Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1968
Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf song)
Buy Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Magic Carpet Ride
| cover = Magic Carpet Ride.png
| alt =
| border = yes
| caption = Cover of the 1968 Netherlands single
| type = single
| artist = Steppenwolf
| album = The Second
| B-side = Sookie Sookie
| released =
| recorded = 1968
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = (album)
(single)
| label = ABC Dunhill
| writer =
| producer = Gabriel Mekler
| prev_title = The Pusher
| prev_year = 1968
| next_title = Rock Me
| next_year = 1969
| misc =
}}
"'Magic Carpet Ride'" is a rock song written by John Kay and Rushton Moreve from the Canadian-American hard rock band Steppenwolf. The song was initially released in 1968 on the album 'The Second'. It was the lead single from that album, peaking at number three in the US, and staying in the charts for 16 weeks, longer than any other Steppenwolf song.[http://www.billboard.com/artist/280528/steppenwolf/chart?page=1&f=379 Steppenwolf - Chart history], Billboard.com. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
The 45 rpm version is not only an edit of the album version, but contains a different vocal take on the first verse. Despite the single's popularity, the album version enjoyed heavy airplay on FM radio and is still the preferred version on most classic rock stations, as well as the one most commonly included on compilations and in popular media.
Writing and recording
When preparing to record the band's second album, 'The Second', bassist Rushton Moreve came up with a "bouncy riff". Band member Jerry Edmonton's brother, Mars Bonfire, started playing guitar, and the band developed the riff. For the introduction, guitarist Michael Monarch created feedback which was spliced on to the beginning of the band's recording. John Kay had recently bought a new top-quality hi-fi system, and started writing lyrics "about how great our new stereo system sounded," adding imagery about making a wish. After completing the lyrics and recording the vocal track, Kay overdubbed a falsetto, and sound engineer Bill Cooper spliced an extra chorus at the end of the track. While denying that the song was about drug experiences, Kay did admit to the Wall Street Journal in 2016 that "I may have smoked a joint" the night he and Monarch got the idea for the song. Kay also alleged the lyrics went beyond referencing the quality of the new stereo and were also a reference to his relationship with his wife Jutta and envisioning that he had made a wish with Aladdin's lamp.
'Billboard' described the single as a "pulsating rocker" with similar sales potential to Steppenwolf's earlier single, "Born to Be Wild".
Chart history
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Cover versions
*A 1978 version by the South African group Buffalo spent 12 weeks on the Springbok Radio charts, peaking at number five.
*Billy Paul on his 1971 album 'Going East' covered the song.
*Creative Source on their eponymous album covered the song.
*Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, on the 1988 album, 'On the Strength'.
*Bedlam version for the 'Reservoir Dogs' soundtrack in 1992.
*A Latin pop cover, sung in Spanish and English by Myra, was included on the 2000 Disney album 'La Vida Mickey'.
*The version was remixed by Philip Steir for the video games 'Triple Play 2001' and 'Dance Dance Revolution Universe'.
References
Buy Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1968