Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful
| Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1966 | |||
| Studio | Columbia 7th Avenue and Bell Sound, New York City[a] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 26:48 | |||
| Label | Kama Sutra | |||
| Producer | Erik Jacobsen | |||
| The Lovin' Spoonful chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful | ||||
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Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful is the third studio album by the American folk rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. It was released in November 1966 by Kama Sutra Records.[9] It peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
Background
[edit]The Spoonful recorded Hums throughout 1966, whenever they had days off from their busy touring schedule.[10] Most of the album was recorded in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, split between Columbia Records' 7th Avenue Studio and Bell Sound Studios,[11] but additional recording took place in June 1966 at an unidentified Los Angeles studio.[1][2][b] A string of sessions were originally set to take place at Columbia from August 16 to September 23, but recording was delayed due to booking issues.[14]
Hums was a deliberate attempt by the band to record in a variety of styles. They composed and played in the pop, country, jug-band, blues and folk styles. It would ultimately be the last full project by the original lineup. The album managed to spawn four charting singles for the band, including the No. 1 hit "Summer in the City". "Rain on the Roof", "Nashville Cats", and "Full Measure" also appeared on the Pop charts, all but the last making it to the Top 10. Bobby Darin had a Top 40 hit with a cover version of "Lovin' You". Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash covered "Darlin' Companion" in 1969 on Johnny Cash at San Quentin. Principal songwriter John Sebastian said of "Nashville Cats" — which made No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 — "We thought our version would cross over to the country market. It never did. So we're always kind, gee, well I guess that tells us what we are and what we aren't." Flatt & Scruggs took "Nashville Cats" to No. 54 on the country charts as a single.[15] Dolly Parton covered "Lovin' You" for her 1977 album Here You Come Again.
Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful was re-released in 2003 on the Sundazed label with bonus tracks consisting of four demos, instrumental tracks, and alternate versions/mixes of songs from the album, along with extensive liner notes. It was also released on CD along with Do You Believe in Magic? in 1995.[16]
Reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [17] |
| Mojo | [18] |
| MusicHound Rock | 4/5[19] |
| Select |   [20] |
| Uncut | [21] |
William Ruhlman of AllMusic wrote of the album: "An emphasis on the parts of the album is a way of describing it as more a loose collection of disparate tracks than a unified effort, despite Sebastian's hand in all the compositions and his lead vocals on most of them. This was by necessity, but also by design, since Sebastian and co. went into the studio trying to sound completely different each time. They often succeeded..."[7]
Track listing
[edit]All songs written by John Sebastian except where otherwise noted.
Side one
- "Lovin' You" – 2:25
- "Bes' Friends" – 1:52
- "Voodoo in My Basement" – 2:35
- "Darlin' Companion" – 2:22
- "Henry Thomas" – 1:40
- "Full Measure" (Steve Boone, J. Sebastian) – 2:40
Side two
- "Rain on the Roof" – 2:13
- "Coconut Grove" (J. Sebastian, Zal Yanovsky) – 2:38
- "Nashville Cats" – 2:34
- "4 Eyes" – 2:53
- "Summer in the City" (J. Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, Boone) – 2:39
Personnel
[edit]According to Dennis Diken's 2003 liner notes,[15] except where noted:
The Lovin' Spoonful
- John Sebastian – lead and backing vocals; acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards,[22] autoharp; harmonium ("Bes' Friends"); ocarina and harmonica ("Henry Thomas"); additional drums ("Full Measure"); Irish harp ("Rain on the Roof"); pedal steel guitar ("Rain on the Roof" and "Nashville Cats")
- Zal Yanovsky – backing vocals, guitars; lead vocals ("Voodoo in My Basement"); slide whistle ("Henry Thomas"); wastepaper basket ("Summer in the City")[22]
- Steve Boone – bass guitar, keyboards; upright bass ("Bes' Friends")
- Joe Butler – backing vocals, drums; lead vocals ("Full Measure")
- unidentified (played by the Lovin' Spoonful) – twelve-string guitar and Hohner Tubon ("Lovin' You"); banjo ("Bes' Friends"); woodblocks, bass marimba, wastepaper basket, log drums and steel drums ("Voodoo in My Basement"); organ and African hair drum ("Coconut Grove")
Additional musicians
- Henry Diltz – clarinet ("Bes' Friends"); photography
- Larry Hankin – Jew's harp ("Henry Thomas")
- Artie Schroeck – electric piano ("Summer in the City")
Production
- Erik Jacobsen – producer
- Roy Halee – engineering
Charts and certifications
[edit]
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Notes
[edit]- ^ Additional recording took place in an unidentified Los Angeles studio.[1][2]
- ^ When the Spoonful recorded in Los Angeles for their first two albums, they went to RCA studios,[12] located on Sunset Boulevard in downtown Hollywood.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Johnson, Peter (June 23, 1966). "Lovin' Spoonful Shun Rock". The Los Angeles Times. p. V-9 – via Newspapers.com.
