The Lovin Spoonful Boxset

Review by: The Joker

The Lovin' Spoonful: What A Day For A Daydream - The Complete Recordings 1965-1969, is 170 tracks of what happens when folk musicians from the Village discover a recording budget and decide to use it as a weapon of sunshine and rainbows. This is not your grandmother's trip down memory lane, although she probably gave some guy a handjob to "Daydream" back in some Chevy as Nixon was just a vice president footnote on the horizon of history. This is the whole rotten mess, captured in stereo and mono like some beautiful, grinning corpse that just won't admit it's dead.

The Lovin' Spoonful, just typing those two words out makes me feel like a fucking idiot, somehow managed to churn out seven consecutive Top 10 singles and still maintain a weird equilibrium of jug band primitivism and pop alchemy. John Sebastian had a way with melodies that could curdle milk at 50 paces, and Zal Yanovsky had a guitar style that flip-flopped between psychedelic freakouts and folk delicacy like a guy who just couldn't decide what kind of drug he liked better.

Disc one plunges you into 1965's “Do You Believe In Magic”, both the stereo and mono versions, because apparently we need to be able to feel the full depth of the existential crisis going on in Yanovsky's guitar playing on "Blues in the Bottle." Bonus tracks include "Alley Oop," an outtake that sounds like they just got bored and decided to see what would happen if they recorded while completely out of their minds.

By the second disc, Daydream (1966), they're on fire, and songs like "Jug Band Music" have that basement jam session feel after too much hash, and the mono versions of songs like "It's Not Time Now" walk a razor's edge between pop and weirdness.

Then the soundtrack work kicks in. “What's Up Tiger Lily?” gets the Spoonful treatment, meaning fragments of jazz-infused instrumental noodling and dialogue that makes no sense whatsoever. It's like showing up at the wrong party and deciding to stay anyway. “You're A Big Boy Now” is slightly less bizarre, but "Darling Be Home Soon" is a genuine weeper disguised as summer afternoon pop.

Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful (disc four) marks the point at which they truly became sound scientists—a miraculous fusion of traffic sounds and summer radio with "Summer in the City," or "Nashville Cats" sounding like the Byrds' scruffy American cousins. "Rain on the Roof" is simultaneously reassuring and slightly sinister, like sunshine through gathering clouds.

With Everything Playing (1967), something's changed. "She Is Still A Mystery" and "Boredom" sound like midnight cruises down fog-shrouded highways—an odd beauty but unmistakably wrong. The hits are still here, but there's this growing sense of dread lurking in the underbrush, like stoner blues and existential dread meeting in a crummy coffee shop.

Revelation: Revolution '69 (1969) is what happens when the party's over but nobody bothered telling the Lovin' Spoonful. Joe Butler's at the helm now, and its half-baked protest songs mixed with time signature experimentation that mostly just makes one wonder why everybody else went off to Woodstock without the Lovin' Spoonful. There's a certain charm in their obliviousness, even as they're running on fumes and delusion.

Disc seven treats you to Zal Yanovsky's “Alive And Well In Argentina” from 1968, an album that sounds like the work of a madman who took the Beatles' weirder inclinations and ran with them to the point of skull fucking your senses with the sheer strangeness of it all. "Raven in a Cage" and the reversed-named closing track indicate an artist working through some heavy psychological baggage while being a long way from home.

This box set is the entire history of the band: the hits, the experimentation, the soundtrack work, the alternative versions, the mono mixes appearing on CD for the first time, the instrumentals, the demos, the whole shebang, glorious implosion and all. 170 tracks of evidence that "good time music" could be legitimately bizarre, bubblegum could have teeth, and sunshine could cast some seriously creepy shadows.

Whether you need to hear this or are just indulging some completist madness depends on your level of interest in observing a band take their daydream to the very depths of hell and back again. But here it is, the entire experience preserved like digital amber: all the sugar highs, all the bizarre diversions, all the happy accident and chaos that the band could muster.

The daydream's over, the music's left behind. What you make of it is up to you, you beautiful degenerates.

