"Magic Carpet Ride" is a rock song written by John Kay and

Rushton Moreve Rushton Moreve (born John Rushton Morey; November 6, 1948 – July 1, 1981) was an American bass guitarist best known for his work with the rock band Steppenwolf from 1967–68 and again in 1978. According to singer John Kay, he was an in ...

from the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...

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. 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 Dennis Edmonton (born Dennis Eugene McCrohan; 21 April 1943), also known by the stage name Mars Bonfire, is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter, best known for writing the hit song "Born to Be Wild" for Steppenwolf. Career Born Dennis Eu ...

, started playing guitar, and the band developed the riff. For the introduction, guitarist

Michael Monarch Michael Monarch (born July 5, 1950) is an American guitarist. He is best known for his work with the band Steppenwolf. Monarch was born in Los Angeles. As the original lead guitarist with Steppenwolf (1967 through most of 1969),feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...

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 ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

, 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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' 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 Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

n group Buffalo spent 12 weeks on the

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charts, peaking at number five. * Billy Paul on his 1971 album '' Going East'' covered the song. *

Creative Source Creative Source was an American R&B group from Los Angeles, who had several funk and disco hits during the 1970s. History Creative Source was formed in 1972 by several veterans of the West Coast recording studios. They were managed by Ron Towns ...

on their eponymous album covered the song. *

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, S ...

, on the 1988 album, '' On the Strength''. *

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version for the '' Reservoir Dogs'' soundtrack in 1992. *

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, guitar, saxophone, and percussion, as well as singing. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group ...

version for the ''

Star Kid ''Star Kid'' (originally titled ''The Warrior of Waverly Street'') is a 1997 American superhero film directed and written by Manny Coto and starring Joseph Mazzello, Richard Gilliland, and Corinne Bohrer. Plot The life of shy, seventh-grader ...

'' soundtrack in 1998. * KSM version for the '' Wizards of Waverly Place'' soundtrack in 2009.

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1968 singles 1968 songs 1979 singles ABC Records singles Dunhill Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Steppenwolf (band) songs