Editing The Lovin' Spoonful (section)

=== 1967–1968: Diminished success ===
==== ''You're a Big Boy Now'' soundtrack; Yanovsky and Jacobsen fired ====

In mid-October{{nbsp}}1966, the Spoonful recorded [[You're a Big Boy Now (album)|a soundtrack album]] for the 1966 film ''[[You're a Big Boy Now]]''. The film served as the master's thesis of the director [[Francis Ford Coppola]], who was then attending [[UCLA Film School]].{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=163–164}} After meeting with Coppola in September to discuss the project,{{sfn|Myers|2017|p=75}} Sebastian wrote the songs on his own before presenting them to the musician [[Artie Schroeck]], who arranged the compositions for an orchestra.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=163–164}} After Butler struggled with the drum part, the session musician [[Bill LaVorgna]] played in his place.{{sfn|Myers|2017|p=77}} [[David "Fathead" Newman]] played saxophone during the sessions and [[Clark Terry]] played [[flügelhorn]].{{sfn|Myers|2017|p=77}}

{{quote box|quote= [Not working with the Spoonful anymore] was fine by me, because we had kind of run our course. We were falling apart.{{sfn|Unterberger|2003|p=61}} |source=– [[Erik Jacobsen]], 2003|width=25%|align=left|salign=right|style=padding:8px;}}

During the editing of ''You're a Big Boy Now'', Coppola used the Mamas & the Papas' 1966 single "[[Monday, Monday]]" as [[temp music]] for one sequence in the film, for which Sebastian wrote "[[Darling Be Home Soon]]".{{sfn|Myers|2017|pp=75–76}} Sebastian's composition flips a genre convention by describing a male subject waiting for a female to return home.{{sfn|Myers|2017|p=76}}{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=164}} The Spoonful recorded the song in one night, but Sebastian's original vocal track was subsequently wiped. Sebastian later attributed the loss to an accident on the part of an engineer, saying that what is heard on the final recording "is me, a half hour after learning that my original vocal track had been erased". He added: "You can even hear my voice quiver a little at the end. That was me thinking about the vocal we lost and wanting to kill someone."{{sfn|Myers|2017|p=77}} Boone instead suggests that Jacobsen deliberately erased Sebastian's vocal after finding it substandard; Boone recalled that the event marked the angriest he had ever seen Sebastian. Jacobsen was soon fired from working with the band, and Boone suggests that the vocal-erasure "probably played a major role" in Jacobsen's departure.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=163–164}}

The lack of collaboration on ''You're a Big Boy Now'' led to consternation from Sebastian's bandmates, especially Yanovsky, whose playing style often relied on improvisation.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=163–164}} Yanovsky especially disliked the soundtrack album's lead single, "Darling Be Home Soon", which was issued in early{{nbsp}}1967.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=170}}{{sfn|Myers|2017|p=74}} When the Spoonful appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' in January to promote the release, Yanovsky [[Overacting|mugged]] for the camera, miming the lyrics and bouncing up-and-down with a rubber-toad figurine attached to his guitar.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=170}}{{sfn|Unterberger|2003|p=61}} The appearance led to laughter from the audience and anger from Sebastian.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=170}} "Darling Be Home Soon" peaked at number fifteen,{{sfn|Myers|2017|p=74}}{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=170}} a major disappointment compared to the band's earlier releases and their first single which failed to reach the Top Ten.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=170}} Also disappointing was the release of the ''You're a Big Boy Now'' soundtrack, which peaked at number 160 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart in May{{nbsp}}1967.<ref name="Billboard chart history" />{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=173}} The album's sales were hampered by the release in March of the band's first greatest hits compilation, ''[[The Best of The Lovin' Spoonful]]'',{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=173}} which reached number three and became the band's best selling album.<ref name="Billboard chart history" />{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=173}}

{{quote box|quote= I wanted us to go back [to the clubs] and try to recapture that sort of energy{{nbsp}}... I had told John [Sebastian] that I thought his songwriting [had] really gone down the toilet and I thought that{{nbsp}}... it was time for him to get back into the "risk element".<ref name="Rock Family Trees" /> |source=– [[Zal Yanovsky]], 1998|width=25%|align=right|salign=right|style=padding:8px;}}

