I was around back then, and I’m gonna tell you straight out… this was not a “fun“ song. It was extremely serious. A lot of people were losing loved ones to drugs like heroin. You can hear the anger and despair in his voice. Even the music has a lot of emotion in it. This is an absolute stellar song.
I too was a little amazed and disappointed in the use of “fun” in connection with this song; in the apparent cluelessness about the heroin deaths by overdose (not strokes or heart attacks) in those days, or even what a pusher was; and by the unintentional irony in using the word dope to describe one aspect of the music. I know… “OK,boomer.” I realize they are young and weren’t around in those days. Even so, this is an opportunity to learn.
It started so free and easy - young people, good people, sharing weed at cost, every once in a while someone would come back from California with Orange Sunshine and Purple Owsley that they'd trade for mushroom tea, mescalin, peyote buttons to take west. It was NOT for the money. They were the Dream Dealers. That changed when people learned how much money they could make off dope and the most lucrative was heroin and cocaine. Those were the pushers. Suddenly, people were dying like everywhere. The "curse of the northeast" was visited on the dreamers. A pusher was an evil. They'd lace the pot with heroin and tell people it was "michoacán", "tie sticks" or whatever exotic never-seen-in-that-area-before smoke, to get people to "step up." There's very few "stoned" like a heroin high. There's few things as addictive and deadly as heroin's high. I don't think Axton was cursing when he wrote this song - I think he was seeing friends die and praying.
I was 13 when this album came out. One Saturday I was in my room getting ready for Pony League baseball game and had this album playing while I did. Apparently, my mom had yelled for me to turn it down and I didn't hear her. Next thing I know she comes charging into my room yelling I told you to turn this crap down. I told her I didn't hear her which only seemed to make her more angry. Suddenly, she snatches my album off the turntable and sails it across my room like a frisbee until it hit my wall and broke into pieces. I just looked at her in amazement, grabbed my stuff, walked out of the house, got on my bike and rode to my baseball game. When I got home later and walked into my bedroom there was a brand new Steppenwolf album laying on my bed. My mom told me it embarrassed the hell out of her to have to walk into the "Hippie Music Store" downtown to buy the album and was afraid someone would see her going in there. The late 60s was a great time to come of age.
First time my dad heard me listening to this song, I thought he was going to whoop my butt. Tried to tell him what it was about, but he was having none of it. It was quickly banned from our radio station, so only heard it at parties after that. Glad you liked it. It's S tier for me. It was ground breaking for the times.
Hey sundayze, I can't believe Alex gave this a b+, jeez, what's wrong with the guy, your so right, absolutely S tier for me as well, still gives me goosebumps when I hear those guitars, this is why good rock music is so powerful, and timeless
@sundayze I managed to keep my dad from hearing it. I became really adept at making the leap across my room to get to my little stereo & turn the volume down at the very start of the song. Didn't matter what I was doing...putting my makeup on, getting dressed, playing with the dog...my self protective instincts were strong. I didn't really fear an ass whoopin' but getting yelled at by my dad was almost as bad.👀
Hoyt Axton wrote "The Pusher" as well as another drug related song that Steppenwolf covered titled "Snow Blind Friend" which you guys definitely need to give a listen to. "Monster" and "Don't Step On The Grass Sam" are two more Steppenwolf songs you guys need to hear.
Hoyt Axton also wrote Joy To The World and Never Been To Spain, which Three Dog Night covered and had mega hits with in the 1970 and 1971.. Super talented singer/songwriter and actor!!
@@roncypert8255 yes indeed, Hoyt Axton was definitely a very talented singer/songwriter and actor. I believe he was the father in "Gremlins" and, in the TV show "WKRP In Cincinnati" he played a former boyfriend of Loni Anderson's from her old hometown. Another Three Dog Night song he wrote was "Never Been To Spain"
Hoyt was a top-tier songwriter. So many covers of his songs were big hits for the cover band! Such wit, though. I think of him sorta like the Mark Twain of songwriting. He and John Prine.
This song was used in the intro to the movie Easy Rider! Easy Rider was one of the first Hollywood movies to use licensed (pre released music) for the soundtrack.
@@rundoetx "Long ago and far away" I ran into John Kay at the LA airport, as I was sitting with my sister waiting for her boarding flight to Europe, we saw John Kay, sitting with someone. We tried not to look or make a big deal of it, as in Los Angeles you just don't do that, you act casual. When I hugged my sister good-bye outside, as I watched her board her flight and go up the plane steps, John Kay just started walking with me back to the inside of the airport, I said "I thought you were going on that flight", he said "no just seeing a friend off like you did". I said she was my sister and we just chatted and he said "coffee"? I said "sure okay". So we chatted at one of the little restaurants in the airport, I asked him why he always wore his sun glasses all the time "inside and outside", so he then took them off and I said "OH you have beautiful eyes" we laughed. I told him I loved his song "The pusher" but I also like this ballad he sang called "Tenderness" and he said 'yeah I had a GF who talked with me "about treating women tenderly" and I said "yes, I agree, which is why I like the song and your voice". I told John how I had seen and met a lot of famous "rockers" in LA, and how I had met Jim Morrison also, as I had two girlfriends that used to hang out with Jim and the doors at Venice Beach. He asked me what I thought of Jim Morrison, I told him my "few chats with Jim were very different than what most people said about him, I found him very "gracious and gentlemen like" and how we had talked about poets we liked, Art, Mythology".. John Kay said "it's nice for people to meet some of "we rockers" and to find out some of us are not who so many think we are"", I agreed. He asked me if I needed a "ride home" I said no I had my car, (don't think I would have accepted anyway you never know) I lived in "the valley", He walked me to my car kissed my cheek said "Barbara nice meeting and chatting with you, you are one Foxy lady"... I watched him walk off and hail a cab and off he went! Having a photographic memory is good in some ways but not in others.
John Kay's voice is tailor made for Rock 'n Roll. Rough, macho, sexy & sensual, and full of grit .... I knew I'd struck gold when I purchased Steppenwolf's 1st album over 50 years ago and the group was just getting their start. I saw them once live in 1968 in Rochester, New York.
John Kay was smart, after splitting with his bandmates he let them keep the name Steppenwolf and the right to play his songs in concerts, but he would keep all of the future royalties...well here comes cassettes, CDs and streaming services = made him very wealthy. His old bandmates wanted a cut of the new royalties and sue John, but they lose in court.
A great example of a song whose definitive version is a cover. A friend in 9th grade in 1982 mentioned his brother took him to a recent Steppenwolf show. A teacher overheard us talking and asked "are those drug addled freaks still around?" or words to that effect with such derision that I made a mental note to hear more of them. When I heard their greatest hits, I was BLOWN AWAY at how intelligent their material was. Watch an interview with John Kay and listen to his life history and perspective. This is absolutely an S+ tier song.
