John Kay's journey from Germany to eventually Canada is pretty amazing in itself. Steppenwolf should have been in every rock hall of fame from the beginning.

I first heard this song as a 12 year old Boy Scout. We had just ended a weeklong 50 mile trip and had come back to civilization. We heard it on the radio when we were around the campfire. I will never forget the power coming from the little transistor radio...

Steppenwolf, One of the best and popular rock group ever. They should be in the RRHOF. John on stage is mind blowing.

On a personal note, Steppenwolf was my first concert. I was almost 9 years old and my parents took myself and my two younger sisters to a Six Flags amusement park here in US. And lo and behold, Steppenwolf was performing there. My Dad was ecstatic! So he and I went to their performance while the rest of the family did other things. Unfortunately my father passed away later that summer, but I will always remember how that thrilled him! One of the few foggy memories I have of him, but one I treasure and keep locked away. Thanks Fil!

Fil. I admire your spot on observation skills. Thank you for recognizing there are effective voices that are not high tenors and soprano's and all out falsetto vocals. Bravo!

I was lucky enough to see Steppenwolf live in 1968. They were such high energy and gave an awesome concert. I also saw CCR live in 68. Those were the days.

I remember blasting this 45 record back then on my parents Magnavox Hi Fi .. got some good sound out of that old unit.. 👍. Thanks again, Fil.. 🤘Rock!

I went back and listened to the recorded version for contrast, and was impressed at how different it sounded with the full Hammond organ effect, but this live version killed, too! Thanks for explaining why. This song hasn't lost it's smile power!

Thanks professor. When you pull out your pic stick we are in for a treat... Thanks for breaking it down.. Its so easy to understand it when you show us .. Much love Brotherrr Genius... Rock 🎸

Great Canadian band! I grew up listening to them...thanks to my parents for playing classic rock and roll!

The band Steppenwolf, is a timeless and permanent fixture of rock'n roll. Love Magic Carpet Ride too, vocals, keys, drums, guitar etc. Great job Fil. 🤘

One of the first 45rpm records I bought was Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride”. I still have it, along with CCR’s “Proud Mary” and others from the early/mid-60’s through the 70’s. I’ve never gotten tired of hearing either of those songs; and those were exciting years to be on this earth!👍🏻

Lord Have Mercy, love Steppenwolf. Ok , Fil, have to say I also really love your guitar demos. You play so well....

You know, the part around 12:00 where he talks about the licks the guitarist missed, and why, is really fascinating. Please don't feel like you're disrespecting the musicians by pointing out mistakes because for the rest of us it makes us feel closer to the music. I love it!!!

Phil, I think I was there. It the venue looks like the old military quonset hut warehouse across from Seal Beach lumber yard on P.C.H. It was a dance concert that night. I also saw the Animals "Sky Pilot" down the Pacific Coast Hwy in Huntington Beach at the Golden Bear venue.

EASILY ONE OF THE GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME

Lulu to Ella Fitzgerarld to Steppenwolf and you nail them all! You really are taking us on a Magic Carpet Ride. Thanks for this great find, and see you at the next one!

Saw them four times in that Era. Never disappointed. They were my rock 'n' roll idols. Bringing some nostalgic tears to these old eyes

Actually, Goldy McJohn wasn't playing a Hammond B-3 on the recorded version. It was a Lowrey organ run through a leslie. The speaker in the leslie had a slit cut in it to give him that gritty sound. After the success of 'Born To Be Wild', & their debut album, Goldy did update to a Hammond B-3.

"Born To Be Wild" composed by Mars Bonfire. Real name Dennis Edmonton. He is the brother of Gerry Edmonton the drummer for Steppenwolf.

Dude your analysis videos are so good...i feel like i learn a bit more every time i watch one...thanks Phil

Late 50's to mid 90's is the golden age of music in my humble opinion..There will never be another 40 years like it.Glad I grew up in most of it.Great vid as usual Fil.You're insight is like no other on YT. 👏🏻👏🏻

Memories - wore this song out on my 8 Track in the car.

Hey Phil! Don't believe me! I was at college in New Haven Ct. A bunch of us heard Steppenwolf was playing at a local college. We went. Wow! Amazing show! Plus it is the loudest concert I have ever been to! And i have seen most of the greats. You can guess what year it was!

"Get your motor running. Head out on the highway. Looking for adventure. Whatever comes our way. Yeah, gotta go and make it happen. Take the world in a love embrace. Fire all of your guns at once. Explode into space." Some of the greatest lyrics in Rock history. Absolutely brilliant! Thanks Fil.

