I had the privlege of repairing John Kay's Pioneer TV 2 years ago. John lives in a beautiful valley off the Natchez Trace Parkway in Middle Tennesse. We jabbered a while about relevence and topicality. John is a big supporter of public radio here. I doubt John has run out of topics for songs. Steppenwolf (the Wolf) was intended from the start to be an evolutionary band. Look at the album credits and you will find regular personnel changes. John tours a bit each summer as Steppenwolf, with a younger group of band members. His songs are always the focus. (actually 50% of the songs are written by others)
I had to get an autograph on an album, and of course I took Monster. It is good to see so many AKers are fans. John played a benefit for my son's school 5 years ago. He came out in shades with a steel bodied guitar and played blues. The first song had no PA...he didn't flinch and just played! At the end of the concert all the performers joined in a "Will the Circle be Unbroken" finale, with John carrying the powerful bass line. Oddly, it seemed a bit on the soft side for the icon who sang "heavy metal thunder..." but he carries so much respect for the power in music, and that is certainly a powerful song.