@enderjed "The Pusher" was originally written and performed by Hoyt Axton but the Steppenwolf version is the definitive version. Just like Hendix / Dylan for All Along the Watchtower... Skynyrd / JJ Cale for Call Me the Breeze... Linda Ronstatd / Everly Brothers for When Will I Be Loved
I think this is a great theme idea for A&A: tracking a song through time by comparing the original to the best covers. I'm thinking of "Baby It's You" (Shirelles then Beatles then Smith), "She's Not There" (Turtles then Santana), "Runaway" (Del Shannon then Bonnie Raitt), "Louie, Louie" (Richard Berry then Kingsman then The Last), "Hey, Jude" (Beatles then Wilson Pickett). Lots of other examples where there are really excellent covers that reveal how Rock and recording technology evolved through years
FYI, Dealersd were the friendly neighborhood guy or the guy in your dorm, who sold weed/acid/ maybe some pills (speed, downers). Pushers were the guys selling heroin to strangers
The Hammond Organ critical to the texture in this song. It was subtle at times but it was also part of the echoes back and forth with the guitar. That organ sound was pure Steppenwolf.
Heroin was in full swing when this song came out. I lost a lot of good friends to the drug. If it did not kill them it turned them into someone you could not trust with anything. Had a brother and sister that became addicted and am unable to trust them to this day even after they became clean. This song was very personal to me.
I am old enough to remember that the late 60s was an experiement in new freedoms that gave way to excess and social ills as well as learning new frontiers. Todays young are on the same path and will find this as well.
my sister was a heroin dealer and user.. she said ' don't you ever try it. too bad she did not take her own advice. she got clean after years of use cancer got her
Everything about this song is perfect. The lyrics, the dirty guitar, the organ backing, and John’s vocal. As a recovering coke addict, I’ve wished a lot of suffering on my dealers. Listening to this song always reminds me of my history. Keep up the good work.
Hoyt Axton, generally a folk/country artist (and character actor), had a few of his songs covered in this time period. Most famously "Joy To The World" done by Three Dog Night. A unique writer, and performer.
This song hit so damn, deep my brother and 3 cousin had thier drak days but survived. Next Steppenwolf Song Is their 3 part opus anthem "Monster/Suicide/America (Medley)"
I laughed so hard awhile back when Andy, describing this song to Alex says...." A bunch of guys standing around just yelling GOD DAMN!" 😅😅😅 Peace from PA ✌️
Love Steppenwolf. More to explore with "Monster" (very much a song for today's USA), "Rock Me", "Snowblind Friend". Good stuff. The guitars in The Pusher remind me of Big Brother and the Holding Company. Do love that sound.
The "Easy Rider" Soundtrack album was the very first LP I purchased, because of this song specifically. Hey, John Kaye was saying "God Damn The Pusherman", on the radio. And, at that time you never heard THAT on the radio, or anywhere else. Eventually, it was the way the song showed the difference between a "Pusher" and a "Dealer", that really made the song work for me. Lots of other great tunes on the "Easy Rider" Soundtrack: "If Six Was Nine" by Jimi Hendrix, "Born To Be Wild" also by Steppenwolf, "The Weight" by The Band and "I Wan't Born To Follow" by The Byrds.
I was in my mid teens when this was out. The whole way it was presented scared the you know what out of me and kept me away from any hard drugs my entire life.
I want to thank you very much for doing Steppenwolf the pusher. I do films and work on stage in Calgary and one of my first films Hoyt Axton had a roll in the film. He wrote that song. He sat a table away from me at lunch one day and talked about a dishwasher at the restaurant he would go to. He overheard Hoyt when he was working the song out and the dishwasher said if I ever get a recording contract with my band I will record that song !. Well he became the lead singer of Steppenwolf in the Rest is history. Other songs who wait Axton wrote Were Never Been to Spain , and the song Jeremiah was a bullfrog which was meant for a kids show but he wrote the song and the show fell through and still have the song. Three dog night we're in the next studio and they were working next to each other. They heard him do it and they liked it so much they recorded it. Thank you very much and I enjoy what you do
First concert I ever attended, summer 1969. You guys have to listen to “Monster medley (includes Suicide/America)” and a softer side of this band, "None Of Your Doing”!
Such a great band and song which got me thinking that it was 54 years ago I watched Steppenwolf perform this at a Toronto weekend music festival. I may be old but I have amazing memories of those days. Thanks for the reactions guys!
I was 16 years old in small-town Virginia. I was friends with the local AM dj, who gave me this album because he was not allowed to play it...this was a few months before Steppenwolf became known for Magic Carpet Ride. I will never forget the shock value of this song. I still get goose bumps hearing it! Great reaction, guys!
Love that sixties fuzz guitar vibe. Even if you weren't around in person to hear 60s Hippie/psychedelic music, you know right away the era these sort of songs were recorded. Donovan's "Season of The Witch," sounds a lot like this, and it's from the same Hippie/Drug/ psychedelic music period, from about 1965 to 1970.
I once played this track on the air at a 100,000 watt station on a Sunday morning in the bible belt of North Carolina. Had a good long discussion with a listener who called to complain.
This song is an S-tier for me. It's not complex, musically, but the groove is undeniable, and the lyrics and music, overall, *just hit so, so hard* , especially if you have friends or family members whose lives have been permanently altered, for the worse, by drugs. This is one righteously angry song that casts a musical spell and takes me to another place, without any need of chemicals. Steppenwolf rocked!
Had to comment on this one, guys! WOW, the freakin' dope memories this brings up!! (Pun intended!) I was just barely 15 years old in that 1968 late-summer when this album was still huge! I had a new and dangerous boyfriend, and he picked me up on his black Honda 650 motorcycle, and took me to his (Mom's) house, she was home at the time!! We went in his room, which was actually the master suite, but it was almost like his own private apartment. He had it decorated in the style of the times, with dark curtains on the windows, dim lights and several colored lights, including the requisite Lava Lamp, and a Black Light in the ceiling fixture! He had his walls almost covered in fantastic psychedelic and Band posters, which were stunning in the Black Light! We sat on carpets and pillows on the floor and listened to this entire album! We had Day-Glo paints and we painted up each other's faces and arms and legs! This was BEFORE I had ever gotten high, and he and I did not use any substances that day, so we did not have the "appropriate smoky room", but it was a fantastic time that lives in my memory like a technicolor movie!!! Thanks for the memories, Guys! Happy Memorial Day!!!!
