The Lovin' Spoonful is a Canadian-American folk-rock band which was originally active between 1964 and 1968.; . During their original tenure, they released five studio albums, two soundtrack albums, four compilation albums, and fourteen singles in the United States. Between October1965 and January1967, their first seven singles reached the Top Ten in the United States on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart, and the magazine's 1966 end-of-year issue ranked the group as that year's third-best-performing singles artist, after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Though the Spoonful achieved success during the transition to the album era, they and their label remained focused on the singles market; the group's 1966 album Daydream was their only studio album to break the Top Ten of the Billboard Top LPs chart, and its performance was bested only by a 1967 compilation album, The Best of the Lovin' Spoonful, which RIAA certified for gold that year. The Spoonful saw diminished success in 1967, when only two of their singles entered the top twenty in the US. Following further chart disappointments, the group disbanded in 1968.
The Lovin' Spoonful's albums and singles were originally issued by Kama Sutra Records in the United States and by Pye International Records in the United Kingdom. The band was not directly signed to Kama Sutra but was instead signed to Koppelman-Rubin, an entertainment company, which negotiated a deal with the label in June1965. As part of the arrangement, MGM Records distributed the records, which Kama Sutra released on its label for Koppelman-Rubin. MGM's contract with Kama Sutra expired in 1967, and Kama Sutra's leadership founded Buddah Records (later renamed Buddha), transferring their five-year deal with the Spoonful in the process. The band's new contract ran until 1975 and had their compensation at seven figures.
John Sebastian, the Spoonful's primary songwriter, originally published his compositions with Faithful Virtue Music, a publishing company owned by Charles Koppelman and Don Rubin. In 2023, Sebastian sold the publishing and artist royalties rights for all of his compositions to AMR Songs, an American catalog marketing company.
The Lovin' Spoonful's music has been regularly collected on compilation albums. In the years after the band's breakup, many of their original multi-track master-tapes were lost and presumed destroyed.: "Many of the masters for Spoonful recordings have long been destroyed, which makes more reissues unlikely." The group's earliest CD reissues were instead made from the best available stereo masters, leaving the material sounding substandard when compared to reissues of other 1960s music. In 2000, after the first-generation master-tapes were rediscovered, Buddha issued Greatest Hits, which was the first digital remaster of the band's material. BMG Heritage Records, a reissue division of Sony BMG, issued digital remasters of the band's first four studio albums on CD in 2002 and 2003, along with previously unreleased bonus material.
Albums Studio albums + Year Title Album detailsPeak chart positionsUS releaseUK release US CAN FIN NOR UK1965Do You Believe in Magic Released: October23, 1965 Label: Kama Sutra Released March1966 Label: Pye International Records 32×—×—1966Daydream Released: March1966 Label: Kama Sutra Released: April29, 1966 Label: Pye International Records 10×9×8Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful Released: November1966; . Label: Kama Sutra Released: January27, 1967 Label: Kama Sutra 148—9— 1967Everything Playing Released: December6, 1967 Label: Kama Sutra Released: April5, 1968 Label: Kama Sutra 118———— 1968Revelation: Revolution '69 Released: October7, 1968 Label: Kama Sutra Released: June1969 Label: Kama Sutra —————"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. "×" denotes the chart did not exist yet.
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Soundtrack albums + Year Title Album detailsPeak chart positionsUS releaseUK release US1966What's Up, Tiger Lily? Released: August 1966 Label: Kama Sutra —1261967You're a Big Boy Now Released: March 1967 Label: Kama Sutra Released: May 1967 Label: Kama Sutra 160"—" denotes releases that were not released in that territory.
Live albums + Year Title Album details1999Live at the Hotel Seville Released: 1999 Label: Varèse Sarabande
Compilation albums + Decade Title Album detailsPeak chart positionsCertifications(sales thresholds) US CAN 1960sWhat's Shakin'Released: May 1966 Label: Elektra ——The Best of the Lovin' Spoonful Released: February 1967 Label: Kama Sutra 33RIAA: GoldThe Best of the Lovin' Spoonful Volume Two Released: March 1968 Label: Kama Sutra 156—24 Karat Hits: A Double Dozen of All Time Best Sellers by the Lovin' Spoonful Released: August 1968 Label: Kama Sutra ——1970sThe Very Best of the Lovin' Spoonful Released: January 1970 Label: Kama Sutra ——John Sebastian Song Book Vol.1 Released: January 1970 Label: Kama Sutra ——Once Upon a Time Released: 1971 Label: Kama Sutra ——The Best... Lovin' Spoonful Released: February 1976 Label: Kama Sutra 183—The File Series Released: 1977 Label: Pye —— 1980sGreatest Hits Released: 1981 Label: Quality ——Distant Echoes Released: 1982 Label: Accord ——The EP Collection Released: May 23, 1988 Label: See for Miles ——The Collection Released: 1988 Label: Castle Communications —— 1990sAnthology Released: January 23, 1990 Label: Rhino ——Summer in the City Released: 1995 Label: Spectrum ——The Very Best of the Lovin' SpoonfulReleased: 1998 Label: Camden ——Collector's EditionReleased: 1999 Label: Platinum —— 2000sGreatest Hits Released: February 22, 2000 Label: Buddah ——Platinum & Gold Collection Released: 2003 Label: Buddah/BMG ——Singles A's and B'sReleased: 2006 Label: Repertoire —— 2020sWhat a Day for a Daydream: The Complete Recordings Released: March 27, 2026 Label: Strawberry ——"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
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Year-end rankings + Year Album Year-end rankings US 1966 Daydream 85 1967 The Best of the Lovin' Spoonful 23
EPs +List of UK EPs with selected chart positionsYear Title EP details Peak chart positions UK 1966Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind Released: June 3, 1966 Label: Kama Sutra 3Jug Band Music Released: August 19, 1966 Label: Kama Sutra 7Summer in the City Released: October 1966 Label: Kama Sutra — 1967Day Blues Released: February 1967 Label: Kama Sutra —Nashville Cats Released: April 14, 1967 Label: Kama Sutra —Lovin' You Released: June 1967 Label: Kama Sutra —Something in the Night Released: October 1967 Label: Kama Sutra —"—" denotes releases that did not chart.
