Steve Boone (born John Stephen Boone , September 23, 1943 ) is an American bass guitarist and music producer, best-known as a member of the American folk-rock group the Lovin' Spoonful . Boone co-wrote two of the groups' biggest hits, " You Didn't Have to Be So Nice " and " Summer in the City ". Besides the Spoonful, Boone is also a record producer, he produced albums by several artists. He also was the owner of Blue Sea Studios, a recording studio that recorded albums by Little Feat , Robert Palmer and many other artists.
148-637: John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful in 1964 with Zal Yanovsky . During his time in the Lovin Spoonful, John would write and sing some of the band's biggest hits such as " Do You Believe in Magic ", " Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind ", and " Daydream ". Sebastian would leave the Spoonful in 1968 after
296-595: A popular music format. In 1965, the band helped pioneer the development of the musical genre of folk rock. By 1966, the group were "one of the most highly regarded American bands", and they were the year's third-best-selling singles act in the U.S., after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones . As psychedelia expanded in popularity in 1967, the Spoonful struggled to transition their approach and saw diminished sales before disbanding in 1968. Before they founded
444-506: A supergroup but abandoned the idea. Sebastian has stated that his musical career suffered in the early 1970s from being out of step with the trends set by emerging artists such as Alice Cooper , and that he made more money by buying and selling real estate than he did from his music. After Tarzana Kid failed to chart, Sebastian sought a release from his Reprise contract, which required him to make one more album. However, in 1976, Sebastian had an unexpected No. 1 single with " Welcome Back ",
592-557: A $ 10,000 advance. However, Kama Sutra Records had an option to sign the Lovin' Spoonful as recording artists as part of a previously signed production deal, and Kama Sutra exercised the option upon learning of Elektra's intent to sign the band. The Lovin' Spoonful are best known for hits such as; " Do You Believe in Magic ", " Summer in the City ", " Daydream ", " Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind? ", " Darling Be Home Soon ", and " You Didn't Have to Be So Nice ". The group's only number one
740-602: A Greenwich Village club. Sebastian's show, made up of a quickly assembled group of Fred Neil, Tim Hardin , Buzzy Linhart and Felix Pappalardi , greatly impressed Boone, who later remembered it as "one of the most significant nights in my musical life." He also recalled: "I was stunned. I had never heard such power in a folk group before." The performance motivated Boone to enter the Greenwich Village folk scene and join Sebastian and Yanovsky's group. The band
888-470: A Lovin' Spoonful retrospective broadcast on PBS in March 2007, talking about various Spoonful numbers in between vintage video clips of the band up to the time he left. In 1993, Sebastian authored a children's book, JB's Harmonica , illustrated by his godfather Garth Williams , about a young bear whose musical aspirations are overshadowed by the talents of his famous musician father. Sebastian has released
1036-447: A Manhattan neighborhood south of Greenwich Village. That year, Erik Jacobsen , the former banjo player of the bluegrass band Knob Lick Upper 10,000 , moved into the apartment next door, and the two soon bonded over their shared interests of smoking marijuana and listening to eclectic music. Like Sebastian, Jacobsen had been affected by the new sound of the Beatles; he later recalled that while touring in early 1964, he listened to
1184-526: A Village apartment which neighbored Washington Square Park . The younger Sebastian often went to the park to play music, and he also played in rock bands as a teenager at his prep school in New Jersey . He became a multi-instrumentalist, being proficient on guitar, harmonica, piano and the autoharp . Beginning in the early 1960s, he worked as a studio musician . Yanovsky grew up in Downsview ,
1332-465: A band like that to come to Club 47 was revolutionary, in terms of Cambridge['s] holier-than-thou purist attitude about folk music." Early in the Lovin' Spoonful's May residency at the Night Owl, Sebastian wrote a new song, " Do You Believe in Magic ", which explored the transformative power of music. His initial inspiration came during one of the band's performances, in which he and Yanovsky noticed
1480-527: A brief and commercially unsuccessful solo career. The original iteration of the Spoonful last publicly performed in June 1968, after which time Sebastian departed the group and pursued a briefly successful solo career. The band dissolved later that year. In 2000, the Lovin' Spoonful were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , an occasion that saw Sebastian, Yanovsky, Boone and Butler perform together for
1628-468: A brief residency at Café Bizarre, playing several sets a night for six days a week, leading Sebastian to later reflect, "We learned more at that crappy little club than almost any other gig." Marra had been especially critical of the band's earlier performances at the Night Owl, but he was impressed by the band's newly professional approach, and in May of 1965, he offered for the band to return to performing at
SECTION 10
#17328024169181776-504: A brief reunion with the other three original members to appear in Paul Simon 's 1980 film One-Trick Pony , and again for a single performance at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2000. [The Lovin'] Spoonful couldn't compete in 1974 because only two of its members [are] still in music. ... I'm enjoying playing with other musicians and wouldn't trade it for what at best would be propping up [an] old idol for
1924-489: A cameo appearance on the sitcom Married... with Children (Season 7, Episode 9, "Rock of Ages") as himself, along with other 1960s rock stars Spencer Davis , Richie Havens , Robby Krieger , Mark Lindsay , and Peter Noone . Sebastian appeared on the Eels ' 2005 release, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations . On January 12, 2014, Sebastian appeared on CBS News Sunday Morning to talk about his career with and without
2072-539: A contract, Sebastian continued performing as a studio musician on other artists' recordings. In this period, he played harmonica on progressive folk records for several acts, including Fred Neil , Jesse Colin Young and Judy Collins . In January 1965, the musician Bob Dylan asked Sebastian to play bass guitar on his newest album, Bringing It All Back Home . The album's first day of sessions, January 13, featured only Dylan on an acoustic guitar and, for
2220-473: A cross between Chuck Berry and Mississippi John Hurt . Fritz suggested the Lovin' Spoonful , a line from Hurt's 1963 song "Coffee Blues." The name was perfect. – John Sebastian, 2016 In early 1965, in preparation for their first public performances, Sebastian, Yanovsky, Boone and Carl continued rehearsing at the Bull's Head, while Sebastian and Yanovsky searched for a group name. Fritz Richmond ,
2368-432: A few tracks, Sebastian playing bass guitar, but none of the recordings were used on the final album. Dylan returned the next day to re-record much of the material, rearranging the songs attempted the day before so they instead featured an electric backing. Dylan invited Sebastian to return for a separate session held that evening, in which they recorded a remake of the song " Subterranean Homesick Blues ". Boone – one of
2516-459: A folk music club in Cambridge, Massachusetts . Boone remembered feeling hesitant to perform at a club known strictly for folk music, but Sebastian recalled that he and Yanovsky were immediately enthusiastic at the prospect of challenging folk enthusiasts: "Did we want to kill in that room! ... We were going to be face to face with the folkies at last." The band played at the venue at
2664-686: A guest on albums released under the name of a specific artist or group are not included. The Lovin%27 Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is an American folk-rock band formed in Greenwich Village , New York City, in 1964. The band were among the most popular groups in the United States for a short period in the mid-1960s and their music and image influenced many of the contemporary rock acts of their era. Beginning in July 1965 with their debut single " Do You Believe in Magic ",
