The Lovin' Spoonful Anthology

Anthology
Compilation album by the Lovin' Spoonful
Released	January 23, 1990 [1]
Recorded	1965–1968
Genre	Folk rock [2]
Length	68:37
Label	Rhino
The Lovin' Spoonful chronology
The Best... Lovin' Spoonful (1976) Anthology (1990) Live at the Hotel Seville (1999)

The Lovin' Spoonful Anthology is a compilation album by the folk rock group the Lovin' Spoonful, released in 1990.

The Lovin' Spoonful Anthology focuses mainly on The Lovin' Spoonful's 1965-1966 releases with a few obscure tracks such as "Pow!" from their What's Up, Tiger Lily? soundtrack and "Good Time Music", an early song found on a label sampler. All the band's biggest hits are included as well as a booklet with comments about the songs from John Sebastian.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
MusicHound Rock	5/5 [4]

In his Allmusic review, music critic Richie Unterberger wrote "Unquestionably the finest collection of a major band that did much to launch American folk-rock in the mid-'60s. Anthology jams 26 cuts onto a single CD, including all of their hits and some of their strongest album tracks, drawing mostly from their 1965-1966 prime." ^[3]

Track listing

1. "Good Time Music" (John Sebastian) – 3:06
2. "Do You Believe In Magic" (Sebastian) – 2:04
3. "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" (Steve Boone, Sebastian) – 2:31
4. "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" (Sebastian) – 1:58
5. "You Baby" (Mann, Phil Spector, Weil) – 2:55
6. "Younger Girl" (Sebastian) – 2:19
7. "Fishin' Blues" Traditional– 2:00
8. "Daydream" (Sebastian) – 2:18
9. "Jug Band Music" (Sebastian) – 2:51
10. "Didn't Want to Have to Do It" (Sebastian) – 2:36
11. "Summer in the City" (Boone, Sebastian, Mark Sebastian) – 2:39
12. "Pow!" (Boone, Joe Butler, Sebastian, Zal Yanovsky) – 2:28
13. "Rain on the Roof" (Sebastian) – 2:11
14. "Nashville Cats" (Sebastian) – 2:34
15. "Full Measure" (Boone, Sebastian) – 2:40
16. "Lovin' You" (Sebastian) – 2:28
17. "Coconut Grove" (Sebastian, Yanovsky) – 2:42
18. "Darling Be Home Soon" (Boone, Sebastian) – 3:31
19. "You're a Big Boy Now" (Boone, Butler, Sebastian) – 2:38
20. "Lonely (Amy's Theme)" (Sebastian) – 3:19
21. "Six O'Clock" (Sebastian) – 2:41
22. "She Is Still a Mystery" (Sebastian) – 3:02
23. "Money" (Sebastian) – 1:54
24. "Younger Generation" (Sebastian) – 2:40
25. "Never Going Back" (John Stewart) – 2:44
26. "Me About You" (Garry Bonner, Alan Gordon) – 3:48

Personnel

According to the album's liner notes:

The Lovin' Spoonful

• John Sebastian  –guitars, lead vocals, autoharp, harmonica, Wurlitzer electric piano, Irish harp, clarinet, harmonium, marxophone
• Zal Yanovsky  –lead guitars, vocals, lead six-string bass, electric gorgle, Chinese gong
• Steve Boone  –bass, pianos, organs
• Joe Butler  –drums, percussion, vocals; lead vocals ("You Baby", "Never Going Back" and "Me About You")
• Jerry Yester (replaced Yanovsky for tracks 22–26) –lead guitars, keyboards, vocals, vocal and orchestral arrangements

Additional musicians

• Chip Douglas  –bass ("Never Going Back")
• Red Rhodes  – pedal steel guitar ("Never Going Back")
• John Stewart  –guitar ("Never Going Back")

References

1. Anon. (January 19, 1990). "Pipeline". Chicago Tribune . p. 7S – via Newspapers.com.
2. Unterberger, Richie. "Great Moments in Folk Rock: Lists of Author Favorites". Richieunterberger.com. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
3. Unterberger, Richie. "The Lovin' Spoonful Anthology > Review". Allmusic . Retrieved June 15, 2011.
4. Rucker, Leland (1996). "Lovin' Spoonful / John Sebastian" . In Graff, Gary (ed.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit, Michigan: Visible Ink Press. pp. 422–423. ISBN   0-7876-1037-2 – via the Internet Archive.