| Early Steppenwolf | |
| Type: | Live album |
| Artist: | Steppenwolf |
| Cover: | Early Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf.jpg |
| Released: | July 1969 |
| Recorded: | May 14, 1967 |
| Venue: | The Matrix, San Francisco, California |
| Length: | 43:37 |
| Label: | ABC Dunhill Records |
| Producer: | Peter Abram |
| Prev Title: | At Your Birthday Party |
| Prev Year: | 1969 |
| Next Title: | Monster |
| Next Year: | 1969 |
Early Steppenwolf is a collection of live recordings by Steppenwolf when they were still known as "The Sparrow" [nee: "[[The Sparrows (band)|The Sparrows]]"]. It was released in July 1969 on the ABC Dunhill Records label.[1]
Prior to the formation of the Steppenwolf partnership in 1968,[2] music producer arranger, Gabriel Mekler changed the name of the band based on a book he was reading at the time by Hermann Hesse. Nick St. Nicholas was one of the driving forces in music of the hippie counterculture movement, the Summer of Love, having booked the band at the Matrix club in the San Francisco Bay Area. On May 14, 1967, the manager of the Matrix club recorded two shows, including a 20-minute version of The Pusher. These are the live recordings released by ABC Dunhill Records as Early Steppenwolf .[3]