Experience 1960’s Rock History! . . . . . . . . . . STEPPENWOLF . . . Top 13 Album Track Gems

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!
STEPPENWOLF
Top 13 Album Track Gems ’68/’69

Ain’t it great that the band that talked the talk, walked the walk?  Look at these Badass Rockers –
Born To Be Wild?  Hell yeah!

Steppenwolf were one of the first Rock bands to address and explore the Counter-Culture’s darker side with gritty Hard Rock Psychedelic Blues infused with a biker style and the impressive commanding vocals of John Kay.

Their massive hit, Born To Be Wild spoke of the freedom that Rockers, Hippies, and the Counter-Culture felt, and it still has the power to invigorate, anytime.  The Pusher anguishes over of the dangers of excess, addiction and heartless street dealers, through a dramatic, yet ineffective solution: the War on Drugs.  Magic Carpet Ride was pure Psychedelic Rock that conveyed a High Ride perfectly – with the classic spacey instrumental interlude.

But it was their sadly overlooked concept album “Monster” where Steppenwolf really hit on a rockin’ perfect storm of music, profound lyrics and righteous protest against the War and social injustice in general.  This Monster is responsible for nearly half on this list – a real Era-Gem.

Top 13 Album Track Gems
From STEPPENWOLF – January 29, 1968
This album has a very special place in Rock History as it was one of those albums that everyone had, and played – a lot.  It became emblematic of the times.
“Sookie Sookie” (D Covay, S Cropper) –3:12
“Everybody’s Next One” (J Kay, G Mekler) –2:53
“Hoochie Coochie Man” (W Dixon) –5:07
“Born to Be Wild” (M Bonfire) –3:28
There’s a reason that this song is so well liked; it is empowering, and hits all of the right Rock spots, and no matter how many times it’s heard, it never fails to:
“Get your motor runnin’, Head out on the highway,
Lookin’ for adventure, And whatever comes our way,
Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen, Take the world in a
love embrace, Fire all of your guns at once, And explode into space.
I like smok’n’ lightning, Heavy metal thunder,
Racin’ with the wind, And the feelin’ that I’m under,
Like a true nature’s child, We were born, born to be wild, We can climb so high, I never wanna die.
Born to be wild, Born to be wild.”
“Your Wall’s Too High” (J Kay) –5:40
“The Pusher” (H Axton) –5:43
Classic psychedelic drugged-out intro with downright real rockin’ anger from Kay that is echoed in the music.

From THE SECOND – October 1968
“Magic Carpet Ride” (J Kay, R Moreve) – 4:30
By far Steppenwolf’s most psychedelic Rocker – with this track Steppenwolf held on to their status of the originators of the Heavy Metal Thunder Big Bad Sound.  1968 was an adventurous year of drug exploration and psychedelic “magic carpet rides” – Steppenwolf was there.
“I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine,
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night, Any place it goes is right,
Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here.
Well, you don’t know what we can find,
Why don’t you come with me little girl, On a magic carpet ride.”

From MONSTER – November 1969
“Monster” (J Kay, J Edmonton
     “Suicide” (Kay, St. Nicholas, Byrom, Edmonton
         “America” (Kay, Edmonton) – 9:15
“America where are you now, dontcha care about your sons and daughters,
Donthcha know we need you now, we can’t fight alone against the monster.”
“Draft Resister” (Kay, G McJohn, Byrom) – 3:20
“Here’s to all the draft resisters who will fight for sanity, When they march them off to prison in this land of liberty.”
“Power Play” (Kay) – 5:26
“Move Over” (Kay, Mekler) – 2:53
Yesterday’s glory won’t help us today.
You wanna retire?  Get out of the way!
I ain’t got much time, The young ones close behind,
I can’t wait in line.
“What Would You Do (If I Did That to You)”
(Francen, Porter) – 3:19
“From Here To There Eventually”
(Kay, McJohn, Edmonton) – 5:27
YES, that good Ol’ Time Religion! ! !
Steppenwolf’s righteous solid Rock, Gospel choruses and Kay preaching the good word:
“But I remember when I still embraced you,
A little prayer would ease my mind,
‘Til I saw that you hide from the misery outside so I left you behind,
But all the other teachings That I’ve tried were ’bout the same,
One grain of truth mixed with confusion caused by man,
But since you’re around anyway, May as well get you back on your feet again,
(Get right back up on your feet),
Don’t ya know we need somebody to (Do some work down in the street),
You might just touch somebody (Start to think about today),
Throw your robe and staff away (And break away from yesterday),
Ah, tell me can we reach you? ( I don’t know, still we got to go)
From Here, To There, Eventually!”  Halleliuah!
Among all of this Rock ‘n’ Roll cosmic goodness is Goldy McJohn’s jammin’ underwater organ during the spacey, rockin’, Carpet Ride II instrumental segment complete with ethereal howls and a hard-chargin’ locomotive beat that goes From Here To There Eventually.

