Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful

Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful is the third studio album and fourth overall by American folk rock band the Lovin' Spoonful, released in 1966 by Kama Sutra Records. It peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful
Studio album by
the Lovin' Spoonful
Releasedc. November 24, 1966 (1966-11-24)[1]
StudioColumbia 7th Avenue and Bell Sound, New York City[lower-alpha 1]
Genre
Length26:48
LabelKama Sutra
ProducerErik Jacobsen
The Lovin' Spoonful chronology
What's Up, Tiger Lily?
(1966)		 Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful
(1966)		 The Best of The Lovin' Spoonful
(1967)
Singles from Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful
  1. "Rain on the Roof"
    Released: October 1966[5]
  2. "Nashville Cats" / "Full Measure"
    Released: December 1966[6]

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.[7]

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 later 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.[2] 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.[8]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
Select[10]

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..."[1]

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

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

Charts and certifications

Notes
  1. "Lovin' You" was recorded in a Los Angeles studio.[2]

References
  1. Ruhlmann, William. "Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  2. Diken 2003.
  3. Nelson, Paul (1980). "Folk Rock". In Miller, Jim (ed.). The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll (Revised and Updated ed.). New York City: Random House. pp. 231–234. ISBN 0-394-73938-8 – via the Internet Archive.
  4. Cash Box review panel (December 17, 1966). "Album Reviews". Cash Box. p. 38.
  5. Savage 2015, p. 561.
  6. Anon. (1990). Anthology (Liner notes). The Lovin' Spoonful. Rhino. R2 70944.
  7. Diken 2003, p. 2.
  8. Allmusic entry for Do You Believe in Magic and Hums re-release.
  9. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  10. Cavanagh, David (October 1990). "The Lovin' Spoonful: Daydream/Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful". Select. No. 4. p. 132.
  11. "RPM 25 Top LPs". RPM. February 18, 1967.
  12. "Top LPs" (PDF). Billboard. February 25, 1967. p. 44.
  13. "Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. February 18, 1967. p. 63.
  14. "100 Top LP's" (PDF). Record World. March 11, 1967. p. 58.
  15. "Best Albums of 1967" (PDF). Cash Box. 23 December 1967. p. 24.

Sources
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