Being 63 years young I fondly remember the 60`s music. Thanks for this one brother

Love the 60`s rock, Steppenwolf and the Doors and the like, with the heavy keyboard integration that was part of the music at that time. Steppenwolf was really quite ahead of their time as the first to sound kind of heavy I think as they were a bit before the power trio time frame but you might know more about that than I do Fil. Thanks for sharing!

_Still_ one of the best Rock 'n Roll anthems ever written. Stands the test of time, no doubt! Thanks Fil!

Thanks Fil, Great analysis and demo. I always love it when you pull out your guitar

John Kay has an interesting history. There's a documentary on YT about him. As a child, he was near blind and his family escaped East Germany to end up in Toronto, Canada. Lots more to the story, so check out the doc. (I just noticed some other people mentioned this as well). .... ROCK!

I grew up listening to my older brothers music , like Steppenwolf, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath, etc. so I developed an early appreciation for these music greats. Born to be Wild was probably my favorite of Steppenwolfs but Magic Carpet Ride and Sookie Sookie we’re close seconds. Great band. Thanks Fil!!

Really enjoyed this video and the analysis of the performance by the guys in the band! As time went on, I imagine that the live performance of the song got tighter and tighter. Everyone loved Steppenwolf back in the day.

Fil, thank you ,this goes back to a good time in history.

One of my favorite bands. I still have all their albums on vinyl and in the original jackets.

You played those lines so well, makes me think maybe you used to play this a lot. 1967, 68 & 69 wildest years of my life in Southern California.

Huge Steppenwolf fan! Own their entire album collection. Saw them live in 1969 when l was only 13 at an outdoor pop festival in Toronto Canada with my older brother. They were the headliners. Made a huge impression on me as a kid!! That unique gravel voice of John Kay and such a tight sounding band live! Saw them live again in 1972. 'Monster' wriiten by John Kay is a masterpiece! Phenomenal lyrics! Check it out. Born To Be Wild went to #2 on the U.S charts and was a huge #1 song here in Canada. Thanks for this analysis Fil! Great when you get the guitar out. As a 13 year old l just HAD to learn that Born to Be Wild riff the day after we saw them live in '69 lol. This video took me right back to those days. Excellent analysis! 😎🎼🎵🎶🇨🇦

Thank you; appreciate the mixing board explanation and your demonstration!

Fil thanks for this. Steppenwolf's album"The Second" was one of the first three album's I bought in 1970 when I got into Rock and Roll. I was lucky enough to see them in 1974 in Vancouver around October at the legendary Commodore Ballroom. I think it was one of Goldy's last concerts before he left the band. It was a great night. We were right at the front when it started. John Kay walked out a few feet from us at the start and they ripped into the first song. We we're a bit underage so we moved to the back to the bar and ordered some beers. We got a table and enjoyed some beers. After awhile we decided to get closer. Shortly after they went into "Monster". It was amazing! Twenty plus minutes of incredible Rock 'n' Roll. All these years later, I still remember it as one of the greatest concerts ever saw, and I've seen many.

Hammond organ and Leslie speakers. Iconic sound of the late 60s early 70s. Something you felt, live.

Fil! Great song great review, how long into the future will we still be rockin out to these classic songs probably forever

This is a demonstration of a rock band absolutely OWNING it! Fabulous!

Steppenwolf was innovative, funky hard rocking, bad boys that had songs that had depth. Fil lol catching all the lil diddies of playing live. 😎👍🏽🎶🔥♥️🔥🎶

Mars Bonfire (songwriter), oh, yeah! I have a mountain home in Taos, NM where Easy Rider was filmed. There’s an entire festival around the biker culture centered around this song. Dennis Hopper lived here. I used to listen to Steppenwolf a lot as a kid, John Kay lives outside of Nashville in a rural area near me, he’s legally blind hence the dark Orbison glasses. 🌞

"Get yer motor runnin'..." starts one of the great anthems of my youth. Also reminiscent of Jim Morrison and The Doors. Loved it, thanks Fil :)

John Kay is one of the best frontman of all time. If you look deeper than their RADIO hits you find thoughtful, political, socially relevant lyrics, well put together songs and the unmistakable voice of John Kay. One of a kind band.

Wow Steppenwolf got a lot of mileage out of this song, especially after "Easy Rider". "Magic Carpet Ride" and "Rock Me" were pretty big too. On the darker side, I liked "The Pusher" and "Monster" also.

As a 14 year old in 1970 this song was firmly engrained in my head. It was playing everywhere, the radio, jukeboxes, cassette players, etc. Although appreciate the music, but John Kay was the real driving force of the band. Those unique vocals could never be reproduced by cover bands anywhere, hence they would always fall flat regardless of how well the music was played.

