John Peel Wiki

Changes to the look of John Peel Wiki will take place in the near future due to a new skin being rolled out over Oct/Nov across Wikia. Please see the Wikia Staff Blog for further details. On this site, the changes will affect the navigation from the left menu, as well as introduce a fixed page width with narrower content space. Please be patient while adjustments are made for the switch to the new system.

UPDATE: As the change is now in force for some users, I have switched the navigation to the simplified one for the new system. Please check Navigation in the Help section if you can't find things. I also initially made small adjustments to the front page layout, but have now reverted to the old look until all users are on the new system.

COUNTDOWN: Just a reminder for people still using Monaco that the final switch to the new skin is due on Nov. 3. After that, it will no longer be offered as an option. Sorry. Nothing to do with me.

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Lovin' Spoonful

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Wild_About_My_Lovin'_by_Lovin'_Spoonful_on_Mono_1967_Kama_Sutra_LP.

Wild About My Lovin' by Lovin' Spoonful on Mono 1967 Kama Sutra LP.

The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry", prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name "Lovin' Spoonful" from a line in Hurt's song, "Coffee Blues".

The band had its roots in the folk music scene based in the Greenwich Village section of lower Manhattan during the early 1960s ... (read more at Wikipedia)

Links to Peel[]

The Lovin' Spoonful's most successful period was between 1965 and 1967, the years in which John Raven(s)croft established himself as a DJ in the USA before returning to England and changing his on-air name to John Peel. Their catchy pop singles were on the playlists of both KMEN in San Bernardino and Radio London, but unlike many American groups of the post-Beatles era they were able to find acceptance with a wider audience, due to their combination of folk, country, blues and jug band influences with the songwriting of John Sebastian. Peel met them while working in the US and according to Sheila Ravenscroft (Margrave Of The Marshes, p.215) "The Lovin' Spoonful went straight to the top of the then-meagre list of bands who not only agreed to converse with John, but even invited him to the cinema with them (they went to see The Greatest Story Ever Told, by the way)".

Peel played the Spoonful's records on Radio London; on the 01 July 1967 show, after playing The Association's "Windy" he tells his listeners that "Zally" (Yanovsky) has left the group and will be replaced by "Jerry Yester of The Association" - a mistake, as Jerry Yester was producer of that group (one of whose members was his brother Jim). While the Lovin' Spoonful continued into 1968, they were gradually falling apart and by the time John Sebastian left, pop-based groups like the Spoonful (and the Association) were starting to appear old-fashioned and unadventurous compared to the new wave of psychedelic bands emerging in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Peel did play some tracks from John Sebastian's early solo records (the singer was best-known for his appearances at festivals such as Woodstock - captured in the film of the same name), but of more interest to him was Farewell Aldebaran, a 1969 LP on Frank Zappa's Straight label by former Lovin' Spoonful man Jerry Yester and Judy Henske. One track from this, "Three Ravens", became a Peel favourite and also a Peel mondegreen, as he heard the line from the lyric, "And kissed his wound so red" as "And kissed his womb so red". Zal Yanovsky's solo album, Alive and Well In Argentina, can be found in the Y section of Peel's record collection.

In 1998, the Lovin' Spoonful featured in the Peel-narrated BBC TV documentary Rock Family Trees: California Dreamin'.

Festive Fifty Entries[]

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Sessions[]

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Other Shows Played[]

Lovin' Spoonful
KMEN British Pop Top Ten
  • 06 May 1966: Daydream (10)
  • 13 May 1966: Daydream (5)
John Sebastian
  • 12 January 1969: She's A Lady (7") Kama Sutra 618026
  • 02 February 1969: She's A Lady (7") Kama Sutra 618026
  • 09 May 1970: How Have You Been? (LP – John B Sebastian) Reprise (Peel recalls spending an evening with Sebastian and the other members of the Lovin’ Spoonful at a cinema in Oklahoma City, watching The Greatest Story Ever Told)
  • 06 June 1970: How Have You Been (LP - John B. Sebastian) Reprise
  • 10 October 1974: Face Of Appalachia (LP - Tarzana Kid) Reprise
Jerry Yester (& Judy Henske)
Zalman Yanovsky

See Also[]

External Links[]

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