2812-516: A guitar." While he and his brother Skip were in the Air Force, they met Joe Butler (with whom Steve later performed with in the Lovin' Spoonful ). The three formed a group called the Kingsmen (not to be confused with the group of the same name known for " Louie Louie "). Steve was originally the group's rhythm guitarist, but switched to bass after their bass player moved to Louisiana . In
2960-504: A link between the band and drug use, as the press had often incorrectly speculated that the Lovin' Spoonful alluded to the spoon used in injecting heroin . The increased speculation was partly driven by the lyrics' use of the term "dream", which by 1966 was sometimes used to connote the experience of taking psychedelic drugs . Additionally, a trade ad in Billboard accompanying the single's release made several drug allusions, drawing
3108-416: A low point in his career. In turn, Sebastian helped NRBQ by using them on his own Nelvana and Disney Channel soundtrack projects during a period when litigation prevented them from recording. Sebastian has used NRBQ as his own backing band, appeared regularly at their concerts, and recorded frequently with the band members, and NRBQ founding member Terry Adams refers to Sebastian as an "honorary member" of
SECTION 20
#17328024169183256-505: A major hit. Sebastian is credited with playing harmonica on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 's song "Déjà Vu" from the album of the same name . He had previously been asked by Crosby, Stills & Nash to join their group as a fourth member, but turned them down, leading to their association with Neil Young . In 1977 he recorded as part of Artie and Happy Traum 's Woodstock Mountain Revue (a.k.a. Woodstock Mountains) folk collaboration for
3404-537: A major international hit. By mid-May, it had reached number two on all of the major British singles charts and number one on the Swedish Kvällstoppen chart. On May 20, 1966, Boone and Yanovsky were arrested in San Francisco for possessing marijuana, then an illegal drug. Police discovered the marijuana after pulling the pair over and searching their vehicle. Boone and Yanovsky spent
3552-410: A mixed reception; many folk fans walked out of the first set due to the band's loud sound. Sebastian recalled a moment from the first set: [A woman] carefully [got my] and Zally's attention, points out toward the amplifier, and puts her fingers in her ears. And Zally gave her his broadest and most affectionate smile, and turned his amplifier up as loud as he could. That was a real transition. During
3700-403: A music club in Greenwich Village. There they proposed that we start a band and get a record deal, and so the story begins of the Lovin' Spoonful. Boone and Jan Carl were invited into the group, but Carl was replaced by Joe Butler after only one gig. The group made its first recordings for Elektra Records in early 1965 and agreed in principle to sign a long-term deal with Elektra in exchange for
3848-527: A neighborhood in New York City, and the three were greatly influenced by the Beatles' performance; Sebastian later reflected, "It affected us heavily ... us [meaning] my specific generation". Later that night, Elliot encouraged Sebastian and Yanovsky to play guitars, and Sebastian remembered discovering they had "a tremendous affinity" for one another. Sebastian, the son of the classical harmonica player John Sebastian Sr. , grew up in
3996-597: A non-LP single, "Give Us a Break" b/w "Music for People Who Don't Speak English", which did not chart. On his next album, Tarzana Kid (1974), Sebastian returned to using a rotating group of well-known recording artists and session musicians, including Lowell George (who also co-wrote, with Sebastian, the album track "Face of Appalachia"), Phil Everly , Emmylou Harris , the Pointer Sisters , David Grisman , Russell DaShiell , Ry Cooder and Buddy Emmons . Sebastian, George and Everly also briefly considered forming
4144-619: A performance at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on October 4, 1969. In 2006, Sebastian's five Reprise albums were reissued as individual CDs by Collectors' Choice Music , with new liner notes by Richie Unterberger . During the 1960s and 1970s, Sebastian guested on a number of recordings by other artists. He played harmonica with the Doors on the song " Roadhouse Blues " (from the album Morrison Hotel ), under
4292-457: A photographer and artist who has designed numerous album covers. The couple has two children, and they have lived together in Woodstock, New York , since 1976. Since the early 1990s, Sebastian has struggled with throat problems that eventually affected and changed his singing voice, but he has continued to perform and tour. Much of Sebastian's material, especially his 1970s Reprise albums and
4440-603: A private boarding school in Blairstown, New Jersey , in 1962. He next attended New York University for just over a year, but dropped out as he became more interested in musical pursuits. In the early 1960s, Sebastian developed an interest in blues music and in playing harmonica in a blues style, rather than the classical style of his father. Through his father's connections, he met and was influenced by blues musicians Sonny Terry and Lightnin' Hopkins (for whom Sebastian served as "unofficial tour guide and valet" when Hopkins
4588-404: A rock act if they signed at a folk-oriented label. Cavallo approached Paul Rothchild and Jac Holzman of Elektra and said the band needed an advance of $ 10,000 before they could sign (equivalent to US$ 97,000 in 2023). Holzman initially refused due to the large figure, but he soon changed his mind and offered the band a deal, by which point they had signed elsewhere. The band instead signed
John Sebastian - Misplaced Pages Continue
4736-449: A sailboat, he returned to the United States to visit a friend, who was recording at ITI. While visiting ITI, Boone was asked by studio management if he’d be interested in the facility, to which Boone accepted. The studio recorded works by Robert Palmer , Emmylou Harris and Little Feat, among many other artists. He sold his boat and moved to Baltimore, Maryland and bought ITI, which he renamed to Blue Seas Studios. His first project
4884-443: A sample from it became the hook for rapper Mase 's 2004 hit " Welcome Back ". In 2001, Rhino Entertainment re-released all five of Sebastian's Reprise albums, plus the non-LP "Give Us a Break" single, on CD in a limited-edition box set entitled Faithful Virtue: The Reprise Recordings . The box set also included live recordings of Sebastian's entire Woodstock performance and six previously unreleased songs recorded in mono from
5032-701: A series of instructional DVDs, CDs, downloads, booklets, and (prior to the use of digital media) analog tapes for learning to play guitar, harmonica, and autoharp, or for learning specific styles or songs. These instructional materials are distributed by Homespun Tapes , a company founded and operated by folk musician Happy Traum . Materials offered with Sebastian as an instructor have included An Easy Guide to Tuning Your Guitar , John Sebastian Teaches Eight Lovin' Spoonful Hits (and "Welcome Back") , John Sebastian Teaches Blues Harmonica , Learn to Play Autoharp , and The Fingerpicking Blues of Mississippi John Hurt: A Spoonful of Classic Songs . In November 1992, Sebastian made
5180-508: A side-deal with Elektra, which had them record four songs, including Sebastian's song "Good Time Music". Jacobsen later said that the band offered the songs to Elektra out of guilt, since "We had kind of hung [Holzman] out to dry just a little bit ... [so we] allowed him to have those sides. The label later included the four songs on the compilation album What's Shakin' , released the following year. The Lovin' Spoonful signed with Koppelman-Rubin, an entertainment company, who signed
5328-405: A sixteen-year-old girl dancing among the audience. The girl stood in contrast to the older beatnik crowd who typically attended folk performances, and Sebastian recalled that "[she was] dancing like we danced – and not like the last generation danced". He also remembered: "Zal and I just elbowed each other the entire night, because to us, that young girl symbolized the fact that our audience
