1960s DAYDREAM BELIEVERS
The first six albums by THE LOVIN’ SPOONFUL cooked up folk, pop and jugband influences with John Sebastian’s effortlessly commercial songwriting nous to create some of the brightest and most enduring music of the decade, now remastered and expanded for your further delight. MIKE FORNATALE makes up his mind
THE LOVIN’ SPOONFUL Do You Believe In Magic/Daydream What’s Up, Tiger Lily?/Hums Of You’re A Big Boy Now/Everything Playing All Edsel CDs
www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk
This is something of a motherlode, in case you haven’t figured that out without being told. These three collections represent nothing short of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s entire output – from their inception right up until John Sebastian’s
departure in late 1967. Plus copious bonus tracks, all the original sleeve notes (quite essential in this case) and lovely historical essays from Alan Robinson. The Lovin’ Spoonful were unique. Although their musical
roots ran considerably deeper into authentic blues, backwoods folk music, bluegrass, and hillbilly jug-band than almost all of the other rock ’n’roll bands on the US charts in ’65 and ’66, they somehow managed to effortlessly churn out a remarkable string of good-timey sunshiney hit singles that rivaled or surpassed anything their weaned-on-pop contemporaries could manage. Everything they touched turned into an avalanche of smiles. No mean feat. To any American, it’s pointless to play List-the-Hits with
The Lovin’ Spoonful – people “of a certain age” and every subsequent generation are as familiar with a few of their songs as they are with any Beatles record. Again, no mean feat. In the case of The Lovin’ Spoonful, though, it’s not just because the music was so good. ‘Do You Believe In Magic’, ‘Daydream’, ‘Rain On The Roof’ and ‘You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice’ are staples of oldies radio and always have been – and it’s because they’re just so damned happy. Without ever being treacly or bubblegummy. It’s certainly possible to hear the first few bars and not break into a face-splitting grin – but it sure isn’t easy. “Best Of” compilations have, over the years, outnumbered the group’s original LPs by roughly threefold – but those albums contain some unheard gems, several of which could have and should have been hits as big and as memorable as those listed above. There’s some chaff to wade through as well, of course.
And for deeper reasons than one usually finds on LPs by artists known for their Top 40 hits. Two of the group’s albums were rushed movie soundtrack assignments. What’s Up, Tiger Lily?, in fact, was conceived, written, and executed in the remarkable span of two
days.And much of it sounds like it. 1967’s You’re A Big Boy Now is a cut above, having received considerably more time and care, but it’s still a film soundtrack – and although both LPs have several real gems, there’s all that Other Stuff as well. Still, none of this will bore you nearly as much as this
review will – and some of the songs you’ve never heard before will move you extremely. Even the marching band
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version of ‘Darlin’ Be Home Soon’ is worth a repeat listen or three.
Some history: John Sebastian, Greenwich Village folk-
music scene veteran, is alleged to have met ex-pat Canadian Zal Yanovsky at Cass Elliott’s apartment, struck up a friendship, and talked about forming a band immediately. Zal provided the perfect contrast on-stage to Sebastian’s beatific autoharp-strumming troubadour; he banged on his guitar with abandon, acting for all the world like a devilish cross between Harpo Marx and the young Keith Moon. There’s a startling diversity of soundscapes on these LPs
– which shouldn’t surprise you even if you’re only conversant with the hits. They do very credible versions of much-covered folk-rock standards like Fred Neil’s ‘Other Side Of This Life’, paisley psych-pop like ‘Only Pretty,What A Pity’ and earnest hippie sincerity like ‘The Younger Generation’, which no doubt you’ve all seen a blissed-out, tie-dyed Sebastian perform on a borrowed guitar two years hence in the Woodstock film. ‘Six O’Clock’, one of their latter-day hits, is a tough, hard-edged rocker miles-removed from most of the other singles. And ‘Wash Her Away’ is, stylistically, only a hair’s-breadth removed from anything on the first Moby Grape LP. They never achieved the crossover success they should
have enjoyed with the “underground”, though, and not because of their music. They were quite well respected in those quarters, actually, both because of their deep musical roots and Sebastian’s lengthy pedigree. But, in another unique twist, a routine drug bust in San Francisco actually ruined their reputation with the LP-buying
underground crowd. Zal, the Canadian, was the one found with the bag of pot – and threatened with deportation unless he was willing to cough up the name of his supplier. He was, and that act of self-preservation completely poisoned any chance they would have otherwise had in the San Francisco ballrooms. Nobody loves a nark. Zal had left the band by the time the final LP, Everything
Playing, came out in September ’67. His replacement, Jerry Yester (brother of The Association’s Jim, and who later made some rather bizarre albums like Farewell Aldebaran and Rosebud with Judy Henske) was rather formidable in his own right, and brought some depth of texture that had been missing from the band. But this didn’t make them any new friends in the underground – and after two more minor hits, it was over.Yanovsky released one beautifully bizarre album called Alive And Well And Living In Argentina, and drummer Joe Butler helmed a new version of The Lovin’ Spoonful, putting out one final LP called Revelation: Revolution ’69. There’s nothing really “essential” about the bonus tracks
on these sets, but they’re certainly pleasant and/or interesting enough. Several alternate versions, demos, and instrumental tracks, and one unreleased-at-the-time romp through ‘Alley Oop’ that sounds like it was probably a studio warm-up. These are definitely worth your time and money, and you
can even listen to all of them in a row. Like I just did about four times. For me they were old friends that it was nice to see again. For you, I think they’ll be some brand new friends that you’ll keep close by.
They didn’t have to be so nice. The Lovin’ Spoonful in happier times.
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