Nice read about John Sebastian and the Spoonful. They did some great stuff. My fave by them is Coconut Grove, a cool laid back groove.

[bestclassicbands.com]

Thanks for posting and I was a fan of the Lovin Spoonful Sixties songs: Daydream-Summer in the City-Rain On the Roof-Nashville Cats-Darling Be home soon-Six o'Clock-She is still a Mystery and Money.

Summer in The City reached nr2 in the top charts in the Netherlands in 1966.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-09-14 20:40 by runaway.

Nice guy and a great band..............

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Thanks for posting! I saw John a few months ago at the city Winery. The show was good and he tells some great stories. He signs his CD's after the show too!!

I love The Lovin' Spoonful.

During their run--which was only about 2 and a half years--they were right up there among the greatest bands of the 60's.

And in that period all those great songs, one after another, just flowed out of Sebastian. He was like an American McCartney. So many tuneful, catchy hits. In addition to the soundtracks (for Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen) he wrote the songs for a short-lived 1968 Broadway musical--Jimmy Shine--that starred Dustin Hoffman.

But when the Spoonful ended, his previously effortless songwriting seemed to dry up. There were a few good tunes here and there, but that first solo album was probably too poppy for the time.(It didn't help that it's release was delayed a year by a fight between his former record company (MGM-who had bought the Spoonful's label Kama Sutra--and Warner Brothers)

There are hints of what the Spoonful would have sounded like had they made the transition into the post-Monterey Pop era of FM album oriented rock.

Sebastian is the harmonica player on The Doors "Roadhouse Blues" (He worked on two albums with their producer, Paul Rothchild). "Black Snake Blues" on The Four of Us demonstrates that Sebastian had the rougher vocal chops.

The elements of American roots music were always present in Spoonful music, yet their chart success didn't allow them to be taken (or take themselves) as seriously as later groups like Creedence or The Band.

I've always wondered if Sebastian's art has suffered because of his own happiness. There are elements of conflict in his work when he was young: "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind" "Younger Girl" "It's Not Time Now" "Respoken" "Didn't Want To Do It"

But the songs he wrote 50 years ago are beyond classics. Many could be called modern music standards.

And having met him, I'll confirm he is a great guy and a real gentleman.


(I might actually be the one who first called Sebastian "an honorary member of NRBQ." When spoke to John after the Q's 35th Anniversary show in 2004--in which he appeared--he seemed surprised when I used that phrase as an excuse to get his autograph along with the reunited Q members. Three years later at the Q's 38th Anniversary show, Terry Adams used those very words on stage to introduce Sebastian. Was it coincidence, or had John told him that someone called him that?. At any rate, the spirit of the Spoonful lives on in NRBQ--although maybe now in a version where Zally was the dominant band member...)

This book is a must-read for any Spoonful fan.
[www.amazon.com]

"Sebastian and Zal formed the Spoonful
Michelle, John, and Denny gettin' very tuneful
McGuinn and McGuire just a-catchin' fire
In L.A., you know where that's at
And everybody's gettin' fat except Mama Cass"

The Mamas & The Papas – Creeque Alley

Oh, to be a fly on the wall back then...one of the greatest songs of all time!

Although I did think it was "just a gettin higher"....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-09-15 02:13 by shadooby.

Quote
shadooby
"Sebastian and Zal formed the Spoonful
Michelle, John, and Denny gettin' very tuneful
McGuinn and McGuire just a-catchin' fire
In L.A., you know where that's at
And everybody's gettin' fat except Mama Cass"

The Mamas & The Papas – Creeque Alley

Oh, to be a fly on the wall back then...one of the greatest songs of all time!

Although I did think it was "just a gettin higher"....

....indeed it was, for the first two verses:

"In a coffee house Sebastian sat,
And after every number they'd pass the hat.
McGuinn and McGuire just a-gettin' higher in L.A.,
You know where that's at."

"Zal, Denny, and Sebastian sat (at the Night Owl)
And after every number they'd pass the hat.
McGuinn and McGuire still a-gettin higher in L.A.,
You know where that's at."

3rd verse a little different...

"When Denny met Cass he gave her love bumps;
Called John and Zal and that was the Mugwumps.
McGuinn and McGuire couldn't get no higher
But that's what they were aimin' at...
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass!"

My favorite

[www.youtube.com]

I discovered the Lovin Spoonful wachting John Sebastian singing Rainbow over your Blues in the woodstock movie, since then I become a fan of Sebastian and the Spoonful.

Bye
Fernando

I’ve recently purchased a very reasonably priced box-set from Amazon.co.uk, consisting of their five studio albums, plus plenty of alternate takes, etc. All’s that’s missing is the Woody Allen soundtrack. Thankfully, I already have Darling Be Home Soon on a Lovin’ Spoonful best-of. They were an excellent group, for sure. The albums’ show the versatility and variety in Sebastian’s songwriting style and composition, yet, also, that they were a little weaker than some of the completion: The Byrd’s, perhaps.

One of the best shows I've seen was a free concert in a small backyard during a blues festival in Norway. I was just walking by on the main street when I heard a guy singing and playing acoustic guitar.

I went through the alley and into the backyard. And it was John Sebastian. Can't have been more than 50 people there. It was amazing. Great guy, great show!

I remember buying Summer In The City in an impulse. Very nice fresh song. Almost at the same time a friend of mine (also in an impulse) bought 19th Nervous Breakdown. We came to talk about the two songs and the result was that we swapped the singles because we both felt that "that other song" was actually better
Weird memories ...
Spoonful was a very good, talented band though, in my opinion.


I'm a GHOST living in a ghost town

On Feb. 29 last year--just before everything shut down--the three surviving original members of the Spoonful reunited for the first time since their RnR HoF induction for this Wild Honey Orchestra benefit show:

[variety.com]

For a fan like me, it was one of the greatest nights ever.

Looking back, it seemed impossible that a night of so much joy happened in 2020.

[www.youtube.com]


[www.youtube.com]

More stuff best relegated to the dust bin of commercial co-opted pap.

jb

Thanks for the Wild Honey links.

More "commercial co-opted pap"

[www.youtube.com]

That was great loog droog.

Love Dave Alvin with or without the Blasters, and John Sebastian can sure play a mean blues harp - he can also be heard wailing away on the Doors' *Roadhouse Blues.
As for the Lovin' Spoonful, I can only name three tunes (Daydream, Do you Believe in Magic, and Summer in the City), but each are major historical landmarks in the timeline of my life.

*EDIT: Having just read back through thread, I see you already mentioned Roadhouse Blues.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-05-06 03:58 by Hairball.

The Spoonful and the Rascals for me were the two great, creative bands that thrived in the 60s but couldn't make the jump in popularity when things got wilder and heavier. I'd say the Spoonful definitely had influence as well as hits -- there was a "jug band" mentality that permeated a lot of the early San Francisco bands that seems to be in a direct line. Flamin' Groovie's "Supersnazz" has that goofy, hooky vibe. They also wonderfully covered "Let the Boy Rock and Roll" later on.

Quote
loog droog

Sebastian is the harmonica player on The Doors "Roadhouse Blues."

Also on the title track of CSNY's "Deja Vu."

What was cool was none of the LS songs sounded the same.

Quote
Elmo Lewis
What was cool was none of the LS songs sounded the same.

THAT was their (short lived) talent!


I'm a GHOST living in a ghost town