John Sebastian's voice is shot. Anybody here see him live in recent years? I've never seen him or Lovin' Spoonful live. Here is a revealing excerpt from "Dirty Linen" #84 (October/November '99):

from http://www.dirtynelson.com/linen/84/sebastian.html

John Sebastian
Lovin' Jugful
by Craig Harris

John Sebastian was one of the most successful songwriters of the late1960s and early1970s. The leader, lead vocalist, guitar, harmonica, and autoharp player for New York-based folk-rock band The Lovin' Spoonful, Sebastian enjoyed such top-10 hits between 1966 and 1968 as "Do You Believe In Magic," "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice," "Daydream," "Summer In The City," "Rain On The Roof," and "Nashville Cats."

Launching his solo career with a memorable appearance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, he continued where he left off, singing such self-penned tunes as "She's A Lady" and "I Had A Dream" on his debut solo album. Sebastian's greatest commercial success, however, came with his 1976 single, "Welcome Back" (the theme song, for the television show "Welcome Back, Kotter"), which became a number one hit and sold millions of copies.

Although Sebastian has maintained a low profile since the late-1970s, he's released three memorable albums over the past decade. Tar Beach, his first album in nearly 20 years, was released in 1993 and served as a tribute to the smooth soul sounds that were an early influence.

Sebastian's latest efforts — I Want My Roots (1996) and Chasin' Gus' Ghost (1999) — reflect his love of the jug bands of the 1920s. Although plagued by vocal problems, he compensated for his difficulties by allowing other vocalists to share the spotlight. On Chasin' Gus' Ghost, lead vocals are shared with Geoff Muldaur, Paul Rishell, and producer Jimmy Vivino.

"It's a great thing to have such terrific other voices," Sebastian said by telephone from his home in Woodstock, New York. "My modern day voice is functional, but it's not the exceptional voice that I had in my 20s. I've had to adjust to not having the same range that I had when I was younger."

While the lead singer and instrumental lineup for each tune differs, Sebastian claims that it's a continuation of the trend set by the early jug bands. "This was how the jug band of earlier eras did it," he explained. "Each tune would have a different soloist, a guy who was accompanying on one tune would be the soloist on the next. I didn't plan it this way. The album gained its own energy, and we started to really do things like jug bands do."

While Sebastian's first inclination was to simply call the group "The J-Band," he agreed to the wishes of the record label [Hollywood] to include his name in the credits. "They were really resistant," he recalled. "They explained that they had a hard enough time without compounding it by not mentioning that I was involved."

Unfortunately, this does appear to be the case. Sebastian does play live occasionally (performing with Roger McGuinn on April 25th in Tarrytown, NY according to his official website) but his voice is not what it once was. Here's a couple of clips of him from 2008:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7chjI1XW-0[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpBLBvWv2fE&feature=related[/youtube]
I've mentioned before and I'll mention it here--to me, one of the all-time great rock and roll mysteries is the apparent, complete lack of any vintage live recordings of the Lovin' Spoonful from in the 1960's, even on bootleg.

Agreed on the absence of any live Lovin' Spoonful. Mind boggling. It would be so cool to hear some early Spoonful from the club/cafe/coffee house scene in NYC.

I thought that John did a nice job on the first live track above -- as he said, the voice is functional. Sadly, it's not much more than that. It's particularly sad because he had such a warm and mellow voice.

I need to get off my butt and order the 2007 Sebastian/David Grisman CD, "Satisfied"--and pay attention for the possibility of any upcoming concerts that John might play in Florida. Regardless of how his voice sounds now, as far as I'm concerned, the man is a music legend. "Tar Beach", "I Want My Roots" and "Chasin' Gus' Ghost" are all well worth seeking out. I'd also like to see "John Sebastian Live", the 1970 MGM album that Sebastian says was unauthorized, to appear on CD--it's just as teriffic as "Cheapo Cheapo Productions..." and although Sebastian claims it was an audience recording, my vinyl copy sure doesn't sound like that to me.

I really haven't played any of my Sebastian/Spoonful collection in two or three years, for no better reason than the music is so precious to me that I don't want to burn out on it. (Does that make sense?)

AMW - What is the "Cheapo Cheapo Productions..." - a live release that I haven't heard of?