“From Here To There Eventually”: a Classic Rock ‘n’ Roll Album-Ender and Album Track Gem.

STEPPENWOLF were named after the Hermann Hesse novel of, among other things, casual sex and drugs.
John Kay: guitars, harmonica, lead vocals
Goldy McJohn: organ, piano, electric piano.
Rushton Moreve: bass guitar, backing vocals.
Michael Monarch: guitars, backing vocals.
Jerry Edmonton: drums, percussion, backing vocals

You know, society as a whole did go from here, (back then) to there, eventually –
only 00individual thinks they overshot the mark.

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1960′s Historic & Classic Rock Albums . . . . . . . . . . The BEACH BOYS . . . SURFIN’ SAFARI . . . 10/1/62

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY and ’60s SURF ‘n’ CAR CULTURE!

SURFIN’ SAFARI – The BEACH BOYS – October 1, 1962 – Capitol DT 1808

Well, the first day of Summer is June 20, 2016 – so,
“Let’s Go Surfin’!
“Surfin’, bop-dip-da-dip, surfin’ bop-dip-da-dip,
bop-bop-dip-da-dip, bop-bop-dip-da-dip,
surfin’ bop-dip-da-dip,
surfin’ is the only life the only way for me,
now come on pretty baby and surf with me, yeah, surf.”

“Surfin'”, the first single by the Beach Boys, was the very first 45 RPM single 00individual bought, released in November 1961; a few months before his 11th birthday.  As simple as that song was, it began both his single and LP vinyl fetish addiction/mania.

Living in Southern California, the future mecca of the massively influential “Surf Culture”, was ideal for his pre-teen sensibilities. Within the next two years the “Surf and Hot Rod/Car Culture” would become an all encompassing vibe that would include; fashion, clothing, hair styles, dances, slang, attitude, beach bunnies, Pacific Islander culture, Tiki Gods, Ed Big Daddy” Roth’s custom cars and Rat Finks, and really fun cool spacey rockin’ surf music – and would also mark 00individual’s emergence as an official “teenager”!

This new craze would spread across the United States and to a certain extent the world.  Here in SoCal where Dick Dale, Jan and Dean and The Beach Boys lived, recorded and performed, many were fortunate to “live” the culture in their own modest way and actually go to the beach and surf – even if you didn’t have a board, you would body surf!  Gnarley!

Junior High school (and everywhere else) was a place to show your “surfwear”; usually a white t-shirt, Pendleton – a specific brand name plaid flannel long-sleeved shirt like The Beach Boys are wearing on the album cover – faded blue jeans, Blue-tipped Purcells, or barefoot, and if you were a “Ho-Dad” then your car culture fashion would be a white t-shirt (maybe a white buttoned-down shirt – if you were serious), black leather or dark blue “tanker” jacket, dark jeans and black tapered shoes/boots. 00individual preferred a cross between the two with all the surfwear but with a tanker jacket in place of a Pendleton.  Many wannabe surfers called “Gremmies” would to peroxide their hair blonde as if bleached by the sun – and even some true surfers did – as tan and blonde became a fashion/lifestyle statement.

While not all the tracks on their first album were winners, “Surfin’ Safari” was a monster, and “409” was arguably the first single to chart that celebrated the Southland’s romance with everything cars. “409” led to other major Car Tune hits for The Beach Boys; “Shut Down”, “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “Little Deuce Coupe”, which in turn influenced classics by others like; “Drag City”, “Deadman’s Curve” and “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena” by Jan and Dean, “Little G.T.O.” by Ronny and The Daytonas, and “Hey Little Cobra” by The Rip Chords.

All too soon the British Invasion pretty much overtook the Surf ‘n’ Car culture music; leaving a truly historic time-stamp of a unique culture that emerged as quickly as it submerged.  The Surf Culture however, was not music-dependent and surfers carved-out and established their part of society with a devoted core of individuals who continue with the “Surf Spirit” and Surf Rock – this applies to the equally-established Car Culture as well.

Eventually the ever-present serious issues of civil rights and the Vietnam War was reflected in Pop and Rock music – and everyone grew-up – fast.  But for a moment in time they were enjoying truly innocent fun.  The Beach Boys sound was full of the joys of summer; the beach, surf, cars, girls, guys, sun, freedom and youth.

