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Biography
for|the similarly named Mexican pop singer|Joan SebastianInfobox musical artist | name = John Sebastian| image = John Sebastian playing in East Lansing MI in 1970.jpg| caption = John Sebastian performing in 1974| landscape = yes| background = solo_singer| birth_name = John Benson Sebastian| birth_date = birth date and age|mf=yes|1944|3|17||birth_place = Greenwich Village , New York City, New York|New York City , New York United States|USA | death_date =| instrument = Singing|Vocals , guitar , harmonica , piano , autoharp | genre = Rock music|Rock , Pop music|pop , Folk music|folk | occupation = musician , songwriter | years_active = 1965–present| label = Kama Sutra Records|Kama Sutra , Reprise Records|Reprise | associated_acts = The Lovin' Spoonful , Even Dozen Jug Band , The Mugwumps | website = URL| http://www.johnbsebastian.com/| notable_instruments = John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944, in Greenwich Village , New York City ) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful , a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/lovin-spoonful/ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame entry for the Lovin' Spoonful.. Retrieved January 5, 2009. His tie-dyed denim jacket is prominently displayed there.
Life and early career
Sebastian's father, John Sebastian , was a noted classical music|classical harmonica player and his mother was a radio script writer. He is the godson of Vivian Vance (Ethel Mertz of I Love Lucy ). He grew up surrounded by music and musician s, including Burl Ives and Woody Guthrie and hearing such players as Leadbelly and Mississippi John Hurt in his own neighborhood. Graduated from Blair Academy a private all male prep school in Blairstown NJ. http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/bio/C6011 Songwriter Hall of Fame John Sebastian biography.. Retrieved January 5, 2009. http://www.johnbsebastian.com/bio.html John Sebastian biography at www.johnbsebastian.com. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
One of his first sound recording and reproduction|recording gigs was playing guitar and harmonica for Billy Faier 's 1964 album The Beast of Billy Faier. cite web|url= http://billyfaier.com/ |accessdate=2010-01-31 |title=Billy Faier - The Five String Banjo |date=2009-12-10 He also recorded with Fred Neil on the Bleecker & MacDougal album and Tom Rush 's self-titled album in 1965. He came up through the Even Dozen Jug Band and The Mugwumps , which split to form the Lovin' Spoonful and The Mamas & the Papas . Sebastian was joined by Zal Yanovsky , Steve Boone and Joe Butler in the Spoonful, which was named after "The Coffee Blues," a Mississippi John Hurt song . Sebastian also played autoharp on occasion.
The Lovin' Spoonful became part of the American response to the British Invasion and was noted for such folk music|folk -flavored chart-topper|hits as "Jug Band Music," " Do You Believe in Magic (song)|Do You Believe in Magic ," " Summer in the City ," " Daydream (1966 song)|Daydream ," "Nashville Cats," "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind," "Six O'Clock," "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," and "Younger Girl." The band, however, began to implode after a 1967 marijuana bust in San Francisco involving Zal Yanovsky|Yanovsky , a Canadian citizen. Facing deportation, he gave up the name of his dealer, which caused a fan backlash and internal strife. Neither John Sebastian nor Joe Butler was involved in the matter; neither was even in San Francisco at the time. Yanovsky subsequently left the band and was replaced by Jerry Yester . http://sonylegacy.iventastage.com/The-Lovin-Spoonful/Biography.aspx Sony Legacy Recordings biography entry for The Lovin' Spoonful. From Allmusic biography by Richie Unterberger.. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
Solo career
image:John Sebastian 1979.jpg|left|thumb|Performing at the Woodstock Reunion 1979 at Parr Meadows in Ridge, NY. Sebastian left the Lovin' Spoonful in 1968 although he and the original band reunited briefly to appear in the film One-Trick Pony (film)|One Trick Pony starring Paul Simon and Blair Brown . In December 1968, a musical he composed the music and lyrics for, Jimmy Shine , opened on Broadway theatre|Broadway with Dustin Hoffman in the title role.cite news|author=Friday, Dec. 13, 1968 |url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839680,00.html? promoid=googlep |title=Time Magazine, December 13, 1968 |publisher=Time.com |date=1968-12-13 |accessdate=2010-10-14
He embarked on a moderately successful solo (music)|solo career after leaving the Lovin' Spoonful in 1968. Sebastian was popular among the rock music|rock festival circuits. He had a memorable, albeit unscheduled appearance at Woodstock , appearing after Country Joe McDonald 's set, playing songs such as "I Had A Dream," "Rainbows All Over Your Blues," "Darling Be Home Soon" and "Younger Generation," which he dedicated to a newborn baby at the festival. Documentary remarks by festival organizers revealed that Sebastian was under the influence of cannabis (drug)|marijuana at the time, hence his spontaneity and casual, unplanned set. "By the time I got to Woodstock I remained a pot smoker, but there was a natural high there," says Sebastian. http://www.sonicboomers.com/pastprint/john-sebastians-spoonful-magic Sonic Boomers. "John Sebastian's Spoonful of Magic" by Charles Bermant. March 26, 2010.dead link|date=October 2010 "In an interview it is the easy thing to say 'yeah, I was really high,' but it was actually a very small part of the event. In fact, I had a small part of some pill that someone gave me before I went onstage, but it wasn't a real acid feeling." Sebastian also returned for Woodstock '94 , playing harmonica for Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)|Crosby, Stills and Nash . Sebastian released his eponymous gramophone record|LP John B. Sebastian (album)|John B. Sebastian in 1970, which featured him accompanied by various Los Angeles|L.A. musicians.
