Does anyone here like them?

They seem to be one of the real "forgotten bands" of the mid-late 60's Californian scene. I think they recorded some wonderful songs and John Sebastian is a truly underrated songwriter. Younger Girl, I Believe In Magic and Summer In The City are all classics in my opinion. No household be without a Best Of The Lovin' Spoonful.

I agree, Big Al. I really like Tommy James and the Shondells, too.

I agree with both you guys. Tommy James, John Sebastion, and even The Zombies (Rod Argent?). How can we forget "She's Not There," "Tell Her No," and "Time Of The Season." These three groups get played a lot on my CD player in the summer time, when I'm sitting on my deck with a bunch of drunken friends, grilling some wad of meat and swilling down beers like water.

good band. sebastian layed down some heavy blooze harp on the Doors' Roadhouse Blues, too - he gets extra credit for that

and Sebastion was a friend of Dylan in Geenwich Village before Dylan hit the big time.

He did? I didnt know that interesting...............

He's also mentioned in "Creque Alley" by the Mama and Papas - "In a coffeehouse Sebastian sat and after every number they'd pass the hat".

Are (Jim) McGuinn and (Barry) McGuirre are still gettin' higher?

I would imagine so.

P. S. Mama Cass is no longer getting fat.

Sebastion and Bobby, circa 1963

Those songs are a little too classic too me, you know?

and a Spoonfuls song that gets stuck in my head easily is Daydream

What a day for a day dream
custom made for a daydreamin' boy...

thanks, Lukester - you just ruined all our daze....

"thanks, Lukester - you just ruined all our daze...."




I get that a lot from my coworkers, T&A. Earlier this week I got this nice lady in the office next to mine stuck on Marty Robbins' Old El Paso. I think she's still whistling it. Now out of mercy I'll start whistling the Day Dream song. Let's see if it works.

how about a little "Welcome Back, Kotter" while we're on the general Sebastian subject? That should ruin a day or two....

Ha ha...that's a good one

Travolta as Vinnie - a 70's Fonzie!

Who?? What???? Whe yah???

I miss Barbarino and the gang.

Is Blondie Chaplin the guy who played Horshack?

stop it...you're killing me

first two albums were great... bald headed lena...jug band music...
a ton of 'em
original bass player steve boone, direct descendant of Daniel Boone
(useless trivia but there ya go!)

original drummer joe butler is very under-rated and fabulous...

original guitar lead guy, zal yanovsky was totally crackerjack whatever the style...

a great mixture of folk, real rock, jugband and blues and pop etc...

saw on a pbs special (those fools ONLY put on rock related shows when it's telethon fund driving time, the skanks)
saw THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL...
NOT ONE ORIGINAL MEMBER...

guess the jerry, the replacement keyboardist after zal left,
was there... big deal...

i mean not ONE Original member and they license the name and go out on tour?
shameless...

such a wonderful legacy of recorded work and performances...
being shat upon decisively...

i remember thinking at the time that the Byrds, the Rascals and the Spoonful
were the best American rock bands during the brit invasion years...
still think so...

A great post Beelboy. The Lovin' Spoonful only had a couple of hits over here in the UK, but my dad had there first couple of LP's. I used to listen to them quite a lot. I don't own a best of, but there’s a good one on Amazon that I'm just about to order. It's like I said, no household should be without one.

Your spot on about bands that carry on with little, to no original members. There are SO MANY of them out there still doing so. I saw The Hollies a few years back and I know Graham Nash left in '69, but there’s no Alan Clarke these days either. Still, they were excellent.

Big Al Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > > Your spot on about bands that carry on with
> little, to no original members. There are SO MANY
> of them out there still doing so.

Hey - the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra is playing here next month....

T&A Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> good band. sebastian layed down some heavy blooze
> harp on the Doors' Roadhouse Blues, too - he gets
> extra credit for that



That's also him playing on CSNY's song "Deja Vu"

Beelyboy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> saw on a pbs special (those fools ONLY put on rock
> related shows when it's telethon fund driving
> time, the skanks)
> saw THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL...
> NOT ONE ORIGINAL MEMBER...
>
> guess the jerry, the replacement keyboardist after
> zal left,
> was there... big deal...
>
> i mean not ONE Original member and they license
> the name and go out on tour?
> shameless...


Incredible. Did they show any shots of the audience while they were playing? If so, did the audience look befuddled or were they happy to go along with the sham like they didn't even realize there were no original members?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-04-20 21:51 by tatters.

whoa; good call...did not know that about Roadhouse Blues!!...
that is spectacularly cool...

LOVE with Arthur Lee was Elektra's first rock act...
(and a brilliant one...)
hendrix played on a latter day arthur lee Love project toward the late 60's...
just one song... but that speaks volumes...

the doors were their (Elektra) second rock signing...
previous to that, they were total folk music label...

yep; and during the folkie days, before Spoonful, Sebastian was one of the most called for session harmonica players in NYC...
he's on dozens and dozens of tracks

that auto-harp thing was cool too...
june carter cash always knocked me out when she played auto-harp also...

What about that other 60's combo, the Rolling Stones. Only three original members left - No Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, or Bill Wyman. The guitar players appear to be on drugs. Singer has big lips and acts feminine. They fake the hits pretty good though. Just kidding!

I (like many others) have a deep love of 60's pop.

tatters Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Beelyboy Wrote:
>
> Incredible. Did they show any shots of the
> audience while they were playing? If so, did the
> audience look befuddled or were they happy to go
> along with the sham like they didn't even realize
> there were no original members?


hi Tatters; the few audience shots showed a really lame crowd...
i don't think they had the first clue...

**** i was WRONG and gave incorrect info...
i researched a bit...and now the lead singer/auto harp guy
IS Joe Butler, the former drummer...
!!???
so please excuse me the confusion...
it's not what i expected...as Joe did no lead singing on any of the hits...
or possibly any of the albums at all...
tho he was a great great drummer...NOT playing the drums!!!

considering the lead singer sounds nothing like Sebastian...
he had the nerve to play the auto-harp...
i did not watch it for more than several seconds...
it was too painful and wretched....

how did they used to hype those phony-ass beatlemania on broadway shows?
(when forced to via lawsuits)
"not the ____________ but an amazing simulation!"

some bg info and then an excerpt from a Sebastian interview:

It was just one hit after another - "Daydream", "Darling Be Home Soon", "Do You Believe In Magic?", "Nashville Cats", "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?", "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" and "Summer In The City". But by 1968 The Lovin' Spoonful were no more. The following year John Sebastian went onstage at The Woodstock Festival as a solo act and was an immediate hit with the audience in attendance.

Q - So what, if anything, would stand in the way of a Reunion Tour?

A - Simply the different paths everybody has taken. There is a semi-Spoonful that travels around. I have never really been interested i participating in that kind of a thing. When I left the band I said Look, I am ready to move on. I was interested in playing with some of the other people that I had been a studio musician with.

Yes, I used to like the Spoonful and I actually went on a camping trip and Joe Butler, their drummer showed up with his wife and they stayed til the wee small hours talking about the music business, the good ole days. This was 1994 way up in Vermont. He is very sweet, a BIG GUY with pure white hair now, and alot of it. Last summer he strolled into the Humane Society where I volunteer and he actually remembered me after I started talking with him. He wanted a new pussy....no, really, he did!

Did he get a spoonful even?