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Plain and Fancy

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Plato

Sunday, August 11, 2013

The Lovin' Spoonful - You're A Big Boy Now / Everything Playing (1967-68 us, fabulous psych folk rock, 2011 remastered with extra tracks and 2016 Blu Spec bonus tracks issue)



A pair of tasty sets from The Lovin Spoonful! You're A Big Boy Now is soundtrack to the early Francis Ford Coppola film, and a surprisingly groovy batch of tracks! John Sebastian composed the whole score, and unlike most of the other albums by The Lovin Spoonful, this one's got a lot of instrumental numbers, arranged by the great Artie Schroek – short little grooves with a really nice feel, and mixes of percussion, horns, and guitar that come off with a great groovy 60s sound! The vocal numbers are pretty great too – and titles include the sublime "Darling Be Home Soon", plus "Miss Thing's Thing", "Letter To Barbara", "March", "The Finale", "Try & Be Happy", "Wash Her Away", and "Lonely". 

1968 was a milestone year for rock music, and the Lovin' Spoonful's 'Everything Playing', although mostly overlooked today, was one of the many reasons why. It  is their last long player with chief songwriter/arranger John Sebastian – a solid effort in a (thankfully) similar vein to their earlier classic work, but with hints of the sprawling efforts that blanketed late 60s pop. There's still a few big hits in the mix – "Six O'Clock, "She Is Still A Mystery" and "Money", none of which seemed to find their way onto oldies radio playlists the way the group's earlier efforts did. 

Thanks to that lack of saturation it's pretty deeply satisfying all the way through – warm to our hearts the same way a lot of early 70s Beach Boys stuff is! Comes with 3 bonus tracks: alternate versions of "She Is Still A Mystery", "Only Pretty, What A Pretty" and "Try A Little Bit".


Tracks
1967  You're A Big Boy Now
1. You're A Big Boy Now - 2:30
2. Lonely (Amy’s Theme) (Instrumental) - 3:19
3. Wash Her Away (From The Discotheque) - 2:30
4. Kite Chase (Instrumental) - 1:21
5. Try And Be Happy (Instrumental) - 1:03
6. Peep Show Percussion (Instrumental) - 1:18
7. Girl Beautiful Girl (Barbara's Theme) - 2:23
8. Darling Be Home Soon 3:33
9. Dixieland Big Boy - 1:13
10.Letter To Barbara (Instrumental) - 0:58
11.Barbara's Theme (From The Discotheque) - 1:27
12.Miss Thing's Thang (Instrumental) - 1:37
13.March (Instrumental) - 2:28
14.The Finale - 2:29
All Songs written By John B. Sebastian

1968  Everything Playing 
15.She Is Still A Mystery 2:59
16.Prisc1lla Millionaira - 3:11
17.Boredom - 2:23
18.Six O'clock - 2:41
19.Forever (Steve Boone) - 4:21
20.Younger Generation - 2:39
21.Money - 1:53
22.Old Folks (Joe Butler) - 3:03
23.Only Pretty What A Pity (Joe Butler, Jerry Yester) - 3:00
24.Try A Little Bit - 3:03
25 Close Your Eyes (John Sebastian, Jerry Yester) - 2:43
26.She Is Still A Mystery (Bonus Track, Alternate Version) - 3:08
27.Only Pretty What A Pity (Bonus Track, Alternate Version) (Joe Butler, Jerry Yester) - 2:55
28.Try A Little Bit (Bonus Track, Alternate Version) - 3:02
All Songs written By John B. Sebastian except otherwise.

The Lovin' Spoonful
1967  You're A Big Boy Now
*Joe Butler - Drums
*John Sebastian - Guitar, Harmonica,Autoharp
*Steve Boone - Bass, Piano
*Zal Yanovski - Lead Guitar

1968  Everything Playing 
*Joe Butler - Drums
*John Sebastian - Guitar, Harmonica,Autoharp
*Steve Boone - Bass, Piano
*Jerry Yester - Lead Guitar, Piano

 The Lovin' Spoonful
1965  Do You Believe In Magic (2016 Blu Spec Bonus Tracks Edition)
1966  Daydream  (2016 Blu Spec Bonus Tracks Edition)
1966  Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful  (2016 Blu Spec Bonus Tracks Edition)
1966 The Lovin' Spoonful - What's Up, Tiger Lily (2008 japan remaster) 
1969  Revelation: Revolution '69
Related Acts
1969-76  John Sebastian - Faithful Virtue, The Reprise Recordings 
1969  Judy Henske And Jerry Yester - Farewell Aldebaran 

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8 comments:

  1. hey.

    what is the passwords for this album.

    palle from denmark.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Zal plays on "Everything's Playing"

    ReplyDelete
  3. Zal left the band before they started the recordings of "Everything's Playing", replaced by Jerry Yester.

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  4. Not sure if Zal plays on the LP, but he was still hanging around. There are outtakes from the back cover photo session of "Everything Playing"that show him with the band. I think MOJO ran them years ago -- unfortunately I can't find them online.

    -- Days of Broken Arrows

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  5. Found one! Check out Zal in the back of this photo, shot at the "Everything's Playing" back cover session.

    That said, he probably didn't play on it, unless it was on the single that preceded the album "Six O'Clock."

    http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/90/d6/90d6dd4bf8f29a5fbacc764bc51de1a1.jpg?itok=qOnu5TFq

    -- Days of Broken Arrows

    ReplyDelete
  6. As far as I know this was Zal's last appearance with the band, recorded and released as a single, before the recordings of the album.

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  7. I've never heard 'Everything Playing', but 'You're A big Boy Now' holds a soft spot in my heart: my first date with my first girlfriend was to that movie. I don't remember much about the movie but, as they say, you never forget your first love!! Looking forward to hearing this again. Thanks for the memory.

    -Brian

    ReplyDelete