5476-603: A suburb of Toronto, Canada, and he was enmeshed as a guitar player in the city's folk-music scene, which centered on the Yorkville neighborhood. Denny Doherty , another musician active in Yorkville, invited Yanovsky to join his folk group, the Halifax Three , which later relocated to Greenwich Village. After the Halifax Three broke up in June 1964, Elliot recruited Yanovsky and Doherty to join her own group,
5624-448: A tape recorder, featured a mixture of Sebastian's originals ("Good Time Music" and "Didn't Want to Have to Do It"), folk songs ("Wild About My Lovin ' " and "My Gal") and rock and roll (" Route 66 ", " Alley Oop " and " Almost Grown "). The band received a mixed reception, due in part to their loud playing style in the small venue. Marra was unimpressed and returned to booking folk acts. Cavallo and Jacobsen recommended rehearsals and that
5772-451: A total of over 150 performances. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sebastian wrote a stage musical adaptation of E.B. White 's Charlotte's Web in consultation with his godfather Garth Williams, who illustrated White's original book. The proposed musical included 20 songs, some of which Sebastian performed in concert, but the musical was never produced. In August 1969, Sebastian made an unscheduled appearance at Woodstock . He traveled to
5920-520: A verse and a basic melodic figure, and Sebastian collaborated with him to complete the song. Kama Sutra issued the song as a non-album single on November 13, and it peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1966. The sessions for Daydream came ten weeks after the band finished their first album, and the band had had little time to rehearse new material. Owing to
6068-441: Is also credited with helping to popularize the art of tie-dyeing clothing among music fans and festival goers in the late 1960s, by publicly appearing in outfits that he tie-dyed himself after learning the process from Ann Thomas of Water Baby Dye Works. His tie-dyed yellow patterned denim jacket, which he dyed himself and wore at Woodstock, has been prominently displayed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . Stories We Could Tell ,
John Sebastian - Misplaced Pages Continue
6216-448: Is the easy thing to say 'yeah, I was really high,' but it was actually a very small part of the event. In fact, I had a small part of some pill that someone gave me before I went on stage, but it wasn't a real acid feeling." Sebastian appeared on the original Woodstock album and in the documentary film . Twenty-five years later, he returned for Woodstock '94 , playing harmonica for Crosby, Stills and Nash and appearing with his own band,
6364-698: The Even Dozen Jug Band and in the Mugwumps , which split to form the Lovin' Spoonful and the Mamas & the Papas . Bob Dylan invited him to play bass on his Bringing It All Back Home sessions (though Sebastian's parts probably did not appear on the album) and to join Dylan's new electric touring band, but Sebastian declined in order to concentrate on his own project, the Lovin' Spoonful. Sebastian
6512-639: The Even Dozen Jug Band in the 1960s and more recently collaborated on a CD album release, Satisfied . After leaving Reprise, Sebastian continued to occasionally release CD albums through a variety of small labels. Although a number of these releases consisted of compilations or live performances of his older material from the 1960s and 1970s, some, such as Tar Beach ( Shanachie , 1993) and Satisfied (with David Grisman ) (Acoustic Disc, 2007) have contained significant new recordings. Tar Beach in particular contained eleven previously unreleased songs written or co-written by Sebastian; four songs were composed by
6660-571: The Greenwich Village section of lower Manhattan during, John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky formed the Lovin' Spoonful . Steve first met Sebastian and Yanovsky in December 1964: "In December 1964, I was in New York City picking up my motorcycle that I had shipped back from Europe where I had spent the previous 3 months riding around. Once in New York, my brother Skip and band mate Joe Butler suggested I go and meet John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky at
6808-610: The Hotel Albert . The Albert was frequented by many local folk musicians, and the building's proprietors allowed musicians staying there to rehearse in its basement, a decaying space with standing pools of water, chipping walls and a bug infestation. While at the Albert, the band befriended one of the building's permanent residents, Butchie Webber, who often fed them meals. Though the two were not romantic, Webber married Sebastian, so as to prevent him from being drafted into fighting in
6956-571: The KNBC syndicated children's program That's Cat (1976–1979), and hosted a 1986 Disney Channel family special entitled What a Day for a Daydream . Since the 1980s, Sebastian has hosted several television programs about 1960s and 1970s music, including paid programs for compilation sets, a syndicated live music and interview program called Deja View , and a half-hour program called The Golden Age of Rock and Roll, which featured video footage of 1960s bands performing on variety shows. He also hosted
7104-419: The Paul Simon starring-film One-Trick Pony . In the early 1990s Boone teamed up with Joe Butler , Jerry Yester and Jim Yester to resume the Lovin' Spoonful's concert touring . As of 2019, Boone and Butler still tour with: Mike Aturi (Drums), Phil Smith (Guitar), and Murray Weinstock (Keyboard). Steve was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 as a member of the Lovin' Spoonful (where all
7252-646: The Vietnam War . Butler, who still played drums for the Sellouts, auditioned for the Lovin' Spoonful in the Albert's basement. He impressed the others when he broke a drumstick but continued performing by hitting the cymbal with his hand, cutting it in the process. The band were inspired by Butler's energy and hired him as their drummer. While waiting to be signed to a record label, the Lovin' Spoonful played at night clubs on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, including Cafe Wha? and Café Bizarre. The band held
7400-710: The Whisky a Go Go and The Crescendo (later renamed The Trip ). The Lovin' Spoonful returned to the West Coast in October 1965. They appeared for a week at San Francisco's hungry i nightclub, one of the most prominent clubs in America's folk-music scene, and on October 24, they headlined a dance party at the Longshoreman's Union Hall in the city's Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood. Organized by
7548-474: The theme song to the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter , causing the label to rush the production of an album, also titled Welcome Back . Despite the "monster hit" status of the song "Welcome Back", Sebastian expressed frustration that Reprise did not do more to promote the associated album, his last for Reprise. His later albums have been released primarily on independent record labels . The song, Sebastian's only top-40 solo hit, found new life 28 years later when
SECTION 50
#17328024169187696-552: The washtub bass player for the Jim Kweskin Jug Band , suggested to Sebastian the name the Lovin' Spoonful , a reference to the lyrics of the song "Coffee Blues" by the country blues musician Mississippi John Hurt , with whom Sebastian had previously worked. Sebastian and Yanovsky were enthusiastic about the suggestion and adopted it as the band's name. Joe Marra, the owner of Greenwich Village's Night Owl Cafe, knew Sebastian from his time backing other artists at
7844-418: The 1980s, Sebastian has been active in several music-related areas, not only writing and performing his own material but also performing roots music, developing soundtrack and instructional material, hosting and appearing on television programs, and writing a children's book about a harmonica-playing bear. Sebastian left the Lovin' Spoonful in 1968 and did not play with any later versions of the band, except for
7992-547: The 1996 King Biscuit Flower Hour live recording, has been reissued and/or repackaged many times; therefore, this table is selective. Sebastian has also released various formats and packages of long-playing instructional materials for Homespun Tapes , which are not included in this table. This table lists songs written or performed by Sebastian that were originally released on — and in many cases, are only available on — compilations or collaborations with various artists, including but not limited to soundtrack albums. Contributions as
