The Lovin' Spoonful Anthology

The Lovin' Spoonful Anthology is a compilation album by the folk rock group the Lovin' Spoonful, released in 1990.

Anthology
Compilation album by the Lovin' Spoonful
Released	January 23, 1990
Recorded	1965–1968
Genre	Folk rock
Length	68:37
Label	Rhino
The Lovin' Spoonful chronology
The Very Best of the Lovin' Spoonful (1970) Anthology (1990) Live at the Hotel Seville (1999)

The Lovin' Spoonful Anthology focuses mainly on The Lovin' Spoonful's 1965-1966 releases with a few obscure tracks such as "Pow!" from their What's Up, Tiger Lily? soundtrack and "Good Time Music", an early song found on a label sampler. All the band's biggest hits are included as well as a booklet with comments about the songs from John Sebastian.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
MusicHound Rock	5/5

In his Allmusic review, music critic Richie Unterberger wrote "Unquestionably the finest collection of a major band that did much to launch American folk-rock in the mid-'60s. Anthology jams 26 cuts onto a single CD, including all of their hits and some of their strongest album tracks, drawing mostly from their 1965-1966 prime."

Track listing

1. "Good Time Music" (John Sebastian) – 3:06
2. "Do You Believe In Magic" (Sebastian) – 2:04
3. "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" (Steve Boone, Sebastian) – 2:31
4. "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" (Sebastian) – 1:58
5. "You Baby" (Mann, Phil Spector, Weil) – 2:55
6. "Younger Girl" (Sebastian) – 2:19
7. "Fishin' Blues" Traditional– 2:00
8. "Daydream" (Sebastian) – 2:18
9. "Jug Band Music" (Sebastian) – 2:51
10. "Didn't Want to Have to Do It" (Sebastian) – 2:36
11. "Summer in the City" (Boone, Sebastian, Mark Sebastian) – 2:39
12. "Pow!" (Boone, Joe Butler, Sebastian, Zal Yanovsky) – 2:28
13. "Rain on the Roof" (Sebastian) – 2:11
14. "Nashville Cats" (Sebastian) – 2:34
15. "Full Measure" (Boone, Sebastian) – 2:40
16. "Lovin' You" (Sebastian) – 2:28
17. "Coconut Grove" (Sebastian, Yanovsky) – 2:42
18. "Darling Be Home Soon" (Boone, Sebastian) – 3:31
19. "You're a Big Boy Now" (Boone, Butler, Sebastian) – 2:38
20. "Lonely (Amy's Theme)" (Sebastian) – 3:19
21. "Six O'Clock" (Sebastian) – 2:41
22. "She Is Still a Mystery" (Sebastian) – 3:02
23. "Money" (Sebastian) – 1:54
24. "Younger Generation" (Sebastian) – 2:40
25. "Never Going Back" (John Stewart) – 2:44
26. "Me About You" (Garry Bonner, Alan Gordon) – 3:48

Personnel

According to the album's liner notes:

The Lovin' Spoonful

• John Sebastian – guitars, lead vocals, autoharp, harmonica, Wurlitzer electric piano, Irish harp, clarinet, harmonium, marxophone
• Zal Yanovsky – lead guitars, vocals, lead six-string bass, electric gorgle, Chinese gong
• Steve Boone – bass, pianos, organs
• Joe Butler – drums, percussion, vocals; lead vocals ("You Baby", "Never Going Back" and "Me About You")
• Jerry Yester (replaced Yanovsky for tracks 22–26) – lead guitars, keyboards, vocals, vocal and orchestral arrangements

Additional musicians

• Chip Douglas – bass ("Never Going Back")
• Red Rhodes – pedal steel guitar ("Never Going Back")
• John Stewart – guitar ("Never Going Back")