Customer Reviews

Live

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

STEPPENWOLF;LIVE;1970;John Kay,Jerry Edmonton,Nick St.Nicholas,Goldy McJohn,Larry Byron...Together these guy's cranked out alot of Rock and Roll Classics.(most bands have covered at least one Steppenwolf track) This album (cd-I'am old)showcase's so much Heavy Music in a live setting,and proves that STEPPENWOLF are the original Badass Rock and Roll Band! ..Right here on these tracks is where HEAVY METAL WAS BORN, RAISED,AND PERFECTED...John Kay set the look of Rock and Roll(still today)as we know it...Now the music-STEPPENWOLF begin with a cover of Sookie Sookie the way it was ment to be played, as a Heavy little opening song to get everyone's blood circulating..DON"T STEP ON THE GRASS SAM is John Kay's Opening folley at our government's ignorance set to flashing Guitars..TIGHTEN UP YOUR WIG is another political jab,as the band starts to heat up,jamming into.. HEY LAWDY MAMA this is where the hot leads start to become extended Jams that are smoking hot..MAGIC CARPET RIDE is just that a slick musical ride featuring some fine organ & guitar exchanges under John Kay's lurid vocals..Hoyt Axton's THE PUSHER is next,who would believe STEPPENWOLF did not write this song,I'am sure no one else ever performed it as hot,John Kay's voice becomes more menacing than the Guitars,as they rip into the heart of the Pusher..BORN TO BE WILD is pure killer Rock and Roll,lots of flash...MONSTER is very political(and still relevant today) this is where STEPPENWOLF shine,the lyrics make you think, as the Guitars overwelm your senses with intensity..(OUTSTANDING)..DRAFT RESISTER(some of us remember what the draft was)speaks volumes about the way America treats it's own,as the Guitars cutloose showing off some speed..POWER PLAY is another political smack in the face of all U.S. politicians(Remember if you plan to stay,those who give can take away,Don't Bite The Hand That Feeds You)It makes you want to VOTE,while enjoying the clash of electric guitars and bellowing organs..CORINA,CORINA slows down a touch but it does not relax,nice clean blues style guitar..TWISTED picks it up with a bit of voicebox style guitar in a blues based beat from a powerful drum & bass guitar duo..FROM HERE TO THERE EVENTUALLY finishs off this set,once more the politics of life are layed out in the vocals,with a nice organ,guitar jam to end this PRIME EXAMPLE OF ROCK AND ROLL, WHEN TRUE ROCK AND ROLL WAS JUST CUTTING IT'S TEETH,AND STEPPENWOLF WAS DOING THE BITING! IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THIS CD WAS ORIGINALLY RECORDED THIRTY YEARS AGO...CHECK IT OUT MAYBE IT WILL IGNITE YOU POLITICALLY,if not it is still GREAT ROCK AND ROLL.....STEPPENWOLF:LIVE.

If you lived through the 1960s, this hard-driving live album by Steppenwolf will bring back lots of memories of the struggle---the demonstrations, the idealism, the raw energy we all had back then to work for noble causes. If you are younger, this album will show you one of the best rock bands of that decade at its best. I think the lineup of John Kay, Jerry Edmonton, Nick St. Nicholas, Larry Byron and the unique Goldy McJohn on the Hammond B3 Organ is one of the best for this band. It is certainly one of the best for the 1960s and early 1970s.

Incredible to listen to songs like "Monster" as we endure the current presidential campaign and all the fallout. "our vote is a meaningless joke....." The song sings of an America that stood for freedom and justice, with a strong enduring spirit.

And then songs like "Draft Resister" and "Power Play." "It's time we got our heads together. Let them (the politicans) know that we are awake."

So there you have it -----great hard-driving music; vocals as only John Kay can deliver and super drum and guitar work; along with Goldy on the Hammond B3 Organ ---truly a master. buy this CD, listen to it often,and treasure it. Earl Finkler

There is a 2-song medley of the rarity "Hey Lawdy Mama" and "Magic Carpet Ride" that is a splice job done in mixdown. You can hear the switch in accoustics when the first song moves on to the second. Compared to today, live album sound was horrible back when this album was recorded, but "Lawdy" is as good as the studio sound of the day, but it makes an abrupt drop in clarity when "B2BW" kicks in. So I dug out my copy of the now out-of-print "Steppenwolf Gold", which I bought for the song "Screaming Night Hog", a song which appeared on no other album at the time. Sure enough, "Lawdy" sounds studio-quality because it is. Both versions are identical, note-for-note and syllable-for-syllable in the vocals. They chopped the fade-down a studio cut and spliced it onto a live track, which wouldn't be so bad except the sudden drop in fidelity between the two halves of the "medley" makes you head for your player, thinking something's gone suddenly wrong. It was a good idea, though, to include John Kay's announcement of the magnum opus "Monster", which includes his qualifier "There are too many good things about Our Country to just let the whole thing go down the drain, so we should get together however best we can and bring about change." That was a good comeback to those who attributed the whole protest era back then to a mass hatred of America by Americans.

