Steppenwolf in the news

No Magic Carpet Ride
Original Publication Date: 08/17/1999

It's not just the substance hemp that can get you into trouble. Material about hemp can do the same thing.

John Kay of the 1960s group Steppenwolf learned that the hard way when he tried to cross the border into Canada. Kay was a recent guest on "Politically Incorrect," with Bill Maher. Kay says that after the broadcast, Todd McCormick, a friend of Maher's and a hemp advocate, gave him a video extolling the virtues of hemp and a copy of Hemp Life magazine.

Kay says he took what McCormick gave him back to the East Coast and inadvertently left the material on the back of Steppenwolf's tour bus. There, he says, the book and video were discovered by Canadian customs officials when the band attempted to cross the border for a date in Ottawa.

The "discovery resulted in a four-hour delay," says Kay, "complete with drug-dog inspection and dismemberment of both truck and bus interiors."

The dog found no contraband, reports Kay, "although he left a considerable amount of dog hair on the upholstery of both our front and back bus lounges."

John Kay and Todd McCormick
at Politically Incorrect

Lauren Rubin

DON'T STEP ON THE GRASS, SAM
http://www.steppenwolf.com/lyr/dntste.html

From the 1968 release "The Second"
Words and music by John Kay

Starin' at the boob tube, turnin' on the big knob
Tryin' to find some life in the waste land
Fin'ly found a program, gonna deal with Mary Jane
Ready for a trip into hate land
Obnoxious Joe comes on the screen
Along with his guest self-righteous Sam
And one more guy who doesn't count
His hair and clothes are too far out

While pushin' back his glasses Sam is sayin' casually
"I was elected by the masses"
And with that in mind he starts to unwind
A vicious attack on the finest of grasses

Well it's evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don't step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don't be such an ass, Sam)
Well, it will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You're so full of bull, Sam)
All will pay that disagree with me
(Please give up you already lost the fight, alright)

Misinformation Sam and Joe
Are feeding to the nation
But the one who didn't count counted them out
By exposing all their false quotations
Faced by a very awkward situation
This is all he'd say to save the day

You waste my coin Sam, all you can
To jail my fellow man
For smoking all the noble weed
You need much more than him
You've been telling lies so long
Some believe they're true
So they close their eyes to things
You have no right to do
Just as soon as you are gone
Hope will start to climb
Please don't stay around too long
You're wasting precious time

Repeat Chorus