Nick St. Nicholas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Nick St. Nicholas | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Klaus Karl Kassbaum |
| Born | September 28, 1945 |
| Origin | Plön, Germany |
| Genre(s) | Psychedelic Rock Acid Rock Blues-rock Hard Rock Heavy metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | bass, vocals |
| Years active | 1964-present |
| Associated acts | The Mynah Birds The Sparrows T.I.M.E. Steppenwolf Starwolf Lone Wolf The Wolf World Classic Rockers |
| Website | Official Site |
Nick St. Nicholas (born Klaus Karl Kassbaum September 28, 1945 in Plön, Germany) is a bassist, and is best known for his membership in Steppenwolf from 1968 to 1970 and 1976 to 1980. After World War II, his family moved to Toronto and became Canadian citizens. Sister Maren joined the Canadian Ballet Company & Conservetory of Music as pianist. Infamous super rock groupie Pamela Des Barres (Miller) of The GTO's (an all female group managed by Frank Zappa) once wrote in her autobography that St Nicholas took her virginity, because he was the one she chose to do so but was very much disappointed. On The GTO's album "Permanent Damage," the song "I'm In Love With The Ooh Ooh Man" is about St. Nicholas. ("Your first name's the same as your last.")
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[edit] Early career
Nick spent a brief period as bassist with the Epics, then Shirley Matthews and the Big Town Boys before joining a set of musicians who eventually coalesced as the Mynah Birds, featuring singers Rick James and Jimmy Livingston. In 1965, he replaced Bruce Palmer as bassist with Jack London and the Sparrows, and played on most of their one LP, which was released in 1965. In the space of the next year or so, the group lost Jack London and became the Sparrows. Nick then added new German-born frontman John Kay and became The Sparrow, and moved south to New York, then Nick drove them non-stop to California.
[edit] Steppenwolf
In 1967, The Sparrow folded and St. Nicholas joined a Los Angeles-based group called The Hardtimes, who soon renamed themselves T.I.M.E., which supposedly stood for Trust In Men Everywhere. After only one album, St. Nicholas left T.I.M.E. and rejoined his former Sparrow bandmates (vocalist/guitarist John Kay, drummer Jerry Edmonton and organist Goldy McJohn), by replacing original bassist Rushton Moreve in Steppenwolf at the height of the band's popularity.
St. Nicholas played on four Steppenwolf albums: At Your Birthday Party, Early Steppenwolf, Monster, and Live. He appears in many of the band's early videos miming and lip synching to Born to Be Wild and other songs, even though he was not a member of the band when those early songs were recorded. Steppenwolf replaced St. Nicholas in early 1970 with new bassist George Biondo.
Although John Kay's autobiography, Magic Carpet Ride largely attributes St. Nicholas' firing to sneaking on stage in nothing but bunny ears and a jockstrap at a 1970 show at the Fillmore East, according to Steppenwolf keyboardist Goldy McJohn, St. Nicholas was dismissed for a number of reasons:
- The fuehrer (Kay) fired him [for] wearing dresses in Steppenwolf with that bleached blonde hair, being out of tune at gigs ... lots of reasons. I liked the bunny ears, but John made such a stink about it at the Fillmore East, you'd think he was in charge. Everyone else was on acid in the audience and this great big guy got up and told Kay to let Nick tune up and everybody cheered. Stealing John Kay's limelight has and always will be his modis operandi, in other words.[1]
After Kay and Edmonton's version of Steppenwolf disbanded in 1976, St. Nicholas reformed the group with McJohn and guitarist Kent Henry, who recorded the guitar tracks on the For Ladies Only album in 1971. There were several versions of this band touring at the same time for which St. Nicholas was not responsible. During this turn, St. Nicholas' Steppenwolf included drummers such as Steve Riley and Frankie Banali. St. Nicholas stopped touring with Steppenwolf when his lease on the band's name expired in 1980.
