from 1974 to 1976
|
2004 | 20th Century Masters - The Best Of Steppenwolf | - | - | - | - |
US-
gold
US
|
- |
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | CA | |||
1967 | A Girl I Knew Steppenwolf |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
B-side: The Ostrich
|
1968 | Born To Be Wild Steppenwolf |
DE20 (2 weeks) DE |
AT20 (4 weeks) AT |
- |
UK30th
silver
(9 weeks)UK |
US2
gold
(13 weeks)US |
CA1 (11 weeks) CA |
B-side: Everybody's next one
number 14 on the Canadian annual charts in 1968 |
The Pusher Steppenwolf |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
B-side: Your Wall's Too High , single released in UK only
|
|
Sookie Sookie Steppenwolf |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
B-side: Take What You Need
|
|
Magic Carpet Ride The Second |
DE11 (4 weeks) DE |
AT12 (8 weeks) AT |
- | - |
US3
gold
(16 weeks)US |
CA1 (11 weeks) CA |
B-side: Sookie Sookie
ranked 45th on the Canadian 1968 annual charts |
|
1969 | Rock Me At Your Birthday Party |
- |
AT20 (4 weeks) AT |
- | - |
US10 (10 weeks) US |
CA4 (9 weeks) CA |
B-side: Jupiter's Child
ranked 90th on the Canadian 1969 annual charts |
It's never too late At Your Birthday Party |
- | - | - | - |
US51 (5 weeks) US |
CA33 (5 weeks) CA |
B-side: Happy Birthday
|
|
Move over monsters |
DE19 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - | - |
US31 (9 weeks) US |
CA12 (7 weeks) CA |
B-side: Power Play
|
|
Monster monster |
- | - | - | - |
US39 (8 weeks) US |
CA16 (7 weeks) CA |
B-side: Berry Rides Again
|
|
1970 | Hey Lawdy Mama Steppenwolf Live |
DE33 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - |
US35 (8 weeks) US |
CA18 (7 weeks) CA |
B-side: Twisted
|
Screaming Night Hog Gold: Their Great Hits |
- | - | - | - |
US62 (7 weeks) US |
CA52 (8 weeks) CA |
B-side: Spiritual Fantasy
|
|
Who Needs Ya Steppenwolf 7 |
- | - | - | - |
US54 (2 weeks) US |
CA28 (8 weeks) CA |
B-side: Earschplittenloudenboomer
|
|
Snow Blind Friend Steppenwolf 7 |
- | - | - | - |
US60 (7 weeks) US |
CA37 (10 weeks) CA |
B-side: Hippo Stomp
|
|
1971 | Ride with Me For Ladies Only |
- | - | - | - |
US52 (8 weeks) US |
CA29 (9 weeks) CA |
B-side: Black Pit
|
For Ladies Only For Ladies Only |
- | - | - | - |
US64 (7 weeks) US |
- |
B-side: Sparkle Eyes
|
|
1974 | Straight Shootin 'Woman Slow Flux |
- | - | - | - |
US29 (9 weeks) US |
CA5 (12 weeks) CA |
88th place in the Canadian annual charts in 1974
|
1975 | Get Into the Wind Slow Flux |
- | - | - | - | - | - | |
Smokey Factory Blues Slow Flux |
- | - | - | - | US-US | - | ||
Caroline (Are You Ready For The Outlaw World) Hour of the Wolf |
- | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1981 | Hot Night in a Cold Town Wolftracks |
- | - | - | - | - | - | |
1999 | Born To Be Wild 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Steppenwolf |
- | - | - |
UK18 (7 weeks) UK |
- | - |
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
Web links
- Website of the band with texts and information (English)
- Matthias Greffrath, ZEITmagazin LEBEN, No. 8, February 14, 2008 The savage next door - Hanover after the war: two boys play soccer. One of them later sings "Born To Be Wild", the other becomes a journalist and writes about their reunion after 50 years.
Individual evidence
-
↑ a b c d chart sources:
- Steppenwolf in the German charts on OfficialCharts.de, accessed on March 3, 2019
- Steppenwolf in the Austrian charts on AustrianCharts.at, accessed on March 3, 2019
- Steppenwolf in the Swiss charts on hitparade.ch , accessed on March 3, 2019
- Steppenwolf in the Canadian Charts , accessed March 4, 2019
- Steppenwolf in the Official UK Charts , accessed March 4, 2019.
- Steppenwolf American US in the charts of Billboard Magazine , accessed on March 4, 2019
-
↑ a b c d Awards for Music Sales:
- Awards for Steppenwolf of the British BPI (search field)
- Awards for Steppenwolf from the US RIAA
- Awards for Steppenwolf from the Canadian MusicCanada
- ^ A b The RPM 100 Top Singles of 1968 , January 6, 1969, Library and Archives Canada
- ↑ RPM's 100 Hits Of 1969 , January 6, 1969, Library and Archives Canada
- ↑ The Top 200 Singles Of '74 , December 28, 1974, RPM, Library and Archives Canada