This song was written by the same guy who wrote Joy to the World for Three Dog Night. The great Hoyt Axton. It's seems kind of strange to me to have a rating system for songs that is not based on your level of enjoyment of the song, Alex. What else is there? Steppenwolf also does Hoyt's song Snowblind Friend. Both John Kay and Hoyt Axton had lost friends to hard drugs. I highly recommend the Steppenwolf track Monster. Epic social commentary!
What else is there? Really? I love the fact that Alex, as a musician, can try to be objective in rating a song and not rate it based solely on his personal enjoyment. He used to rate that way (Black Betty, S-tier LOL) but now I think he tries to be objective. As he said, he’d listen more to this than he would many ones he’s rated A+ so….as an example….you could rate Yes’ Close to the Edge S-tier for all its accomplishments, but not want to hear it all that often. I think it’s cool that hw tries to do that.
Written by the late great Hoyt Axton, who also wrote "Joy to the World" and "Never Been to Spain" for Three Dog Night. Hoyt's mother also was co-writer on "Heartbreak Hotel" for Elvis.
This is an S just for the power and originality of the lyrics, and for going against the "drugs are cool man" zeitgeist of the times. Anyone going against the grain gets extra points. And the vocal delivery and vibe are perfect, angry and dark. S-tier bro.
This is the naughty, nastiest, narleyiest drug song I ever experienced! It took me right into the times when it came out and memories of friends I lost to addictions! You guys nailed the meaning! Thank you so much!💔
Saw a show at Central Washington in 1969 with Three Dog Night headlining and the songwriter, Hoyt Axton. His acoustic version on resonator guitar using a straight razor for a slide made a believer out of me.
Yessss! I've been pushing for you guys to critique this song for months. For me this is an "S" tier song. I'm a little disappointed that you didn't like it as much as I love it.
Cool story: I volunteered to help at the show when these guys performed at an annual festival they called Bay Days in the early 90s. After their set, they got on the bus, went down the road a little ways, and stopped at a little dive bar between 2 go-go bars. Well, I guess they were having fun because they decided to play a set for free right then and there using house equipment. Now THAT'S a cool band for ya.
The guy in front of me in sophomore homeroom (1966) used to turn around and sing this to me. I was shocked (sheltered childhood) and thought he was totally making it up. Took a couple more years before realizing it was an actual song and that Steppenwolf had done it. Love it and still have it on vinyl.
"Monster" and "Hippo Stomp" please. They changed lead guitarists a lot, and this guy was only around for a couple. He was amazing. When they recorded this album, they said everything just flowed effortlessly. It's been one of my favorite albums for over 50 years.
Hippo Stomp and The Ostrich are my two favorite S'wolf songs -- but there are so many that A&A would dig! Ride With Me, Foggy Mental Breakdown, Sooke Sookie, Don't Step On the Grass, Sam.... Great stuff.
This song came out my first year in college (1968). I can't answer for the rest of the world, but those I ran with called it "head music". It wasn't something you would dance to at a party...you just caught a buzz, kicked back, closed your eyes and listened. The first real rock concert I went to featured Steppenwolf. It was in Shreveport, LA. in 1970. Their lead off band was Bubble Puppy. I was also a good friend of members of the group called 5x5, who also toured occasionally with Steppenwolf. To this day, I still maintain contact with the bass player of the 5x5. And YES, it was a great time for music. Late 60's and early 70's was a GREAT time for music.
Keep the Steppenwolf coming; "Snowblind Friend" is another song condemning heroin yet sympathetic to one's addiction and the fallout on friends and family, one of my all time faves. "Don't Step On The Grass, Sam" calls out then LA Mayor Sam Yorty and his anti-marijuana campaign, then of course "Monster/Suicide/America" is a song about the state of America that could've been written today. Steppenwolf is without a doubt one of the most underrated band of that era, "Born To Be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride" were such monster hits that they overshadowed the rest of what is a stellar discography. John Kay was a master rock artist.
This song brings back memories of the early 70's. Motorcycles, high grade Jamaican grass,wine and the free love babes. Great times. Just home from Vietnam. Crazy, crazy partying that went on for weeks.
Superb Band, tune & sentiment. I could see Alex following the bass all the way through the tune. So glad you liked it as much as I thought you would. By the way, a lot of us lost friends to the Pusher's trade, Heroin & the like in the 60-8-'s. I stuck to my Herbs.
Snowblind Friend is another one of their anti drug songs which is different from their norm! Written by Hoit Axton, it's a hard hitting song about a heroin addicted friend of his!!
God Damn! -- that's an interesting choice! Not a great song, but the mood is great. "Monster" might be their best song. I will now use the phrase "Gnarly groove" at least five times a day.
A good follow-up to this song is Pusherman by Curtis Mayfield. Next up for Steppenwolf Rock Me Baby. For me, the middle part of that song makes it a "lost in the sauce" jam.
Yes, it was a great time to be playing in Rock & Roll bands. As a drummer in mid & late 60s bands doing lots of jam & original material, I did acid with Blue Cheer & smoked my 1st Rock Star grade weed with members of The Jefferson Airplane. The lean, raw, "simple," stripped down style still resonates in my soul when I hear the old stuff. Watching your generation rediscover and (mostly, lol) appreciate what was such a big part of the zeitgeist of a generation is a great pleasure! Thank you, young men 💯👌👍👊✌️✌️✌️
One of the great psychedelic songs defining the times. This is on the Easy Rider movie soundtrack along with other great timely songs. The movie is iconic and would be worthwhile to review the entire LP at one sitting.
Fantastic song. I love the way the guitar with all the fuzz and Reverb on it just kind of heaves its way into the beginning of a phrase of a solo. It's like it takes a second for the full effect it kind of roll into it and then it has this inertia.
People "walking around with tombstones in their eyes" is dark poetry. It resonates currently more than you may have imagined--me being someone who lives is Seattle, WA. Death-eyes is a thing here in certain pockets of the city.
In this era just around US continuation of sending soldiers to Vietnam many came back hard addicted in the same time students at universities who were not drafted were experimenting with drugs so drugs were everywhere and such an amount of sort of war era songs came out. A+ definitely
Fire & Rain by James Taylor was also written about his heroin addiction as well. Gil Scott Heron’s “The Bottle” is also a powerful song about alcohol addiction
You hit it Alex....the lyrics are even more pertinent today, with all the the thousands of young people dying from bad dangerous drugs. AND..... it's a great song musically.
Long time no hear. Thank You. There is a lot of meaning in this song for me and others. Please note he is not swearing, he is actually asking God to damn the pusher man.