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Singles + YearSingle detailsPeak chart positionsCertifications(sales thresholds)Album US AUS CAN FIN GER NL NOR SWE UK1965"Do You Believe in Magic"b/w "On the Road Again" Released: July 20, 1965 ,; October1, 1965 Label: Kama Sutra , Pye International Records 9—3xxxxx—Do You Believe in Magic"You Didn't Have to Be So Nice"b/w "My Gal" (from Do You Believe In Magic) Released: November 1965 , January14, 1966 Label: Kama Sutra , Pye International Records 10—2xxxxx— Daydream1966"Daydream"b/w "Night Owl Blues" (from Do You Believe in Magic) Released: February 1966 , April1, 1966 Label: Kama Sutra , Pye International Records 2—1203011—12"Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?"b/w "Didn't Want to Have to Do It" (from Daydream) Released: April 1966 Label: Kama Sutra 2—626—2023xDo You Believe in Magic"Jug Band Music"b/w "Didn't Want to Have to Do It" Released: April 1966 Label: Quality xx2xxxxxxDaydream"Baldheaded Lena"b/w "On the Road Again" (from Do You Believe in Magic) Released: June 1966 Label: Kama Sutra xxxxxxx1x"Summer in the City"b/w "Butchie's Tune" (from Daydream) Released: July 4, 1966 ,; . July 8, 1966 Label: Kama Sutra 171252348 BPI: Silver RIAA: GoldHums of the Lovin' Spoonful"Rain on the Roof"b/w "Pow (Theme from 'What's Up, Tiger Lily?')" Released: September 1966 , October1966 Label: Kama Sutra 10311228—13—11—"Nashville Cats"b/w "Full Measure" Released: November 1966 , December2, 1966 Label: Kama Sutra 2638—1171226"Good Time Music"b/w "Almost Grown" Released: December 5, 1966 Label: Disques Vogue xxxxx—xxxWhat's Shakin'1967"Don't Bank on It, Baby"b/w "Searchin" Released: January 3, 1967 Label: Disques Vogue xxxxx—xxx"Darling Be Home Soon"b/w "Darlin' Companion" (from Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful) Released: February 1967 , February24, 1967 Label: Kama Sutra 15—8——16——44You're a Big Boy Now"Six O'Clock"b/w "The Finale" (from You're a Big Boy Now) Released: April 6, 1967 , May 27,1967 Label: Kama Sutra 18—12——x———Everything Playing"She Is Still a Mystery"b/w "Only Pretty, What a Pity" Released: September 21, 1967 , November 24,1967 Label: Kama Sutra 27—3—xxxx—"Money"b/w "Close Your Eyes" Released: December 1967 , February1968 Label: Kama Sutra 48—28x—xxx—1968"Never Goin' Back"b/w "Forever" (from Everything Playing) Released: June 5, 1968 , August23, 1968 Label: Kama Sutra 73—49x—xxx—Revelation: Revolution '69"(Till I) Run with You"b/w "Revelation: Revolution '69" Released: August 20, 1968 Label: Kama Sutra 128——xxxxxx1969"Me About You"b/w "Amazing Air" Released: January 1969 Label: Kama Sutra 91x70xxxxxx1970"Younger Generation"b/w "Boredom" Released: 1970 Label: Buddah —xxxxxxxxJohn Sebastian Song Book Vol.12011"Alley Oop"b/w "Night Owl Blues" (unedited version) Released: November 25, 2011 Label: Sundazed Music —xxxxxxxxDo You Believe in Magic (2002 CD remaster)"—" denotes releases that did not chart. "x" denotes single not released in that territory.
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Year-end rankings + Year Single Year-end rankings US BEL(FL) NL 1965 "Do You Believe in Magic" 89 — — 1966 "Daydream" 38 — 90 "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" 48 — — "Summer in the City" 35 87 19"—" denotes releases that did not rank.
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