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Plato

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Steppenwolf - At Your Birthday Party (1969 us, classic third album, Japan SHM mini lp 2013 bonus tracks remaster)



The recording sessions for "At Your Birthday Party" started to show the wear and tear of the road on all of us. In addition, some band members for the first time, tried their hand at songwriting and I had run out of tunes to contribute. 

This album nevertheless includes some of my favorite Steppenwolf tracks such as "Happy Birthday", "Jupiter's Child" and "Rock Me". Nick St. Nicholas (who had replaced our original bassist Rushton Moreve) had an idea for a song titled "It's Never Too Late", which triggered me to work out the rest of the song. That one is an all time favorite of mine. Gabriel Mekler (our Producer) had his hands full trying to be fair to all band members and stay neutral to allow us to work out the difficulties on our own. 

The fact that the song "Rock Me" (which had been written for the soundtrack of the motion picture "Candy") had already been a hit single before it was included in the "Birthday album" may have reduced the impact of the album because the initial sales of the LP were not what we had hoped for, although over the years, it became quite popular with many of our fans.

Tracks
1. Don't Cry (Gabriel Mekler) – 3:11
2. Chicken Wolf (John Kay, Michael Monarch) – 2:58
3. Lovely Meter (Gabriel Mekler) – 3:10
4. Round And Down (Michael Monarch) – 3:19
5. It's Never Too Late (John Kay, Nick St. Nicholas) – 4:07
6. Sleeping Dreaming (Nick St.Nicholas) – 1:07
7. Jupiter's Child (Jerry Edmonton, John Kay, Michael Monarch) – 3:28
8. She'll Be Better (Jerry Edmonton, Gabriel Mekler) – 5:32
9. Cat Killer (John Goadsby) – 1:37
10.Rock Me (John Kay) – 3:45
11.God Fearing Man (Michael Monarch) – 3:55
12.Mango Juice (Jerry Edmonton, John Goadsby, Michael Monarch) – 3:01
13.Happy Birthday (Gabriel Mekler) – 2:16
14.Rock Me (J. Kay) - 3:41
15.Jupiter Child (J. Edmonton, J. Kay, M. Monarch) – 3:15
16.It's Never Too Late (J. Kay, N. St. Nicholas) - 3:10
17.Happy BirthdayIt's Never Too Late (G. Mekler) – 2:23
Tracks 14-17 Mono Single Versions

Steppenwolf
*John Kay - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
*Michael Monarch - Lead Guitar
*Goldy Mcjohn - Organ, Piano
*Nick St. Nicholas - Bass
*Jerry Edmonton - Drums, Vocals

1968  Steppenwolf (2013 japan SHM bonus tracks and 2014 SACD)
1969  Early Steppenwolf (1967 Live, Japan SHM mini lp)
Related Acts
1968  John Kay and the Sparrow
1972  John Kay – Forgotten Songs and Unsung Heroes

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6 comments:

  1. I saw Steppenwolf live, here in Winnipeg, in [if memory serves] 1970. They played at the city's newest classical music concert hall!!? Admittedly the 'Yellow Sunshine' may have had something to do with it, but that remains one of the defining moments in my musical coming-of-age. Many thanks!

    -Brian

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  2. Awesome pick. Nice to see another of those great Steppenwolf SHM-CDs that have been coming out in Japan lately.

    -Vic

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  3. Super, I got the DL links already before. But the quality of yours is 100 % better!!! Thank you so much, Marios! Please don't stop with Steppenwolf!!! Please more!

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  4. Thanks one of the best albums by Steppenwolf.

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