Do You Believe in Magic [Remaster]

Performer: The Lovin' Spoonful
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: The Lovin' Spoonful: John Sebastian (vocals, guitar, autoharp, harmonica); Zal Yanovsky (vocals, guitar); Steve Boone (vocals, piano, bass); Joe Butler (vocals, drums). Producer: Erik Jacobsen. Reissue producers: Bob Irwin, Rob Santos. Recorded at Bell Sound Studios, New York, New York and RCA Studios, Los Angeles, California. Originally released on Kama Sutra (KLPS-8050). Includes liner notes by Ben Edmonds. The Lovin' Spoonful's 1965 debut set the tone for their entire career: summery good-time music with its roots in Greenwich Village's jugband folk scene of the early '60s. However, besides the massive hits of the title track and the slyly funny "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?," a good chunk of this brief album consists of snappy, slightly electrified versions of traditional American folk songs like "Blues in the Bottle" and "The Sportin' Life." The combination of these slices of juiced-up trad folk and Brill Building pop, like the Mann/Weil hit "You Baby," works better than one might expect, because John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky, the leaders of the group, seem to make no distinctions between the two styles. Later albums would be even poppier, but DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC has a folk-rockin' charm all its own.

Mojo (Publisher) (7/02, p.54) - "...MAGIC stands as a glorious aural snapshot of the summer of 1965 in New York's Greenwich Village..."

Combining folk and jug-band music with exuberant, Beatles-influenced pop, the Lovin' Spoonful possessed one of the freshest sounds on the radio in the mid-1960s. Prime architects of the folk-rock genre, the group splintered after a short run of amazing albums and hit singles. Leader John Sebastian continued on as a solo artist in a more personal singer/songwriter vein. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Guitarist Zal Yanovsky passed away two years later, effectively ending any hopes of a full-scale reunion.

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