Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful is the third studio album by the Canadian-American folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. It was released in November1966 by Kama Sutra Records. It peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

Background The Spoonful recorded Hums throughout 1966, whenever they had days off from their busy touring schedule. Most of the album was recorded in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, split between Columbia Records' 7th Avenue Studio and Bell Sound Studios, but additional recording took place in June1966 in LosAngeles.: "Hums kicks off with ['Lovin' You',] a tune conceived and committed to tape in L.A." A string of sessions were originally set to take place at Columbia from August16 to September23, but recording was delayed due to booking issues.

Hums was a deliberate attempt by the band to record in a variety of styles. They composed and played in the pop, country, jug-band, blues and folk styles. It would ultimately be the last full project by the original lineup. The album managed to spawn four charting singles for the band, including the No. 1 hit "Summer in the City". "Rain on the Roof", "Nashville Cats", and "Full Measure" also appeared on the Pop charts, all but the last making it to the Top 10. Bobby Darin had a Top 40 hit with a cover version of "Lovin' You". Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash covered "Darlin' Companion" in 1969 on Johnny Cash at San Quentin. Principal songwriter John Sebastian said of "Nashville Cats" — which made No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 — "We thought our version would cross over to the country market. It never did. So we're always kind, gee, well I guess that tells us what we are and what we aren't." Flatt & Scruggs took "Nashville Cats" to No. 54 on the country charts as a single. Dolly Parton covered "Lovin' You" for her 1977 album Here You Come Again.

Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful was re-released in 2003 on the Sundazed label with bonus tracks consisting of four demos, instrumental tracks, and alternate versions/mixes of songs from the album, along with extensive liner notes. It was also released on CD along with Do You Believe in Magic? in 1995.[ Allmusic entry for Do You Believe in Magic and Hums re-release.]

Reception

William Ruhlman of AllMusic wrote of the album: "An emphasis on the parts of the album is a way of describing it as more a loose collection of disparate tracks than a unified effort, despite Sebastian's hand in all the compositions and his lead vocals on most of them. This was by necessity, but also by design, since Sebastian and co. went into the studio trying to sound completely different each time. They often succeeded..."

Track listing All songs written by John Sebastian except where otherwise noted.

Side one "Lovin' You" – 2:25 "Bes' Friends" – 1:52 "Voodoo in My Basement" – 2:35 "Darlin' Companion" – 2:22 "Henry Thomas" – 1:40 "Full Measure" (Steve Boone, J. Sebastian) – 2:40

Side two "Rain on the Roof" – 2:13 "Coconut Grove" (J. Sebastian, Zal Yanovsky) – 2:38 "Nashville Cats" – 2:34 "4 Eyes" – 2:53 "Summer in the City" (J. Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, Boone) – 2:39

Personnel According to Dennis Diken's 2003 liner notes, except where noted:

The Lovin' Spoonful John Sebastianlead and backing vocals; acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, autoharp; harmonium ; harmonica, ocarina and slide whistle ; additional drums ; Irish harp ; pedal steel guitar Zal Yanovskybacking vocals, guitars; Hohner Tubon ; lead vocals ; slide guitar ; wastepaper basket Steve Boonebass guitar, keyboards; upright bass Joe Butlerbacking vocals, drums; lead vocals unidentified (played by the Lovin' Spoonful)twelve-string guitar ; banjo woodblocks, bass marimba, wastepaper basket, log drums and steel drums ; harmonium and jingle bell ; organ and African hair drum

Additional musicians Henry Diltzclarinet ; photography Larry HankinJew's harp Artie Schroeckelectric piano

Production Erik Jacobsenproducer Roy Haleeengineering

Charts and certifications

+Weekly chart performance Chart (1966–1967) PeakpositionCanadian RPM 25 Top LPs3Norwegian VG-lista Albums9US Billboard Top LPs14US Cash Box Top 100 Albums14US Record World Album Chart4

+Year-end chart performanceChart (1967)RankingUS Cash Box59

Notes

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