REVIEW: The Lovin' Spoonful, Greatest Hits (Buddha)
- Bill Holmes
With their induction to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame just around the corner, what better time than now to celebrate the artistry of The Lovin' Spoonful? They weren't icons like The Beatles, tough like The Animals or cute like Herman's Hermits. But they were one of America's best answers to the British Invasion, and like their West Coast cousins The Byrds, had their roots firmly planted in traditional folk music.
Though Dylan and Hendrix and McGuinn and Sebastian prowled the same small Greenwich Village neighborhood, each took different steps towards the future. For Sebastian and mates Zal Yanovsky, Joe Butler and Steve Boone, the music was as much of a melting pot as the neighborhood. Mixing swamp blues, country, rock and R&B together, the Spoonful were staples of AM radio from 1965 through 1967. With hits like "Daydream," "Do You Believe In Magic," "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind," "Rain On The Roof" and "Summer In The City," the band created an influential form of American music that was as commercially successful (their first seven singles were top ten hits!) as it was unique. That success helped open the doors for bands from...well, The Band and Credence Clearwater Revival to The Jayhawks and Wilco, thirty years down the road.
Buddha continues to mine its catalogue and treat listeners to pristine, digitally remastered versions of classic records. This collection clocks in at over an hour and features twenty-six tracks, and the sound is fabulous. Sebastian is validated as a great vocalist, and the guitars, Zal's in particular, shimmer and bite in a way car radios could never have appreciated. Overall, the colorful instrumentation, unconventional harmony arrangements and pure joy of the music jumps out of the speakers with a freshness and vitality that confirms the timelessness of the material.
John Sebastian, of course, went on to enjoy solo success with his easygoing material, and later got his career (and wallet) recharged with the popular theme from "Welcome Back Kotter". Even now, while he is touring with NRBQ or playing solo acoustic dates, the crowd will invariably ask to hear the classic Spoonful material more frequently than his later, lesser known work. And unlike many rock and roll survivors who downplay their past successes, Sebastian will thank the crowd for asking, and then light up the room with some of those chestnuts. And he'll smile along with them, because he knows all too well that even a newer song like "Tar Beach" speaks of the same days in New York as "Summer In The City," all those years ago...