Sebastian played harmonica with The Doors on the song Roadhouse Blues under the pseudonym G. Pugliese to avoid problems with his contract, which was featured on Morrison Hotel album.The Doors, Morrison Hotel Remastered Liner Notes, Page 7, David Frickle, 2006 He also played on "Little Red Rooster" on the live album Alive, She Cried and on seven songs on Live In Detroit (The Doors album)|Live In Detroit . http://www.doors.com/magazine/detroit.html The Doors Live in Detroit CD Review at www.doors.com. Retrieved January 6, 2009.Allmusic|class=album|id=r521098|pure_url=yes Allmusic entry for The Doors Live in Detroit.. Retrieved January 6, 2009. He is also credited with playing harmonica on Crosby Stills Nash & Young 's "Déjà Vu" from the Déjà Vu (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album)|album of the same name .
In 1976, Sebastian had a number one single (music)|single with " Welcome Back (John Sebastian song)|Welcome Back ," the theme song to the Welcome Back, Kotter television show. His only top 40 solo hit, it found new life decades later when a sample from it became the hook for rapper Mase 's 2004 hit " Welcome Back (Mase song)|Welcome Back ." More recently, he played with John Sebastian and the J-Band, a jug band including Fritz Richmond from the Jim Kweskin|Jim Kweskin Jug Band , Yank Rachell , an original jug-band leader, and Geoff Muldaur .
Several modern musicians cite him as a large influence, including renowned blues harmonica player, Mike Tetrault . As a songwriter, Sebastian's songs have been cover version|covered by Elvis Costello ("The Room Nobody Lives In"), Dolly Parton , Del McCoury , Helen Reddy , Brenda Lee , Johnny Cash , Bobby Darin , Slade and Joe Cocker ; Everly Brothers|The Everly Brothers , Tom Petty and Jimmy Buffett have all covered "Stories We Could Tell".
Later career
image:Johnsebastian-davidgrismon-fls.jpg|right|thumb|250px|With David Grisman on the left, 2009
Starting in 1978, John wrote the music for the animated special The Devil and Daniel Mouse , and even provided the singing voice for the character of Daniel Mouse. In the 1980s, Sebastian continued to write and perform music for several productions from Nelvana Limited Productions, a reputable Canada-based animation studio whose more recent output included the TV series Braceface , which starred—and was jointly produced by-- Alicia Silverstone , and the same studio which produced The Devil and Daniel Mouse. John wrote and sang the theme song/narration for Nelvana's TV pilot The Get Along Gang . (None of it was kept, however, when DIC Entertainment took over the project thereafter.) Sebastian also composed and performed "Care Bear Countdown," the theme song for Nelvana's Care Bears TV series, along with numerous tunes for the The Care Bears Movie trilogy which preceded it; this consisted of Care Bears Movie 2: A New Generation and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland .
In later years, Sebastian hosted several television programs regarding '60s' music, including infomercial|paid program s for compilations sets and a half-hour program called The Golden Age of Rock and Roll, which was usually composed of video footage of 1960s bands performing on variety shows. He also hosted a Spoonful retrospective broadcast over PBS in March 2007, talking about various Spoonful numbers in between vintage video clips of the band up to the time he left.
