The Lovin' Spoonful Official Website

Steve Boone and Joe Butler had been playing in a band together out on Long Island in the early 1960’s and by the time that the Beatles and the British invasion hit the states, their band The Kingsmen (not the Louie Louie Kingsmen) were one of the top rock and roll bands in the area with a repertoire that included folk songs put to a rock beat and standards from an earlier era as well the hits of the day including many of the latest from the Beatles and other’s from England. Steve’s brother Skip, King Charles, Clay Sonier and Sonny Bottari filled out the group. In 1964 Joe and Skip sensing that the influence of the Beatles and other bands from across the sea was likely to last decided that their best interests lay in moving into New York City and putting more of their own original songs into play as well integrating a rock bass and drums to the folk music currently popular in hopes of capturing some of the magic that the Brits were creating. The rest of the band decided to stay out closer to home except for Steve who fulfilled a long time dream of motorcycling around England & Europe with his best bud and maybe even catching some of this new music scene on it’s home turf.

By the fall of that year Joe and Skip had joined up with Jerry Angus and Marshall O’Conner and formed a band called The Sellouts, the first real rock band to play in Greenwich Village which at the time was the home of the folk music scene and not all that comfortable with loud guitars and drums and bass. Soon though they were attracting many of the young musicians from the folk scene who were intrigued by the amplified guitars and beats of the bass and drums. Chief among the fans of The Sellouts were two musicians John Sebastian and Zalman Yanovsky who themselves had recently met courtesy of future Mamas & Pappa’s lead singer Cass Elliot. and were playing in a folk group with Pappa Denny Dougherty called The Mugwumps in Washington D.C. and had as a fan future President Bill Clinton then in law school in Georgetown.

One night John and Zal struck up a conversation with Skip and Joe and said they were looking to start an electric jug band and needed a bass player and drummer. John Sebastian had grown up in Greenwich Village and was the son of John Sebastian Sr. who was a world renowned classical harmonica player and John Jr. had himself acquired quite the reputation as blues mouth harpist and guitar player and Zally was rapidly becoming a very respected player who just needed an amplifier that went to 11 on the volume scale.

Steve Boone was at this very time (December 1964) returning from his motorcycle trip around England & Europe and Skip and Joe both mentioned that he might be a perfect fit as the bass player for this electric jug band they were looking to start.

So just before Christmas Steve, John and Zally met at a closed for the afternoon music club in Greenwich Village, The Village Music Hall which would later change it’s name to The Cafe Bizarre and launch The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed to stardom but on this cold day in December John, Zally & Steve would jam away on guitars and bass and talk about this crazy idea of starting an electric jug band.
Jug bands were a depression era creation where musicians who could not afford an actual instrument fabricated home made versions out of wash tubs and gallon jugs, kazoos and tin pans and maybe a very basic guitar and banjo and John Sebastian thought that using this concept but adding in some electric guitars and bass along with his harmonicas and autoharp could create a unique sound and also give him an outlet for his budding songwriting career. All they needed now was a drummer and a place to rehearse and Steve said I think I have a solution to both. Jan Carl who had been a drummer with The Kingsmen was available and when asked if he wanted to try out for the band he also mentioned he had a place to rehearse, a closed for the winter hotel out in Bridgehampton, Long Island called The Bulls Head Inn.
Joe Butler and Skip Boone at this time were already getting a lot of attention with The Sellouts by adding a rock beat and bass to traditional folk and blues songs as well a 3 sides of an upcoming album landing them a deal with Mercury Records and they encouraged Steve and Jan to join up with these Electric Jug Banders.

After a couple of weeks rehearsing they trekked into Greenwich Village where a friend of John’s owned a coffee house The Night Owl on W/ 3rd St in the Village. Joe Marra gave this band their first job and also their first pink slip. He said you guys need to practice some more and then come back and maybe I will give you a steady place to work.

