Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful explained

Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful
Type:	studio album
Artist:	the Lovin' Spoonful
Cover:	Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful.jpg
Studio:	Columbia 7th Avenue and Bell Sound, New York City
Genre:	Folk rock^[1] pop^[2]
Length:	26:48
Label:	Kama Sutra
Producer:	Erik Jacobsen
Prev Title:	What's Up, Tiger Lily?
Prev Year:	1966
Year:	1966
Next Title:	The Best of the Lovin' Spoonful
Next Year:	1967

Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful is the third studio album by the American folk rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. It was released in November1966 by Kama Sutra Records.^[3] It peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

Background

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 band recorded most of the album at Columbia Records' 7th Avenue Studio and Bell Sound in Midtown Manhattan, New York. Additional recording was done in Los Angeles, including "Lovin' You", which was recorded in Los Angeles.

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.^[4]

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

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

Side two

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

Personnel

• John Sebastian – lead (1, 2, 4, 5, 7-12, 14, 17) and backing vocals, guitar, twelve-string guitar, autoharp, piano, organ, harmonium (2), ocarina (5), pedal steel guitar (4, 7, 8, 13, 17), Irish harp
• Zal Yanovsky – electric and acoustic guitars, backing and lead (3) vocals, banjo (2, 5), slide whistle (5)
• Steve Boone – electric bass, double bass, piano, organ, percussion
• Joe Butler – drums, backing and lead (6) vocals, percussion
• Henry Diltz – clarinet (2)
• Artie Schroeck – electric piano (11)
• Larry Hankin – Jew's harp (5)

Production

• Erik Jacobsen – producer
• Roy Halee – engineer
• Henry Diltz - photography

Charts and certifications

+Weekly chart performance	Chart (1966–1967)	Peak position
Canadian RPM 25 Top LPs^[5]	3
US Billboard Top LPs^[6]	14
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums^[7]	14
US Record World Album Chart^[8]	4

References

Sources

• Book: Barone . Richard . Richard Barone . Music + Revolution: Greenwich Village in the 1960s . 2022 . Rowman & Littlefield . Lanham, Maryland . 978-1-4930-6302-4 . en . Google Books.
• Diken . Dennis . Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful . Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful . . 2003 . Liner notes . . 74465 99732 2.
• Book: Einarson . John . John Einarson . Desperados: The Roots of Country Rock . 2001 . . New York . 978-1-4616-0733-5 . registration.
• Book: Rodriguez . Robert . Revolver: How the Beatles Re-Imagined Rock 'n' Roll . 2012 . Backbeat Books . Montclair, New Jersey . 978-1-61713-009-0 . registration . the Internet Archive.
• Book: Savage . Jon . Jon Savage . 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded . 2015 . . London . 978-0-571-27762-9 . registration . the Internet Archive.

Notes and References

1. Book: Nelson . Paul . Paul Nelson (critic) . Miller . Jim . The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll . 1980 . . New York City . 0-394-73938-8 . 231–234 . Revised and Updated . https://archive.org/details/rollingstoneillu00mill/page/231/ . Folk Rock . registration . the Internet Archive.
2. Cash Box review panel . Album Reviews . . December 17, 1966 . 38.

3. .

4. Allmusic entry for Do You Believe in Magic and Hums re-release.
5. RPM 25 Top LPs. February 18, 1967. RPM.
6. Top LPs. Billboard. February 25, 1967. 44.
7. Top 100 Albums. Cash Box. February 18, 1967. 63.
8. 100 Top LP's. Record World. March 11, 1967. 58.
9. Best Albums of 1967. Cash Box. 23 December 1967. 24.