Nick St. Nicholas (born Klaus Karl Kassbaum on September 28, 1943) is a German-Canadian musician who was the bassist of the rock band Steppenwolf in the late 1960s.

Early life

He was born in

Plön Plön (; ) is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 8,700 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as on several smaller lakes, ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

and his family moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

after World War II and became Canadian citizens. His sister Maren joined

the Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM; ), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto C ...

, (Canadian Ballet Company & Conservatory of Music), as a pianist. He also has a younger brother, Gary who entered the Merchant navy.

Early career

Kassbaum spent a brief period as bassist with the Epics, then Shirley Matthews and the Big Town Boys before organizing a set of musicians who eventually coalesced as the Mynah Birds, featuring singers

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

and Jimmy Livingston. In 1965, Kassbaum replaced

Bruce Palmer Bruce Palmer (September 9, 1946 – October 1, 2004) was a Canadian musician best known as the bassist in the folk rock band Buffalo Springfield, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Early years Palmer was born in Li ...

as bassist with Jack London and the Sparrows, became Nick St. Nicholas, and played on most of the tracks on their only LP, which was released in that year. As the band leader, St. Nicholas hired

East Prussian East Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's Free State of Prussia, ...

-born front man John Kay when Jack London left the Sparrows, and they became Sparrow. He moved the band south to New York for a modest record deal with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, then drove Sparrow non-stop to California. St. Nicholas was one of the driving forces in music of the hippie counterculture movement, the

Summer of Love The Summer of Love was a major social phenomenon that occurred in San Francisco during the summer of 1967. As many as 100,000 people, mostly young people, hippies, beatniks, and 1960s counterculture figures, converged in San Francisco's Haig ...

. Having booked the band at

the Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...

club in San Francisco, on May 14, 1967, two live shows were recorded, including a 20-minute version of "

The Pusher "The Pusher" is a rock song written by Hoyt Axton in 1963, made popular by the 1969 movie '' Easy Rider'' which used Steppenwolf's version to accompany the opening scenes showing drug trafficking. The lyrics of the song distinguish between ...

." These are the live recordings released by ABC Dunhill Records as ''

Early Steppenwolf ''Early Steppenwolf'' is a collection of live recordings by Steppenwolf when they were still known as " The Sparrow" '' The Sparrows (band)">The Sparrows"'. It was released in July 1969 on the ABC Dunhill Records label. Prior to the formation of ...

''. In 1967 St. Nicholas also joined a Los Angeles–based group called the Hardtimes, who soon renamed themselves T.I.M.E., which stands for Trust in Men Everywhere.

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

signed them to a $500,000 recording contract, but their manager, the now deceased Ron Levin, turned out to be a con man and absconded with the advance and all of the band's earnings. Prior to the formation of the Steppenwolf partnership in 1968, music producer-

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

Gabriel Mekler Gabriel Mekler (2 December 1942 – 4 September 1977) was an American songwriter, musician, and record producer who attained fame in the 1960s, helming albums for Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, and Janis Joplin. He also collaborated with R&B singer ...

changed the name from Sparrow to Steppenwolf based on a book he was reading at the time by

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

Steppenwolf

After having recorded two albums without him, St. Nicholas's Sparrow bandmates, (vocalist/guitarist John Kay, drummer

Jerry Edmonton Gerald Michael Edmonton (born Gerald McCrohan, October 24, 1946 – November 28, 1993) was a Canadian musician who was the drummer and secondary lead vocalist for the rock band Steppenwolf. Early life and career Edmonton was born in Oshawa, ...

and organist

Goldy McJohn John Raymond Goadsby (May 2, 1945 – August 1, 2017), known as Goldy McJohn, was a Canadian keyboard player best known as the original keyboardist for rock group Steppenwolf. Originally a classically trained pianist, he was a pioneer in the ...

) came to see him perform with T.I.M.E. at the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed The Whisky) is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boulev ...

on the

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California, United States. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western bord ...

and asked him to leave T.I.M.E. to rejoin them as Steppenwolf.