8140-551: The Action Is , Shindig! and Hullabaloo . Executives from NBC approached Cavallo and offered the band the opportunity to star in their own television series, The Monkees . The executives Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider met with the band in Manhattan and explained their idea for a comedy sitcom about a band seeking to make it big, styled similarly to the Beatles' 1964 film, A Hard Day's Night . Though excited at
8288-530: The Berrykins (1985), The Care Bears Movie (1985), The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987), and "Care Bear Countdown", the theme song for Nelvana's The Care Bears Family TV series. He also wrote and sang the theme song/narration for Nelvana's TV pilot The Get Along Gang ; however, none of it was kept when DIC Entertainment took over the project. He wrote and performed the theme song of
8436-486: The Byrds and Mary Travers of the folk-trio Peter, Paul and Mary . Around the time he began booking electric acts, Marra moved the venue's stage towards the front street-facing window to draw in passers-by, and he printed a large color photo of the Lovin' Spoonful and placed it in the club's window, which helped elevate the band's local popularity. On June 7 and 8, 1965, the Lovin' Spoonful performed at Club 47 ,
8584-511: The Byrds, the Lovin' Spoonful's label encouraged the band to trade lead vocal responsibilities; on Do You Believe in Magic , Sebastian sings lead on most songs, but Butler also sings twice (" You Baby " and "The Other Side of This Life") as does Yanovsky ("Blues in the Bottle", "On the Road Again" and the unreleased " Alley Oop "). The album first went on sale on October 23, 1965, when
8732-512: The City ", "Rain on the Roof", "Nashville Cats", " Darling Be Home Soon ", and "Six O'Clock". The band, however, began to implode after a 1966 marijuana bust in San Francisco involving Yanovsky, a Canadian citizen. Facing deportation , he revealed the name of his dealer to police, which caused a fan backlash and added to the internal tension already created by the diverging interests of the band members. Neither Sebastian nor Butler were involved in
8880-746: The J-Band were featured in Chasin' Gus' Ghost (2007), a documentary about the roots and influence of jug band music. The film screened in August 2007 at the San Francisco Jug Band Festival (where Sebastian performed with other musicians featured in the film, including Geoff Muldaur , Maria Muldaur , Jim Kweskin and David Grisman ) and made its film festival debut in October 2007 at the Woodstock Film Festival . In
9028-440: The J-Band. In September 1969, a month after Woodstock, Sebastian performed a similar set of solo and Spoonful material at the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival and was featured in the subsequent documentary Celebration at Big Sur (1971). In January 1970, Sebastian released the first in a series of solo LPs on Reprise Records (a label owned by Warner Bros. Records ), his eponymous solo debut, John B. Sebastian , on which he
SECTION 60
#17328024169189176-630: The J-Band. Sebastian is a frequent contributor to film and TV soundtracks. In particular, he has written and performed music for a number of children's films and TV productions. He wrote the music and provided the singing voice of "Daniel Mouse" for the Canada-based Nelvana animated television special The Devil and Daniel Mouse (1978) about two mice attempting to succeed in the music business. He supplied music for several more Nelvana productions, including Strawberry Shortcake: Housewarming Surprise (1983), Strawberry Shortcake Meets
9324-553: The June 12 issue of the American music magazine Billboard by the journalist Eliot Siegel, who used the term principally to describe the music of the Byrds. Siegel also counted "the Living Spoonfull" [ sic ] as an act working in the New York area with "a folk-rock sound", even though the group had not yet released a record. The Lovin' Spoonful performed two sets at Club 47 and initially received
9472-658: The Lovin' Spoonful , Eric Clapton , and the Martin guitar . In 2016, Sebastian appeared on Richard Barone 's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s album, playing harmonica, autoharp and making a vocal cameo on Barone's cover of the Lovin' Spoonful song "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" Sebastian is a notable songwriter whose work has been covered by many artists, including Elvis Costello ("The Room Nobody Lives In"), Johnny Cash ("Darlin' Companion"), and Del McCoury ("Nashville Cats"). Several songs have also spawned multiple covers, including: Sebastian
9620-654: The Lovin' Spoonful and offered to sign them. Elektra regularly produced acts from Greenwich Village, including the Even Dozen Jug Band and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band . The label's offer would have allowed the Lovin' Spoonful to retain Jacobsen as their producer and Cavallo as their manager, but the band worried that Elektra had not been successful at issuing singles in the pop market, and that they would not be clearly identified as
9768-520: The Lovin' Spoonful disbanded in 1969, Boone went to work producing an album for Mercury Records by the Oxpetals. In 1969, Boone had started work on a solo album, but the album was scrapped shortly after. In 1993 he produced the Irish Times' album, Live At McGuire's Hill 16 as well as the pop rock band Forq and their album Forq Chops in 1998. In 1973, three years after living on
9916-670: The Lovin' Spoonful embarked on a 19-day package-tour with the American girl group the Supremes . The acts performed at colleges across the southern U.S., beginning in Lafayette, Louisiana , on November 10. Both acts traveled by bus and partied together, along with members of the Supremes' backing band, the Funk Brothers , billed as the Earl Van Dyke Orchestra. The Lovin' Spoonful generally enjoyed
10064-488: The Lovin' Spoonful performing "Do You Believe in Magic", and the label pressed copies to be the band's debut single. The label issued it in the U.S. on July 20, 1965, and it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 a month later, remaining on the chart for thirteen weeks and peaking in October at number nine. The release of "Do You Believe in Magic" in July 1965 propelled the Lovin' Spoonful to nationwide fame in
10212-460: The Lovin' Spoonful – John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky – met on February 9, 1964, at the apartment of Cass Elliot , a mutual friend and fellow musician. Elliot was holding a party that night to watch the English rock band the Beatles make their American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show . Elliot, Sebastian and Yanovsky were all active in the folk-music scene in Greenwich Village ,
10360-469: The Lovin' Spoonful's performance to similarly "go electric" in their style. Amid their touring schedule, the Lovin' Spoonful recorded tracks for their debut album, Do You Believe in Magic . The band recorded thirteen songs across several sessions between June and September 1965, mostly at Bell Sound in New York, and they also recorded at RCA Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles . The band's focus
10508-426: The Lovin' Spoonful, Sebastian (guitar, harmonica, autoharp , vocals) and Zal Yanovsky (guitar, vocals) were active in Greenwich Village's folk-music scene . Aiming to create an "electric jug band", they recruited the local rock musicians Steve Boone (bass guitar) and Joe Butler (drums, vocals). The four-piece lineup honed their sound at New York nightclubs before they began recording for Kama Sutra Records with
10656-677: The Lovin' Spoonful, the Byrds and the Mamas & the Papas remained on close terms in the mid-1960s. Amid their busy TV and live-date schedule, the Lovin' Spoonful recorded most of their second album Daydream in four days, from December 13 to 16, at Bell Sound Studios in New York City. Some songs for the album were recorded in November, including " You Didn't Have to Be So Nice ", and additional sessions took place at Columbia Studios in New York City and RCA Studios in Hollywood, California . Boone began "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" as
10804-579: The Marine base where his father was serving in during the second World War , and grew up in North Carolina , St. Augustine, Florida , and in Westhampton, New York . He is the younger brother to Skip Boone, later of Autosalvage . His mother bought him a Gibson Acoustic Guitar as a teenager after he was involved in a serious car crash in 1960, which left him severely injured, he stated: "I
