John Sebastian
Saturday, March 29, 2008

Over four decades the contributions of John Sebastian have become a permanent part of our American musical fabric.

His group The Lovin' Spoonful played a major role in the mid-'60s rock revolution, but what leader, singer and songwriter Sebastian had in mind was actually a counter-revolution. "We were grateful to the Beatles for reminding us our rock & roll roots," John explains, "but we wanted to cut out the English middlemen, so to speak, and get down to making this new music as an 'American' band."

This the Lovin' Spoonful did like nobody before or since, putting their first seven singles into the Top 10. This was unprecedented, and utterly unthinkable at the height of Beatlemania. You know the songs by heart: "Do You Believe In Magic?" "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice." "Daydream." "Younger Girl." "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?" "Summer In The City." "Rain On The Roof." "Nashville Cats." "Six O'Clock." "Darling Be Home Soon." "Younger Generation." These songs did more than simply answer the British invasion, they carried the musical tradition into the future.

Time Flies. John Sebastian has been playing music for almost forty years. And in the two and a half decades since the breakup of the Lovin’ Spoonful, Sebastian has enjoyed a formidable career as a solo artist. The first of the singer-songwriters of the seventies, he’s always been a few steps ahead of the music industry that increasingly forces artists to neatly fit into categories. Refusing to be pigeonholed, John has carved his own artistic path, clearing the way for many to follow. It’s been a career of many “firsts”, and the rock history books will no doubt mention John Sebastian in several chapters.

For more information, go to www.johnbsebastian.com

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