I find it interesting that Canadians do their best to claim Steppenwolf as a Canadian band. John Kay did live in Canada, beginning in 1958, when he was 12 or 13 years old. At some point, he shuffled off to the USA where the pastures are greener. Others refer to the band as Canadian-American, which seems fair enough to me.
Anyway, John Kay (born Joachim Fritz Krauledat in East Prussia) was the lead singer of Steppenwolf, which was formed in 1968. I'm not up on my Steppenwolf history, so thank you Wikipedia for the details. Anyway, on to this record.
Forgotten Songs & Unsung Heroes, Kay's debut solo record, is pretty good. In fact, I recall being surprised by how much I liked it upon first listen. Half of the record is comprised of original tracks, while the other half are covers. It seems to work quite well, but I gather it fell between the cracks, as has happened to so many good songs and records.
I think that perhaps some were expecting a raucous record with tracks like Born to be Wild and Magic Carpet Ride, but this is a mellow countryish, bluesy affair, and maybe some were disappointed?
I'm pretty sure I paid a dollar or so for this one.
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