A hidden Steppenwolf treasure - On the cover it says John Kay of Steppenwolf had his beginning with The Sparrow... as if it was a whole different band. In truth, Sparrow was Steppenwolf in all but name, a blues-rock treasure Columbia didn t realize they had until Sparrow moved on, changed their name and really boomed under ABC/ Dunhill s sponsorship. This album has a smaller percentage of originals than their later releases did, but even here the Steppenwolf fan can hear pre-echoes of material that more familiar material from their collection is based on. Like Square-Headed People, which was all but rewritten and released as Power Play. Or Chasin Shadows, which was redone as Desperation on the first album where we also first heard Born To Be Wild. There is a neat Byrdish 12-string figure during this song. And best of all, the song Twisted, which they later included on their first live release, appears here in its only studio version. It s too bad this classic album never did pop up later as a Steppenwolf release--it s just as valid a prequel as the more familiar Early Steppenwolf, using the same personnel as that album, but in a studio setting here rather than the live setting as on that effort. It s also too bad it s only available as an import now.
The Complete 1967 Sparrow Recordings - In 1969, while Born to Be Wild was the next big thing, Columbia decided to issue these recordings from 1967. Featuring Dennis Edmonton (better known as Mars Bonfire) and Nick St. Nicholas (who did not join Steppenwolf right off, but came in for the Birthday Party LP). Columbia issued only one single off of these tapes in 1967 and did not show interest in issuing anything else. These recordings show the group working out of a blues mold (on Kay s material), a little jazz (Jerry Edmonton sings on King Pin), pop (Down Goes Your Love Life with, surprisingly,Nick and Goldy McJohn singing!) and even a theremin used on Green Bottle Lover. Mars Bonfire sings a few tracks (Isn t It Strange Tomorrow s Ship Chasing Shadows), John sings most, and Jerry gets in there. Very interesting to say the least. Not just for collectors, but fans as well. This has the complete 1993 Columbia CD plus the two songs from the LP they left off. Also notable is Mars Bonfire s solo album from 1968 (Uni 73027, reissued minus two tracks plus two by Columbia in 1969- CS-9834). That s another classic not on CD. It has the original Born to be Wild of course.