10952-458: The Mugwumps . That same year, Sebastian briefly played with another New York folk group, the Even Dozen Jug Band , before he was also recruited into the Mugwumps to play harmonica. Sebastian later remembered becoming enamoured with Yanovsky: "[He] amused the hell out of me. He inhaled and exhaled people and conversation and jokes and theater. He was this kind of cultural weathervane – and people gathered around him." During live performances with
11100-429: The Mugwumps, rather than playing folk songs straight through, Yanovsky and Sebastian often improvised off of one another on guitar and harmonica, respectively. After the Mugwumps dissolved in late 1964, Sebastian and Yanovsky began planning to form their own group, which they envisioned as an electric jug band . Sebastian recalled: "Yanovsky and I were both aware of the fact that this commercial folk music model
11248-437: The Night Owl, Phil Spector , a well-known producer, listened to an acetate of "Do You Believe in Magic" and considered signing the band to his label, Philles Records . Recollections differ as to who turned whom down, but subsequent authors suggest that in writing their own music and possessing a defined sound, the Lovin' Spoonful differed greatly from the acts with which Spector normally worked. Elektra Records approached
11396-533: The Night Owl. The Lovin' Spoonful shared their bill at the club with two other electric groups whom Marra booked, Danny Kalb 's band the Blues Project and the Modern Folk Quartet, the latter of which Sebastian sometimes filled in for on drums. The Night Owl's triple-bill was immediately successful, and other established acts sometimes came to watch, including members of the American band
11544-492: The Oxpetals, Boone has owned a recording studio in the 1970s called Blue Seas Studios. Boone would start working in the studio recording albums, he would eventually sell the studio. In 2014 Boone published a book called Hotter than a Match Head: Life on the run with the Lovin Spoonful; the book is about Boone's time in the band and the history of the Lovin Spoonful. Steve Boone was born a Military Brat in Camp Lejeune ,
11692-485: The U.K. None of their singles had charted in the country. To expand the band's popularity to an international audience, their management organized several live- and TV-dates in England and Sweden for April 1966. Only days before the Lovin' Spoonful was set to depart to Europe, they were approached to provide a soundtrack for What's Up, Tiger Lily? , the directorial debut of the comedian Woody Allen , who knew
11840-591: The U.S. within weeks. The band made their American television debut on the channel 10 show of the Miami disc jockey Rick Shaw , and they also taped appearances for the TV programs American Bandstand , The Merv Griffin Show and The Lloyd Thaxton Show . In conjunction with the release of the single, the band's management made plans for their first series of serious live dates outside of New York City. Beginning in August,
11988-571: The Village Music Hall, a small music club on West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village. There, he met Sebastian and Yanovsky, and though he had no background in folk music, Boone soon bonded with the two over their shared musical influences, including Elvis Presley , Chuck Berry , the Everly Brothers , Buddy Holly , Motown , the Beatles and other British Invasion acts. Sebastian played him his composition " Good Time Music " –
12136-415: The West Coast were sometimes picketed by members of the '60s counterculture . Protesters carried signs which accused the band of being " finks " and traitors to the movement, and they encouraged fans to boycott the band and burn their records. The public revelations of the drug bust added to tensions between Sebastian and Butler on the one hand, and Yanovsky and Boone on the other. Boone later suggested that
12284-435: The album Everything Playing . After leaving the Spoonful, Sebastian would focus on a solo career, releasing his first solo album in 1970 titled John B. Sebastian . Sebastian would continue on recording solo albums. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and scored a U.S. No. 1 hit in 1976 with " Welcome Back ", which was used as the theme song on the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter . Sebastian
12432-521: The album More Music From Mud Acres . Other records on which Sebastian appeared include the album Stephen Stills (1970), Timothy Leary 's album You Can Be Anyone This Time Around (1970) (on which Sebastian jammed with Jimi Hendrix ), and Keith Moon 's only solo album, Two Sides of the Moon (1975). He also played the autoharp instrumental break between the second and third verses of Randy VanWarmer 's 1979 hit " Just When I Needed You Most ". Since
12580-510: The band befriended a local fashion designer, Jeannie Franklyn , who subsequently designed custom-clothing for Yanovsky. They also struck up a friendship with David Crosby , the rhythm guitarist of the Byrds. Crosby had spoken favorably of the Lovin' Spoonful in interviews as early as August, often promising reporters that they would be the next big group. Both he and his bandmate Jim McGuinn had been familiar with Sebastian and Yanovsky since their earlier years playing folk with Cass Elliot, and
12728-475: The band from his work at clubs in Greenwich Village. The band recorded the soundtrack in two days, April 11 and 12, at National Recording Studios in New York City, and they made a brief appearance in the film. The film was a commercial disappointment and received mixed reviews. Issued in August 1966, the soundtrack album reached number 126 on the Billboard LPs chart. Jacobsen later criticized
12876-463: The band had seven consecutive singles reach the Top Ten of the U.S. charts in the eighteen months that followed, including the number-two hits " Daydream " and " Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind? " and the chart-topping " Summer in the City ". Led by their primary songwriter John Sebastian , the Lovin' Spoonful took their earliest influences from jug band and blues music, reworking them into
13024-602: The band held an autograph session in Pleasant Hill, California , and Kama Sutra issued the album nationwide in November. It debuted on the Billboard Top LPs chart on December 4, and it initially ran on the chart for 19 weeks, peaking in February 1966 at number 71. By late 1965, the Lovin' Spoonful had made appearances on the most popular American television variety shows, including Where
13172-432: The band recorded "Do You Believe in Magic" and several other songs. Jacobsen invited Yester to participate in the session, adding both piano and backing vocals, and the session musician Gary Chester played tambourine. Jacobsen and Cavallo brought an acetate disc of the demo to numerous record labels, all of which turned down an opportunity to sign the band. After attending one of the Lovin' Spoonful's performances at
13320-411: The band replace Carl as drummer. Carl, who was six years older than his bandmates, clashed with them in terms of appearance and playing style, and he was subsequently fired by the band's management. Having fired Carl, the Lovin' Spoonful could no longer play at the Bull's Head and were in need of a new rehearsal space. The band had little money and had been living with Elliot in her Village apartment at
13468-417: The band to Kama Sutra Records in June 1965. As part of the deal, MGM Records distributed the records, which Kama Sutra released for Koppelman-Rubin. The arrangement's format of multiple middlemen left little in profits for the band. Sebastian later said that not signing with Elektra was "the worst decision I ever made in my life". Kama Sutra saw no need to re-record Jacobsen's original demo of
13616-755: The band toured the West Coast of the United States . In San Francisco, the band held a four-week residency at Mother's Nightclub , and on August 7, they performed in-front of 35,000 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California , as one of several support acts for the English pop group Herman's Hermits , alongside the Turtles and the Bobby Fuller Four . In Los Angeles, the Spoonful played at several clubs on Sunset Strip , including Ciro's ,