[The Spoonful] are in Los Angeles for recording sessions while awaiting a Hollywood Bowl appearance Saturday [June 25] with the Beach Boys, the Byrds, ... and other acts.
- ^ a b Diken 2003, p. 2: "Hums kicks off with ['Lovin' You',] a tune conceived and committed to tape in L.A."
- ^ Nelson, Paul (1980). "Folk Rock". In Miller, Jim (ed.). The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll (Revised and Updated ed.). New York City: Random House. pp. 231–234. ISBN 0-394-73938-8 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ Cash Box review panel (December 17, 1966). "Album Reviews". Cash Box. p. 38.
- ^ Savage 2015, p. 283.
- ^ Savage 2015, p. 561.
- ^ a b c Ruhlmann, William. "Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- ^ "KJR's Fab 50 – KOL's Tunedex". Kitsap Sun. November 26, 1966. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Barone 2022, p. 251; Rodriguez 2012, p. 253.
- ^ Diken 2003, p. 1.
- ^ Diken 2003, p. 2.
- ^ Edmonds 2002; Diken 2002.
- ^ Priore 2015, p. 381.
- ^ Williams 2002, p. 69.
- ^ a b Diken 2003.
- ^ Allmusic entry for Do You Believe in Magic and Hums re-release.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
- ^ Eccleston, Danny (March 2019). "Gimme Some Lovin'". Mojo. No. 304. p. 35.
- ^ Rucker, Leland (1996). "Lovin' Spoonful / John Sebastian". In Graff, Gary (ed.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit, Michigan: Visible Ink Press. pp. 422–423. ISBN 0-7876-1037-2 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ Cavanagh, David (October 1990). "The Lovin' Spoonful: Daydream/Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful". Select. No. 4. p. 132.
- ^ Stannard, Joe (July 2003). "The Lovin' Spoonful: Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful / Everything Playing". Uncut. No. 74. p. 134.
- ^ a b Richards, Sam (September 2021). Bonner, Michael (ed.). "The Making of ... Summer in the City by The Lovin' Spoonful". UNCUT. No. 292. pp. 92–94.
- ^ "RPM 25 Top LPs". RPM. February 18, 1967.
- ^ "Top LPs" (PDF). Billboard. February 25, 1967. p. 44.
- ^ "Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. February 18, 1967. p. 63.
- ^ "100 Top LP's" (PDF). Record World. March 11, 1967. p. 58.
- ^ "Best Albums of 1967" (PDF). Cash Box. 23 December 1967. p. 24.
Sources
[edit]- Barone, Richard (2022). Music + Revolution: Greenwich Village in the 1960s. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4930-6302-4 – via Google Books.
- Diken, Dennis (2002). Daydream (Liner notes). The Lovin' Spoonful. Buddha, BMG Heritage. 74465 99731 2.
- Diken, Dennis (2003). Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful (Liner notes). The Lovin' Spoonful. Kama Sutra. 74465 99732 2.
- Edmonds, Ben (2002). Do You Believe in Magic (Liner notes). The Lovin' Spoonful. Buddha, Kama Sutra. 74465 99730 2.
- Einarson, John (2001). Desperados: The Roots of Country Rock. New York: Cooper Square Press. ISBN 978-1-4616-0733-5.
- Priore, Domenic (2015). Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock'n'Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood (Revised ed.). London: Jawbone Press. ISBN 978-1-908279-90-3.
- Rodriguez, Robert (2012). Revolver: How the Beatles Re-Imagined Rock 'n' Roll. Montclair, New Jersey: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-61713-009-0 – via the Internet Archive.
- Savage, Jon (2015). 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-27762-9 – via the Internet Archive.
- Williams, Paul, ed. (2002). The Crawdaddy! Book: Writings (and Images) from the Magazine of Rock. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0-634-02958-4 – via Google Books.