I forgot how much I liked Steppenwolf's use of bass. But if killer bass is your thing, there's an S Tier song that you owe to yourselves: "Tomorrow Never Knows" by 801 Live. This song bangs on so many cylinders that will resonate with you: bass to die for, one of the greatest covers of a Beatles song ever, fantastic concert performance, a chance to hear Brian Eno in digestible form (he's the shadowy figure behind the curtain of King Crimson, Roxy Music, The Talking Heads, Devo, David Bowie), Phil Manzanera on guitar, groundbreaking recording technology, great production. But because it's "merely" a concert collaboration without any studio albums supporting it, it flew under everyone's radar (at least in the U.S.). Hey, A&A community: can I get 10 people to listen to this song and second this recommendation? We need a groundswell!!
@@stevious7278 Can't disagree-- Third Uncle is even more bass-intensive! Frankly, I think they'd love the whole album, but TNK might be a better gateway drug to get them there!
“The Pusher” plays at the start of EASY RIDER (1969) as a deal goes down, and the two Dudes set off on their Cycles, across America - and Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” kicks into gear 😎
Saw Steppenwolf over a dozen times during the late 60 thru early eighties. One of the best live bands around. Check out. Don’t Step on the Grass Sam, ( pro weed) Snow Blind Friend ( cocaine addiction) Who Needs You drug and alcohol. But a fun song like all of theirs. Hippo Stomp I think you’ll rate it high. Political songs, The Ostrich, Monster. They have a great catalogue. This old Metal rock head biker dude enjoys your breakdown and discovery of great bands from my era but they’re music like most bands you’ve looked into from the sixties seventies and so on is just as good as it was back then because in my humble opinion it was the freedom of all those bands to explore and expand with no constraints except the censorship of radio. Most of the songs I just suggested was not allowed on the airways. As a young teenager in 1967 I couldn’t wait to bring home their latest album because of their rebellious sound. God bless Rock On Stay Safe!🙏🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
This song is definitely about her¤in. Back then, a lot of people were getting hooked on it, and the people who sold it were called pushers. Dealers were fine, because they sold p¤t and the worst that could happen was that you fell asleep watching the Midnight Special after smoking it. But, the pusher knew he was selling you death in a syringe, if you used too much or if it was too pure. That's why Steppenwolf called the pusher an unnatural man. Dealers were your friend but pushers were anything but.
One of my favorite Steppenwolf songs. The guitar solos are so haunting to match the tone and message they're trying to convey. Nice reaction vid, guys.
I was around back then, and I’m gonna tell you straight out… this was not a “fun“ song. It was extremely serious. A lot of people were losing loved ones to drugs like heroin. You can hear the anger and despair in his voice. Even the music has a lot of emotion in it. This is an absolute stellar song.
it is an AWESOME JAM groovy
I too was a little amazed and disappointed in the use of “fun” in connection with this song; in the apparent cluelessness about the heroin deaths by overdose (not strokes or heart attacks) in those days, or even what a pusher was; and by the unintentional irony in using the word dope to describe one aspect of the music. I know… “OK,boomer.” I realize they are young and weren’t around in those days. Even so, this is an opportunity to learn.
It started so free and easy - young people, good people, sharing weed at cost, every once in a while someone would come back from California with Orange Sunshine and Purple Owsley that they'd trade for mushroom tea, mescalin, peyote buttons to take west. It was NOT for the money. They were the Dream Dealers.
That changed when people learned how much money they could make off dope and the most lucrative was heroin and cocaine. Those were the pushers.
Suddenly, people were dying like everywhere. The "curse of the northeast" was visited on the dreamers. A pusher was an evil. They'd lace the pot with heroin and tell people it was "michoacán", "tie sticks" or whatever exotic never-seen-in-that-area-before smoke, to get people to "step up." There's very few "stoned" like a heroin high. There's few things as addictive and deadly as heroin's high.
I don't think Axton was cursing when he wrote this song - I think he was seeing friends die and praying.
@@lambokarabeekian6192 i think its a great FUN jam here is a TISSUE friend
@@BronsonOsborne To each his own I guess. Thanks for the tissue, bud. My allergies are killing me.😉
I was 13 when this album came out. One Saturday I was in my room getting ready for Pony League baseball game and had this album playing while I did. Apparently, my mom had yelled for me to turn it down and I didn't hear her. Next thing I know she comes charging into my room yelling I told you to turn this crap down. I told her I didn't hear her which only seemed to make her more angry. Suddenly, she snatches my album off the turntable and sails it across my room like a frisbee until it hit my wall and broke into pieces. I just looked at her in amazement, grabbed my stuff, walked out of the house, got on my bike and rode to my baseball game. When I got home later and walked into my bedroom there was a brand new Steppenwolf album laying on my bed. My mom told me it embarrassed the hell out of her to have to walk into the "Hippie Music Store" downtown to buy the album and was afraid someone would see her going in there. The late 60s was a great time to come of age.
This is a great memory. Our parents had to put up with a lot of the music coming from our turntables! My dad was less than tolerant.
Pretty sure every teenager back then had a record or two flung across the room.
good times.
🤣😅😆
I was 17.
So beautiful that your mom loved you enough to admit to her mistake
seems like a normal response for those days.
First time my dad heard me listening to this song, I thought he was going to whoop my butt. Tried to tell him what it was about, but he was having none of it. It was quickly banned from our radio station, so only heard it at parties after that. Glad you liked it. It's S tier for me. It was ground breaking for the times.
My mother had a similar response. She took a sewing needle and went all through this track so it could not be played on the stereo. I mean, god damn!
Hey sundayze, I can't believe Alex gave this a b+, jeez, what's wrong with the guy, your so right, absolutely S tier for me as well, still gives me goosebumps when I hear those guitars, this is why good rock music is so powerful, and timeless
Not just Monster, but the entire 3 sets. 'Monster / Suicide / America' Still relevant today.
@sundayze
I managed to keep my dad from hearing it. I became really adept at making the leap across my room to get to my little stereo & turn the volume down at the very start of the song.
Didn't matter what I was doing...putting my makeup on, getting dressed, playing with the dog...my self protective instincts were strong.
I didn't really fear an ass whoopin' but getting yelled at by my dad was almost as bad.👀
Our Mom said that's a terrible song. We tried to tell her it was anti-drug, but she couldn't get past the swearing.
Hoyt Axton wrote "The Pusher" as well as another drug related song that Steppenwolf covered titled "Snow Blind Friend" which you guys definitely need to give a listen to. "Monster" and "Don't Step On The Grass Sam" are two more Steppenwolf songs you guys need to hear.
Hoyt Axton also wrote Joy To The World and Never Been To Spain, which Three Dog Night covered and had mega hits with in the 1970 and 1971..
