Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits

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The Lovin' Spoonful were one of the greatest rock bands of the sixties, but these days they have become forgotten. Why? THESE GUYS ARE A GREAT BAND! The mere fact that their music has become forgotten fills me with rage, because it's about a thousand times better than the junk that gets radioplay these days. Fortunately, the record company remembered them, and released this - this is their best known hits compilation. Read on for my review.

PROS:
-If you're the casual Lovin' Spoonful fan, it's doubtful this compilation will fail to please you. Just about every big hit is here. Among them are Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind, Summer In The City, Do You Believe In Magic, and You Didn't Have To Be So Nice.
-Many highly underrated masterpieces found their way onto this compilation. Among them is You're A Big Boy Now, featured in the film of the same name.
-This is an affordable compilation.
-Most major retailers of compact discs carry this compilation, so you shouldn't have to look to hard for it.
-TWENTY-FIVE SONGS ON ONE DISC?! Sweet.

CONS:
-Here's a few words you won't hear from me very often - This compilation is virtually flawless.

OVERALL:
If you're a casual fan of the Lovin' Spoonful, then I suggest picking this up. This, my friends, is REAL rock and roll, not the junk that's been flooding the mainstream in recent years.

Good compiliation of Lovin' Spoonful hits. Great for collectors of albums from the 60's and 70's. Do You Believe in Magic, Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind and Summer in The City are classics.

In the summer of '65 I turned 14. It was virtually impossible not to be mesmorized by the sounds eminating from my little Radio Shack transistor radio. The Beatles were at the height of their popularity and Motown was churning out one memorable tune after another. I went on vacation with my parents for two weeks in mid-July and when I returned a couple of hippies I had never heard of---Sonny and Cher--had several records on the charts!! It was difficult to decide which 45's to buy with the limited resources from my paper route. It was about this time that two rockers from Long Island teamed up with two folkies from Greenwich Village to form what would become the Lovin' Spoonful. They would become one of my all-time favorite bands. The debut single "Do You Believe In Magic" quickly raced up the charts and became a Top Ten smash. Over the next year and a half the group would place another 6 tunes in the Top 10. The biggest of these, "Summer in the City" reached number one for 3 weeks in August 1966. To me, the amazing thing about the Spoonful was that no two tunes sounded the same.
Lead singer John Sebastian was also an incredibly gifted songwriter. The evidence of this can be found throughout the 26 selections on this incredible CD. Believe me, there is no filler on this CD. You will find what I discovered years ago.
Even the "B" sides of Spoonful records were amazing!!! Check out tunes like "Didn't Want To Have To Do It", "Younger Girl" and "You're A Big Boy Now".
Unfortunately the party was short lived. Lead guitarist Zal Yanovsky left the band in 1967 and was replaced by Jerry Yester. About a year later John Sebastian left to pursue a solo career and the group disbanded. It was not until 1991 that original members Joe Butler and Steve Boone and the aforementioned Jerry Yester decided to re-form the band. They have been touring ever since. In 2000, the Lovin' Spoonful was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
All of the tracks on this fabulous CD are the original Kama Sutra recordings. You'll also enjoy perusing the 12 page booklet included here. Very highly recommended!!!!!

The Lovin' Spoonful were formed (as were the Mamas and Papas) following the break-up of a folk-rock group in the sixties called the Mugwumps that only lasted a few months.

In Britain, they are mainly remembered for Summer in the city (a top ten UK hit and an American chart-topper) and Daydream (a number two hit in both Britain and America), though they also had some minor UK hits. They were far more successful in America, where they had many more big hits, beginning with their first single, Do you believe in magic, an American top ten.

One of their songs, Nashville cats, takes an affectionate look at country music's musicians. The group never ventured into country music themselves, though Dolly Parton did a fine cover of Lovin' you on her Here you come again album and John Sebastian (lead singer of the Lovin' Spoonful) was a guest on the same singer's Treasures album in the nineties.

The original version of Lovin' you is included in this compilation. Some other great songs to be found here include You don't have to be so nice, Did you ever have to make up your mind, Younger girl and Darling be home soon.

Yet perhaps the most interesting song is Younger generation, which takes an amusing look at the problems of growing up and how attitudes change as one gets older.

The good-time music of the Lovin' Spoonful sounds as good today as it ever did. There are many compilations around though there is very little difference between the track listings of most of them. If you enjoy good-time sixties music, this is for you.

The cd "The Lovin Spoonful Greatest hits was disappointing.
I loved Rock and Roll(before it died in the late 1908's)and this band during their popular days for their 'Good Time' music.
Sebastion's songwriting was first rate. The guitar work and vocals were excellent.

Unfortunately, this cd is not so great. It skips on at least 2 cuts and heard some distortions on percussion on another. I had these cuts on vinyl albums and THEY didn't skip. How can a cd have a skipping problem? Is there an anti-skating adjustment for Digital Optical Drives?

Brilliant artistry and lovely reproduction of the Spoonful classics.. Greatest Hits attests to the groups rich musical diversity and accomplishments as musicians.. it is as contemporary today as it was "in the day"... in cross over pop/rock and country scene/genres... give it a go, you will find it is good value for money.

I had a couple of inexpensive cd's of the Loving Spoonful and what a waste of money. The mastering was horrible like someone had an old album recorded it onto a cassette and then transferred it to a cd. Well after Buddha Records decided to release the original masters and put them on cd it was like seeing the sun for the first time after about a week of rain.
The music is good stuff and the sound is crisp and clear like never before. One song that you never seem to hear on the radio anymore is here-(Didn't Want to Have to Do it) and a very clean recording. Also, the song (You Baby) is great and I believe that John Sebastian is not singing lead on this song. Evidently all of the members could sing and sing well. THIS IS THE ONLY CD TO BUY, no disappointment here.

The Lovin' Spoonful is often unrecognized for their other great songs in their catalog besides the ones we all know: "Do You Believe In Magic", "Daydream", "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice", and "Summer in the City". On here are 26 selections from hit singles to album cuts you might not have heard but worthy of getting acquainted with. "Rain on the Roof" kind of stuck out at me with it's sunny-natured tone even though pictured on a rainy afternoon. The liner notes indicate its B-side is "Pow! (Theme From 'What's Up, Tiger Lilly?')" (What a silly name. Good fun!)
That song is one of the must fun songs on here. There is a big musical montage as you listen to this disc. The band wasn't worried about experimenting. Why, on one of the last songs on the disc, they play on a typewriter! (Cool, huh?) This disc is marvelous overview of an often over-looked good-time '60s band.

If you're looking for one cd collection that has "the hits" and the best memories of "The Lovin' Spoonful" this "Best Of" is the one. Twenty six trax and each opne an enjoyable experience of "magic". From "Do You Believe in Magic?" and "Daydream" to "Lovin' You" and "Darlin' Be Home Soon".
This collection includes two of my personal all time favorites of The Spoonful: "Rain On The Roof" (caught up in that summer shower . .. maybe we'll be caught for hours . . .waitin' out the rain) and "Darlin Companion"! I first heard John sing as a duet with Mama Cass Elliot (possibly a carry-over from "The Mugwumps?). This song brings back a great memory of them both together . . .and it's a great neat song to boot.
This cd brings back many many happy memories of younger years. But it's much more than that. The songs and music are timeless and hold up well over these decades. It sounds as good or even better now, today, than it first did a-way back then. My thanks go out to "The Lovin' Spoonful" for this great album of truly wonderful songs and music.

I think it is really good. My favorite songs are "Summer In the City" and "Money." I also think it sounds really good.