John B. Sebastian [Remastered]

by John Sebastian

Overview

When he led the Lovin' Spoonful from 1965 to 1967, John Sebastian experimented with a variety of styles, expanding from the folk, jug band, and rock & roll that were the band's basic mixture to include everything from country ("Nashville Cats") to orchestrated movie scoring ("Darling, Be Home Soon"). Freed from the confines of a four-piece band, he stretched further on his debut solo album, including the samba-flavored "Magical Connection" and the R&B-styled "Baby, Don't Ya Get Crazy" (complete with the Ikettes on backup vocals) in addition to traditional country on "Rainbows All Over Your Blues," which spotlighted Buddy Emmons on pedal steel guitar. But there were also delicate ballads like the string-filled "She's a Lady," a stripped-down remake of "You're a Big Boy Now," and "The Room Nobody Lives In," the last performed with only a harmonium and bass guitar. And there were pop/rock songs like "Red-Eye Express," "What She Thinks About," and the utopian "I Had a Dream" that you could imagine having fitted easily into the Spoonful's repertoire. The songs continued Sebastian's trend toward a more personal writing style, many of them containing images of travel that corresponded to his peripatetic lifestyle. Like Paul McCartney's McCartney, which followed it into the marketplace by a few months, the album was an eclectic but low-key introduction to the solo career of a former group member whose band was known for more elaborate productions, and all the more effective for that. (John B. Sebastian was the subject of a legal dispute between MGM records and Reprise records, with Reprise winning out, although MGM briefly issued its own version of the LP, apparently taken from a second-generation master. The MGM version is sonically inferior to the Reprise one and has different artwork, but the contents of the two LPs are identical.) ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	08/18/2017
Label:	Exhibit
UPC:	0780014406615
Rank:	84604

Album Credits

Performance Credits

John Sebastian   Primary Artist,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica,Harmonium,Percussion,Guitar (Rhythm),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Multi Instruments
The Ikettes   Guest Artist,Vocals
Stephen Stills   Guest Artist,Guitar
Graham Nash   Guest Artist,Vocal Harmony
David Crosby   Guest Artist,Guitar
Paul Harris   Organ,Keyboards
Ray Neopolitan   Bass
Burt Collins   Horn
Buzzy Linhart   Vocals,Vibraphone
Buddy Emmons   Pedal Steel,Guitar (Steel),Moog Synthesizer
Bruce Langhorne   Tambourine
Dallas Taylor   Drums,Percussion
Gayle Levant   Harp
Harvey Brooks   Bass
Reinol Andino   Congas
Ray Neapolitan   Bass
Mr. Beutens and Mrs. Stanley and Friends   Lute,Viol,Flute,Recorder
Jose Cuervo   Horn
Danny Weiss   Guitar,Electric Harpsichord

Technical Credits

Paul Rothchild   Producer
Stephen Stills   Performer
Ray Neopolitan   Performer
The Ikettes   Performer
Burt Collins   Performer
Richie Unterberger   Liner Notes
Graham Nash   Performer
Douglas Botnick   Engineer
John Haeny   Engineer
Bruce Botnick   Engineer
Buzzy Linhart   Performer
Buddy Emmons   Performer
Bruce Langhorne   Performer
Fritz Richmond   Engineer,Remixing
Henry Diltz   Photography
Bob Fisher   Mastering
Gayle Levant   Performer
John Sebastian   Composer
Crosby & Nash   Performer
Edison Youngblood   Engineer
Catherine Sebastian   Artwork
Ed Thrasher   Art Direction
Paul "Blind Man" Harris   Performer
Jim Marshall   Photography
Doug Botnick   Engineer
Yoshi Nagato   Liner Notes
Jerry De Wilde   Cover Photo