Believe this CD has been released on several labels through the free world.My copy mentions inside the info fold-out that this album is from 1970 and it is IN FACT a fake-live lp at that.I thought to myself,"Don't tell me they're pulling the 13th Floor Elevators scam..." I've listened to this CD several times and it doesn't sound fake to me.But then again,I've heard some horror stories of how vocalist John Kay does have some enemies out there.Either way,'Live' is a good pick.Tracks that had me playing this disc numerous times were "Sookie Sookie","Monster","Hey Lawdy Mama","Magic Carpet Ride",the memorable "Pusher" and the FM radio staple "Born To Be Wild"(I've heard doo-wop stations play this song in the afternoon).Very old school biker rock&roll.Line-up:John Kay-vocals,Larry Byron-guitar,Nick St.Nicholas-bass,Goldy McJohn-keyboards and Jerry Edmonton(R.I.P.)-drums.A must-have.

If you're a Steppenwolf fan and haven't heard this album/cd then you have a delightful surprise in store for you. Several of the tracks on this compilation are actually BETTER than the original studio versions. Notably Monster and The Pusher (but not limited to these two cuts) are extended and sound much better then the empty studio cuts. Monster is an all time Steppenwolf Master Cut and deserves an award just for maintaining it's meaning even 30 odd years later. If you love America (and I do with all my heart) then you have to appreciate what the boys in the band had to say about us. All I can say is this one is a MUST OWN for anyone collecting 60's music.

God Bless America.

I have to agree with the abover reviewer....many of trackes are MUCH better than the studio versions - not that the studio versions were slackers...One of my favorite live albums....Also I must agree, why did they stick the studio version of "Hey Lawdy Mama"....I would guess to promote this record....

I recently repurchased this gem of an album that my brother and I bought with our paper-route money back in 1971. (My brother, being the elder, probably claimed long-term ownership, but I don't know what ever happened to it. Tim?) Anyway, great album and all, but I want to share one great memory from it.

In the live version of "Monster" Steppenwolf greatly extended and slowed down that "da-da-da-da ... " beat (how to describe verbally?). It drove our dad crazy. One Saturday or Sunday, while he was out gardening or something, we were inside, avoiding the fresh air, playing the album full blast. And when the extended-slowed beat kept going past his notoriously short temper, he came into the house screaming and smacked us across our long-haired heads. Luckily, he spared the album, but we never dared played it again while he was around. (Which wasn't long; he split later that year. So I guess we won.)

I give the album four stars, instead of five, because I assume my personal attachment to it impairs my judgement. But it sure does hold up all these years later -- which isn't always the case. ("Grand Funk Live" was an album that I held in similar stature as a kid, but my re-purchase of it a few years back was a big disappointment. Now, I could understand it if dad had busted that album; it's pretty irritating.)

Peace, Love, Dope -- all you middle-aged teenagers out there!

I must admit that I am a bit partial to this album. It stayed on my turntable for most of a year while I as a twelve year old in the early 1970s listened to John Kay's magic voice. I remember wondering how anyone could ever love a woman so bad to sing a song about them. I played the music till the grooves wore out and when I eventually was blessed with a daughter , I named her Corrina, after the song and in particular Steppenwolf's version on this album. The song always haunted me... A great album that belongs with FILMORE EAST and URIAH HEEP LIVE.

As with most live albums by any group this is a collection of their most popular songs. The live versions pack more intensity and have a sharper edge than the studio albums and that makes it (in my opinion) their best album. If you like Steppenworlf you must have this album, oops, CD. I have the album but bought the CD as the record was about worn out.

We all know it's not a real live album. Heck, you can tell that in the first few seconds of the repeating audience "whistling" of "Sookie Sookie" which you hear that same whistling in various parts of the album...just has a manufactured sound to it. I'm sure Kaye & Co. cringed at hearing it after it was completed...but you know how deadlines are.

But all of the songs versions are very well done. The standards have additional parts giving them more color and dimension while the fillers get beefed up a bit. Heck, I'd say the versions on these beat their studio counterparts in many instances such as the guitar work on the tail ends of both "Born" and "Carpet", just to name a couple examples.

The Wolf's in your face Centrist attitude, much like CCR practiced, was a great way to flip off the Establishment as well. They seem like the kind of group if they were big today would have told both Toby Keith and Dixie Chicks to "sit and spin" on John Kaye's middle finger. They weren't followers by any means nor were they radicals like Airplane or the overrated sterile noodling castor oil sounds of The Dead.

This particular CD, Steppenwolf Live, is a great introduction to the group. Forget all the countless greatest hits compilations...we've heard all those before time and time again.

The only gripe I have about this one, which takes away one star, is how buried in the mix Goldy's keyboards are. His trademark buzzy grinding organ sound is what let you know immediately it was The Wolf.

Other than that, I rank this one up there with 4 Way Street, Wheels Of Fire and Live At Leeds. It's not perfect, but it lets you know that, live or not, The Wolf in just doing their songs as they did them live showed that they were no slouches by any means when it came to giving it 100%.