ReZoom

It's been a lifetime since the Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic?" topped the 1965 charts, but bandleader and chief songwriter John Sebastian remains a believer.

He's still on the road, most recently performing with mandolin master David Grisman, founder of the new-acoustic music movement, whose sideman credits include the Grateful Dead and Bonnie Raitt.

For Sebastian, that pairing takes him full circle, back to the group he performed with on his first recordings, the Even Dozen Jug Band.
Jug band music, a freewheeling mélange of blues, ragtime, old-time country, ‘20s pop and classic jazz, was a vital part of the ‘60s folks scene. The Grateful Dead began life as Mother Mcrees's Uptown Jug Champions and the Nitty Gritty Dirt band also has deep jug band roots. Along with Sebastian and Grisman, the Even Dozen included guitarist Steve Katz, a founder of the Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears, Joshua Rifkin, one of the prime movers of the 1970s ragtime piano revival that followed the success of The Sting, and Maria D'Amato, better known by her married name, Maria Muldaur. She met her first husband, Geoff Muldaur, in the group that started the jug band revival, the Jim Kweskin Jug Band.
Sebastian, Grisman, Muldaur and others appear in a critically-acclaimed new documentary about that ‘60s jug band revival, Todd Kwait's Chasin Gus' Ghost. The title comes from Sebastian's album with Fritz Richmond, the Kweskin Band's virtuoso jug and washtub bass player; The Gus in the title refers to 1920s jug band legend Gus Cannon.

Sebastian also recently released an instructional DVD on the guitar style of Mississippi John Hurt, another major influence on the ‘60s folk scene. So much of an influence, in fact, that Sebastian named the Lovin' Spoonful after a line from Hurt's "Coffee Blues."

With the Spoonful, Sebastian led one of the most successful folk-rock bands, his voice, guitar, harmonica and trademark autoharp gently powering a string of classic rock hits – "Younger Girl," "Do You Believe in Magic?" "Daydream," "Summer in the City," "Rain on the Roof," "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," "Nashville Cats," and the tribute to his musical roots, "Jug Band Music."

When the band broke up in 1969 (though a Lovin' Spoonful with founding members Steve Boone and Joe Butler continues to play fairs and festivals), Sebastian's solo career had a very auspicious beginning – a set at Woodstock.

From there his career milestones include the hit theme for "Welcome Back Kotter" and such side roads the soundtrack for the first Care Bears movie.
Today, Sebastian has returned to his first love, the blues-rooted acoustic folk music that gave him his start. His new CD with old pal Grisman is the fittingly-titled Satisfied, another song by Mississippi John Hurt. For John Sebastian, there's still magic in the music and he shares it, along with more than 40 years of musical memories on an audio interview with ReZoom music expert Larry Nager.