The Beach Boys deserve all the credit that history provides as they single-handedly created a cultural and musical genre tidal wave.  A wave that broke through the harbors of the original Rock of the ’50s, a wave that burst the dams for the British Invasion, and then a wave that morphed into a psychedelic pipeline with Brian Wilson’s epic “Good Vibrations“.

And while Chuck Berry’s riffs were admittedly used as basis or flourish to many of these tunes; cultural credit also has to be given to Dick Dale, “the King of the Surf Guitar” and to The Ventures for their creation of the guitar-driven surf instrumentals that were essential complements to The Beach Boys’ exquisite vocal harmonies that made up the Classic Surf Sound.

Rock History acknowledges The Beach Boys for their creation of a genre and for their incredible influence in the history of music.  And also for the inspiration they provided for countless artists, bands, and music lovers that continues to this day!

Malibu – Zuma Beach – early 1960s

’70s Surf Culture Archive:
By 1979 00individual would be renting a nicely-converted horse stable guest house on the property that Neil Young recorded his “Zuma” album in 1975 – straight up from the bluff in this photo. 00individual’s immediate neighbors on Point Dume were Goldie Hawn (when Kate and Oliver Hudson were infants), Max Gail (Wojo on the TV series Barney Miller, had real Native pow-wows in a real teepee with late night drum and vocal chants; trippy ), and Bob Dylan – 00individual never saw him just his house/property.

’60s Surf Culture Archive:
At almost 18, 00individual was going into the second half of his senior year of high school – he was a split semester student and graduated as an A-12 in February 1969.  He still needed to attend summer school to make up credits to graduate.  His incarceration was at Westchester High, near LAX which was a very short ride/hitch to the beach.  That Summer of 1968, every morning after class he’d go straight to Gillis beach and hang for the day.

As each day at the beach passed he marked it off on a calendar he had inside his notebook; by the end of the summer he had gone to the beach every day except for seven odd days, that included weekends, for the whole three months!

He had gone full native, his skin was a dark golden brown and he had a “Surfin’ U.S.A.” bushy, bushy blonde hairdo” – and to make sure that he had really gone native the only showers that he took were in the ocean, that’s right, any “dirt” that he had on him was washed away by the natural wonders of the pristine Pacific Ocean salt water – and he never had so many girlfriends as he did that summer!

” . . . and when the surf is down to take its place,
we’ll do the Surfer’s Stomp it’s the latest dance craze!”

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Revised from a previous high-ranking post.

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1970’s Counter-Culture Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Anarchist Cookbook and Archaeological Weed

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THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK

Here is 00individual’s personal original First Edition 1971 copy of THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK. This was as popular as the Whole Earth Catalog among the Counter-Culture.

So as not to assign a negative connotation to the word “anarchy”, remember that anarchy simply rejects being ruled by a hierarchy.

The Cookbook was packed full of subversive lethal and non-lethal tactics and information; this was really only for serious revolutionaries “in the field” – but still provided a lot of advance knowledge of home-made tactics if needed.  Admittedly, Chapter One: DRUGS was of most interest and of practical use.

The fact that this book was even published with the intent that there would be actual incidents when drastic measures would have to be taken, speaks volumes on the social-injustice and outright criminal climate created of and by every authority figure from President Nixon’s criminal acts, all the way down to the daily unjustified brutality by Cops.

The times were weird; horrific events one day and sublime trips the next.  People were extremely angry and frustrated and there were an assured many who took this book to heart, and society labeled them Radicals.  These Radicals all had the same initial drive; to prove or bring up an important critical point of injustice and rectify it.  That definition of a Radical’s cause is what Freedom and the birth of the United States was built on; Radicals, Revolutionaries, Freedom-Fighting History-Influencers,

For most Tribes, Radicals were few, and generally they splintered-off to more active groups, this included the political intelligentsia.  00individual was passionate too, only he expressed it in a more out-of-the-line-of-fire sort of way through doing his part by being a Psychonaut Representative for Responsible Heads Everywhere.

As one can see from the dog-eared pages, it was an ongoing source for conversation as it was generally left out in the open as a “Counter-Culture Coffee Table Book”.  Vive La Revolution!

“Archaeological Weed” copyright 2016 00individual  TLL

ARCHAEOLOGICAL WEED

Here is a relic from 1973; a glass Ball Mason Jar with the original sticker that was adhered to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon album cellophane wrap.  00individual removed the sticker and placed it on the hermetically-sealed jar to forever commemorate a time when his archived personal stash consisted of different choice strains of compressed Marijuana guarded by the cosmic seal of PF DSOTM!