"1967, John Kay, Jerry Edmonton, Michael Monarch and Goldie McJohn formed a musical band called ‘Steppenwolf.’ In 1968, Nicholas Kassbaum, who is professionally known as ‘Nick St. Nicholas,’ joined Steppenwolf as a bass player. That year, the band members entered into a
partnership agreement Articles of partnership is a voluntary contract between/among two or more persons to place their capital, labor, and skills into a business, with the understanding that there will be a sharing of the profits and losses between/among partners. Outs ...
whereby the members became co-equal partners and owners in Steppenwolf, and agreed to share equally the band's expenses and income. Also in 1968, the band members signed a recording agreement with
Dunhill Records Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by Lou Adler, Jay Lasker, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts as Dunhill Productions to release the music of Johnny Rivers on Imperial Records. It became a record label the following year and was distribute ...
both as partners and as Steppenwolf band members. From late 1968 until late April 1970, Steppenwolf, with Kassbaum as its bass player, toured the world in concerts and recorded Steppenwolf 's well-received music. Kassbaum appeared prominently on Steppenwolf record album covers and authored Steppenwolf compositions. In 1970, John Kay, who had asserted control over Steppenwolf, excluded Kassbaum from the band." –
9th Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

St. Nicholas has several Gold and Platinum records to his credit playing and contributing on four Steppenwolf albums: '' At Your Birthday Party'', ''

'', ''

Monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

'', and ''

Steppenwolf Live ''Steppenwolf Live'' is primarily a collection of recordings from a single concert early in 1970 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium by Steppenwolf staged in support of their 1969 album ''Monster''. Released in April 1970 by Dunhill Records, it ...

''. He performed on many television shows as a member of Steppenwolf, including ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'', August 17, 1969, where the band performed a medley of " Born to Be Wild" / " Magic Carpet Ride" and a complete version of "It's Never Too Late", ''

The Smothers Brothers The Smothers Brothers were the American duo of brothers Tom and Dick Smothers, who performed folk singing, music, and comedy. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on acoustic guitar, Dick on double bass), which us ...

'', ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

'', ''

Playboy After Dark ''Playboy After Dark'' is an American television show hosted by Hugh Hefner. It aired in syndication through Screen Gems from 1969 to 1970 and was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. Overview ''Playboy After Dark'' followed much the s ...

'', ''

Beat Club ''Beat-Club'' was a West German music programme that ran from September 1965 to December 1972. It was broadcast from Bremen, West Germany on ''Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen'', the national public TV channel of the ARD, and produced by one of its m ...

'', '' Della'', ''

Upbeat Up beat may refer to: *Upbeat, in music, the last beat in the previous bar which immediately precedes the downbeat *Anacrusis, a note (or sequence of notes) which precedes the first downbeat in a bar in a musical phrase * ''Upbeat'' (album), by t ...

'', and ''

The Steve Allen Show ''The Steve Allen Show'' is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC,

'', as well as

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's ''

Behind the Music ''Behind the Music'' is an American documentary television series that initially aired on VH1 from 1997 to 2014. Each episode profiles and interviews a popular musical artist or group, examining career beginnings, roads to success and any resul ...

''. St. Nicholas was squeezed out of Steppenwolf in a power play by Kay in 1971.

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s board member and former manager of T.I.M.E. Jeff Greenberg came to see St. Nicholas to inform him that Steppenwolf was at a rehearsal at SIR Studios with a new bassist,

George Biondo George Michael Biondo (born September 3, 1945) is a musician who served as bass guitarist of the Canadian rock band Steppenwolf from April 1970 to October 1976. Born in New York, Biondo has been based in Southern California throughout a career ...

. More than twenty years of still-unresolved litigation followed. Following St. Nicholas's ouster from Steppenwolf, he replaced

Dickie Peterson Richard Allan Peterson (September 12, 1946 – October 12, 2009)Blue Cheer Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style. The ...

alongside Ruben De Fuentes on guitar and Terry Rae on drums. The band both toured and recorded during this time, but the songs were not released until ''Live & Unreleased '68/'74'' was released in 1996. After Kay and Edmonton's version of Steppenwolf disbanded in 1976, St. Nicholas reformed the group with McJohn and guitarist Kent Henry, who had replaced Larry Byrom in the group and recorded the guitar tracks on the ''For Ladies Only'' album in 1971. There were several other versions of this band touring at the same time for which St. Nicholas was not responsible. During this time, St. Nicholas's Steppenwolf included drummers such as Steve Riley and

Frankie Banali Francesco Felice Banali (November 14, 1951 – August 20, 2020) was an American rock drummer, most widely known for his work with heavy metal band Quiet Riot. His signature tone and iconic drum intros first became famous on their album ''Meta ...