Super talented singer/songwriter and actor!!
@@roncypert8255 yes indeed, Hoyt Axton was definitely a very talented singer/songwriter and actor. I believe he was the father in "Gremlins" and, in the TV show "WKRP In Cincinnati" he played a former boyfriend of Loni Anderson's from her old hometown. Another Three Dog Night song he wrote was "Never Been To Spain"
Agreed on all. Add Foggy Mental Breakdown to the list.
Monster is a very under rated album.
"Don't Step on the Grass Sam" is one of my favorites. I'm glad somebody finally recommended it.
Steppenwolf also does a great job on Hoyt Axton's "Snowblind Friend."
This takes me back to High School! Thanks guys.
I was going to request that! Great choice.
Beat me to it as well!!
Love all the suggestions for "Snowblind Friend." I'm on that bandwagon too!
Hoyt was a top-tier songwriter. So many covers of his songs were big hits for the cover band! Such wit, though. I think of him sorta like the Mark Twain of songwriting. He and John Prine.
Great song.
This song was used in the intro to the movie Easy Rider! Easy Rider was one of the first Hollywood movies to use licensed (pre released music) for the soundtrack.
Legendary Song. S tier at the time, and it still is.
God Damn, a B+?
I know ! !
A+ or higher !!!
😎👍
Yeah very weird, he says he loves it "it's fun? I don't get that. I think it's serious and epic and an A+!!
@Barbara Roberts It's a great song in its own right, but rose to an s tier, in my eyes, for its perfect use in Easy Rider.
@@rundoetx Yeah I remember that and the movie..
@@rundoetx "Long ago and far away" I ran into John Kay at the LA airport, as I was sitting with my sister waiting for her boarding flight to Europe, we saw John Kay, sitting with someone. We tried not to look or make a big deal of it, as in Los Angeles you just don't do that, you act casual. When I hugged my sister good-bye outside, as I watched her board her flight and go up the plane steps, John Kay just started walking with me back to the inside of the airport, I said "I thought you were going on that flight", he said "no just seeing a friend off like you did". I said she was my sister and we just chatted and he said "coffee"? I said "sure okay". So we chatted at one of the little restaurants in the airport, I asked him why he always wore his sun glasses all the time "inside and outside", so he then took them off and I said "OH you have beautiful eyes" we laughed. I told him I loved his song "The pusher" but I also like this ballad he sang called "Tenderness" and he said 'yeah I had a GF who talked with me "about treating women tenderly" and I said "yes, I agree, which is why I like the song and your voice". I told John how I had seen and met a lot of famous "rockers" in LA, and how I had met Jim Morrison also, as I had two girlfriends that used to hang out with Jim and the doors at Venice Beach. He asked me what I thought of Jim Morrison, I told him my "few chats with Jim were very different than what most people said about him, I found him very "gracious and gentlemen like" and how we had talked about poets we liked, Art, Mythology".. John Kay said "it's nice for people to meet some of "we rockers" and to find out some of us are not who so many think we are"", I agreed. He asked me if I needed a "ride home" I said no I had my car, (don't think I would have accepted anyway you never know) I lived in "the valley", He walked me to my car kissed my cheek said "Barbara nice meeting and chatting with you, you are one Foxy lady"... I watched him walk off and hail a cab and off he went! Having a photographic memory is good in some ways but not in others.
John Kay's voice is tailor made for Rock 'n Roll. Rough, macho, sexy & sensual, and full of grit .... I knew I'd struck gold when I purchased Steppenwolf's 1st album over 50 years ago and the group was just getting their start. I saw them once live in 1968 in Rochester, New York.
I remember exactly where I was when I heard this 🤘
John Kay was smart, after splitting with his bandmates he let them keep the name Steppenwolf and the right to play his songs in concerts, but he would keep all of the future royalties...well here comes cassettes, CDs and streaming services = made him very wealthy. His old bandmates wanted a cut of the new royalties and sue John, but they lose in court.
"Hey Lawdy Mama" should be next. Banger!
A great example of a song whose definitive version is a cover. A friend in 9th grade in 1982 mentioned his brother took him to a recent Steppenwolf show. A teacher overheard us talking and asked "are those drug addled freaks still around?" or words to that effect with such derision that I made a mental note to hear more of them. When I heard their greatest hits, I was BLOWN AWAY at how intelligent their material was. Watch an interview with John Kay and listen to his life history and perspective. This is absolutely an S+ tier song.
The Greatest Hits Album is absolutely killer.
So which cover is the definitive version?
@@enderjed Steppenwolf's is the cover version. Country artist Hoyt Axton wrote the song, but they used Steppenwolf's version in the movie Easy Rider.
@enderjed "The Pusher" was originally written and performed by Hoyt Axton but the Steppenwolf version is the definitive version. Just like Hendix / Dylan for All Along the Watchtower... Skynyrd / JJ Cale for Call Me the Breeze... Linda Ronstatd / Everly Brothers for When Will I Be Loved
I think this is a great theme idea for A&A: tracking a song through time by comparing the original to the best covers. I'm thinking of "Baby It's You" (Shirelles then Beatles then Smith), "She's Not There" (Turtles then Santana), "Runaway" (Del Shannon then Bonnie Raitt), "Louie, Louie" (Richard Berry then Kingsman then The Last), "Hey, Jude" (Beatles then Wilson Pickett). Lots of other examples where there are really excellent covers that reveal how Rock and recording technology evolved through years
FYI, Dealersd were the friendly neighborhood guy or the guy in your dorm, who sold weed/acid/ maybe some pills (speed, downers). Pushers were the guys selling heroin to strangers
Well said 😎👍
The Hammond Organ critical to the texture in this song. It was subtle at times but it was also part of the echoes back and forth with the guitar. That organ sound was pure Steppenwolf.
Goldy McJohn on the Hammond B-3 organ!
Heroin was in full swing when this song came out. I lost a lot of good friends to the drug. If it did not kill them it turned them into someone you could not trust with anything. Had a brother and sister that became addicted and am unable to trust them to this day even after they became clean. This song was very personal to me.
It’s personal today for sure!
I am old enough to remember that the late 60s was an experiement in new freedoms that gave way to excess and social ills as well as learning new frontiers. Todays young are on the same path and will find this as well.
my sister was a heroin dealer and user.. she said ' don't you ever try it. too bad she did not take her own advice. she got clean after years of use cancer got her
If the shade of music was of this, imagine where we are! 🤍🕊
Yes 🙌 sad times indeed
Everything about this song is perfect. The lyrics, the dirty guitar, the organ backing, and John’s vocal. As a recovering coke addict, I’ve wished a lot of suffering on my dealers. Listening to this song always reminds me of my history. Keep up the good work.