As much as they appreciated Jan it was apparent that his music styles were not in sync with their goals. Erik had lobbied Joe long and hard for him to join the band, Erik knew that having Steve and Joe playing together was a winning combination. The band would gain a seasoned rhythm section, with a shared history and long hours covering hit songs on stage.This was just the sympatico needed to drive the two folkies right where they needed to go. Also with Butler they got another solid vocalist who could sing leads and harmonies as he would do in the future on all the Spoonful songs. Plus he was handsome and a flirt. It was Erik who also knew that image would be important in this age of not just radio air play but TV close up .Joe would say, I’m your man.

Skip would go on to team up with Rick Turner, Tom Danaher and Darius LeNou Davenport to form Autosalvage which was a jazz fusion/rock first.playing bass and merging the fancy chords he couldn’t play in the rock world with time tempered rhythms. Autosalvage would lead the way in progressive rock and with the release of their only self titled album would eventually become an underground classic.
With Joe now in this new electric jug band and another month’s rehearsal at the Hotel Albert in the Village behind them, the newly named Lovin’ Spoonful was re-hired at The Night Owl and the band was finally ready for the public.

With Bob Cavallo as their manager and Erik Jacobsen as their record producer (Erik had earlier produced the 3 sides by The Sellouts) they soon caught the attention of record companies and the public and by June of 1965 were ready to release their first record “Do You Believe in Magic”.

What followed was an extraordinary string of their first 7 single releases all making it into the top 10 on the record charts and nearly non stop touring including a legendary tour with The Supremes that gave The Lovin’ Spoonful and audience that most rock bands of the time did not have.

For the next 3 years 6 original music albums and 12 hit singles along with tour of England and Sweden including playing at the 21st birthday party for Tara Browne the heir to the Guinness family in Ireland attended by all manner of sophisticates had the Lovin’ Spoonful as the toast of the music scene by the summer of 1966 when their number 1 hit single “Summer in the City” topped the charts.While John Sebastian was the principal songwriter in the band Joe, Steve and Zally had all contributed songs. Steve would co-write with John their second release “You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice” as well their first #1 “Summer in the City with John’s brother Mark also a co-writer. Jerry Yester would join the band in 1967 when Zally left the band to pursue a solo career. Jerry produced his first album and having been involved with the Spoonful since it’s earliest days was a perfect fit as he added not only his talents as a musician but his vocal abilities enabled the band to reach even higher in their arrangements and performances. Jerry had also been a founding member of the Modern Folk Quartet, a band that Phil Spector had signed to his label.

Jerry would step in to produce the first album cut using the brand new 16 track recorder made by Ampex and managing that technology and the extradordinary arrangement of the Eveything Playing album was a challenge worth mentioning. Mixing the 16 tracks was was quite the task with all 4 band members taking a hand in!

John would leave the band in 1968 to pursue a solo career and Joe would step up and sing the leads on the last two singles the band would release, “Never Goin Back” and “Me About You” along with the last album Revelation Revolution ’69 and then for the next 20 years the band virtually disappeared.

A brief reunion to appear in Paul Simon’s movie “One Trick Pony” in 1979 was viewed as a very successful review of the band’s ability to play live but a hoped for reunion tour never materialized.

In 1991 after a settlement with the record company Joe and Steve were determined to restart the band and asked John and Zally to join up with them. When it became apparent that neither one had any interest in re-joing the band and learning that Jerry Yester was returning to the mainland from living in Hawaii inspired Steve and Joe to ask if he would be interested in a reunion. When he said he was they needed one more to fill out the band and Jerry said his brother Jim who was a founding member of The Association may be interested and indeed he was so by 1992 The Lovin’ Spoonful was back on the road again.

After several incarnations of new members including Jerry’s daughter Lena the band settled in with the present line up which is on drums Mike Arturi. on lead guitar/vocals Phil Smith on lead vocals guitar and keyboards Jerry Yester, Joe Butler on lead vocals, guitar, percussion & autoharp and Steve Boone on bass, keyboards & and vocals.

In March 2000 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2012 The Vocal Group Hall of Fame inducted the band and shortly after that Steve & Joe were inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. and to this day they continue to tour worldwide.

So welcome to their web site and invite you in for a visit. Please enjoy your stay and leave a comment if you wish. Hope to see you at a show one day!