Born to Be Wild--Steppenwolf's Biker Anthology

It's not often that a band gets stereotyped by one song, but that's exactly what happened to Steppenwolf--the group's first big hit, Born To Be Wild, was an anthem to the joys of riding those big Harleys, and it doomed Steppenwolf to being categorized as a "biker band" forever. Whether or not this characterization is true is a matter of personal opinion--I think that Steppenwolf was much more than a "biker band", exploring the blues, soul, psychedelic themes, and toward the end of the band's career, social and political issues. Before I examine Born To Be Wild--A Retrospective, I think a little history lesson is in order.

The earliest incarnation of Steppenwolf was The Sparrow, a group formed in Toronto, Canada, that featured frontman John Kay and brothers Dennis and Jerry Edmonton. The group moved to New York and did the club scene there for a while, until the allure of the West Coast prompted them to move to Los Angeles. After performing on the circuit there, The Sparrow underwent a personnel change and a name change, becoming reincarnated as Steppenwolf, taking their name from the novel by Herman Hesse. What followed was a recording career that lasted from 1967 until 1972, when Steppenwolf officially disbanded. John Kay went on to do some solo material, and the band was reformed in 1975 or so, and remains active today, after many changes in personnel.

Born To Be Wild--A Retrospective covers the period from 1966 through 1990, even though I consider the real career of the band to be from 1967 through 1972. All of the in this collection recorded after 1973 really is the material of John Kay, because he won the rights to the Steppenwolf name after a legal dispute with the other original members. The only true "Steppenwolf" tracks after 1973 are really the fruit of John Kay and his various revamped versions of Steppenwolf. All music which predates 1967 is performed by The Sparrow.

Born To Be Wild--A Retrospective is a two-disc set that contains a total of thirty-four tracks. It works pretty well as a sort of anthology of the music of The Sparrow, the real Steppenwolf, and the many post-1972 John Kay versions of Steppenwolf. Because of the content of this collection, I strongly suspect that it's almost a totally John Kay-compiled retrospective--he has the rights to the name, so he has the rights to the content. Still, the career of the original Steppenwolf is detailed pretty well in this collection.

Highlights Of Disc 1

Twisted and Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, the Sonny Boy Williamson classic, are performed by The Sparrow, and both songs give the listener pretty good insight into the blues roots of Steppenwolf. Born To Be Wild is the penultimate biker anthem, while Sookie Sookie, co-written by Booker T. and The MGs' own Steve Cropper is a gritty, down and dirty soul offering. The Pusher, written by Hoyt Axton (who woulda guessed that!) is the obligatory drug song, and Magic Carpet Ride, Rock Me, and Hey Lawdy Mama all received significant airplay and led to some degree of mainstream acceptance for Steppenwolf. Monster/Suicide/America is a political and social commentary that demonstrates that these guys were aware of the events that were going on in the world in 1969.

Highlights Of Disc 2

Disc Two picks up with the tail-end of Steppenwolf's career with songs that lend credence to the "biker band" image such as Screaming Night Hog and Ride With Me. I'm Movin' On, written by country music legend Hank Snow, and My Sportin' Life, are John Kay solo efforts, while Live Your Life features Kay performing with Little Feat legend Lowell George. The remaining cuts on this disc are songs by the recycled Steppenwolf, and for the most part, each song is pretty forgettable, except for the live version of Born To Be Wild, recorded in 1987 at the Farm Aid Concert.

This is a good collection that covers a lot of territory--the early stuff by The Sparrow is revealing, and the original Steppenwolf material is classic. The remainder of the material is interesting, but seems to me to be more of a tribute to John Kay than it is a collection of true Steppenwolf music. The musical historian will find this later material to be interesting, if not inspiring.

Thanks for dropping by.