In 1992 Sebastian made a cameo appearance on the sitcom Married...with Children , together with other famous rockstars. In 2005, he appeared on Eels (band)|Eels ' Blinking Lights and Other Revelations . http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/e/eels-blinking.shtml Pop Matters entry for review of Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. In 2009, he toured with Maria Muldaur and her Garden of Joy jug band. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
In 2007, Sebastian released a guitar instructional DVD for Homespun Video teaching solo guitar adaptations of eight of his Spoonful hits including "Daydream," "Nashville Cats," and his solo hit "Welcome Back." He has also released an instructional DVD teaching beginning level autoharp. (Sebastian played both harmonica and autoharp on Shanachie's 2002 compilation CD "Man of Constant Sorrow.")
Sebastian and the J Band appear in ''Chasin' Gus' Ghost'', a documentary about the roots and influence of jug band music,cite web|url= http://chasingusghost.com/bios/cast/ |title='& #39;Chasin' Gus' Ghost'& #39; documentary web site |publisher=Chasingusghost.com |date= |accessdate=2010-10-14 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1087795/ IMDB entry for ''Chasin' Gus' Ghost documentary. which screened in August 2007 at the http://www.jugfest.org San Francisco Jug Band Festival and made its film festival debut in October 2007 at the Woodstock Film Festival . In the film, Sebastian humorously explains, with musical accompaniment, how his hit song "Younger Girl" was inspired by Gus Cannon 's "Prison Wall Blues." He also performed at the festival with other musicians featured in the film, including Geoff Muldaur , Maria Muldaur , Jim Kweskin and David Grisman .
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.
Stories We Could Tell, the title of a novel by British writer Tony Parsons (British journalist)|Tony Parsons , comes from the Sebastian song.Citation needed|date=January 2009
Solo discography
Original U.S. singles
Release year
Label/ catalog #
Titles (A-side / B-side)
Billboard Top Singles
Cashbox
cite web>author=tim warden
1970
1970
1970
1971
1971
1972
1976
1976
Original U.S. vinyl albums
Release year
Label/ catalog #
Album title
Billboard Album Chart
1970
1970
1970
1971
1971
1974
1976
Miscellaneous albums
1978 The Devil and Daniel Mouse|The Devil and Daniel Mouse: A Nelvana Story Album
1982 John Sebastian Teaches Blues Harmonica Homespun Tapes
1993 Tar Beach Shanachie Records|Shanachie
1995 John Sebastian Line
1996 I Want My Roots John Sebastian and the J-Band; Music Masters
1996 King Biscuit Flower Hour liveKing Biscuit Flower
1996 John Sebastian Teaches Beginning Blues Harmonica Homespun Tapes
1997 Do What Know? With Jimmy Vivino & The Rekooperators Music Masters
1999 ''Chasin' Gus' Ghost Hollywood
2001 One Guy, One Guitar live Hux Records|Hux ; concert performances from 1981 and 1984, originally broadcast on the BBC
2001 Faithful Virtue: The Reprise Recordings Rhino Handmade
2002 Man of Constant Sorrow: Instrumental Impressions of the American Heartland Shanachie Records|Shanachie , as licensed to the St. Clair Entertainment Group .Playing harmonica on one song with http://www.keanetunes.com/ Brian Keane, "Wagoner's Lad".
2007 Satisfied (David Grisman/John Sebastian album)|Satisfied John Sebastian And David Grisman Acoustic Disc
Samples
listen|title="Welcome Back"| description=by John Sebastian, Welcome Back (John Sebastian album)|Welcome Back , Reprise Records 1976. Sample from The Best of John Sebastian , Rhino Entertainment /WEA Corp., 1989, 1990 format= Ogg
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.johnbsebastian.com/ Official site
http://www.wirz.de/music/evendoz.htm Illustrated Even Dozen Jug Band discography
http://www.geocities.com/johnsebastianfiles/reillythe4ofus.html Peter Reilly's review of The Four of Us dead link|date=October 2010|bot=AnomieBOT
http://www.chasingusghost.com Chasin' Gus' Chost jug band documentary
Pop Chronicles|33|4
Woodstock Persondata | NAME =Sebastian, John | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =March 17, 1944 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Greenwich Village , New York City, New York|New York City , New York United States|USA | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Sebastian, John Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:People from Greenwich Village, New York Category:American folk singers Category:American rock singers Category:Songwriters from New York Category:American musical theatre composers Category:American musical theatre lyricists Category:American country harmonica players Category:Eels (band) members Category:Rock harmonica players Category:The Lovin' Spoonful members Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees
cs:John Sebastian de:John Sebastian fr:John Sebastian it:John Sebastian nl:John Sebastian no:John Sebastian pt:John Sebastian sv:John Sebastian
