The guys in the band out of Topeka tell an interesting story on how they landed their very first recording contract with Kirshner Records in 1973.

When the group learned that a representative from Don Kirshner's new record label was flying into the state of Kansas to check out the progressive rock sextet for a possible record deal, the guys came up with a plan. Drummer Phil Ehart remembered, "We found this hall in Ellenwood, Kansas which probably held 1500 people, and for two weeks prior, we advertised everywhere that it was going to be 'free beer!'.... because we wanted this place packed when this guy shows up so he thinks we're the freaking Beatles... I mean, you could imagine every cowboy and redneck in Kansas, and farmer and stuff was there... they didn't know who Kansas was, they didn't care! They wanted the free beer! Well, the guy from New York didn't know that. He saw all this, this crowd, and he thought, 'These guys must be incredible!'"

After a slow start and three modest selling albums for the label, the band finally hit paydirt in 1976 with the song "Carry On Wayward Son." Since then Kansas has released eight multi-million-selling albums and placed over a dozen songs into Billboard's Hot 100 singles charts.

Here are a few interesting facts I dug up about some of the songs that came from the group known as Kansas.
-Jerry

"Carry On Wayward Son" (#11 on Billboard's pop singles charts/1977/from the album Leftoverture)
Success didn't happen immediately for Kansas as their first three albums for Kirshner Records sold just modestly, which translated in even more pressure for the boys in the band to come up with a hit. Guitarist Kerry Livgren said, "for the Leftoverture album, there was actually a decision on the part of the band to abandon any effort at commerciality, pursue our musical vision, and simply be ourselves.... ironically, we launched our commercial success when we quit trying." In fact, the group's first hit single was a song Livgren presented to the band just hours before they were to begin recording the album Leftoverture in Bogaloosa, Louisiana, at a studio Livgren said was, "literally in the middle of a swamp." Livgren explained that it was a song he composed on a piano his father had recently purchased for him at a garage sale, and recalled, "it was down in the basement, and I sat down there, and I started playing this song, and I thought, 'man, this is kind of neat,' you know... and I kept working on it and working on it, and it turned into 'Wayward Son.'" Because Livgren presented his composition to the rest of the band during their last day of rehearsal, he said, "We didn't even have time to learn the song.... we literally learned 'Carry On Wayward Son' almost as we were recording it."

The song, which begins with the a cappella vocals of Steve Walsh and features the guitar harmonies of Livgren and Rich Williams, was not only a last minute addition to the album, but became its lead track.

As far as the song's lyrics, Livgren, who three years later became a born again Christian, explained that, "'Carry On Wayward Son' was simply an expression of my own longings for things spiritual." He said, "My goal was inaccessible, but I felt a profound urge to 'carry on' and continue my search. I saw myself as the 'wayward son,' alienated from the ultimate reality, and yet striving to know it or him. The positive note at the end ('Now your life's no longer empty/Surely heaven waits for you') seemed strange and premature, but I felt impelled to include it in the lyrics. It proved to be prophetic."

"The Wall" (1977/Leftoverture)
Livgren said "The Wall" was an intensely personal song that he composed on his father's Lowry organ. He remembered, "It had this one setting that sounded like a big pipe organ, or something. And the sound of that organ caused me to write in a little different vein that I might have with a guitar or piano. 'The Wall,' lyrically, I guess, represented, maybe better that any song I've ever written... my personal spiritual longing to find the answer to life and who we are and why we're here and all that kind of stuff."

"Magnum Opus Medley" (1977/Leftoverture)
It's an eight-and-a-half minute composition that was to be one of the songs included on a Kansas album that was originally planned to be called Magnum Opus. Because the song was made up of "leftover" bits and pieces of several songs contributed by all six group members, it's original title was "Leftoverture." But just before the album was to be released, it was decided that the two titles should be switched... "Leftoverture became the album title and "Magnum Opus" the album's last track.

"Dust In The Wind" (#6/1978/Point Of Know Return)
The band's best known song was originally written as a way to practice playing the guitar and, like "Carry On Wayward Son," turned into a last minute addition to their Point Of Know Return album.

Livgren said, "I had this acoustic guitar and I was trying to learn to fingerpick. So I made up this finger exercise to teach myself to fingerpick. And I was sitting in my music room, playing this thing, and my wife walked by, and she stood there and listened for a second, and she goes, 'Boy, that's really pretty, you should make words to that.'" The words for the melody came later. Livgren explained, "I was reading a book on American Indian poetry one day, and I came across that line. This American Indian said, 'for all we are is dust in the wind.' And I thought, well, you know, that's really true. Here I got all this success, I've got material possessions, I've got a goal in my life that had been accomplished at that point, but I'm going back into the ground, and what does this really mean in light of that?"

"Portrait (He Knew)" (#64/1978/Point Of Know Return)
"I've always been an avid reader, read a lot of science fiction, read a lot of philosophy, a lot of religious books, a lot of science, and I was always fascinated by Albert Einstein and the fact that he went so far with mathematics and physics, that he actually crossed the line into metaphysics and philosophy, and he was actually getting to the fabric of the universe. I thought what an amazing man. The interesting thing about 'Portrait' is that nobody seemed to catch on who it was about... and they would always corner me and say 'who's that about?' When I would say Albert Einstein, they'd give me this blank look like, 'Wow, I never thought of that!'"

"Closet Chronicles" (1978/Point Of Know Return)
Well, that song actually pre-dates our first album. I wrote the original 'Closet Chronicles' in 1973, and then when this band first got together we learned it, and then we dropped it after a while. And then when it came time to do Point Of Know Return, the album, Steve dredged it up from the 'forgotten file' and we re-worked a lot of it and it turned out to be a cool song." This Steve Walsh and Kerry Livgren composition was supposedly written about Howard Hughes.

"People Of The South Wind" (#23/1979/Monolith)
You could say that the song's title was inspired by the band's group name. The word "Kansas" is a Native American term that, when translated, means "People Of The South Wind."

"Play The Game Tonight" (#17/1982/Vinyl Confessions)
The song was originally written as "Stay With Me Tonight" by Danny Flower and Rob Frazier and presented to the band Kansas. Guitarist and born again Christian Kerry Livgren loved the melody, but was uncomfortable with its lyrics ("Stay with me tonight/doesn't matter if it's wrong or right"). Kerry reworked the words to change the story of a one-night stand into an examination of rock and roll stardom ("Play the game tonight/can you tell me if it's wrong or right? Is it worth the time? Is it worth the price? Do you see yourself in the white spotlight?").

"Fight Fire With Fire" (#58/1983/Drastic Measures)
When Steve Walsh quit the Kansas in 1981, he was replace by John Elefante who, like Livgren, was a born again Christian. One of the tracks off of the band's Drastic Measures album was "Fight Fire With Fire," a song Elefante said, "Deals with standing up for your faith," and added, "It's a great rock song, but, once again, lyrics like that didn't always please the entire band."

More on Kansas

• WMMO interview with Kansas hosted by Jerry Steffen
• What Kansas song would you like to hear at the concert?
• Jerry Steffen's Kansas Bio
• Rate Kansas's Music