On Cherry Red Records, a/k/a the Coolest Label in the World™.
I promise I won't bore you about it further in the future, but at this juncture I feel obligated to mention that my candidate for the most underrated of the big time bands out of CBs -- and by far my personal favorite of all of them -- is without a question Mink DeVille.
Seriously -- those guys sounded like an unholy out of this world shtup between the Stones, Dylan, the Drifters/Ben E. King and some half-remembered NYC latin rock group. And their two albums on Capitol (produced by the great Jack Nitzche) remain astounding. I should also add that a) it is one of the great regrets of my adult life that I never got to see them live and b) that if you get me drunk sometime, I will tell you an absolutely terrifying story about what happened when I interviewed front man Willy DeVille in 1981.
But anyway, speaking of Cherry Red, now comes word that they're giving a similar deluxe box set treatment to -- be still my beating heart -- The Lovin' Spoonful.
From the official press release:
7 CD, 170-track box set compiling the complete 1960s recordings by The Lovin’ Spoonful.Just to let that sink in -- that's pretty much every single note they ever recorded in one handy dandy package.• Mastering is by Grammy nominated archivist/producer Alec Palao.
• Includes their first four studio albums 'Do You Believe In Magic' (1965), 'Daydream' (1966), 'Hums Of The Lovin’ Spoonful' (1966) and 'Everything Playing' (1967) in both stereo and mono plus stereo mixes of their two soundtrack albums 'The Lovin’ Spoonful In Woody Allen’s ‘What’s Up Tiger Lily?' (1966) and 'You’re A Big Boy Now' (1967).
• Also contains the Joe Butler-helmed final album 'Revelation: Revolution ’69' (1969), original guitarist Zal Yanovsky’s solo album 'Alive And Well In Argentina' (1968) and stereo and mono versions of the early Lovin’ Spoonful tracks included on Elektra’s 1966 compilation 'What’s Shakin’, the mono mixes appearing on CD for the first time.
Including all of their hits: ‘Do You Believe In Magic’ (US #9), ‘You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice’ (US #10), ‘Daydream’ (US #2, UK #2), ‘Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind’ (US #2), ‘Summer In The City’ (US #1, UK #8), ‘Rain On The Roof’ (US #10), Nashville Cats (US # 8, UK #26), ‘Darling Be Home Soon’ (US #14), ‘Six O’Clock’ (US #18) and ‘She Is Still A Mystery’ (US #27).
Bonus tracks include ‘Alley Oop’, an out-take from their debut album sessions plus demos, alternative versions and instrumentals.
The Lovin’ Spoonful’s first seven singles gave them seven consecutive US Top 10 hits. Often described as Americas answer to The Beatles, The Lovin’ Spoonful were so much more. They rose out of the Greenwich Village folk boom and adjacent to the British Invasion hit big with their ‘good time music’, an exhilarating mix of jug band, blues, folk, rock and roll and big-hearted pop. MOJO Magazine’s Lois Wilson describes the members in the notes as “John Sebastian, a hugely talented, often underrated songwriter with a preternatural command of words and melody; Zalman Yanovsky, a protean guitar player, capable of fuzzed out psych, mercurial blues and fingerpicked folk; then Steve Boone and Joe Butler, bass and drums respectively, who provided a rock ’n’ roll framework with a jazz player’s lightness of touch”.
The set is due to be released on March 27th, and let me just say that if anybody reading this here blog wants to get me a copy for my birthday I wouldn't say no. 😎
Anyway, that leads us to the subject of the weekend's business. To wit:
...and your favorite (or least favorite) track by John, Zal, Steve and Joe is...???
Discuss.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, here's my fave, which I think will surprise you.
Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?
And have a great weekend, everybody!!!
17 comments:
BTW -- yes, I know that John, Zal and Steve aren't actually on that track.
This is a very tough topic to whittle down to one choice, hmmmmmmm!
"Six O'Clock"! That song was in constant high rotation back in the days of my internet show. What a masterpiece. I'm smiling about listening to it as soon I finish typing this response! Here I go to listen.......
Captain Al
Just listened to it! WOW!!! It brings tears to my eyes and my whole body was bobbin' to how great it is!
Sentimental but Rockin' Captain Al
I can't pick just one. At least a dozen have amazing memories to go with them. I'll give you five:
Rain On The Roof
Darling Be Home Soon
Six O'Clock
Younger Girl
Do You Believe In Magic?
And man, how great is "Never Going Back?"
for exhilaration - Summer in the City
For affectionate tenderness - Rain on the Roof
For a 21st century cover - John with the MonaLisa Twins on "Did You You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind"
For stoned mellowness - Coconut Grove
While I agree that Never Goin' Back is great, I'm not so sure it qualifies as The Lovin' Spoonful. Just sayin'. Al and Sal already called a bunch of great ones, and there's enough that this is a easy assignment. I'll choose the Nashville Cats 45, and it's B side, Full Measure. Honorable mention to Coconut Grove and Darling Companion, all four from Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful, my favorite of their LPs.
For not being on their official albums - Darling Be Home Soon
For least favorite - I'd have to re-listen to Revolution 69, which I am reluctant to do.
Oh my god -- "Full Measure" -- how gorgeous is that? 😎
I should add that the very first song the Floor Models played in public was "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice." At an audition for Kenny's Castaways, which we passed. 😎
I've maintained -- maybe even at this space? -- that the leap in artistry of 1966-1967 represented by Eight Miles High, Tomorrow Never Knows, Like A Rolling Stone, Good Vibrations and Summer In The City will never be matched. So it's obvious what song I pick.
C in California
For pure, aching, soulful beauty: Darling Be Home Soon
For recalling a special time in my life, and being a classic song to boot: Summer in the City
But am I the only one who doesn't like collections with both stereo and mono mixes? Seems like just a lot of wasted space and repetition for almost no difference.
Darling Be Home Soon - I love who has covered this song and the studio version but the best version is John at Woodstock. I caught Sebastian in 2013 and he closed with this song. Always loved how he'd stop playing and wink after seeing "a quarter of my life has come to pass..."
Apart from the fact that the mono mixes are what (mostly) you heard on the radio, I don't get it either, really.
She’s still a Mystery to me hard to ignore in this ?
Here are cover versions that I heard before the originals:
The Beat Farmers. - Never Goin’ Back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElZ7kCb_NkI
Anne Richmond Boston - Darling Be Home Soon.
https://annerichmondboston.bandcamp.com/track/darling-be-home-soon
Both of the albums these covers come from are very good.
- Paul in DK
And speaking of "Never Goin' Back" --I am inordinately fond of this live version by the song's composer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX5uQDqzmzo&list=RDgX5uQDqzmzo&start_radio=1
Full Measure is a perfect "deep cut". Oh, and my least favorite, because it's supposed to be funny but it's mean, is Bald-Headed Lena.
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