. St. Nicholas stopped touring with Steppenwolf in 1980 due to legal actions by Kay.

Post-Steppenwolf

In 1980 St. Nicholas formed a band called Starwolf with keyboardist Steve Stewart along with drummer Dean Woytcke. Stewart left in the late 1980s and

Randy Carr Randy Carr (August 13, 1956 – March 27, 2002) was an American musician who played drums in many rock music groups in the Orange County area of Southern California including 7th Grade, Silicone Silos, 16 Tons, and Social Distortion. Carr also ...

joined; about the same time guitarist Dave Olsen joined and 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 continuing from 1988 to 1989, Ronnie Carson took over for Sweeney and Olsen left. In the early 1990s, St. Nicholas formed a new Lone Wolf with Griffey, singer Richard Ward, and drummer

Daryl Johnson Daryl E. Johnson (August 11, 1946 – November 25, 2023) was an American professional football defensive back who played in the American Football League (AFL), the National Football League (NFL), and the World Football League (WFL). He was a m ...

, featuring at bike rallies and clubs, continuing until 1997.

World Classic Rockers

In 1997 St. Nicholas began a new heavy metal chapter as he launched the supergroup World Classic Rockers, bringing Griffey with him into the new venture along with Sparrow and Steppenwolf bandmate Michael Monarch.Good Morning San Diego, anchor Carlos Amezcua, Nick St. Nicholas of Steppenwolf and Greg Walker of Santana (7th Annual American Freedom Festival with World Classic Rockers concert aboard USS Midway May 28, 2016 aired 27 May 2016)
KUSI News San Diego Members include former members of Steppenwolf,

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

, Toto, Journey,

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

and others. The World Classic Rockers (WCR) prepare to celebrate the 20-year anniversary.

Studio albums

*''T.I.M.E.''
1968

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous rev ...

*'' At Your Birthday Party''
1969
U.S. #7
''Gold''

Dunhill Records Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by Lou Adler, Jay Lasker, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts as Dunhill Productions to release the music of Johnny Rivers on Imperial Records. It became a record label the following year and was distribute ...

*''

''
1969
U.S. #17
U.K. #43
''Gold''

*''Live & Unreleased '68/'74''
1996

Captain Trip Records Captain Trip Records is a Japanese music label founded and run by musician Ken Matsutani. The label specializes in experimental music and various subgenres of rock, particularly psychedelic rock and progressive rock. In addition to the publicatio ...

*''Country Magic''
1984

Gold Star Records Gold Star Records is an American independent record label founded by Bill Quinn in Houston, Texas in 1941. History In 1939 Bill Quinn settled in Houston and established the Quinn Radio Service, a radio repair shop. After being intrigued by a h ...

Live albums

*''

''
1969 (recorded in 1967 as the Sparrow)
U.S. #29

*''

''
1970
U.S. #7
U.K. #16
''Gold''

*''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 *''

Blue Cheer Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style. The ...

Live & Unreleased, Vol. 1: '68/'74'' (1996;

)

Compilations

*'' Gold: Their Great Hits''
1971
U.S. #24
''Gold''

*''

Rest in Peace Rest in peace (R.I.P.), a phrase from the Latin (), is sometimes used in traditional Christianity, Christian Church service, services and Christian prayer, prayers, such as in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist denominations, to w ...

''
1972
U.S. #62

*''

16 Greatest Hits ''16 Greatest Hits'' is a compilation album by Steppenwolf (band), Steppenwolf, released in 1973 in music, 1973. It features some of their most famous songs, including "Born to Be Wild", "The Pusher", and "Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf song), ...

''
1973
U.S. #152
''Gold''

*'' The ABC Collection''
1976

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

*'' Born to Be Wild - A Retrospective''
1991

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

*'' All Time Greatest Hits''
1999

*'' 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Steppenwolf''
2000
''Gold''

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

*'' Steppenwolf Gold''
2005

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

Singles

References

External links

World Classic Rockers
official site *
(IMDB)
VH1 Behind the Music Steppenwolf {{DEFAULTSORT:St. Nicholas, Nick 1943 births Living people People from Plön (district) German emigrants to Canada Blue Cheer members Steppenwolf (band) members German rock bass guitarists German male bass guitarists Canadian male bass guitarists World Classic Rockers members