Steppenwolf was everywhere in the air in the early 70s, but I was never able to put a face to the lead singer, John Kay. This live performance rectifies that.
John Kay was born in 1944 as Joachim Fritz Krauledat. Somehow that fits him better. He was too young to appreciate the rather exciting time he lived through right after he was born. From Wikipedia:
Kay was born in Tilsit, East Prussia, Germany, now Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia.[3] His father Fritz[4] was killed a month[5] before he was born. When Kay was a baby in early 1945, his mother fled with him from the advancing Soviet troops during the Evacuation of East Prussia in harsh winter conditions. Their train got stuck near Arnstadt, which was first occupied by Americans, but then became part of the East German Soviet occupation zone. In 1949, they crossed the already fortified border to resettle in Hanover, West Germany (as recounted in his song “Renegade” on the album Steppenwolf 7). Now living in the British occupation zone, the young Joachim, who suffered from eye problems, listened to broadcasts by the British Forces Broadcasting Service, like the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany. He also saw a news reel about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, shot and smuggled out by László Kovács of later Easy Rider fame. His family moved to Canada in 1958.
Somehow, he has a voice befitting a refugee of the eastern front.
4 replies on “Magic Carpet Ride”
John Kay was awesome. He put out one solo album after the popularity of Steppenwolf waned that was excellent.
Didn’t know that! Will look for it.
It turns out, there was more than one solo album. The one I had was Lone Steppenwolf.
https://steppenwolf.com/p-4897-john-kay-solo-albums.html
Thank you!