From October 1966, please enjoy the seriously and inexplicably underrated Lovin Spoonful and the instrumental track to their gorgeous folk-pop ballad hit "Rain on the Roof." Featuring some of the loveliest fingerpicking ever heard by sentient mammalian ears and Zal Yanovsky's brilliant fuzz-guitar imitation of the sound of a French Horn.
At this point I would usually post the song's lyrics and encourage you to sing along, but I don't think I will today, given that the track is simply perfect without any vocals at all.
Seriously -- this is like a great little piece of chamber music, just as it is.
Three summers ago. Little outdoor ampitheater with a tin roof. John Sebastian (squat, bow-legged, thick-necked, now) doing a solo set. Thunder. Lightning. Downpour. He looks up, listens for a moment, and says, "Well, there's only one thing for me to play now." He fingerpicks and sings a gentle "Rain on the Roof". Perfect moment.
if a similar thing happened at an REO Speedwagon show, they'd have played "Ridin the Storm Out," and someone would have said the same thing, and to them it would have been true. I'll take John Sebastian any day.
The one thing that always impressed me about the Spoonful is how their singles never really sounded alike.
And the one thing that always disappointed me about them was that the quality of their single releases never really drilled down to the rest of their albums.
Rhino's 26 (I think) track Anthology? Essential.
Were they missing anything? Not to my ears. (Well, except maybe "Night Owl Blues" -- but only because the TV Horror Host "The Ghoul" used it ever week...)
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8 comments:
These guys were SO influential.
So lovely. Sounds unmixed or an alternate take. You're so correct about it standing on it's own!
Party on.
ROTP(lumber)
Three summers ago. Little outdoor ampitheater with a tin roof. John Sebastian (squat, bow-legged, thick-necked, now) doing a solo set. Thunder. Lightning. Downpour. He looks up, listens for a moment, and says, "Well, there's only one thing for me to play now." He fingerpicks and sings a gentle "Rain on the Roof". Perfect moment.
if a similar thing happened at an REO Speedwagon show, they'd have played "Ridin the Storm Out," and someone would have said the same thing, and to them it would have been true. I'll take John Sebastian any day.
Heh.
And I say that as somebody who actually endured an REO Speedwagon show at the height of their commercial moment.
The one thing that always impressed me about the Spoonful is how their singles never really sounded alike.
And the one thing that always disappointed me about them was that the quality of their single releases never really drilled down to the rest of their albums.
Rhino's 26 (I think) track Anthology? Essential.
Were they missing anything? Not to my ears. (Well, except maybe "Night Owl Blues" -- but only because the TV Horror Host "The Ghoul" used it ever week...)
I coulda sworn that was a French horn. Kinda like when the Who would use it every now and then
Very very cool. Thanks for posting.
The amazing thing about the Spoonful is that despite their incredible songwriting and authentically eclectic chops, they were actually successful.
AP
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