The Lovin Spoonful, a group that grew out of the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early 1960s, was one of the true musical treasures of the 1960s.  In 1964, John Sebastian spent a lot of time sitting in with a group called The Mugwumps.  During this time, he became friends with Zal Yanovsky who was in the group.  When the Mugwumps broke up after only eight months, John and Zal joined with Joe Butler and Steve Boone to create the Spoonful.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Today’s interview is a short, but very rare, 1966 interview with the original Spoonful in Toronto.  As you will see, there was a lot of interest in the group in Toronto because Zal was from there.  I hope you enjoy this little slice of music history.

With that interview as a lead-in, let’s continue our walk down memory lane with some great music and TV performances by The Lovin Spoonful.

You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice (1965)

Do You Believe In Magic (1065)

Summer In The City (1966)

Daydream (1967)

If you were wondering why The Lovin Spoonful was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000…..now you know!

Now…..here is the bonus part of today’s post.  I mentioned above that Zal, and John unofficially, had been in a group called The Mugwumps before forming the Lovin Spooonful.  As it turns out, The Mugwumps were one of the most talent filled groups of all time and I am willing to bet that most of you never heard of them before reading this post!  Who else was in the The Mugwumps……none other than Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty who went on to become founding members of The Mamas and The Papas (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 1998).  Absolutely frigging amazing.  That my friends, is your bonus nugget of Rock History.