Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind (In a Poll) - the Lovin' Spoonful's Best Song

I only know the most obvious three, and while "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" and "Do You Believe in Magic" are dope songs, I've never made threads about them: summer in the city

ha, didn't know you fucked with 60s folk-rock.

you don't even know

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OjrbRW6e1VE/SaWA1s2vvoI/AAAAAAAABhw/ncZeAo5_TVo/s400/hans.jpg

Darling Be Home Soon and Younger Generation are heartbreakingly beautiful songs, and Do You Believe In Magic brings back some great memories, but the winner can only be Nashville Cats. I mean Summer in the City.

"You Didn't Have To Be So Nice". Although a lot of great ones from the first 2 years of their existence.

"Summer In The City" is too close to rap for its own good though.

Geir, you're excelling yourself today. John Sebastian a huge influence on DJ Kool Herc, Kurtis Blow etc

If it were on here I might vote for "Butchie's Tune." Looking it up apparently it was the b-side of "Summer in the City" which would be it's only competition. Well, that and "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice."

John Sebastian a huge influence on DJ Kool Herc, Kurtis Blow etc

Obviously not, but "Summer In The City" has built up rhythmically in a way that is more typical of what would become rap.

Why obviously? They might have...

"You didn't have to be so nice" best intro EVER and what follows is just as good. "Do you Believe in Magic" also unbelievable.

I have this collection too and love it a lot so I ought to delve into the albums too. My favorite off this is "She Is Still a Mystery", over "Daydream", the big singles, and "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice".

I have the first two albums.

Fine stuff.

"didn't want to have to do it" is the best song that john sebastian ever wrote. though i prefer the rotary connection's version. even if the rotary connection version did help to invent trip-hop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkycGD0ZE8Y

Summer in the City

rhe ralfi pagan version is way better than the original too. and probably the most beautiful of all versions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta3e3stH2ik

Coconut Grove!

yeah "didn't want to have to do it" is sort of unbeatable. but most of these are really good.

have you guys ever heard ralfi's version of "make it with you"? unbelievable. i have the 45. how he makes a david gates song into the coolest soul song ever written is pretty impressive. not that david gates didn't have soul, he did...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dj34lQTcfQ

i sold a copy of this at my store the other day. i couldn't believe it. (it's not very good)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n7Fl9SjlnG4/Raugcoj1JuI/AAAAAAAAAIM/IEFmPaG4ySM/s320/lovin.jpg

voted for 'darling be home soon' cos it so gorge, tho it lacks the gigantic belch of the version on SLADE ALIVE

Jugband Music!

My dad's favorite song

how is that first John Sebastian solo record?

Ha, I swear I was going to start this poll the other day! I'm going with "You Didn't Have to Be so Nice" bcz SO many hooks, the organ is great, and such sweet singing. So good a song for the person who feels somewhat uncomfortable with affectionate gestures but also loves them (ahem: me).

John Sebastian is one good-looking dude (or was back in the day).

Wz listening to this exact best of the other day & thee Viceroy asked, "Who are all these bands you're listening to?" rad!

"You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," even though Geir voted for it too.

I can't get over Jug Band Music. I know others are objectively better, but I'm a sucker for a quasi-novelty number from a mainly serious artist (see: Jim Croce's "Car Wash Blues"). Plus you can't beat the beach boy / child's toy / hoi polloi rhyme.

"Summer in the City" and "Daydream" get so much airplay, I can't remember back to when I wasn't sick of them. I voted for "Do You Believe in Magic" (which, just to be contradictory. probably gets almost as much airplay), with "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" and "Six O'Clock" close. Ages and ages and ages ago, Zal Yanovsky's father used to patronize my dad's milk store.

"Did You Ever Have to Make up Your Mind?" needs more love, A+ goofiness

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Had to go with Younger Girl.

Ridiculous to have to pick one, but I heard Michael Shelley play "Darling Be Home Soon" on his show the other day so I'm going with that. Lyrically it's got some kind of perfect mix of heartfelt emotion expressed through mixed registers and tortured syntax. Also, don't forget the great Joe Cocker version.

So many overlooked gems in their catalogue. I'd have gone for Old Folks or Forever, but neither are in the list.

So...

I love the way Younger Girl starts out like it's an acoustic version of Do You Believe In Magic, then turns into its pensive cousin.

That's a good description.

Great band that I've never seen a lot written about here, aside from (I think) Seward raving about the cover of Everything Playing. The bulk of their entire 1965-67 output is aces with me, happy/goofy ones and melancholy/serious ones alike. I'll go with "She Is Still A Mystery" ("The more I see, the more I see there is to see")

And babe, don't you know it's a pity the day can't be like the night in the summer, in the city.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

mind not made up

you didn't want to have to do it

I would have polled you anyway.

Summer in the City is right up there with Good Vibrations as best summer song ever.

"Younger Girl" is such a beautiful song. I always hate the "you (female) are too young to have...just now" theme, ideologically, but I just can't not dig this dreamy little idyll.

"You're a Big Boy Now" (Boone, Butler, Sebastian) – 2:38 0

watched this movie recently -- is this the track w/ the refrain of "girl, can i look at your insides?" kinda catchy, mostly terrifying

no, that's "Girl, Beautiful Girl (Barbara's Theme)".

WTF?

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/612/MI0001612990.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

where did her nipples go

(xp) the explanation for the cover is the album was supposed to be called "'Til I Run With You" - tho that doesn't explain why the back cover has Joe Butler squatting down chewing on a branch

I was just listening to the Spoonful yesterday and wondering if there had ever been any sort of poll on them

that album was the first (and only?) one w/o sebastian, i think

all the albums w/ sebastian are pretty great; they were underrated back then, and are still underrated today

!

Too true. Just heard Zal Yanovsky's one and only solo album, "Alive and Well in Argentina", sadly not very good tho using recordings of Hitler on the title track was amusing in a Mel Brooks sorta way.

he was a pretty phenomenal guitarist

Yeah, always loved his playing... btw "Revelation Revolution 69" is a Lovin' Spoonful album in name only, it's really a Joe Butler solo album.

Zal was such an excellent pop star.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL7XdoS5Je4

Don't think I heard much of Sebastian's solo work besides this A+ TV theme song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzEzDkeHzI

xpost to scott way upthread. been obsessing over the rotary connection cover of "didn't want to have to do it"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwDHitCW8Ic

Recommend the California Dreaming episode of Rock Family Trees, plenty of Lovin’ Spoonful in it and John Philips too sadly. There’s not a decent version on YouTube but there’s one here https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qbnf

Nice! I will have to check it out