"Sookie Sookie" is a great uptempo Steppenwolf song you will enjoy!
Frickin A+ for the subject matter alone.
Hoyt Axton, generally a folk/country artist (and character actor), had a few of his songs covered in this time period. Most famously "Joy To The World" done by Three Dog Night.
A unique writer, and performer.
This song hit so damn, deep my brother and 3 cousin had thier drak days but survived. Next Steppenwolf Song Is their 3 part opus anthem "Monster/Suicide/America (Medley)"
For sure...That great medley from the album Monster should be the next Steppenwolf
must hear...
That's a must. Great, nother side of the howling wolf.
Great song totally underrated.
I laughed so hard awhile back when Andy, describing this song to Alex says...." A bunch of guys standing around just yelling GOD DAMN!" 😅😅😅
Peace from PA ✌️
That was a classic!!
"..With big bellies.."
I too remember!
Couple of numbnuts!
Yeah, he seems to have changed his tune.
Sometimes it's the music, sometimes it's the lyrics, and once in a while the universe is in harmony and it's both
Love Steppenwolf. More to explore with "Monster" (very much a song for today's USA), "Rock Me", "Snowblind Friend". Good stuff. The guitars in The Pusher remind me of Big Brother and the Holding Company. Do love that sound.
"Monster" is a fantastic song especially considering how relevant it still is.
Yes , but if you do react to Monster make sure that it's from the Monster album not from the Live double album .
Steppenwolf kicks ass surprised more people don’t know. They were born to be wild
The "Easy Rider" Soundtrack album was the very first LP I purchased, because of this song specifically. Hey, John Kaye was saying "God Damn The Pusherman", on the radio. And, at that time you never heard THAT on the radio, or anywhere else. Eventually, it was the way the song showed the difference between a "Pusher" and a "Dealer", that really made the song work for me. Lots of other great tunes on the "Easy Rider" Soundtrack: "If Six Was Nine" by Jimi Hendrix, "Born To Be Wild" also by Steppenwolf, "The Weight" by The Band and "I Wan't Born To Follow" by The Byrds.
If Six was Nine is a masterpiece
@@Prone2Thrill Fact.
Peter Fonda stashing the Bills into the gas line/tank in Easy Rider was a perfect backdrop.
I was in my mid teens when this was out. The whole way it was presented scared the you know what out of me and kept me away from any hard drugs my entire life.
Me too.
Ditto Steve.
Just as Hoyt and Steppenwolf intended. Awesome story
Me too
When this came out, I didn't even know what a "pusher" was. Innocent me. When I found out, I liked this even more...
The Pusher written by Country Artist Hoyt Axton around 1963 give or take a year. He also Stared in the 80's Movie Gremlins.
Love steppenwolf
Back in the early '70's, I had numerous mind expanding "excursions" while listening to this song. 😳😂✌️
My friends and I were sometimes called the "Doobie" Brothers 😎
I want to thank you very much for doing Steppenwolf the pusher.
I do films and work on stage in Calgary and one of my first films Hoyt Axton had a roll in the film.
He wrote that song. He sat a table away from me at lunch one day and talked about a dishwasher at the restaurant he would go to. He overheard Hoyt when he was working the song out and the dishwasher said if I ever get a recording contract with my band I will record that song !. Well he became the lead singer of Steppenwolf in the Rest is history.
Other songs who wait Axton wrote Were Never Been to Spain , and the song Jeremiah was a bullfrog which was meant for a kids show but he wrote the song and the show fell through and still have the song. Three dog night we're in the next studio and they were working next to each other. They heard him do it and they liked it so much they recorded it. Thank you very much and I enjoy what you do
First concert I ever attended, summer 1969. You guys have to listen to “Monster medley (includes Suicide/America)” and a softer side of this band, "None Of Your Doing”!
Such a great band and song which got me thinking that it was 54 years ago I watched Steppenwolf perform this at a Toronto weekend music festival. I may be old but I have amazing memories of those days.
Thanks for the reactions guys!
"I seen a lotta people walkin' round with tombstones in their eyes."
Great prose. I wish I could come up with lines like this.
Been there done that. Some survived, some didn’t.
I was 16 years old in small-town Virginia. I was friends with the local AM dj, who gave me this album because he was not allowed to play it...this was a few months before Steppenwolf became known for Magic Carpet Ride. I will never forget the shock value of this song. I still get goose bumps hearing it! Great reaction, guys!
Steppenwolf one of the rock greats from the 6o's ahhhhh the 60's
Love Steppenwolf. Makes me want to smoke a joint heh heh. Song was done during Viet Nam in the height of major drug use.
I love the tone of that 60's psychedelic guitar. Reminds me of Big Brother and the Holding Co. and Jefferson Airplane. 👍❤🤙
Love that sixties fuzz guitar vibe. Even if you weren't around in person to hear 60s Hippie/psychedelic music, you know right away the era these sort of songs were recorded. Donovan's "Season of The Witch," sounds a lot like this, and it's from the same Hippie/Drug/ psychedelic music period, from about 1965 to 1970.
Yup. I was in college then. Great music.
Donovan Season of the Witch is so fantastic
I once played this track on the air at a 100,000 watt station on a Sunday morning in the bible belt of North Carolina. Had a good long discussion with a listener who called to complain.
This song is an S-tier for me. It's not complex, musically, but the groove is undeniable, and the lyrics and music, overall, *just hit so, so hard* , especially if you have friends or family members whose lives have been permanently altered, for the worse, by drugs. This is one righteously angry song that casts a musical spell and takes me to another place, without any need of chemicals. Steppenwolf rocked!
Had to comment on this one, guys! WOW, the freakin' dope memories this brings up!! (Pun intended!)
I was just barely 15 years old in that 1968 late-summer when this album was still huge!
I had a new and dangerous boyfriend, and he picked me up on his black Honda 650 motorcycle, and took me to his (Mom's) house, she was home at the time!!
We went in his room, which was actually the master suite, but it was almost like his own private apartment. He had it decorated in the style of the times, with dark curtains on the windows, dim lights and several colored lights, including the requisite Lava Lamp, and a Black Light in the ceiling fixture! He had his walls almost covered in fantastic psychedelic and Band posters, which were stunning in the Black Light!
We sat on carpets and pillows on the floor and listened to this entire album! We had Day-Glo paints and we painted up each other's faces and arms and legs! This was BEFORE I had ever gotten high, and he and I did not use any substances that day, so we did not have the "appropriate smoky room", but it was a fantastic time that lives in my memory like a technicolor movie!!!
