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Part 3
Part 1
here, part 2 here
The following is part 3 of John Kay’s reflections and recollections of each Steppenwolf, John Kay solo and John Kay & Steppenwolf release. His candid remarks give even the well-versed fan an insight to the creation of each body of work. Please note that permission has not been granted to post the lyrics to certain songs. Any of the links below resulting in the 'under construction' sign, fall into this category.
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SKULLDUGGERY - 1976
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The recording of this album fulfilled our contractual obligations to Epic Records.
While I found it difficult to find the motivation to write songs for an album that I felt
was the musical equivalent of The Titanic, Bobby Cochran, our intrepid guitarist felt no such energy drop. No one worked harder to give the record life than he. His enthusiasm was infectious to the point that when we were finished I was surprised at the results. The title song as well as our versions of “Road Runner” , “Rock and Roll Song” and “Pass It On” are still some of my favorites.
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ALL IN GOOD TIME - 1978
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This was my third solo album and the first one recorded outside California, namely Muscle Shoals, Alabama, which at that time was a hot bed of recording activity. Since most of my musical influences are of southern origin, I looked forward to this experience and I was not disappointed. In addition to working with such fine musicians as Clayton Ivey, keyboards; Roger Clark, drums and Bob Wray, bass, as well as the Muscle Shoals Horns. I had the pleasure of once again playing with Steppenwolf alumni Larry Byrom , lead guitar. After quick rundowns we had tape rolling and in no more than 3 weeks the LP was mixed and done. It has that slinky, funky groove and lazy feel which I admired so much on many of the recordings from Muscle Shoals and Memphis. With a couple of minor exceptions I still enjoy the music on this record and it remains one of my favorites to this day..
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LIVE IN LONDON - 1981
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Recorded at the Lyceum in London, England during our first tour of Europe in eight years. We were pleasantly surprised by the warmth of our reception. Our fans in the UK had not forgotten us despite our absence and we truly enjoyed playing both new and familiar music that night.
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WOLFTRACKS - 1982
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Our first studio album of the early 80’s rebuilding period. Because of constant touring, the recording had to be done quickly. We chose to record at Ocean Way, an excellent studio in Los Angeles and to use the (then new) format of Soundstream 2-track digital. While classical and jazz recordings had been done this way, we were the first rock band to attempt this. There was no over dubbing on a 2 track machine so everything from the instruments to lead and backing vocals was recorded “live” at the same time. Consequently we all felt somewhat under pressure. However everyone, Steve Palmer, drums; Michael Palmer, guitar and Michael Wilk keyboards as well as Welton Gite, bass and Wolf alumni George Biondo and Brett Tuggle backing vocals came through with fine efforts. Engineered by our friend Kevin Kern, it put our fans on notice that we were ongoing and had our eyes on the future. Some favorite cuts are “Five Finger Discount”, “None of the Above”, “The Balance” and “Hot Night In A Cold Town”. I also liked our version of The Argent classic: “Hold Your Head Up”.
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PARADOX - 1984
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This was the last project recorded at the old American Recording Studio in Studio City, CA. It was there that we recorded six of our previous albums with Richard Podolor and Bill Cooper as engineer and producer and where our recording success had been launched. After the completion of “Paradox” the studio was moved to Woodland Hills, CA. The album title “Paradox” was derived from the fact that it’s music was unusually varied and contained songs some of which were total opposites, such as the tongue in cheek “The Fixer” (about a hit man for hire) and the more compassionate “Slender Thread of Hope”. In addition I also like “Nothing Is Forever” and “Watch Your Innocence” on which Jackie DeShannon (who co-wrote the tune) sings harmony.
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ROCK AND ROLL REBELS - 1987
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Rocket Ritchotte, lead guitar, had joined the band by this time, and he, Michael Wilk, keyboards, and I became a productive song writing team. After recording several new tracks at my studio in Los Angeles as demos, they were accepted as masters by the new label and all of a sudden we were under the gun to complete the album for a spring release to coincide with our upcoming tour. We had to wear a lot of hats: writers, arrangers, producers and engineers. We did the final mixes with six hands on the controls and held our breaths hoping we did not have do yet another one. While with hindsight “Rebels” may have had a little too much of a techno sound, it did mark a return to strong rhythms, blues influenced writing and lyrics which reflected much of what had transpired during the preceding rebuilding years. There definitely was a “we have the worst behind us and we won’t let the bastards get us down”, vibe in songs like “Hold On”, “Rock Steady”, “Man on a Mission” and the title track. All in all “Rebels” was an important step forward for John Kay & Steppenwolf.
Part 1 here,
part 2 here,
part 4 here.
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