[edit] Post-Steppenwolf
After St. Nicholas' second stint with Steppenwolf ended, he formed a band called "Starwolf" in 1980 with keyboardist Steve Stewart. Stewart left in the late 1980s to be replaced by Randy Carr about the same time guitarist Dave Olsen joined the band. At this point, "Starwolf" became "Lone Wolf". In 1988, Kurt Griffey was added as a second guitarist and Chris Sweeney joined as the band's drummer. After "Lone Wolf" became "The Wolf", Sweeney was replaced by Ronnie Carson and Olsen was fired, leading to the band's dissolution in 1989. In the early 1990s, St. Nicholas formed a new "Lone Wolf" with Griffey, singer Richard Ward, and drummer Daryl Johnson, which played bike rallies and bars. In 1997, the band folded as St. Nicholas launched the supergroup World Classic Rockers, bringing Griffey with him into the new venture along with former Steppenwolf bandmate Michael Monarch.
[edit] World Classic Rockers
World Classic Rockers has done countless international shows, corporate events, and charity events. Their website has information about every band member, a set list, an extensive photo gallery, a products page, helpful links to the band members own websites, a message board, and a sample page of their music. Some of the members that have been part of this group include Bobby Kimball, Denny Seiwell, Bruce Gary, Spencer Davis, Denny Laine, Ron Wikso, Randy Meisner, Fergie Frederiksen, Aynsley Dunbar, Alex Ligertwood, and Randall Hall. Two additional members who contribute musically and vocally are keyboardist Steve Stewart, and guitarist David Coyle.
[edit] Studio albums
- T.I.M.E.
1968
Liberty Records - At Your Birthday Party
1969
U.S. #7
Gold
Dunhill Records - Monster
1969
U.S. #17
U.K. #43
Gold
Dunhill Records - Country Magic
1984
Gold Star Records
[edit] Live albums
- Early Steppenwolf
1969 (recorded in 1967 as The Sparrow)
U.S. #29
Dunhill Records - Steppenwolf Live
1970
U.S. #7
U.K. #16
Gold
Dunhill Records - World Classic Rockers: Live (1st edition)
WCR Records - World Classic Rockers: Live (2nd edition)
WCR Records - World Classic Rockers: Live (3rd edition)
WCR Records - World Classic Rockers: Live (4th edition)
WCR Records - World Classic Rockers: Live (5th edition)
WCR Records - World Classic Rockers: Live (6th edition)
WCR Records
[edit] Compilations
- Gold: Their Great Hits
1971
U.S. #24
Gold
Dunhill Records - Rest In Peace
1972
U.S. #62
Dunhill Records - 16 Greatest Hits
1973
U.S. #152
Gold
Dunhill Records - The ABC Collection
1976
ABC Records - Born to Be Wild - A Retrospective
1991
MCA Records - All Time Greatest Hits
1999
MCA Records - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Steppenwolf
2000
Gold
Universal Music Group - Steppenwolf Gold
2005
Geffen Records
[edit] Singles
| Release date | A-side | B-side | US Chart Peak | UK Chart Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | "Make It Alright | "Take Me Along" | ||
| 1968 | "What Would Life Be Without It" | "Tripping Into Sunshine" | ||
| 1969 | "Rock Me" (Kay) | "Jupiter Child" (Monarch/Kay/Edmonton) | #10 | |
| 1969 | "It's Never Too Late" (St. Nicholas/Kay) | "Happy Birthday" (Mekler) | #51 | |
| 1969 | "Move Over" (Kay/Mekler) | "Power Play" (Kay) | #31 | |
| 1969 | "Monster" (Kay/Edmonton/St. Nicholas/Byrom) | "Berry Rides Again" (Kay) | #39 | |
| 1970 | "Hey Lawdy Mama" (Kay/Byrom/Edmonton) | "Twisted" (Kay) | #35 |
| Preceded by Rushton Moreve |
Steppenwolf Bass Guitarist 1969-1970 |
Succeeded by George Biondo |
| Preceded by George Biondo |
Steppenwolf Bass Guitarist 1976-1980 |
Succeeded by Chad Peery |
[edit] References
- ^ Nick's outster and the bunny ears (HTML). GoldyMcJohn.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
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