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Zal Yanovsky

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Zal Yanovsky
Yanovsky, 1967
Yanovsky, 1967
Background information
Birth nameZalman Yanovsky
Born(1944-12-19)December 19, 1944
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedDecember 13, 2002(2002-12-13) (aged 57)
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
GenresFolk, folk rock, rock and roll
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, restaurateur
Instrument(s)Guitar, vocals
Years active1964–1971
Formerly of
Spouses

Zalman Yanovsky (December 19, 1944 – December 13, 2002) was a Canadian folk-rock musician and restaurateur. Born in Toronto, he was the son of political cartoonist Avrom Yanovsky and teacher Nechama Yanovsky (née Gemeril), who died in 1958. He played lead guitar and sang for the Lovin' Spoonful, a rock band which he founded with John Sebastian in 1964.

In 1967 he left the Lovin' Spoonful and was replaced by Jerry Yester. Yanovsky released a solo album in 1968 titled Alive and Well in Argentina. In 1971 he retired from music and became a restaurateur, opening his own restaurant in 1979 and writing cooking books. Through the years Yanovsky would occasionally perform.

He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996.[1] He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 as a member of the Lovin’ Spoonful.

Musical career

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One of the early rock and roll performers to wear a cowboy hat, and fringed "Davy Crockett"–style clothing, Zal helped set the trend followed by such 1960s performers as Sonny Bono, Johnny Rivers, and David Crosby.

Mostly self-taught, he began his musical career playing folk music coffee houses in Toronto. He lived on a kibbutz in Israel for a short time before returning to Canada. He teamed with fellow Canadian Denny Doherty in the Halifax Three.[2] The two joined Cass Elliot in the Mugwumps,[2] a group mentioned by Doherty's and Cass's later group the Mamas & the Papas in the song "Creeque Alley".

Yanovsky, August 1965

It was at this time that he met John Sebastian, and they formed the Lovin' Spoonful with Steve Boone and Joe Butler.[2] According to Sebastian: "He could play like Elmore James, he could play like Floyd Cramer, he could play like Chuck Berry. He could play like all these people, yet he still had his own overpowering personality. Out of this we could, I thought, craft something with real flexibility."[3] The Lovin' Spoonful had hits such as "Do You Believe in Magic", "Summer in the City", "Daydream", "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?", "Darling Be Home Soon", and "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice". The group's only number one was "Summer In The City" (which stayed there for 3 weeks in August 1966).[4]

In 1966, he was arrested in the United States on a marijuana-related charge.[2] Returning to his native Canada, he recorded the solo album Alive and Well in Argentina (and Loving Every Minute of It).[2] Buddah Records released the album in the U.S. in 1968, along with "As Long as You're Here", a single that did not appear on the album. The single (on which the B-side was the same track without vocals and with playback backwards) just missed the Billboard Hot 100, but fared a little better in Cashbox, peaking at No. 73, and reaching No. 57 in the Canadian RPM Magazine charts. Kama Sutra Records reissued the album in 1971 with a completely different cover, and the inclusion of "As Long as You're Here".

While a member of Kris Kristofferson's backing band at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, he had a brief reunion with John Sebastian;[5] Sebastian had been (apparently) unaware of Yanovsky's presence, and was made aware by a message passed through the crowd, written on a toilet roll.

He also appeared in the off-Broadway show National Lampoon's Lemmings at New York's Village Gate. Although not an original cast member, he contributed a musical number, "Nirvana Banana", a Donovan parody.

In 1980 he appeared in the movie One-Trick Pony and reunited with the Lovin Spoonful.[6] In 1996 Yanovsky was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and performed. In 2000 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Lovin' Spoonful, and performed alongside his former bandmates at the ceremony. The Hall of Fame performance was the last time Yanovsky performed live, and the last time the original line up of The Lovin' Spoonful performed together.

Restaurateur

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After retiring from the music business, Yanovsky became a chef and restaurateur,[2] with his second wife, Rose Richardson; together they opened Chez Piggy in 1979, and Pan Chancho Bakery in 1994, both in Kingston, Ontario. He had worked as a chef at The Golden Apple (in Gananoque, Ontario) and, in the mid-1970s, at Dr. Bull's (in Kingston). The success of Chez Piggy prompted the publication of a companion cookbook (The Chez Piggy Cookbook, Firefly Books, 1998) that was collected by fans. After Yanovsky's death of an apparent heart attack in December 2002, and Richardson's death in 2005, his daughter Zoe Yanovsky (with actress Jackie Burroughs) took over the ownership of both eateries. Zoe also completed and launched another cookbook that Zal was working on, titled The Pan Chancho Cookbook (Bookmakers Press, 2006).

Personal life

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Yanovsky met Canadian actress Jackie Burroughs in 1961 in a laundromat in Toronto, where he was sleeping in a dryer while homeless. They were married in 1967 and had one daughter, Zoe, before separating in 1968.[7][8] He subsequently married Rose Richardson. His step-mother was Anna Yanovsky (née Atanas), who died in 2022.[9]

Death

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Yanovsky died on December 13, 2002, in Kingston, Ontario, from a heart attack, at the age of 57. A funeral service was held in Kingston, Ontario, on December 16, 2002.[10]

Discography

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Singles

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List of singles, with selected chart positions
Year Single details Peak chart positions
US Billboard
[11] 		US Cash Box
[12] 		CAN
[13]
1967 "As Long as You're Here"
b/w "Ereh Er'ouy Sa Gnol Sa" 		101[A] 63 57

Notes

  1. ^ Peaked on Billboard's Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart.[11]

Albums

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Year Album details
1968 Alive and Well in Argentina

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Zal Yanovsky". Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Larkin, Colin, ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music (2nd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-8522-7933-2.
  3. ^ Schnider, Scott (December 16, 2002). "Spoonful's Zal Yanovsky Dies". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 20, 2007. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  4. ^ "The Lovin' Spoonful". Billboard. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  5. ^ "The Lovin' Spoonful". Classicbands.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  6. ^ One-Trick Pony (1980) - IMDb. Retrieved August 6, 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
  7. ^ Bunch, Adam (March 5, 2013). "The story of Jackie Burroughs, a Yorkville laundromat, and two of the biggest drug-addled bands of the 1960s". Spacing. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  8. ^ McPherson, David (May 5, 2023). "Zal Yanovsky". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
  9. ^ "Anna Yanovsky Obituary". Toronto Star. March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Legacy.com.
  10. ^ Hinckley, David (December 16, 2002). "Yanovsky Death Recalls The Best Legacy of Radio". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on May 27, 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Bubbling Under the Hot 100". Billboard. October 28, 1967. p. 41 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "Cash Box Top 100". Cash Box. October 28, 1967. p. 4.
  13. ^ "The RPM 100". RPM. November 11, 1967. Retrieved August 12, 2023 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  14. ^ Billboard Review Panel (September 23, 1967). "Spotlight Singles". Billboard. p. 18 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Anon. (September 30, 1967). "Zalman (Zally) Yanovsky advertisement". Billboard. p. 1 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Childs, Marti Smiley; March, Jeff (1999). Echoes of the Sixties. New York City: Billboard Books. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-8230-8316-9. About six months after Zal left the Spoonful, he had asked Jerry [Yester] to collaborate in producing his solo album, Alive and Well In Argentina, which Buddah released in April 1968.
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