The Lovin' Spoonful Nashville Cats - Night Owl Blues (7inch, 45rpm)

The Lovin' Spoonful

1965 in New York von Sänger und Gitarrist John Sebastin (geboren 17.3.1944 in New York) und Sologitarrist Zalman Yanovsky (geboren 19.12.1944 in Toronto - Kanada) gegründete Folk-Rockband. Ihre sanften und melodiösen Songs fanden sofort Gefallen, bildeten Lovin' Spoonful doch einen herrlichen Kontrast zu den damals den Markt beherrschenden englischen Gruppen wie Hollies, Kinks, Beatles, Stones, Animals und Manfred Mann. Mitspieler waren der Schlagzeuger Joe Butler (geboren 16. 9.1943 in New York) und der Bassist Steve Boone (geboren 23.9.1943 in Camp Lejeune - North Carolina).

Lovin' Spoonful waren die erste Gruppe der Welt, die Folkmusik auf elektrisch verstärkten lnstrumenten spielte, beeinflußten die Byrds und andere heute populäre Bands wie Eagles, America und Poco. Gleich ihre ersten Platten „Daydream' und „Summer in the City' wurden 1966 Welthits, die Lovin' Spoonful auch in Deutschland berühmt machten. Nachfolgetreffer wurden „You didn't have to be so nice', „Nashville Cats' und „Darlin' be home soon'.

1967 verließ Yanovsky die Gruppe, für ihn kam Jerry Yester (geboren 9.1.1945 in Joshua Tree - Kalifornien). 1 Jahr später trennte sich die Gruppe. John B. Sebastian versuchte im Alleingang eine Solokarriere als Folksänger, war damit aber nur in den USA erfolgreich. Anfang 1975 versuchte er, seine alten Freunde wieder zusammenzutrommeln, um als Lovin' Spoonful eine neue LP aufzunehmen und wieder Konzerte zu geben. Aber bis zum Herbst blieb es bei den Plänen ohne konkretes Ziel.

Original Presse-Info: Deutsche Grammophon GmbH 

The Lovin' Spoonful

Nashville Cats

The Lovin' Spoonful

Nashville Cats

(John Sebastian)

recorded; 1967, New York City; Producer Erik Jacobsen

witk John Sebastian: vocal/steel guitar; Zal Yanovsky: guitar; Steve Boone: bass; Joe Butler: drums

Kama-Sutra 219

master 101, 368

The Lovin' Spoonful drew on a deep pooled knowledge of rural music, specifically rural African American music from the 1920s and '30s. Their name came from Mississippi John Hurt's Coffee Blues ("I wanna see my baby 'bout a lovin' spoonful"). Leader John Sebastian had spent a few months in the Mugwumps, a group that comprised Cass Elliott and Denny Doherty (later of the Mamas & Papas) and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, who joined him in the Spoonful. Producer Erik Jacobsen had already made his mark with Tim Hardin, and worked with Sebastian and Yanovsky to shape the Spoonful's sound. Drummer Joe Butler and bassist Steve Boone rounded out the group.

The Spoonful were unapologetically commercial, but so personable and accomplished that only the most curmudgeonly could fail to love them. Jacobsen placed the group with Kama-Sutra Records, a label that appeared to be the quintessential hippie era start-up, but wasn't. Two of the three principals, Artie Ripp and Phil Steinberg, came out of the rabidly commercial Brill Building, while the third, Hy Mizrahi, had sold jewelry and cameras in Manhattan. They began producing for Red Bird Records before that label's sudden mob-precipitated demise. Kama-Sutra Records was launched in June 1965. The first single, the Spoonful's Do You Believe In Magic, reached the pop Top 10. Sebastian pulled off the enviable trick of being eclectic and radio-friendly. "We thought we had an advantage over other rock 'n' roll bands because we played with thumb picks," he told 'Crawdaddy' magazine. Nashville Cats, an affectionate homage to the elegant simplicity of the Nashville session musicians, was the Spoonful's seventh single and reached #8 on the pop charts.

In January 1967, Kama-Sutra serviced the song to country radio without much in the way of results, and issued an EP with liner notes by Buck Owens. It was a first, tentative step toward bridging rock and country. Purists took issue with a factual error. "Yellow Sun records" came from Memphis, not Nashville, although within a couple of years Shelby Singleton would buy Sun and flood the market with yellow Sun records from Nashville. Sebastian said that the lead guitar was played by Yanovsky while he filled in on a steel guitar that had been left in the studio from another artist's session. That sounds about right.

- Colin Escott -

Various Country & Western Hit Parade 1967

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