Score 7.5/10 - Essential for the devoted, fascinating for the curious, and probably 100 tracks too long for your sanity. But what a beautiful, grinning corpse it is.

Track List

DISC ONE

Do You Believe In Magic (Stereo / Mono) (1965) 

1. Do You Believe In Magic (stereo) 

2. Blues In The Bottle (stereo) 

3. Sportin’ Life (stereo) 

4. My Gal (stereo) 

5. You Baby (stereo) 

6. Fishin’ Blues (stereo) 

7. Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind (stereo) 

8. Wild About My Lovin’ (stereo) 

9. Other Side Of This Life (stereo) 

10. Younger Girl (stereo) 

11. On The Road Again (stereo) 

12. Night Owl Blues (stereo) 

13. Do You Believe In Magic (mono) 

14. Blues In The Bottle (mono) 

15. Sportin’ Life (mono) 

16. My Gal (mono) 

17. You Baby (mono) 

18. Fishin’ Blues (mono) 

19. Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind (mono) 

20. Wild About My Lovin’ (mono) 

21. Other Side Of This Life (mono) 

22. Younger Girl (mono) 

23. On The Road Again (mono) 

24. Night Owl Blues (mono) 

25. Alley Oop 

26. Younger Girl (demo version) 

27. Blues In The Bottle (alternative take)  

28. Wild About My Lovin’ (alternative take)  

29. Other Side Of This Life (alternative instrumental)  

30. Night Owl Blues (complete take)

DISC TWO

Daydream (Stereo /Mono) (1966) 

1. Daydream (stereo) 

2. There She Is (stereo) 

3. It’s Not Time Now (stereo) 

4. Warm Baby (stereo) 

5. Day Blues (stereo) 

6. Let The Boy Rock And Roll (stereo) 

7. Jug Band Music (stereo) 

8. Didn’t Want To Have To Do It (stereo) 

9. You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice (stereo) 

10. Bald Headed Lena (stereo) 

11. Butchie’s Tune (stereo) 

12. Big Noise From Speonk (stereo) 

13. Daydream (mono) 

14. There She Is (mono) 

15. It’s Not Time Now (mono) 

16. Warm Baby (mono) 

17. Day Blues (mono) 

18. Let The Boy Rock And Roll (mono) 

19. Jug Band Music (mono) 

20. Didn’t Want To Have To Do It (mono) 

21. You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice (mono) 

22. Bald Headed Lena (mono) 

23. Butchie’s Tune (mono) 

24. Big Noise From Speonk (mono) 

25. Didn’t Want To Have To Do It (demo version) 

26. Jug Band Music (alternative instrumental version) 

27. Daydream (demo version) 

DISC THREE

The Lovin' Spoonful In 'What’s Up Tiger Lily?' Original Soundtrack (Stereo) (1966) 

1. Introduction To Flick (dialogue by Woody Allen and Lenny Maxwell) (stereo) 

2. Pow (Theme From What’s Up Tiger Lily?) (stereo) 

3. Gray Prison Blues (stereo) 

4. Pow Revisited (stereo) 

5. Unconscious Minuet (stereo) 

6. Fishin’ Blues (stereo) 

7. Respoken (stereo) 

8. A Cool Million (stereo) 

9. Speaking Of Spoken (stereo) 

10. Lookin’ To Spy (stereo) 

11. Phil’s Love Theme (stereo) 

12. End Title (stereo) 

You’re A Big Boy Now Original Soundtrack (Stereo) (1967) 

13. You’re A Big Boy Now (stereo) 

14. Lonely (Amy’s Theme) (stereo) 

15. Wash Her Away (From The Discotheque) (stereo) 

16. Kite Chase (stereo) 

17. Try And Be Happy (stereo) 

18. Peep Show Percussion (stereo) 

19. Girl, Beautiful Girl (Barbara’s Theme) (stereo) 

20. Darling Be Home Soon (stereo) 

21. Dixieland Big Boy (stereo) 

22. Letter To Barbara (stereo) 

23. Barbara’s Theme (From The Discotheque) (stereo) 

24. Miss Thing’s Thang (stereo) 

25. March (stereo) 

26. The Finale (stereo) 

27. Fishin’ Blues (alternative instrumental version) 

DISC FOUR

Hums Of The Lovin’ Spoonful (Stereo / Mono) (1966) 