13764-399: The band's best performing studio album. Of the songs recorded for Daydream , Sebastian and Yanovsky hoped that their joint composition "It's Not Time Now" would be issued as a single, but Kama Sutra denied the request out of fear that it was a protest song . The label instead issued " Daydream " in February 1966. The song's release fueled speculation from the press and public about
13912-454: The band's performance was likely substandard, since they were all drunk and high on marijuana. Several guests also partook in the drug LSD , including Butler, and the Lovin' Spoonful stayed overnight. The Lovin' Spoonful returned to the U.S. in the last of week of April. The band's morale was high following the tour, particularly after they had been treated as equals by contemporary performers whom they held in high regard. "Daydream" became
14060-680: The band's touring and recording schedule. Browne flew the band to Ireland at his own expense to perform a private show, paying them US$ 10,000 for the performance (equivalent to US$ 94,000 in 2023). Held at the Luggala Estate, a Gothic Revival house in the Wicklow Mountains , the party was attended by many prominent Swinging London figures, including members of the Rolling Stones , Peter Bardens , Anita Pallenberg , Chrissie Shrimpton , John Paul Getty Jr. , Rupert Lycett Green and Mike McCartney . Butler recalled that
14208-446: The band. Although he performed Lovin' Spoonful songs solo and with NRBQ (who were themselves promoted in the 1980s as "the new Lovin' Spoonful"), he declined to reunite with several former Spoonful members in 1991. Throughout the 1990s, Sebastian frequently appeared with the J-Band, a jug band including Fritz Richmond from the Jim Kweskin Jug Band , jug band pioneer Yank Rachell , Jimmy Vivino , and Geoff Muldaur . Sebastian and
14356-407: The boycott hurt the band's commercial performance, but the author Richie Unterberger suggests that the effects have likely been overestimated by other authors, since "most of the people who bought Spoonful records were average teenage Americans, not hippies". In an article recounting the June 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival , the author Michael Lydon suggested that the Lovin' Spoonful
14504-607: The bucks its memory might evoke. – John Sebastian, 1974 Sebastian has continued to tour and play live, both solo and with a variety of backing bands. He had a long association with the eclectic rock band NRBQ , dating back to the early 1980s, when he played on NRBQ's album Grooves in Orbit (1983). He has said that NRBQ "to a large extent, picked up where The Lovin' Spoonful left off" because of NRBQ's "wide range of musical styles that they're not only able but accurate at playing," and he expressed appreciation for NRBQ's support during
14652-427: The club, and Marra offered to book the Lovin' Spoonful at the venue. The Night Owl was formerly an after-hours bowling alley at West 3rd and MacDougal Streets , which Marra had recently converted into a 125-person capacity coffeehouse and restaurant for folk music acts. The band made their first live performances in late January 1965 at the Night Owl, holding a two-week residency. One show, which Jacobsen recorded on
14800-566: The concert-production collective Family Dog Productions , the event combined rock music with light shows and psychedelic drugs , and it marked one of the earliest events in the emerging San Francisco scene ; Jacobsen reflected, "That whole idea of going and listening to music and getting high started there". In attendance at the Longshoreman's show were members of the Grateful Dead , an acoustic-folk group, who were inspired by
14948-501: The constraints, they recorded some Sebastian compositions which Jacobsen had rejected for inclusion on their debut album, including "Didn't Want to Have to Do It" and "Warm Baby". While Do You Believe in Magic contained just five original compositions, eleven out of twelve tracks on Daydream were original. Kama Sutra released the album in March 1966 and it reached number ten on the Billboard Top LPs chart, making it
15096-416: The drummer Joe Butler . They both played in the Kingsmen, a band led by Boone's brother, Skip, before Boone quit in mid-1964 to spend time visiting Europe. Skip and Butler changed the band's name to the Sellouts and moved to Greenwich Village, holding a residency at Trude Heller's club as one of the neighborhood's earliest rock groups. In December 1964, at the insistence of Butler, Boone went to
15244-755: The festival as a spectator, but was asked to appear when the organizers suddenly needed an acoustic performer after a rain break because they couldn't set up amps on stage for Santana until the water was swept off. Sources that have tried to reconstruct the Woodstock running order differ on the exact time and position of Sebastian's unplanned set, with some stating that he played on Saturday, August 16, immediately after Country Joe McDonald ; others saying that on that Saturday, Santana followed McDonald and Sebastian appeared after Santana; and still others, including McDonald, recalling that Sebastian actually played on Friday, August 15, at some point after Richie Havens opened
15392-413: The festival. Sebastian's Woodstock set consisted of three songs from his recorded but not yet released John B. Sebastian album ("How Have You Been", "I Had a Dream", and "Rainbows All Over Your Blues") and two Lovin' Spoonful songs (" Darling Be Home Soon " and "Younger Generation", which he dedicated to a newborn baby at the festival). Documentary remarks by festival organizers indicated that Sebastian
15540-463: The few people Sebastian knew with a car and driver's license – offered to drive him to the session. Sebastian was not a trained bass player and, after struggling to play the part, he suggested that Boone play instead, but neither musician's contributions ended up on the final album. We were still trying to come up with a name when I ran into Fritz Richmond , a friend and musician. I asked him for suggestions. Fritz asked what we sounded like. I said
15688-453: The film Sebastian humorously explains (with musical accompaniment) how his song, "Younger Girl", was inspired by Gus Cannon 's "Prison Wall Blues." Sebastian's live performances in the 2000s have included performing as a trio with country blues duo Paul Rishell and Annie Raines in 2002; touring with Maria Muldaur and her Garden of Joy jug band in 2009; and occasional appearances with mandolinist David Grisman , with whom Sebastian played in
15836-541: The first big rock band to get busted for weed. There was no playbook in effect. The record company, the management company – they didn't have an operating procedure for what you do, especially if one of your members has an immigration issue. – Steve Boone , 2018 At a meeting with San Francisco police and the District Attorney , Yanovsky was threatened with deportation back to his native Canada. Belli expressed that Yanovsky and Boone were unlikely to win on
15984-598: The group for the first time on a jukebox : "I decided, kind of then and there I think, that I was gonna quit the Knob Lick Upper 10,000, and go to New York City, and produced electric folk music." As part of his effort to switch focus towards production, Jacobsen recorded demos for musicians in the Village, including Sebastian's compositions "Warm Baby" and "Rooty-Toot". From 1962 to 1964, Steve Boone played bass guitar in several Long Island rock bands with
16132-533: The ire of the band, who had regularly sought to distance themselves from drug associations. "Daydream" remained on the Hot 100 for twelve weeks, peaking at number two for two weeks in mid-April. The single was kept from the top spot on Billboard 's chart by the Righteous Brothers ' song " (You're My) Soul and Inspiration ", but it reached number one on Cash Box magazine's chart and also reached
16280-543: The last time. Yanovsky died of a heart attack two years later. Sebastian has remained active as a solo act, and Boone, Butler and Yester began touring under the name the Lovin' Spoonful in 1991. The first time I heard Zal [Yanovsky] was at Cass Elliot 's house. Cass was forever the Jewish matchmaker, she was matching up boys to play in bands like a house afire. And she had us nailed as, "Oh, these guys have to work together." – John Sebastian , 2012 The co-founders of
16428-473: The lyrics of which derided early 1960s rock and roll while extolling the Beatles and other new music – and the three musicians jammed different Chuck Berry and R&B numbers. Sebastian invited Boone to Jacobsen's apartment afterwards, where Boone met Jacobsen as well as Jerry Yester of the Modern Folk Quartet , a local folk music group. That week, Boone attended Sebastian's performance at