Born to be Wild, is definitely an anthem, one of the best, Steppenwolf is one of my early memories of music when i was a youngster growing up in the 70s, I'd like to request something from Dr Feelgood with Wilko, and maybe Mike Green with the Pirates, not sure if your done them, can't seem to find them in your playlist.

I always thought if I had an alarm clock this would be the song I would set to wake up to... Get your motor running, head out on the highway...your awake...dancing in bed....thanks Fil, for find a rare video, and the details. Great job.

Steppenwolf are one of my favorite bands! You nailed it on the guitar with you tutorial. Encore! Encore! /m|

Fil, thanks for this great analysis. I remember watching Easy Rider & holding hands with my boyfriend who rode a Triumph 750. 51 years on, and we're still going strong.

Second album I ever bought, the first was Inagaddadavida, the third was the White Album. I was twelve and I lived in northern CA.

They didn't do John doing his psychedelic slide guitar lead!! It was on the original version. Another song that changed my life. Taking me from folk to rock! Thanks Fil ,another great analysis as usual!! Great way to start you day! Stay safe and healthy!! Peace!

This song transcends my life, from high school cafeteria jukebox in 1968 to my first Harley in 1976 after the Marine Corp. So many times this song has popped into my reality and given me a little joy along the pathways of life. Thanks Fil you are the best.

I know the song, I know the movie. Could tell the mix wasn't quite there, even before the mic was being moved around, but I couldn't figure out why the guitar riff just didn't sound right. Your demo was the perfect answer, Fil - excellent!

This was a great music analysis of Steppenwolf. Like all your music analysis videos, you're always very thorough when it comes to the nuances and this was no exception. I've said before that because I'm also a musician, you remind me about what I've learned and you teach me new things in music. Your demonstration video of "Born to be Wild" provided me with the latter in terms of guitar playing techniques(and my hands aren't particularly big either). Thanks very much for the lesson and for all you do, Fil!

What a flood of memories this brought about, wow! "Steppenwolf Live" was the first album I ever purchased and this band had as much of effect on my world view as any other band I can think of. I was familiar with "Born To Be Wild" "Magic Carpet Ride" "Monster" and "The Pusher" and a couple of their other songs when I picked this album up. I liked everything I had heard from this band "Magic Carpet Ride" and "Born To Be Wild" were great radio hits though "Monster" and "The Pusher" were what my young mind found to be quite provocative. Then on this album I hear "Don't Step On The Grass, Sam" and "Draft Resister" I was at that age were I was becoming very aware of issues and their nuances in a way that I had hardly even considered previously; mind expansion! I have always considered Steppenwolf to be a fine band and it seems to me that they don't quite get as much mention as other such bands of that era, maybe their best work was so very tied to the era that it doesn't resinate with the peeps very well today yet Steppenwolf helped lay the ground work for some changes that we see today in the USA. Thanks for bringing them forward into the public consciences, Fil! As always, good work and thank you.

Saw 'em live in a little club back in about 1980. One of the flat out best performances I'd ever witnessed. Saved a marathon performance of The Pusher for last and brought the house down!

The drums at the beginning of the song is a motorcycle starting up. Perfect for the movie. Great video Fil.

I was 17 at the time of release of this tune. Thx for doing it. unfortunately this video does it no justice as you rightfully point out. Being somewhat new to the guitar these days, I have stayed away from that opening lick. Man, what a tough reach! Can't even imagine what Magic Carpet ride must have sounded like at this venue. Anyway, good job breaking it down, Fil.

They were great in concert back in the day.

"Got to wear Shades"..some music scholars believe this cool tune was the beginning of Metal music....thanks Fil

Phil, after watching a two part documentary about John Kay, I wasn't sure if I was ready to watch an analysis of Steppenwolf's live performance. Your analysis was very interesting and it turns out that it was the perfect video to watch. 😊 ✨🎚️🎸✨🎶🎵✨

I really like that you took out a guitar and demonstrated the techniques you were commenting on. I really got a lot out of it, learned a bunch, and really enjoyed it all. Thanks!

Thank you so much for drawing our attention to my favorit 60's rockband. John Kay as a singer, bluesguitarist (!) and songwriter cannot be overestimated. I was fortunate enough to see them in Copenhagen in '73 - and then Again som 35 years later - also in Copenhagen. Just as good as back then - but of course with a very different line up. Absolute top class !

Keep up the great work fil love from Thailand

I was fortunate to be abie to attend a Steppenwolf concert in Nashville in 1970. Wow! Great show.

I didn't see them until the early 90's, John Kay & Steppenwolf. Were still great then. Underrated band for sure.