From late{{nbsp}}1966 into early{{nbsp}}1967, Sebastian's bandmates felt he was exerting excessive control over the band's direction.{{sfn|Unterberger|2003|p=61}}{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=165}} Boone recalled that the relationship between Sebastian and Yanovsky became especially stilted, since Yanovsky often rebelled rather than articulate his concerns directly.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=165–166}} Further agitating the situation, when Koppelman and Rubin renegotiated the band's distribution deal between Kama Sutra and MGM in late{{nbsp}}1966, though the band received an increase in pay, the label added a "key-man clause" which specified that the band would only exist if Sebastian was a member.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=167–168}}{{refn|group=nb|A July{{nbsp}}1967 article in ''[[The Wichita Beacon]]'' reported that the Spoonful's new contract with Kama Sutra ran until 1975 and had the band's compensation at seven figures.<ref>{{cite newspaper|author=H.I.M. KLEO Good Guy|title=Peach Blight|newspaper=[[The Wichita Beacon]]|date=July 12, 1967|page=8B|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wichita-beacon-peach-blight-by-him/161064074/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>}}

In May{{nbsp}}1967, Sebastian convened a meeting with Butler and Boone to discuss the band's future. Sebastian expressed frustration with Yanovsky's increasingly erratic public behavior and his derogatory treatment of his bandmates. Sebastian concluded that either Yanovsky should be fired, or else he was prepared to leave the band.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=174–175}} Butler, who had never gotten along with Yanovsky{{sfn|Unterberger|2003|p=124}} and was increasingly the target of Yanovsky's insults, agreed with Sebastian.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=175}} In a subsequent group meeting at Sebastian's apartment, the band informed Yanovsky that he had been fired.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=175–176}} He agreed to continue performing the rest of the group's scheduled dates,{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=175–176}} but rumors circulated throughout June that the band was breaking up.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Anon.|title=Zal quits Spoonful – new boy in|magazine=[[Disc and Music Echo]]|date=July 1, 1967|page=4}}</ref> He last performed with the Spoonful on {{nowrap|June 24, 1967}}, at the [[Forest Hills Music Festival]] in [[Queens]], New York.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=176}}{{sfn|Rees|Crampton|1991|p=317}}<ref name="FHMF">{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=John S. |author1-link=John S. Wilson (music critic) |title=Lovin' Spoonful at Forest Hills: Opening Festival Concert Is Last for Guitarist |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/06/26/archives/lovin-spoonful-at-forest-hills-opening-festival-concert-is-last-for.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 26, 1967 |page=36 |url-access=subscription |via=[[TimesMachine]]}}</ref>

==== Yester hired, ''Everything Playing'' ====

[[File:The Lovin Spoonful 1968.png|thumb|alt=Refer to caption|The Lovin' Spoonful with Yanovsky's replacement, [[Jerry Yester]] (left), {{circa|1967–68}}]]

The Spoonful hired Jerry Yester to replace Yanovsky on lead guitar duties. Following the May{{nbsp}}1967 meeting in which Yanovsky was fired, Sebastian suggested hiring Yester, and no other replacement was considered. Yester had been close to the band and Jacobsen for years, having contributed to the recording of "Do You Believe in Magic".{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=178}} Since mid-1966, when Yester's band the Modern Folk Quartet disbanded,<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Fisk|first=Thermon|title=Gene Clark: 'You Have to Hear It and See Yourself'|magazine=[[KRLA Beat]]|date=July 9, 1966|page=3|quote=[I]n the pop world recently{{nbsp}}... [s]everal groups have been affected by break-ups{{nbsp}}... among these{{nbsp}}... [are] the MFQ – who are now completely defunct as a group{{nbsp}}...}}</ref> he had been working as a session musician and producer in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=178–179}}{{refn|group=nb|Yester contributed to the Monkees' 1967 album ''[[Headquarters (The Monkees album)|Headquarters]]'', and he produced [[the Association]]'s 1966 album ''[[Renaissance (The Association album)|Renaissance]]'' and [[Tim Buckley]]'s 1967 album ''[[Goodbye and Hello (Tim Buckley album)|Goodbye and Hello]]''.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=178–179}}}} In early June{{nbsp}}1967, he rehearsed with the Spoonful at Sebastian's home in [[East Quogue, New York]], and he debuted with the band on June{{nbsp}}30 at the [[Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Portland, Oregon)|Memorial Coliseum]] in [[Portland, Oregon]].{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=178–179}}

The Spoonful reconvened in August{{nbsp}}1967 to begin sessions for their next album, ''[[Everything Playing]]''.  In need of a producer after Jacobsen's firing, the band initially hoped to work with [[Roy Halee]], who had worked as [[Audio engineer|engineer]] on the band's earlier recordings, but his continued employment with [[Columbia Records]] prevented the collaboration. Koppelman-Rubin instead suggested [[Joe Wissert]], a Philadelphia-based producer who had recently worked with [[the Turtles]] on their 1967 singles, "[[Happy Together (song)|Happy Together]]" and "[[She'd Rather Be with Me]]". On Wissert's recommendation, the band moved from Columbia's recording studios to Mira Sound Studios, a new facility in New York City which made use of an AMPEX MM-1000, the industry's first [[Multitrack recording|16-track recorder]].{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=180–181}} The band struggled to manage the more complicated recording equipment, a situation worsened when Wissert stopped attending sessions, forcing Yester to produce in his place.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=186–187}}