Thanks for the memories, Guys! Happy Memorial Day!!!!
Written by Hoyt Axton. A great songwriter, performer and actor. I loved him in Gremlins.
You betcha! He was an amazing songwriter. He even wrote Joy To The World by Three Dog Night.
And "Mama Told Me Not to Come"
@@SpuzzyLargo I think that Randy Newman wrote that one. Still yet, I laugh my butt off to that song. Lol! 😄
“Mama told me…” was Randy Newman but Never Been to Spain was Hoyt Axton.
@@robertlane8142 Oh yeah 👍
I believe they got their name from the Hermann Hesse novel of that name, ie.Steppenwolf, which was popular back then.
Believe it or not, my Aunt used to sing this song to me all the time….I was born in ‘66 so 😉 Peace & love & all that! ☮️ ❤
Saw these guys play in Austin, Texas in the late 60’s. As a teenager. Great concert.
This song was written by the same guy who wrote Joy to the World for Three Dog Night. The great Hoyt Axton. It's seems kind of strange to me to have a rating system for songs that is not based on your level of enjoyment of the song, Alex. What else is there? Steppenwolf also does Hoyt's song Snowblind Friend. Both John Kay and Hoyt Axton had lost friends to hard drugs. I highly recommend the Steppenwolf track Monster. Epic social commentary!
What else is there? Really? I love the fact that Alex, as a musician, can try to be objective in rating a song and not rate it based solely on his personal enjoyment. He used to rate that way (Black Betty, S-tier LOL) but now I think he tries to be objective. As he said, he’d listen more to this than he would many ones he’s rated A+ so….as an example….you could rate Yes’ Close to the Edge S-tier for all its accomplishments, but not want to hear it all that often. I think it’s cool that hw tries to do that.
"Don't Step on the Grass, Sam" is a great song from Steppenwolf
Written by the late great Hoyt Axton, who also wrote "Joy to the World" and "Never Been to Spain" for Three Dog Night. Hoyt's mother also was co-writer on "Heartbreak Hotel" for Elvis.
Hey Lawdy Mama and Rock Me are 2 more from Steppinwolf that need to be heard.
This is an S just for the power and originality of the lyrics, and for going against the "drugs are cool man" zeitgeist of the times. Anyone going against the grain gets extra points. And the vocal delivery and vibe are perfect, angry and dark. S-tier bro.
One of my favorite bands from high school.
Easy Rider!
One of the greatest soundtracks ever, I wore out the cassette!
I guess they didn’t remember it from the movie review.
Have they seen the movie?
Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf was also in Easy Rider, as was The Weight by The Band.
For another Steppenwolf song I'd say Renegade is great. Just a really enjoyable song.
It's so cool that this song was used in the beginning of the movie, Easy Riders. Nice pick, y'all! ☮️😊
No, "Easy Rider".
A&A, you might like their "Rock Me" !
This is the naughty, nastiest, narleyiest drug song I ever experienced! It took me right into the times when it came out and memories of friends I lost to addictions! You guys nailed the meaning! Thank you so much!💔
Saw a show at Central Washington in 1969 with Three Dog Night headlining and the songwriter, Hoyt Axton. His acoustic version on resonator guitar using a straight razor for a slide made a believer out of me.
Rock on brothers.... gotta love Steppinwolf..... So dripping with that special sauce
Yessss! I've been pushing for you guys to critique this song for months. For me this is an "S" tier song. I'm a little disappointed that you didn't like it as much as I love it.
They need to hear it as a deep cut in the early 70's. It's not possible to feel it in 2023 as it felt back then.
Gotta try "Rock Me", "Hey Lawdy Momma", and "Sookie Sookie". "Rock Me" is my personal favorite; it kicks ass!!!!
Cool story:
I volunteered to help at the show when these guys performed at an annual festival they called Bay Days in the early 90s.
After their set, they got on the bus, went down the road a little ways, and stopped at a little dive bar between 2 go-go bars.
Well, I guess they were having fun because they decided to play a set for free right then and there using house equipment.
Now THAT'S a cool band for ya.
In the same vein (pun intended?), put Neil Young's "Needle and the Damage Done" on your playlist.
The Haight & Ashbury hippy-dream scene turned into a Heroin nightmare. Same thing happened up in Hastings Street (Vancouver). This song is a warning.
The guy in front of me in sophomore homeroom (1966) used to turn around and sing this to me. I was shocked (sheltered childhood) and thought he was totally making it up. Took a couple more years before realizing it was an actual song and that Steppenwolf had done it. Love it and still have it on vinyl.
"Monster" and "Hippo Stomp" please. They changed lead guitarists a lot, and this guy was only around for a couple. He was amazing. When they recorded this album, they said everything just flowed effortlessly. It's been one of my favorite albums for over 50 years.
Hippo Stomp and The Ostrich are my two favorite S'wolf songs -- but there are so many that A&A would dig! Ride With Me, Foggy Mental Breakdown, Sooke Sookie, Don't Step On the Grass, Sam.... Great stuff.
Best anti-drug song has to be from Neil Young, "The Needle and the Damage Done”
Sister Morphine by The Stones
Hand of Doom by Black Sabbath
Skynryd's "That Smell" is great also.
Also Neil Young's "No More"
I'll throw Skynyrd's "Needle And The Spoon" into the hat.
This song came out my first year in college (1968). I can't answer for the rest of the world, but those I ran with called it "head music". It wasn't something you would dance to at a party...you just caught a buzz, kicked back, closed your eyes and listened. The first real rock concert I went to featured Steppenwolf. It was in Shreveport, LA. in 1970. Their lead off band was Bubble Puppy. I was also a good friend of members of the group called 5x5, who also toured occasionally with Steppenwolf. To this day, I still maintain contact with the bass player of the 5x5. And YES, it was a great time for music. Late 60's and early 70's was a GREAT time for music.
Steppenwolf 7 is a great album
First time I heard this tune was when I watched Easy Rider for the first time. Great song.
Keep the Steppenwolf coming; "Snowblind Friend" is another song condemning heroin yet sympathetic to one's addiction and the fallout on friends and family, one of my all time faves. "Don't Step On The Grass, Sam" calls out then LA Mayor Sam Yorty and his anti-marijuana campaign, then of course "Monster/Suicide/America" is a song about the state of America that could've been written today. Steppenwolf is without a doubt one of the most underrated band of that era, "Born To Be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride" were such monster hits that they overshadowed the rest of what is a stellar discography. John Kay was a master rock artist.
This song brings back memories of the early 70's. Motorcycles, high grade Jamaican grass,wine and the free love babes. Great times. Just home from Vietnam. Crazy, crazy partying that went on for weeks.