Superb analysis Fil, really appreciated, all the best, James.

John Kay's story is inspiring. Many interviews on YT I could recommend. So soft-spoken in interviews. But so gritty on stage!

Interestingly, while the song became associated with motorcycles, the song was written about road trips in a used Ford Falcon automobile purchased by songwriter "Mars Bonfire."

As a young lass Steppenwolf, The Doors, UFO, Wishbone Ash, Budgie, Free, heavily influenced me. I don't know if you have done analyses on all of these bands...love to hear (if you Haven't) on UFO and Budgie. Great channel btw 👍... Oh and i am still wild and free at 65 😊

We had a big New Years party for 1969. At the stroke of midnight, this song was queued up.

Rocking the Home Office with Professor Fil and Steppenwolf, love it when you bust out the guitars, Jeff in LA USA

My favorite song!

I was at Art College in Manchester in the late 60s and someone came into the coffee bar and dished out tickets for the northern premiere of Easy Rider. What a knockout film! I can't hear Born to be Wild without thinking back to that night.

Our class song for my high school's graduating class in 1973. Not sure how wild a bunch of middle-class suburban kids could be, but there you are.

Fil, this was the greatest 4/20/2020 surprise anyone could ask for, the illusion of speed, wind, and raucous freedom as we live out the Surrealist travelogue of Xavier de Maistre's, Voyage Around My Room; it is with greatest thanx to hear your fresh and insightful thoughts, including bringing your own guitar to the table to help our stranded guitarist who could not reach the note ~ what a great and deeply appreciated gift this was as we slip thru time and continents drifting through music that - explodes into space ~ ~ oh, thank you!!!

Vastly underrated songwriters. Their absence, is another reason the RRHOF is a joke.

Picked up hiching as a GI with friends by a couple guys in a Camero in ' 68. They had a car stereo with back speakers ! My first experience with it. These guys were playing, In Texas

They were absolutely great. One of the greatest bands ever. And it needs to be said that John Kay is great as a solo artist as well and has some of the MOST underrated Albums of all time. Worth checking out. He is one of the great songwriters! And still is!!! His solo stuff is really really good.

Saw them live in 1970 and they put on a great show!

Cool. We’re back to rock. \m/

Good choice and analysis Fil, thank you.

Steppenwolf 16 greatest hits was one of the albums me and my friends partied to back in our younger days. Also had the chance to see John Kay in concert back in 1993.

Standing in front of the crowd at the arena in Green Bay, WI for the opening act, there was this short guy wearing shades next to us listening intently. 30 minutes later he was on stage fronting the great Steppenwolf-John Kay in the flesh.

I just love the way you show so much respect and appreciation of other artists without a speck of jealousy or judgement. Youre a neat guy !!!!

Thank you Fil for what you do👏. Love it when you bring the guitar out & demonstrate.🎸🎼.You are brilliant! Have a good day Fil❤ stay safe & healthy.😍😚💕love ya

Super Fil! Thanks for analyzing this classic so well!

The perennial pub favorite and a song which accompanied me through many a long evening. Another super informative video Fil. I never knew that before they morphed into Steppenwolf, they were the Sparrows, that is very cool.

Hi Fil thanks great video! Played it a few times each time here something different!! 🤘🤘❤

Fil, I want to say that you are brightening my days with your analysis videos, and livestream chats.👌💜 I'm so glad I stumbled upon your channel, when I watched you analyze Karen Carpenter. She is and always will be my all time FAVORITE female singer. Her voice was PURE VELVET. 💟 I appreciate the research you do. GREAT.👍💜

Never seen this before Fil. Good work!

Excellent job sir. I saw These guys in concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 1968. Also playing were The Doors and The Chambers Brother. The chambers Brothers had a hit called "Time Has Come Today". Look it up

Hello Fil, Good one, back when music was cool and good. I got to see John Kay, leather pants and all, in Seattle, Washington, back in the '90s, different version of Steppenwolf. I like when you drag out the guitar for your explanations. Stay healthy, best, C.

Good job. A very interesting exposition. Thanks.

It's such a cliche, but even today when a bunch of my biker buddies are together and someone queues up "Born to Be Wild" on their bike stereo as we pull out of some place, I think it brings a smile to everyone. Mostly because it's such a corny cliche - but we like it! Nice video and analysis, Fil!

What I’ve always thought of as first hard rock band

Thanks for that! Had to grab my strat, crank up an overdrive pedal and try it ! One of my absolute fav bands from the era.

Thanks for a great analysis Fil I love the sound of Steppenwolf but especially John Kay singing -just something special