Much more than the Byrds and the Mamas & the Papas, the Lovin' Spoonful laced their folk based rock with melodic good-time music and a touch of classic rock 'n' roll. They were also more influenced by the blues than their fellow folk-rock artists, but as excellent as their singles were, the group lacked the depth and innovation of the Byrds.
Principal songwriter John Sebastian was a veteran of the Greenwich Village folk scene when he formed the band in 1965 with Zal Yanovsky, Steve Boone and Joe Butler. Initial interest came from Phil Spector who was considering becoming their producer, but they eventually signed to the Kama Sutra label.
In 1967, Boone and Yanovsky were arrested in California for marijuana possession, but escaped prosecution by telling the police who their dealer was. This caused upset amongst the late '60's counterculture and there were calls for a boycott of Spoonful product, although their core audience was mostly made up of teenagers, not hippies.
Yanovsky left in 1967 and was replaced by Jerry Yester. The band had a few more minor hits, but when John Sebastian left in 1968 they were effectively finished, although they struggled on for a short time. Sebastian achieved a small amount of success as a solo artist in the '70s.
In 1999 'Live at the Hotel Seville' became the first new Lovin' Spoonful release in three decades, although significantly John Sebastian remains absent from the line-up.
IF YOU LIKE THESE, YOU'LL LIKE THE LOVIN' SPOONFUL: The Turtles, The Monkees, The Byrds, The Kinks, The Beatles, The Mamas and Papas, Buffalo Springfield, Flamin' Groovies, Simon and Garfunkel.