1. Lovin’ You (stereo) 

2. Bes’ Friends (stereo) 

3. Voodoo In My Basement (stereo) 

4. Darlin’ Companion (stereo) 

5. Henry Thomas (stereo) 

6. Full Measure (stereo) 

7. Rain On The Roof (stereo) 

8. Coconut Grove (stereo) 

9. Nashville Cats (stereo) 

10. 4 Eyes (stereo) 

11. Summer In The City (stereo) 

12. Lovin’ You (mono) 

13. Bes’ Friends (mono) 

14. Voodoo In My Basement (mono) 

15. Darlin’ Companion (mono) 

16. Henry Thomas (mono) 

17. Full Measure (mono) 

18. Rain On The Roof (mono) 

19. Coconut Grove (mono) 

20. Nashville Cats (mono) 

21. 4 Eyes (mono) 

22. Summer In The City (mono) 

23. Darlin’ Companion (John Sebastian solo demo version) 

24. Rain On The Roof (instrumental) 

25. 4 Eyes (alternative extended version) 

26. Full Measure (instrumental) 

27. Voodoo In My Basement (instrumental) 

28. Darlin’ Companion (alternative vocal version)

DISC FIVE

Everything Playing (Stereo / Mono) (1967) 

1. She Is Still A Mystery (stereo) 

2. Priscilla Millionaira (stereo) 

3. Boredom (stereo) 

4. Six O’Clock (stereo) 

5. Forever (stereo) 

6. Younger Generation (stereo) 

7. Money (stereo) 

8. Old Folks (stereo) 

9. Only Pretty, What A Pity (stereo) 

10. Try A Little Bit (stereo) 

11. Close Your Eyes (stereo) 

12. She Is Still A Mystery (mono) 

13. Priscilla Millionaira (mono) 

14. Boredom (mono) 

15. Six O’Clock (mono) 

16. Forever (mono) 

17. Younger Generation (mono) 

18. Money (mono) 

19. Old Folks (mono) 

20. Only Pretty, What A Pity (mono) 

21. Try A Little Bit (mono) 

22. Close Your Eyes (mono) 

23. She Is Still A Mystery (alternative version) 

24. Only Pretty, What A Pity (alternative version) 

25. Try A Little Bit (alternative version)

DISC SIX

The Lovin’ Spoonful (Featuring Joe Butler) - Revelation: Revolution ’69 (Stereo) (1969) 

1. Amazing Air 

2. Never Going Back 

3. The Prophet

4. Only Yesterday 

5. War Games 

6. (Till I) Run With You 

7. Jug Of Wine 

8. Revelation: Revolution ’69 

9. Me About You  

10. Words 

11. Revelation: Revolution ’69 (mono single version) 

12. Revelation: Revolution ’69 (single version, alternative vocal) 

13. Me About You (mono single version) 

From Various Artists – What’s Shakin’? (Stereo / Mono) (1966)  

14. Good Time Music (stereo) 

15.  Almost Grown (stereo) 

16. Don’t Bank On It Baby (stereo) 

17. Searchin’ (stereo) 

18. Good Time Music (mono) 

19. Almost Grown (mono) 

20. Don’t Bank On It Baby (mono) 

21. Searchin’ (mono)

DISC SEVEN

Zalman Yanovsky – Alive And Well In Argentina (Stereo) (1968) 

1. Raven In A Cage 

2. You Talk Too Much 

3. Last Date 

4. Little Bitty Pretty One 

5. Alive And Well In Argentina 

6. Brown To Blue 

7. Pricilla Millionaira 

8. I Almost Lost My Mind 

9. Hip Toad 

10. Lt. Schtinckhausen 

11. As Long As You’re Here 

12. Ereh Er’uoy Sa Gnol Sa 

Label – Strawberry

Release – 27^th March