Like other folk-rock acts, the Spoonful struggled to modify their musical approach as the new genre of [[psychedelic music|psychedelia]] expanded in popularity in 1967.{{sfn|Unterberger|2003|p=61}} The sessions for ''Everything Today'' yielded three singles, all three of which continued the band's downward commercial performance when they failed to place in the Top Ten.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=182, 189}} "Six O'Clock", which had been recorded at Columbia before Jacobsen and Yanovsky were fired, was released in April{{nbsp}}1967 and peaked at number 18.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=182}} For the album's next single, "She Is Still a Mystery", Yester arranged an orchestral accompaniment which included [[String section|strings]] and [[Woodwind section|woodwinds]] played by members of the [[New York Philharmonic]], along with [[Horn section|horns]] from [[Ray Charles]]' touring band.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=182}} Released in October,{{sfn|Anon.|1990}} the single reached number 27.<ref name="Billboard chart history" />{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=182}} ''Everything Playing'' was issued in December{{nbsp}}1967,{{sfn|Anon.|1990}} but received negative reviews from critics and peaked at number 118 in the U.S. after spending seven weeks on the album chart.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=187}} The album track "Younger Generation" was originally intended for release as a single – a trade ad in ''Billboard'' promised it would be "the most talked-about track of 1968" – but its release never followed.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=183}} Instead, "Money" was issued as a single in January{{nbsp}}1968,{{sfn|Hill|2003}} and it peaked at number 48.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=189}}

==== Sebastian departs, ''Revelation: Revolution '69'' ====

After the major commercial disappointments of ''Everything Playing'' and "Money" in early{{nbsp}}1968, Sebastian advised his bandmates that, following the Spoonful's next three months of scheduled tour dates, he planned to leave the group.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=189–190}} ''[[The Los Angeles Times]]'' reported in April that he intended to leave by June.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Pete |author1-link=Pete Johnson (rock critic) |title=Pop Duet Issues Delayed Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-pop-duet-issues-de/164173373/ |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |date=April 1, 1968 |page=IV-30 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The band last publicly performed on June{{nbsp}}1, 1968, at [[Parker Field (Richmond)|Parker Field]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]].{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=192}}<ref name=Richmond />{{refn|group=nb|In his autobiography, Boone writes the Richmond show was June{{nbsp}}20,{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=192}} but contemporary newspaper articles date it to June{{nbsp}}1.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Anon. |title=Tiny Tim, Spoonful Will Perform Here |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/richmond-times-dispatch-tiny-tim-spoonf/164193300/ |work=[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]] |date=May 29, 1968 |page=C-15 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref name=Richmond>{{cite news |last1=Venable |first1=Maggie K. |title=Lovin' Spoonful Soon to Disband: Group Plagued by Mishap |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/richmond-times-dispatch-group-plagued-by/164193987/ |work=[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]] |date=June 7, 1968 |page=B-8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>}} The following day, Sebastian told reporters that the group had probably played their last show together,<ref name=Richmond /> and some newspapers reported in July that the band had broken up.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gardiner |first1=Sandy |title=Off the Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-journal-off-the-record-by-san/164161561/ |work=[[The Ottawa Journal]] |date=July 12, 1968 |page=18 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Winters |first1=Scott |title=On{{nbsp}}... |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wichita-beacon-on-by-scott-winte/164172478/ |work=[[The Wichita Beacon]] |date=July 31, 1968 |page=7D |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> By September, Sebastian announced his intention to pursue a solo career.<ref name=Johnson>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Pete |title=Spoonful of Talent Out on His Own |newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |date=September 30, 1968 |page=IV-18 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96867524/john-sebastian/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |ref=none}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |author=Anon. |title=Executive Turntable |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=September 7, 1968 |pages=6, 86}}</ref> Sebastian later summed up the band's career as "two glorious years and a tedious one".{{sfn|Nixon|2003|p=615}}

Following Sebastian's departure, the remaining members of the band had little contact with one another. Butler received permission from the label to record and produce an album under the Spoonful's name. Released in late{{nbsp}}1968, ''[[Revelation: Revolution '69]]'' featured neither Boone nor Yester, but is credited to "The Lovin' Spoonful featuring Joe Butler".{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=192, 195–196}} The album did not chart,<ref name="Billboard chart history" /> and it is generally omitted from lists of the Spoonful's discography.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=196}} The album's first single, the [[John Stewart (musician)|John Stewart]]-penned "Never Going Back", was recorded in Los Angeles at [[Sunset Sound Recorders]] before Sebastian departed the group, but he did not play on the recording. It was issued in July{{nbsp}}1968 and reached number 73.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=191}}