Levoy Theatre - The Lovin' Spoonful / 3-2-25

The Lovin Spoonful was America’s answer to the Beatles! The band, led by primary songwriter John Sebastian, Steve Boone, Joe Butler and Zal Yanovsky, exploded onto the charts sending its first 7 singles soaring onto Billboard’s tip-10 charts virtually overnight.

The Spoonful formed in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1965 at the Night Owl Café’ and signed to Kama Sutra Records. It appeared on every major TV show of the era: The Ed Sullivan Show, Hullabaloo and Shindig! Its first single, “Do You Believe in Magic,” flew to the top of the charts and was followed by an unprecedented string of hits including: “Daydream,” “Younger Girl,” “Summer in the City,” “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice,” “Darling Be Home Soon,” “Jug Band Music,” “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind,” “Lovin’ You,” “Didn’t Want to Have to Do it,” “Rain on the Roof,” “Six O’Clock,” “Nashville Cats,” “Coconut Grove,” and “She’s Still a Mystery (to Me).”

The band was so influential that such music legends like Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson cited it as forces of inspiration as did so many others. Paul McCartney cited “Daydream” as his inspiration for “Good Day Sunshine” and even John Lennon call the band “tunesmiths!”

Today, the Lovin Spoonful tours with founding member, Steve Boone, Jeff Alan Ross (Badfinger, Peter Asher), Bill Cinque (Neil Diamond), longtime drummer Mike Arturi and Rob Bonfiglio (The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson Band, Wilson Phillips) - he is Carnie Wilson’s husband and Brian Wilson’s son-in-law.  Together they faithfully celebrate the rich, good-time catalog of hits that made The Lovin Spoonful one of the world’s most beloved groups to emerge from the ‘60s.

The Lovin Spoonful was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.