New York native John Sebastian fused pop and folk when he joined with Zal Yanovsky, Steve Boone and Joe Butler as The Lovin’ Spoonful. Over an eighteen-month period beginning in the summer of 1965, the band notched seven consecutive top ten hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 including two which reached No. 2 (“Daydream” and “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind” and one which hit the top spot (“Summer in the City”). Though the original group’s time together was short-lived, the music has lived on, and a lineup…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 24
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Steely Dan, Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live (UMe) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The first Steely Dan live album since 1995’s Alive in America, Northeast Corridor was recorded on the group’s last tour at venues including New York’s Beacon Theater, The Met Philadelphia, and others. (The band’s nine-show Beacon residency in 2018 featured themed shows including performances of full albums, a “By Popular Demand” night, and more.) The single-disc set of 12 songs (of course abbreviated from a typical tour setlist) features songs off Can’t Buy…
We Were Half A Million Strong: Massive Woodstock Collection Arrives in High-Resolution Digital Formats
Fifty-one years ago this past weekend, a crowd of half a million converged at Max Yasgur’s Farm in Bethel, New York for the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. The four-day event became a cultural touchstone and mythical ideal, strengthened even more by the Woodstock film and soundtracks that proliferated the marketplace during the early ’70s and beyond. While performers, fans, and countless supposed attendees participated in even more myth-building, a small group of historians and researchers worked to piece together what really happened. Last year, a decade-long dive into Woodstock tape vaults…
Rhino’s 10-CD Woodstock Set “Back To the Garden: The 50th Anniversary Experience” Delivers the Goods
Fifty years ago this summer, more than 400,000 fans convened at Max Yasgur’s farm for a music festival that would come to define not only the era, but the entire ethos of music festivals to come. With every passing decade, the magic of Woodstock has been celebrated and, indeed, re-marketed to new generations of music fans. The ’90s saw two new Woodstock-branded festivals and an array of 25th anniversary products, including a compilation called Woodstock Diary and a 4-CD box set. To mark the festival’s 40th anniversary in 2009, yet another box…
WE HAVE OUR WINNERS: “Stories We Could Tell: The Very Best of John Sebastian”
CONGRATULATIONS! The following 15 entrants have won a copy of Varese Vintage’s brand-new Stories We Could Tell: The Very Best of John Sebastian on CD! If you entered our contest via Facebook and your name is on the list below, please drop us a line at theseconddisc-at-gmail-dot-com or a Private Message on Facebook with your name and mailing address! If you entered via email, you don’t have to do anything – your CD will be in the mail soon! Watch this space soon for more exciting giveaways! BILLY AFFLECK PAT CALLAGHAN AL COFRANESCO BOB…
WIN! WIN! WIN! Varese Says “Welcome Back” to “The Very Best of John Sebastian”
Welcome back! Today, Varese Vintage celebrates the early solo discography of singer-songwriter, Woodstock folk hero, and Lovin’ Spoonful founder John Sebastian with the release of Stories We Could Tell: The Very Best of John Sebastian, a new 16-track anthology drawing on the troubadour’s Reprise albums originally released between 1971 and 1976. A New York native and the son of classical harmonica player John Sebastian Sr. and his wife Jane, a writer, young John fused pop and folk when he joined with Zal Yanovsky, Steve Boone and Joe Butler as The Lovin’ Spoonful. …
Release Round-Up: Week of September 1
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Carole King, Tapestry: Live at Hyde Park (CD/DVD) (Legacy/Rockingale) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This new CD/DVD release features Carole King’s 45th anniversary performance of her seminal 1971 classic Tapestry, performed live in front of 65,000 fans in London’s Hyde Park on July 3, 2016. The setlist, preserved on both CD and DVD, includes the entire original album plus numerous highlights from King’s illustrious songbook both solo and with Gerry Goffin. Throughout this vibrant concert, appearances are made by King’s daughter, singer-songwriter Louise…
What a Day for a Daydream: The Lovin’ Spoonful Goes Mono From Sundazed
Do you believe in magic? Well, Sundazed clearly does, as the label is set to offer the first three albums by The Lovin’ Spoonful in mono editions on both CD and 180-gram vinyl. New York native John Sebastian fused pop and folk when he joined with Zal Yanovsky, Steve Boone and Joe Butler as The Lovin’ Spoonful. The band quickly established a knack for “good time music” with its very first album, November 1965’s Do You Believe in Magic. The Kama Sutra album yielded the hit title track (U.S. No. 9) and…
Welcome Back: Edsel Reissues John Sebastian’s Reprise Catalogue, Adds Previously Unreleased Live Concert DVD
Edsel is saying “welcome back” to John Sebastian with the recent release of a quartet of albums in one deluxe package: John B. Sebastian, The Four of Us, Tarzana Kid and Welcome Back. Edsel has bundled these releases, representing the Lovin’ Spoonful founder’s complete Reprise studio recordings, with a live concert DVD making its very first appearance anywhere. In Concert: John Sebastian Sings John Sebastian was broadcast by the BBC in October 1970, months following the release of John B. Sebastian. New York native Sebastian fused pop and folk when he joined…