16576-578: The market. Sebastian's second Reprise album, Cheapo Cheapo Productions Presents Real Live John Sebastian , was hastily recorded in an effort to provide an authorized live album. For his third Reprise album, The Four of Us (1971), Sebastian used a core backing band consisting of keyboardist Paul Harris , drummer Dallas Taylor and bassist Kenny Altman. He considered forming a permanent band with them, but Harris and Taylor chose to join Stephen Stills's band Manassas . In 1972, Sebastian also released
16724-462: The matter, both being away from San Francisco at the time. Yanovsky subsequently left the band and was replaced by Jerry Yester , after which the band's musical style veered away from its previous eclectic blend and became more pop-oriented. Sebastian would reunite with the band in 1980 and appear in the film One-Trick Pony . He would later be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, this
16872-470: The merits of their case and that their only way to avoid charges was to cooperate with authorities. The two initially balked at the idea, but they relented to avoid Yanovsky being deported, something they expected would lead to a breakup of the band. Yanovsky and Boone cooperated with authorities to name their drug source, directing an undercover operative to their source at local party. In exchange, all charges were dropped, their arrest records were expunged,
17020-651: The morning at The May Fair Hotel in Piccadilly . The next night, following their performance at the Blaises Club in Kensington , the band befriended Jones as well. After flying to Stockholm to perform on Swedish television, the Lovin' Spoonful proceeded to Ireland to attend the 21st-birthday celebration of Browne on April 23. Browne, who then regarded the Lovin' Spoonful as his favorite band, delayed his party by seven weeks in order to coincide with
17168-576: The night in jail before being bailed out the following morning by the Lovin' Spoonful's road manager, Rich Chiaro. Cavallo and Charley Koppelman flew out to meet the band to begin managing the situation, and they hired Melvin Belli to be their attorney. Sebastian and Butler were not immediately informed of the nature of the bust, and the band's May 21 performance at the University of California, Berkeley 's Greek Theatre went forward as normal. We were
17316-555: The original members played together for the last time, following Yanovsky 's death in 2002), and inducted as a member of the Spoonful into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006. Steve wrote the book Hotter Than a Match Head: My Life on the Run with The Lovin’ Spoonful in 2014. Boone recorded bass for vocal group The Cherry Drops ’ Lovin Spoonful song covers of " You Didn't Have to Be So Nice " and "Sweet Lovin’". After
17464-477: The producer Erik Jacobsen . In May 1966, at the height of the band's success, Yanovsky and Boone were arrested for marijuana possession in San Francisco. The pair revealed their drug source to authorities to avoid Yanovsky being deported to his native Canada, an action which generated tensions within the group. Due to disagreements over their artistic direction, the band fired Yanovsky in May 1967, replacing him with Jerry Yester , and Yanovsky commenced
17612-642: The project as a "goofball album" which distracted the band and stalled their progress. On April 12, the Lovin' Spoonful arrived at Heathrow Airport to begin their ten-day tour of England and Sweden. Problems which arose during negotiations with the British Musicians' Union forced the band to limit the number of appearances they made in Britain. In the tour's first week, the band played concerts in Birmingham and Manchester , appeared on
17760-554: The prospect of being propelled quickly to a national audience, the band were unenthusiastic at the idea of having to change their name to The Monkees and were worried that their ability to create and play their own music would be limited by the venture. They declined the offer. Rafelson later said that the Lovin' Spoonful was the only existing group considered for the show before they began auditioning individual actors and musicians in September 1965. In November 1965,
17908-603: The pseudonym G. Pugliese to avoid problems with his contract and to avoid association with Jim Morrison , who was then facing trial on charges of lewd behavior after the Miami concert incident . He also appeared on two Doors live albums, playing on " Little Red Rooster " on Alive, She Cried and on seven songs on Live in Detroit . Both albums were later re-released, remastered, and repackaged into one single album, In Concert , and included Morrison's introduction of Sebastian to
18056-421: The second set, the band received a warm response from the remaining crowd. In retrospect, the author Richie Unterberger describes the Lovin' Spoonful's appearance as a "watershed" moment in the history of folk rock. The rock journalist Paul Williams attended the shows, and his review of the performances for the magazine Folkin' Around marked his earliest work as a music writer. Williams later reflected, "For
18204-405: The stage on the "Little Red Rooster" track. Sebastian is credited with playing three instruments on the 1970 Gordon Lightfoot album, Sit Down Young Stranger (Reprise RS 6392). He played autoharp on "Saturday Clothes", electric guitar on "Baby It's Allright", and harmonica on "The Pony Man". The album was later retitled If You Could Read My Mind when the song of that name unexpectedly became
18352-472: The suggestion of Fritz Richmond, who encouraged the group by pointing to Bob Dylan's recent transition to electrified rock, first heard three months earlier with the release of " Subterranean Homesick Blues ", and the newfound popularity of the Byrds, whose folk rock cover of Dylan's song " Mr. Tambourine Man " reached number one in North America that month. The term "folk rock" had been coined in
18500-557: The team of Sebastian and songwriter Phil Galdston, with whom Sebastian also collaborated on the score for the Sig Shore -directed feature film The Act (1984). According to Colin Larkin , Sebastian had written many of the songs that appeared on Tar Beach more than a decade prior to the album's release. Two later releases, I Want My Roots (Music Masters, 1996) and Chasin' Gus' Ghost (Hollywood, 2000), focused on Sebastian's work with
18648-896: The television programs Top of the Pops , Ready Steady Go! and Thank Your Lucky Stars , played on BBC Radio and attended a party at the London home of the Irish socialite Tara Browne . The band's time in England allowed them to interact with many of Britain's top musicians. On April 18, they performed an invite-only show at the Marquee Club on Wardour Street, Soho, central London. Several of Britain's top performers were in attendance, including John Lennon , George Harrison , Ray Davies , Brian Jones , Steve Winwood , Spencer Davis and Eric Clapton . The band were warmly received, and Lennon and Harrison joined them afterwards into
18796-541: The title of a novel by British writer Tony Parsons , comes from the Sebastian song of the same name. As an original member of the Lovin' Spoonful, Sebastian was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. Sebastian has been married three times. His first wife was Jean "Butchie" Webber (later known as Butchie Denver after she married actor Bob Denver ). According to Steve Boone, Butchie
18944-604: The top spot in Canada. The song's success expanded the Lovin' Spoonful's popularity such that they were often able to headline their concerts rather than perform as a support act. When the band toured the American South with the Beach Boys from April 1 to 9, 1966, the two groups alternated top billing. Though the Lovin' Spoonful had achieved quick success in North America, they remained generally unknown in
19092-529: The tour but found it physically exhausting. Sebastian additionally missed his girlfriend, Loretta "Lorey" Kaye. Near the tour's end, in an effort to raise his own spirits, he composed " Daydream " while riding on the bus through North Carolina, drawing inspiration from the Supremes' 1964 singles " Baby Love " and " Where Did Our Love Go ". A stop in Savannah, Georgia inspired the beginnings of "Jug Band Music", which Boone later said "recalled pleasant visions of