This jar created a visible timeline of Marijuana acquisition that served much like archaeological strata in the ground – an artifact that, as each layer was smoked, revealed the past history of legendary times.

While the jar and sticker are the real artifact, the weed is digitally-applied, as alas, the archived weed slowly dwindled due to lean times, which proved the Stoner’s Adage that: “Weed will get you through times of no cash, better than cash will get you through times of no weed.”

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1960′s Historic & Classic Rock Albums . . . . . . . . . . BOB DYLAN . . . Greatest Hits . . . 1967 . . . . . . . Album Track Gem: Like a Rolling Stone . . . 8/30/65

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BOB DYLAN’S GREATEST HITS – March 27, 1967
Album Track Gem – LIKE A ROLLING STONE
from Highway 61 Revisited – August 30, 1965

Nearly everyone from the ’60s say they knew exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard of President Kennedy’s assassination; well 00individual doesn’t, but he does know exactly where he was and what he was doing when he first heard Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone.  He was 14, and had just come home from wherever he was that day to his room in the back of the house.  To get there he crossed by a short hallway to the kitchen which always had either of the two Top 30 L.A. stations, KFWB or KHJ, on all day and into the evening.  As he ran his fingers along the length of the ironing board top on the way to his room the tactile sensation met a sound sensation and he froze in his steps.  What was that sound?  He entered the hallway to the kitchen and heard a six minute musical odyssey.

There was a strange alluring feeling that emanated from “Like A Rolling Stone” – it can best be summarized by 00individual as nothing less than a breakthrough in music.  This song became the confirmation that a new level had been established.  And it had.  00individual could feel it.  It was the next level of sound that The Beatles’ I Want To Hold Your Hand started.  The difference was that this was not Pop, and not Folk, and not Rock – this was like nothing ever heard before.

This was Like A Rolling Stone and it came from a much deeper place, it showed the emotional involvement that could be experienced with songs that lasted longer than the typical three to four minute semi-standard.  But it was even much more than that; the feelings and honesty of Dylan’s voice, the pacing of the song, the captivating interest to hear another verse all contributed to Like A Rolling Stone literally being a sonic drug – as while it was addicting in a good way, it certainly expanded the Counter-Culture’s consciousness and reverberated out to receptive individuals everywhere, then and now.

One of the All Time Greatest Hits albums that truly was: 
BOB DYLAN’S GREATEST HITS
Side one
1. “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” released March 22, 1966 – 4:40
2. “Blowin’ in the Wind” released August 13, 1963 -2:51
3. “The Times They Are a-Changin'”  3:16
4. “It Ain’t Me Babe” 3:38
5. “Like a Rolling Stone”  released June 28, 1965 – 6:12
Side two
6. “Mr. Tambourine Man” 5:31
7. “Subterranean Homesick Blues”  released March 8, 1965 – 2:22
8. “I Want You”  released June 10, 1966 – 3:09
9. “Positively 4th Street” released September 7, 1965 – 4:12
10. “Just Like a Woman”  released August 18, 1966 – 4:53

Looking at these titles is like walking through a museum of rare iconic treasures, each one is unique and impressive and tells a different tale, only they are all done by one man.

Large fold-out poster included with initial releases.

While aware of Dylan’s previous albums, it wasn’t until Highway 61 Revisited in ’65 that 00individual really got into the sardonic and righteously angry attitude of Dylan’s songs – as his “you think you know me but you don’t” serious expression on the classic album cover below reveals.

00individual had his share of teenage angst and “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, “Ballad of a Thin Man”, “Desolation Row”, “Highway 61 Revisited”, the absolutely terrific shut down, put down, karmic single, “Positively 4th Street”, and of course the historic “Like a Rolling Stone” were songs he memorized and dementedly rejoiced in singing along with a typical rebellious teenage attitude.

Volumes have been written about Dylan by writers and historians with dedicated intense insightful detail, so all 00individual can add regarding this historic Righteous Rockin’ Troubadour is that Dylan was not only a magickal lyrical rebel musician who stood for justice, independence and equality, but through his exceptional music he provided the spirit and confidence that a young teen needed at just the right time to become an individual.
Thanks Man!

“Well, they’ll stone you when you’re tryin’ to be so good,
They’ll stone you just like they said they would.”
Translated: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.
Dylan speaks Tribal Truth

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