Learn Steppenwolf - 1969 At Your Birthday Party

arty%2Bfront%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">arty%2Bfront%2B1.jpg" width="400" />

At Your Birthday Party is the tertiary studio album past times Steppenwolf, released inwards 1969 on the ABC Dunhill Records label. It was the laid about Steppenwolf album to characteristic bass actor Nick St. Nicholas; as well as the finally album to characteristic guitarist Michael Monarch, who left the band inwards August 1969. Although it was less critically acclaimed than their successful laid about 2 albums, Steppenwolf as well as The Second, it contains a few well-known hits, such equally "It's Never Too Late" as well as "Jupiter's Child", equally good equally "Rock Me," which had been featured inwards the 1968 cinema Candy. Although the band would move real successful inwards the early on 1970s, At Your Birthday Party would move their finally top 10 album as well as features their finally top 10 single. The album showcases Steppenwolf coming out of, but non yet completely abandoning, the psychedelia of The Second as well as stepping into the distinctive hard stone of their later on releases.

The album's encompass was designed past times art manager Gary Burden. The master copy LP was a gatefold with a punched-out forepart cover; the punchout revealed a photograph of the band which comprised the inner sleeve's recto. This photograph of the band was shot past times Henry Diltz, as well as it shows the band sitting inwards the remnants of amplifiers as well as equipment inwards a charred household which had belonged to Canned Heat. (A 1969 burn downward ripped through Canned Heat's household as well as rehearsal studio on Lookout Mountain Ave inwards Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California.) Original Pb guitarist Michael Monarch did non exhibit upward for the photograph shoot. Steppenwolf producer Gabriel Mekler bore a physical resemblance to Monarch, as well as it was decided that Mekler would conduct maintain Monarch's house inwards the photo. Mekler was able to cover himself all the to a greater extent than inwards the photograph past times sporting a brace of sunglasses. Initially, non likewise many noticed. Monarch was soundless inwards the band, however. (A dispelled myth is that Monarch was no longer inwards the band at the fourth dimension of the photograph shoot; he was inwards the band until the latter part of 1969, as well as the album came out inwards early on 1969.) The LP was reissued on CD past times MCA inwards belatedly 1980's. MCA decided to non purpose the photograph for their CD re-issue as well as opted alone for the master copy unfinished nation of war mouse painting, originally intended equally the LP's cover. The resulting CD artwork indeed looks bare equally a result. The surrounding black-and-white image of the LP's gate-fold sleeve was made past times importing images of cartoon mouse heads onto the bodies of soldiers inside an image of a the US Civil War trenched battlefield. The black-and-white part of the album art was a collage made past times Rick Griffin, who was supposed to pigment a finally version of what became the album art, but Dunhill Records declined to pay for the image as well as and thence used Griffin's black-and-white prototype.

The recording sessions for "At Your Birthday Party" started to exhibit the habiliment as well as tear of the route on all of us. In addition, simply about band members for the laid about time, tried their mitt at songwriting as well as I had run out of tunes to contribute. This album nevertheless includes simply about of my favorite Steppenwolf tracks such equally "Happy Birthday", "Jupiter's Child" as well as "Rock Me". Nick St. Nicholas (who had replaced our master copy bassist Rushton Moreve) had an thought for a vocal titled "It's Never Too Late", which triggered me to operate out the residue of the song. That ane is an all fourth dimension favorite of mine. Gabriel Mekler (our Producer) had his hands sum trying to move fair to all band members as well as remain neutral to allow us to operate out the difficulties on our own. The fact that the vocal "Rock Me" (which had been written for the soundtrack of the displace film "Candy") had already been a hitting unmarried earlier it was included inwards the "Birthday album" may conduct maintain reduced the touching on of the album because the initial sales of the LP were non what nosotros had hoped for, although over the years, it became quite pop with many of our fans.

With 2 top 10 albums as well as 2 top 3 singles inwards America inwards 1968, Los Angeles rockers Steppenwolf gave themselves simply about deed to follow. But inwards the early on months of the next year, they were at it again. On seven March 1969, they released their tertiary LP, At Your Birthday Party, as well as would shortly run across it residing inwards the top ten, along with its flagship unmarried ‘Rock Me.’

The novel album, to a greater extent than rock-leaning than the band’s previous work, was the laid about to characteristic Nick St. Nicholas on bass, replacing Rushton Moreve. The arrival of St. Nicholas divided sentiment alongside Steppenwolf diehards, but the novel band fellow member had co-writes on 2 tracks, including a solo credit for ‘Sleeping Dreaming,’ fifty-fifty if that was lilliputian to a greater extent than than a minute-long jam. Frontman John Kay wrote ‘Rock Me,’ which had the farther exercise goodness of a placement inwards the 1968 characteristic cinema Candy, a current slice of permissiveness featuring Marlon Brando, Richard Burton as well as fifty-fifty Ringo Starr.

Steppenwolf Rock Me Single Sleeve spider web optimised 350The unmarried made its Hot 100 debut the calendar week earlier the album release, as well as although it alone managed a ten-week chart stay, compared to thirteen for ‘Born To Be Wild’ as well as sixteen for ‘Magic Carpet Ride,’ it nevertheless reached No. 10. It was a similar floor for At Your Birthday Party, which cruel curt of the gilt certification already achieved past times Steppenwolf as well as The Second, but soundless spent 29 weeks on the Billboard album chart.

Track listing:

01 Don't Cry 3:04
02 Chicken Wolf 2:51
03 Lovely Meter 3:12
04 Round And Down 3:15
05 It's Never Too Late 4:05
06 Sleeping Dreaming 1:11
07 Jupiter Child 3:24
08 She'll Be Better 5:15
09 Cat Killer 1:30
10 Rock Me 3:39
xi God Fearing Man 3:50
12 Mango Juice 3:14
thirteen Happy Birthday 1:20

Personnel:

John Kay – Pb vocals, beat guitar, harmonica
Michael Monarch – Pb guitar
Goldy McJohn – organ, piano
Nick St. Nicholas – bass
Jerry Edmonton – drums, backing vocals