John Sebastian, New York City, 2010
Photo by Frank Beacham
John Sebastian is 79 years old today.
A singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist, Sebastian founded The Lovin' Spoonful. Sebastian's father, also named John Sebastian, was a noted classical harmonica player and his mother was a radio script writer. He is the godson of Vivian Vance (Ethel Mertz of “I Love Lucy”).
Sebastian grew up surrounded by music and musicians, including Burl Ives and Woody Guthrie and hearing such players as Lead Belly and Mississippi John Hurt in his own neighborhood.
One of his first recording gigs was playing guitar and harmonica for Billy Faier's 1964 album, The Beast of Billy Faier. He also recorded with Fred Neil on the Bleecker & MacDougal album and Tom Rush's self-titled album in 1965. He came up through the Even Dozen Jug Band and The Mugwumps, which split to form the Lovin' Spoonful and The Mamas & the Papas.
Sebastian was joined by Zal Yanovsky, Steve Boone and Joe Butler in the Spoonful, which was named after "The Coffee Blues," a Mississippi John Hurt song. Sebastian also played autoharp on occasion.
The Lovin' Spoonful became part of the American response to the British Invasion and was noted for such folk-flavored hits as "Jug Band Music," "Do You Believe in Magic," "Summer in the City," "Daydream," "Nashville Cats," "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?," "Six O'Clock," "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" and "Younger Girl."
The band, however, began to implode after a 1967 marijuana bust in San Francisco involving Yanovsky, a Canadian citizen. Facing deportation, he gave up the name of his dealer, which caused a fan backlash and internal strife.
Neither Sebastian nor Joe Butler was involved in the matter. Neither was even in San Francisco at the time. Yanovsky subsequently left the band and was replaced by Jerry Yester.
Sebastian left the Lovin' Spoonful in 1968, although he and the original band reunited briefly to appear in the film, One Trick Pony, starring Paul Simon and Blair Brown.
In December, 1968, a musical he composed the music and lyrics for — Jimmy Shine — opened on Broadway with Dustin Hoffman in the title role. He embarked on a moderately successful solo career after leaving the Lovin' Spoonful in 1968. Sebastian was popular among the rock festival circuits.
He had a memorable, albeit unscheduled appearance at Woodstock, appearing after Country Joe McDonald's set, playing songs such as "I Had A Dream," "Rainbows All Over Your Blues," "Darling Be Home Soon" and "Younger Generation," which he dedicated to a newborn baby at the festival.
Documentary remarks by festival organizers revealed that Sebastian was under the influence of marijuana at the time, hence his spontaneity and casual, unplanned set.
"By the time I got to Woodstock I remained a pot smoker, but there was a natural high there," said Sebastian. "In an interview it is the easy thing to say 'yeah, I was really high,' but it was actually a very small part of the event. In fact, I had a small part of some pill that someone gave me before I went onstage, but it wasn't a real acid feeling."
Sebastian also returned for Woodstock '94, playing harmonica for Crosby, Stills and Nash. Sebastian released his album — John B. Sebastian — in 1970, which featured him accompanied by various L.A. and New York musicians.
Sebastian played harmonica with The Doors on the song "Roadhouse Blues" under the pseudonym, G. Pugliese, to avoid problems with his contract, which was featured on Morrison Hotel album.
He also played on "Little Red Rooster" on the live album Alive, She Cried, and on seven songs on Live In Detroit. He is also credited with playing harmonica on Crosby Stills Nash & Young's "Déjà Vu" from the album of the same name.
In 1976, Sebastian had a #1 single with "Welcome Back," the theme song to the sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter. His only Top 40 solo hit, it found new life 28 years later when a sample from it became the hook for rapper Mase's 2004 hit, "Welcome Back."
More recently, he played with John Sebastian and the J-Band, a jug band including Fritz Richmond from the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, Yank Rachell, an original jug-band leader, and Geoff Muldaur. Several modern musicians cite him as a large influence, including blues harmonica player, Mike Tetrault.
As a songwriter, Sebastian's songs have been covered by Elvis Costello, who recorded "The Room Nobody Lives In." The Everly Brothers, Tom Petty and Jimmy Buffett have all recorded his "Stories We Could Tell."
Other Sebastian songs were recorded by Dolly Parton, Del McCoury, Helen Reddy, Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Bobby Darin, Slade and Joe Cocker.
Sebastian was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.
Here, Sebastian and The Lovin’ Spoonful performs “Summer in the City” in 1966
Here’s a good guitar story on John Sebastian’s birthday.
In 1965, when Sebastian was with the Lovin' Spoonful, he had a Goldtop 1957 Gibson guitar, which he traded to Rick Derringer of The McCoys for an amplifier to replace one that had blown.
By around 1966, the guitar's original gold finish was looking very worn, and Derringer's father continually ragged him about it.
"So I figured that since we didn’t live far from Gibson’s factory in Kalamazoo, the next time the group went there I’d give it to Gibson and have it refinished,” Derringer recalled. “I had it done at the factory in the SG-style clear red finish that was popular at the time."
However, he wasn't happy with the instrument when he got it back: it "just didn’t feel the same...it had changed into an altogether different guitar."
Derringer then sold it to Dan Armstrong's guitar shop in New York. The guitar had only been in Armstrong's shop for a few days when it was purchased by Eric Clapton.
Clapton did not play this instrument much, his principal guitars in 1966-68 being his psychedelic 1964 SG, a 1964 ES-335, a 1963 or 64 Reverse Firebird and a sunburst Les Paul he bought from Andy Summers.
In August, 1968, Clapton gave the guitar as a present to his good friend, George Harrison. Harrison dubbed the red guitar, "Lucy," after redhead comedienne Lucille Ball.
Harrison and The Beatles were at the time recording what would become The Beatles (the White Album), and had been working for several weeks on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
Harrison had been unable to record a lead track for the song he was satisfied with; moreover Lennon and McCartney were dismissive of it and "didn't try very hard."
Therefore Harrison, knowing that his bandmates were on good behavior around guests, invited Clapton to come into EMI Studios on September 6 and lay down a lead track, telling him "you don't need to bring a guitar, you know I've got a good Les Paul you can use."
Clapton laid down the track in a single take. But later said that he was so high at the time he doesn't remember it at all.
Harrison continued to play Lucy as one of his principal guitars for the remainder of his time with The Beatles. It can be seen in the promotional video for "Revolution" and the documentary, Let It Be.
In 1973, Lucy was one of the items stolen in a burglary at Harrison's home in Beverly Hills. The thief or an intermediary sold it at Whalin's Sound City on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
Owner George Whalin promptly resold it (in violation of the statutory 30-day waiting period) to Miguel Ochoa, a musician from Guadalajara, Mexico. When the red guitar appeared on a police stolen-property bulletin, Whalin called Ochoa's contact number, his friend Mark Havey.
This began a lengthy negotiation which resulted, ultimately, in Harrison via Havey, trading Ochoa a Les Paul sunburst and a Fender Precision Bass for the return of Lucy.
Harrison would later refer to the incident as a "kidnapping."
Harrison kept Lucy until his death in 2001.
Lucy is now one of the most famous electric guitars in the world.
John Sebastian wasn't scheduled to play at Woodstock at all.
He was there as an audience member, flying high on psychedelics with some friends backstage and was asked to fill another gap between bands.
Cartoon by Rogerio A. Nogueira