Origin: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Steppenwolf evolved out of the Canadian band the Sparrow in late 1967, after John Kay (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Jerry Edmonton (drums, vocals) and Goldy McJohn (keyboards, vocals) relocated to California and added Michael Monarch (guitar) and Rushton Moreve (bass). They named themselves after the 1927 Herman Hesse novel and immediately sequestered themselves to work on their debut self-titled LP, which was recorded in only a few days and issued on the Dunhill label in early 1968. The album catapulted up the charts, peaking at #6, assisted by the included breakout #2 smash hit 'Born To Be Wi…