Lovin' Spoonful Biography, Photos and Posters

Lovin' Spoonful

Biography

Started: 1965
City and Country of Origin: New York, New York
Music Background: John Sebastian was the son of a classical musician
Awards: 2000 inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Top Recordings: "Do You Believe in Magic," "Daydream," "You Didn't Have to be So Nice," "Nashville Cats," "Summer In The City," "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind," "Six O'Clock," and "Younger Girl"
Lovin' Spoonful Biography: During the 1960s New York's Greenwich Village was a hotbed for emerging musical talent. Performers like Dylan, Judy Collins, Peter, Paul and Mary, Joni Mitchell, John Phillips, and James Taylor could all be found lugging their axes around the city streets. It was the period of transition from folk to folk-rock and most American acts were found licking their wounds from the onslaught of the British invasion. Soon the rock mantle would transition from the East Coast to the West and the East Village would supplant the West as the mecca of the New York rock scene. It was during this period that Greenwich Village native son John Sebastian was earning his stripes playing harmonica and guitar around the Village with the Even Dozen Jug Band.

It was 1964 when the Beatles landed in New York and Sebastian along with Toronto native Zalman Yanovsky, a member of the Halifax Three, met at Cass Elliot's house to watch the fab fours American debut and discuss the possiblity of forming a rock group. When the Halifax Three disbanded Yanovsky briefly joined with Denny Doherty, Cass and James Hendricks in the Mugwumps. The venture was short lived and Doherty and Elliot would soon team up with John Phillips to form the Mamas and Papas. Yanovsky hooked up with Sebastian and they recruited drummer Joe Butler and bassist Steve Boone to form the Lovin' Spoonful. The band won a residency at the Night Owl Cafe on West 3rd Street where they could be seen playing on a regular basis.

Their producer Erik Jacobsen got them a deal with newly formed Kama Sutra Records for whom they recorded the 45 "Do You Believe in Magic," and indeed it proved magical for the group reaching number 9 on the charts while the album of the same name rose to number 32. They followed it up with "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" which hit number 10 and then "Daydream" which climbed all the way to number 2 in both the U.S. and the U.K. becoming the groups first million seller. "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?" also peaked at number 2 on the charts and was soon followed by their hard edged chart topper "Summer in the City" which featured a cacophony of city street noise effects. They next appeared on the soundtrack of the Woody Allen cult flick "What's Up Tiger Lily." Their next album Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful peaked at number 14. Their last top 10 hit "Nashville Cats" would peak at number 8. "Darlin' Be Home Soon" would reach number 15 on the U.S. charts and their most successful album The Best Of The Lovin' Spoonful would climb to number 3.

The clock was ticking and time was starting to run out on the decade of the 60s and the groups amzing success. Their follow up album You're A Big Boy Now only made it to 160 and after only one more hit "Six O'Clock," Zal Yanovsky would leave the band. He was replaced by Jerry Yester of the Modern Folk Quartet. Their next album was their most ambitious effort experimenting with Ampex 16 track tape recorder. However, the effort would yield only 1 minor hit "She's Still A Mystery To Me." In 1968 John Sebastian, the group's major creative influence, left the band to focus on his solo career appearing at the Woodstock Festival the following year.

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