Superb Band, tune & sentiment. I could see Alex following the bass all the way through the tune. So glad you liked it as much as I thought you would. By the way, a lot of us lost friends to the Pusher's trade, Heroin & the like in the 60-8-'s. I stuck to my Herbs.
Love this song!!
Snowblind Friend is another one of their anti drug songs which is different from their norm! Written by Hoit Axton, it's a hard hitting song about a heroin addicted friend of his!!
God Damn! -- that's an interesting choice! Not a great song, but the mood is great. "Monster" might be their best song. I will now use the phrase "Gnarly groove" at least five times a day.
A good follow-up to this song is Pusherman by Curtis Mayfield. Next up for Steppenwolf Rock Me Baby. For me, the middle part of that song makes it a "lost in the sauce" jam.
Yes, it was a great time to be playing in Rock & Roll bands. As a drummer in mid & late 60s bands doing lots of jam & original material, I did acid with Blue Cheer & smoked my 1st Rock Star grade weed with members of The Jefferson Airplane. The lean, raw, "simple," stripped down style still resonates in my soul when I hear the old stuff. Watching your generation rediscover and (mostly, lol) appreciate what was such a big part of the zeitgeist of a generation is a great pleasure! Thank you, young men 💯👌👍👊✌️✌️✌️
One of the great psychedelic songs defining the times. This is on the Easy Rider movie soundtrack along with other great timely songs. The movie is iconic and would be worthwhile to review the entire LP at one sitting.
We played the hell out of this 45 in our household! Born to be Wild on Side A, The Pusher on Side B.
Fantastic song. I love the way the guitar with all the fuzz and Reverb on it just kind of heaves its way into the beginning of a phrase of a solo. It's like it takes a second for the full effect it kind of roll into it and then it has this inertia.
This song gets 'em every time. It's deep and it's funky and it's sad and scary and awesome all at the same time.
People "walking around with tombstones in their eyes" is dark poetry. It resonates currently more than you may have imagined--me being someone who lives is Seattle, WA. Death-eyes is a thing here in certain pockets of the city.
As a former Seattleite, it pains me so much to see what has happened to my beloved former home.
First heavy song I ever heard as a kid. Blew my mind
In this era just around US continuation of sending soldiers to Vietnam many came back hard addicted in the same time students at universities who were not drafted were experimenting with drugs so drugs were everywhere and such an amount of sort of war era songs came out. A+ definitely
Actually, Alex heard part of this song before. It was featured on the soundtrack of the film "Easy Rider".
Fire & Rain by James Taylor was also written about his heroin addiction as well. Gil Scott Heron’s “The Bottle” is also a powerful song about alcohol addiction
You hit it Alex....the lyrics are even more pertinent today, with all the the thousands of young people dying from bad dangerous drugs. AND..... it's a great song musically.
This was on the Easy Rider soundtrack. Had it when I was a kid. Cool song. I didn’t know what a pusher was at the time.
Long time no hear. Thank You. There is a lot of meaning in this song for me and others. Please note he is not swearing, he is actually asking God to damn the pusher man.
I forgot how much I liked Steppenwolf's use of bass. But if killer bass is your thing, there's an S Tier song that you owe to yourselves: "Tomorrow Never Knows" by 801 Live. This song bangs on so many cylinders that will resonate with you: bass to die for, one of the greatest covers of a Beatles song ever, fantastic concert performance, a chance to hear Brian Eno in digestible form (he's the shadowy figure behind the curtain of King Crimson, Roxy Music, The Talking Heads, Devo, David Bowie), Phil Manzanera on guitar, groundbreaking recording technology, great production. But because it's "merely" a concert collaboration without any studio albums supporting it, it flew under everyone's radar (at least in the U.S.). Hey, A&A community: can I get 10 people to listen to this song and second this recommendation? We need a groundswell!!
I agree it is the best cover of a Beatles song but for this human "Third Uncle" is the bass banger par excellence.
@@stevious7278 Can't disagree-- Third Uncle is even more bass-intensive! Frankly, I think they'd love the whole album, but TNK might be a better gateway drug to get them there!
@@scottmarleneking6298 True! ✌
I did an entire semester paper on this song my sophomore year in English class. Got a D.
Never been more proud of a D in my life.
Monster is an epic tune with amazing lyrics. Some sleazy 🎸 too❤
“The Pusher” plays at the start of EASY RIDER (1969) as a deal goes down, and the two Dudes set off on their Cycles, across America - and Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” kicks into gear 😎
Check out 'Ride With Me' - great tune and the lyrics can get the mind going!
I like it when you listen to songs that you wouldn't find on your grandmother's playlist. You should listen to more bangers like this.
Next- Curtis Mayfield- "Pusherman"
(from Superfly Soundtrack 71)
‘Rock Me’ is the Steppenwolf song you need to hear if you want a kick in the ass
Saw Steppenwolf over a dozen times during the late 60 thru early eighties. One of the best live bands around. Check out. Don’t Step on the Grass Sam, ( pro weed) Snow Blind Friend ( cocaine addiction) Who Needs You drug and alcohol. But a fun song like all of theirs. Hippo Stomp I think you’ll rate it high. Political songs, The Ostrich, Monster. They have a great catalogue. This old Metal rock head biker dude enjoys your breakdown and discovery of great bands from my era but they’re music like most bands you’ve looked into from the sixties seventies and so on is just as good as it was back then because in my humble opinion it was the freedom of all those bands to explore and expand with no constraints except the censorship of radio. Most of the songs I just suggested was not allowed on the airways. As a young teenager in 1967 I couldn’t wait to bring home their latest album because of their rebellious sound. God bless Rock On Stay Safe!🙏🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
We listened to Steppenwolf while I was in Viet. for the Tet Offensive. I remember "Born to Be Wild" as being more popular than "The Pusher".
This song is definitely about her¤in. Back then, a lot of people were getting hooked on it, and the people who sold it were called pushers. Dealers were fine, because they sold p¤t and the worst that could happen was that you fell asleep watching the Midnight Special after smoking it. But, the pusher knew he was selling you death in a syringe, if you used too much or if it was too pure. That's why Steppenwolf called the pusher an unnatural man. Dealers were your friend but pushers were anything but.
You’re 100% accurate my friend, I remember those days quite well.
One of my favorite Steppenwolf songs. The guitar solos are so haunting to match the tone and message they're trying to convey. Nice reaction vid, guys.
Good song from a great era!
Remember hearing this in a head shop getting some zig zag papers.
Goldie McJohn on the Hammond with the spinning Leslies throwing the sound off the walls!!