Editing The Lovin' Spoonful (section)

==== ''Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful'' ====

Sessions for the Spoonful's third studio album, later released as ''[[Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful]]'',{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=144}} were originally booked for [[Columbia Records#Studio A|Columbia Records' 7th Avenue studio]] in New York from August 16 to September 23, 1966.{{sfn|Williams|2002|p=69}} Recording was delayed after Columbia booked its own artists at the studio.{{sfn|Williams|2002|p=69}} When time allowed them a break from touring, the Spoonful recorded the album across several sessions in New York City at Bell Sound and the 7th Avenue studio, with work also done in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Diken|2003}} For the first time on one of the band's albums, it consisted of only original material.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=145}} [[Henry Diltz]], a member of the Modern Folk Quartet, contributed clarinet to "Bes' Friends" and took the pictures which adorned the LP's sleeve.{{sfn|Diken|2003}} The album was released in November{{nbsp}}1966,{{sfn|Zimmerman|Zimmerman|2004|p=113}} and it reached number 14 on the ''Billboard'' LPs chart.<ref name="Billboard chart history" /> Preorders for the album were diminished after a disappointing reaction accompanied the August release of the ''What's Up, Tiger Lily?'' soundtrack album.<ref>{{harvnb|Barone|2022|p=251}}: (diminished preorders, disappointing reaction); {{harvnb|Anon.|1990}}: (August{{nbsp}}1966).</ref>

[[File:"Nashville Cats" Cash Box advertisement.jpg|thumb|A trade ad for "[[Nashville Cats]]", the Lovin' Spoonful's seventh and final single to reach the US Top Ten]]

In addition to the already released "Summer in the City", the sessions for ''Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful'' produced the song "[[Rain on the Roof (song)|Rain on the Roof]]".{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=147–148}} The possibility of releasing the song as a single generated disagreement among the members of the Spoonful.{{sfn|Diken|2003}}{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=148–149}} "Summer in the City" featured a harder sound than their previous output,{{sfn|Savage|2015|p=284}}<ref name="AllMusic SitC">{{cite web |last1=Unterberger |first1=Richie |author1-link=Richie Unterberger |title=Summer in the City – The Lovin' Spoonful |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/summer-in-the-city-mt0013293678 |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=February 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811073122/https://www.allmusic.com/song/summer-in-the-city-mt0013293678 |archive-date=August 11, 2021 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref> and it had attracted new fans to the group after it reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in August.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=149}}<ref name="Billboard chart history"/> Both Boone and Butler worried that returning to a softer sound with "Rain on the Roof" would potentially alienate the band's new fans,{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=149}}<ref name="Summer in the City UNCUT" /> but Sebastian countered that the band ought to avoid releasing consecutive singles which sounded too similar, also contending that "Rain on the Roof" would add another dimension to their sound.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=149}} Issued as a single in October,{{sfn|Savage|2015|p=561}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=252}} "Rain on the Roof" remained on the Hot 100 for ten weeks and peaked at number ten, making it the Spoonful's sixth consecutive single to reach the top ten.<ref name="Billboard chart history"/> The song also continued the band's success in Europe, charting in several European countries.{{sfn|Diken|2003}}

Another song from ''Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful'', the country-tinged "[[Nashville Cats]]", was issued as a single in December.{{sfn|Anon.|1990}} It reached number eight on the Hot 100, but despite the band's hopes, it failed to crossover into the country market.{{sfn|Diken|2003}} The single's B-side, "Full Measure", a Boone-Sebastian collaboration, received strong airplay in California and the [[Southwestern United States]], helping it reach number 87 on the Hot 100 chart.{{sfn|Diken|2003}}{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=147–148}} In ''[[KRLA Beat]]'', the local publication of the [[Southern Californian]] radio station [[KWVE (AM)|KRLA]], "Full Measure" reached as high as number seven on the station's chart.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Anon.|title=What a Crazy World|date=December 31, 1966|magazine=[[KRLA Beat]]|page=8|url=http://krlabeat.sakionline.net/issue/31dec66.pdf}}</ref>

In 1966, the Spoonful had five Top Ten singles, making it the band's most successful year to date.{{sfn|Unterberger|2002|pp=185, 212}} The end-of-year issue for ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine ranked the Spoonful as the third best performing singles artist of the year, after the Beatles and [[the Rolling Stones]].{{sfn|Savage|2015|pp=544–545}}<ref name="1966 Top Artists">{{cite magazine |title=Top Singles Artists of 1966 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=December 24, 1966 |pages=14, 18–19 |ref=none}}</ref> In the magazine's list of the [[Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1966|top records of the year]], it placed "Summer in the City", "Daydream" and "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind" at numbers 35, 38 and 48, respectively.<ref name="1966 Top Records">{{cite magazine |title=Top Records of 1966 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=December 24, 1966 |page=34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSIEAAAAMBAJ |via=[[Google Books]] |ref=none}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|The only other groups to have at least three singles on the list were the Beach Boys (three), [[Paul Revere & the Raiders]] (three) and the Beatles (four).<ref name="1966 Top Records" />}} Besides achieving commercial success, the Spoonful in 1966 were among the American bands regarded most highly by critics;<ref name="O'Grady" /> a piece in ''[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]'' magazine that October placed the band alongside the Mamas and the Papas and [[Simon & Garfunkel]] as one of the three best new groups in the country, and Ralph J. Gleason told ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'' magazine that the Spoonful were "the best group in the U.S.", adding he was "glad to be alive at a time when I can hear them".<ref>{{cite news |author1=Anon. |title=Lovin' Spoonful Praised |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-duluth-news-tribune-lovin-spoonful/165288658/ |work=[[The Duluth News Tribune|Duluth News Tribune: Cosmopolitan]] |date=November 20, 1966 |page=10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|author=Anon.|title=Music: Rock 'n' Roll: The New Troubadours|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]|date=October 28, 1966|pages=92, 94|url=https://archive.org/details/time-1966-11-18/Time%201966-10-28/page/92/|via=the [[Internet Archive]]|quote=The best of the new groups{{nbsp}}...}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Rollin|first=Betty|title=The Lovin' Spoonful: Rock 'n' Roll Sweetener|magazine=[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]|date=November 1, 1966|pages=77–81|quote=Some older, wiser heads are just as caught up – among them, jazz critic Ralph Gleason, who says, 'They're the best group in the U.S. I'm glad to be alive at a time when I can hear them.'}}</ref>