19240-537: The tour" for him and his bandmates. At the conclusion of their tour with the Supremes, the Lovin' Spoonful departed directly for Los Angeles, having been invited by Phil Spector to appear in the concert film The Big T.N.T. Show . After filming on 29–30 November, the band remained in Los Angeles to do several weeks of a residency at the Trip, a short-lived nightclub on Sunset Boulevard . During their stay,
19388-406: The two did not need to appear in court and there was no publicity related to their arrest. Their drug source was in turn arrested and served a brief jail sentence. After the drug case went to court in December 1966, knowledge of Yanovsky and Boone's bust became more widespread. The underground press was especially critical of the band. By early 1967, the Lovin' Spoonful's shows on
19536-471: Was Summer In The City (which stayed there for 3 weeks in August 1966). Boone co-wrote " You Didn't Have to Be So Nice " (a song that has been cited as an inspiration for the composition of the 1966 song " God Only Knows " by the Beach Boys ), as well as " Summer in the City ". Steve wrote at least one song on every Spoonful album except for the last one, Revelation: Revolution '69 . In 1980, Boone, Sebastian, Yanovsky and Butler briefly reunited to appear in
19684-431: Was a close friend of his mother. His godfather and first babysitter was children's book illustrator Garth Williams , a friend of his father. Eleanor Roosevelt was a neighbor who lived across the hall. Sebastian grew up surrounded by music and musicians, including Burl Ives and Woody Guthrie , and hearing such players as Lead Belly and Mississippi John Hurt in his own neighborhood. He graduated from Blair Academy ,
19832-515: Was about to change again, that the four-man band that actually played their own instruments and wrote their own songs was the thing." Yanovsky contacted Bob Cavallo , the former manager of the Halifax Three and the Mugwumps, who agreed to manage Sebastian and Yanovsky's group even though they had not yet performed publicly, had no songs and did not yet have a band name. In 1964, Sebastian lived in an apartment on Prince Street in Little Italy ,
19980-483: Was accompanied by various Los Angeles musicians including Crosby, Stills & Nash . It was Sebastian's highest-charting solo album, reaching No. 20 in the Billboard album charts . In a contract dispute with MGM Records , MGM, without authorization from Sebastian or his management, also released the John B. Sebastian album, under a different cover, and a live album, John Sebastian Live ; both were later withdrawn from
20128-425: Was an early supporter and friend of the Lovin' Spoonful and secretly married Sebastian in the early 1960s to reduce his chances of being drafted for service in the Vietnam War . The couple divorced in 1966. That same year, Sebastian married Loretta "Lorey" Kaye, a waitress at Steve Paul 's The Scene who later worked for Hit Parader magazine; they divorced in 1968. In 1972, Sebastian married Catherine Barnett,
20276-428: Was changing, that maybe they had finally found us." Sebastian composed the song the following night, and the band worked together at the Albert to finish its arrangement. The Lovin' Spoonful was enthusiastic about "Do You Believe in Magic" and hoped to record a demo of the song to flog to record companies. In June 1965, Jacobsen fronted a session with his own money at Bell Sound Studios in New York, where
20424-562: Was in New York City). Sebastian became part of the folk and blues scene that was developing in Greenwich Village, which in part later gave rise to folk rock . In addition to harmonica, Sebastian played guitar and occasionally autoharp . One of Sebastian's first recording gigs was playing guitar and harmonica for Billy Faier 's 1964 album The Beast of Billy Faier. He also played on Fred Neil 's album Bleecker & MacDougal and Tom Rush 's self-titled album in 1965. He played in
20572-494: Was in a very bad car crash on the last night of my junior year of high school in East Hampton. I was out celebrating with one of my friends and we hitchhiked home. We dropped my friend off at his house, and on the way to my house the driver crashed into a tree. My injuries were so severe that I was going to be laid up on a sofa for at least 18 months where I wouldn’t be able to do any of my normal activities, so my mom bought me
20720-502: Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 as a member of the Lovin' Spoonful. Sebastian was born in New York City and grew up in Little Italy and Greenwich Village . His father, John Sebastian ( né John Sebastian Pugliese), was a noted classical harmonica player, and his mother, Jane (born Mary Jane Bishir), was a radio script writer. His godmother was Vivian Vance ("Ethel Mertz" of I Love Lucy ), who
20868-578: Was joined by Zal Yanovsky , Steve Boone , and Joe Butler in the Spoonful, which was named after "The Coffee Blues," a Mississippi John Hurt song. The Lovin' Spoonful , which blended folk-rock and pop with elements of blues, country , and jug band music , became part of the American response to the British Invasion , and was noted for such hits as " Do You Believe in Magic ", "Jug Band Music", " You Didn't Have to Be So Nice ", " Daydream ", " Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind? ", " Summer in
21016-461: Was never finished. In 1991 the band reunited, and Boone has played in the Lovin Spoonful since its reformation with founding member Joe Butler . Boone was inducted as a member of the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, Boone would play with original line up one final time, he was later inducted as a member into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006. Boone has also produced several albums by many artists including Forq, Irish Times and
21164-408: Was on recording as quickly as possible, and a majority of the songs were jug band and blues covers taken from their typical live set list. The album's five original compositions were all credited to Sebastian, including " Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind? ", which he based on a experience as a child at summer camp when he fell in love with twin sisters. Pointing to the success of the Beatles and
21312-662: Was recording Little Feat 's Feats Don't Fail Me Now album. Boone sold the studio sometime later. Sometime in 1970, Boone bought a 56 ft sailboat 'Cygnus' and moved onto it in the Virgin Islands . During his time living on the Virgin Island sailboat, Boone started secretly smuggling marijuana from the Caribbean to the United States, something he would later be arrested for. Boone moved back to Florida in 1987, and still currently lives there. Steve
21460-758: Was still in need of a drummer, and Boone suggested Jan Buchner, a part-timer with the Kingsmen who came at the recommendation of both Skip and Butler. Buchner, who went by the stagename Jan Carl, was the manager of the Bull's Head Inn, a small inn located in Bridgehampton on Long Island, and which he offered as a rehearsal space during the inn's winter closure. The band rehearsed at the Bull's Head for several weeks in December 1964 and January 1965, and they also played at local bars in Bridgehampton at night. In late 1964 and early 1965, to keep earning money before his new band had earned
21608-487: Was the last time Sebastian would play with the original line up. In 2020 Sebastian reunited with Lovin Spoonful members Joe Butler and Steve Boone. One of Sebastian's first projects after leaving the Spoonful was composing the music and lyrics for a play with music, Jimmy Shine , written by Murray Schisgal . It opened on Broadway in December 1968, with Dustin Hoffman in the title role, and ran until April 1969, for
21756-402: Was unable to appear at the festival due to complications related to the drug bust. Steve Boone Joining the Lovin Spoonful in 1964, Boone played bass and keyboards and wrote songs for the band along with John Sebastian and co-wrote some with Sebastian. Boone would stay with the band until they broke up in 1969; shortly after the band broke up Boone briefly worked on a solo album, which
21904-409: Was under the influence of marijuana or other psychedelic drugs at the time, hence his spontaneity and casual, unplanned set. Sebastian has confirmed in later interviews that he was a regular marijuana user at the time and had taken acid at Woodstock because he was not scheduled to perform. However, he has also noted that "there was a natural high there [at Woodstock]," and that "[i]n an interview it
#917082