SINGER,SONGWRITER,
MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST,
ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAMER
J O H N
S E B A S T I A N
For 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. At first they'd taken older
material from blues, country, folk and jug band sources - what we now term
"roots music" - and made it sound modern. Then, in a series of
original songs composed and sung by John Sebastian, they did the reverse,
creating thoroughly modern music that sounded like it contained the entire
history of American music. Which it did. 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. This music had an immediate and indelible impression on the public
consciousness, but John Sebastian was already a name well-known to the
cognoscenti.
He was born
March 17, 1944 in New York City. His father was a noted classical harmonica
player and his mother a writer of radio programs. Regular visitors to the
family's Greenwich Village home included Burl Ives and Woody Guthrie, so it was
no surprise when young John became a fan of, and then a participant in, the
folk music revival that swept the nation in the late '50s.
As a member of the Even Dozen Jug Band, his skills
on guitar, harmonica and autoharp soon made him a sought-after accompanist on
the Village folk scene, working with Fred Neil, Tim Hardin, Mississippi John
Hurt, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan and many others. So the Lovin' Spoonful was not
his first act, and it certainly wasn't its last. After leaving the group he
founded, he bore witness to another turn of the musical zeitgeist with his
performances at massive festivals like Woodstock and its English equivalent the
Isle of Wight. He had been involved in music for films (most notably Francis
Ford Coppola's "You're A Big Boy Now" and Woody Allen's "What's
Up Tiger Lily") and Broadway, but when producers of a TV show called
"Welcome Back Kotter" commissioned a theme song in 1976, Sebastian's
"Welcome Back" became a chart-topping solo record.
Throughout the
'70s and '80s he continued to record and tour, pleasing old fans and winning
new ones. There's no telling how many aspiring musicians have been nurtured by
his instruction books for harmonica and guitar, but he aimed to inspire an even
younger audience with the publication in 1993 of the delightful children's book
"JB's Harmonica." The '90s also saw John return to the group format
with the J-Band, a contemporary celebration of his jug band heritage. The
acclaim the group received was gratifying, but bittersweet. The group's albums
contain some of the last recorded performances of blues pioneer Yank Rachell and
washtub/jug virtuoso Fritz Richmond.
Thankfully John's induction into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 hasn't slowed him down. Whether the stage is at
Carnegie Hall or a folk festival in some far-flung locale, John is still out
there spreading his gospel of American roots music. He was the subject of the
PBS special "Do You Believe In Magic: The Music of John Sebastian,"
and duets with David Grisman. He has also lent his music in support of social,
environmental and animal rights causes.
John is also a welcome media presence; his
commentary, insights and anecdotes and stories are regularly featured in print,
radio, TV and film documentary projects. John Sebastian is not only a master
musician, writer and performer; he remains one of the best ambassadors American
music has ever had.
JOHN SEBASTIAN INTERVIEW
ON THE RAY SHASHO SHOW-BBS RADIO
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further information about John Sebastian visit www.johnbsebastian.com
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