RECONSIDER BABY

It's a safe bet that every one of you has a long list of records that you like more than you do the band who recorded them. You happen to like the songs, a lot, when no one else seems to care. These particular songs for whatever reason are personal favorites, sometimes referred to as guilty pleasures. Fuck that. Guity? Because you like a song? Double fuck that.

There are a handful of Steppenwolf songs that I like, a lot more than the band's output as a whole. At the top of the list is their version of "Sookie Sookie", a damn fine song in its original form by Don Covay and the Goodtimers.. But Steppenwolf's version has that certain something. The guitar sounds like Steve Cropper using the guitar set up without changing anything, about as close to a Stax feel (Booker T and the MGs in particular) as you'll find coming from a rock band. Go cry blasphemy. If you're the type of DJ that likes to mix it up, this one always worked for me. "Magic Carpet Ride" and "The Pusher" are right up there too, for different reasons. That is, if you can manage to shake off the familiarity.

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Listen:
Don Covay - Sookie Sookie (streaming) at So Many Records, So Little Time
Steppenwolf - Soolkie Sookie mp3 at Shades of Tracy
Steppenwolf - The Pusher mp3 at Song of the Day
Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride mp3 at Internet Archive 
More Sookie:
Tina Britt - Sookie Sookie mp3 at 45 Blog
Grant Green - Sookie Sookie mp3 at DJ No DJ
Video:

Steppenwolf - Sookie Sookie at YouTube From an episode of Playboy After Dark. This one is rich. The "dance like a freak" button is pushed at 1:53, and let me tell you, there's nothing quite as funny as watching Hefner's square mob dance like deadheads on Dragnet.

LET IT HANG OUT BABY

How do you know when a song is a good one? When you hear multiple versions and none of them suck. "Sookie Sookie" is like that. Really, is it me or is that song impossible to fuck up? Written by Don Covay in 1965, the first version I heard was by Steppenwolf, one that sounded like there was some sorta vulcan mind meld between Steppenwolf guitarist Michael Monarch and the MGs' Steve Cropper. Same could be said about the organ. It's soul music for heads. There's something about that song, maybe the funkiness of it, or the repetitive simplicity of the underlying groove. Regardless, back when I DJ'd, even the Steppenwolf version (that still manages to sound like Steppenwolf), would occasionally incite movements surpassing too-cool-for-school head nodding.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Ricardo Ray - Sookie Sookie mp3 at Funky 16 Corners
Tina Britt - Sookie Sookie mp3 at 45 Blog
The Ascots - Sookie Sookie mp3 at Iron Leg
Grant Green - Sookie Sookie mp3 at La Detente Generale
Orchestre African Fiesta mp3 at Voodoo Funk
Steppenwolf - Sookie Sookie at 4Shared (Click on blue "Download Now" button, and wait about fifteen seconds.)
Don Covay - Sookie Sookie (streaming) at So Many Records, So Little Time
Watch:
Steppenwolf - Sookie Sookie at YouTube This one looks like it's from Playboy After Dark. I like it when, halfway through the song, it's like someone turned on the "dance like a freak" switch.