The Lovin’ Spoonful is a too-often underrated staple in early pop rock. The mop-topped quartet of “Do You Believe In Magic” fame churned out hit after hit in their short time together. At their height, they, along with several other American rock bands, combatted the wave of the British Invaders in the 1960s, going mono-e-mono with equal charm and equally lovable tunes.
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Back then, just a spoonful of The Lovin’ Spoonful was never enough.
Behind the Name
The Lovin’ Spoonful was formed by John B. Sebastian with former guitarist of The Mugwumps, Zal Yanovsky. Drummer Joe Butler and bassist Steve Boone would join, cementing the quartet’s official lineup.
While they were a band that blossomed from the Manhattan folk scene in the 1960s, the group’s name took inspiration from the blues. According to an artist biography of Sebastian’s, the name was suggested to the band by a fellow musician described as a washtub virtuoso, Fritz Richmond.
“I told him our sound was kind of like Chuck Berry meets Mississippi John Hurt,” Sebastian recalled, “and he immediately chimed in, ‘Why not call it the Lovin’ Spoonful?’ So, we were named after a John Hurt song.”
That song was Mississippi John Hurt’s “Coffee Blues,” a rollicking song that supposedly had a deeper, more suggestive meaning if listened to close enough. Sebastian himself, who once played with Hurt, explained it was a song about cunnilingus.
“It was always a big crowd pleaser because of his particularly innocent delivery and his guileless way of presenting it,” Sebastian said (via Songfacts). “His audience was frequently filled with beautiful college women–he always had appeal for the women in the audience.
“He would usually start by taking a sip from a coffee cup that was onstage. It was usually on a little stool by his chair, and he’d sip from the cup and say, ‘I always have my cup of Maxwell House coffee, ’cause it’s good to the very last drop.’ And then resume playing, and with great innocence play this song that would go, ‘I love my baby by the lovin’ spoonful.’ And as he began to sing about it, by the third or fourth time, when he’d come to the words ‘the lovin’ spoonful,’ everybody would know what he was referring to. It was a set piece for him, and that’s why it was memorable.”
Listen to the song that inspired the band’s name below.
The Lovin’ Spoonful Today
By 1969, after only a few short years together, The Lovin’ Spoonful called it quits. In those few years as an outfit, the band had amassed a number of hits, including “Summer in the City,” “Do You Believe In Magic,” “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” and “Daydream.”
A handful of reunions saw the original lineup sporadically back together, but in the 1990s, the band was officially revived by Butler and Boone, who decided to keep The Lovin’ Spoonful name alive. Today, Butler and Boone are still leading the band, consisting of guitarist Phil Smith, drummer Mike Arturi, and piano player Murray Weinstock.
(Photo by Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
