John Sebastian will reunite with the surviving members of the Lovin’ Spoonful for the first time in 20 years next week as part of a Los Angeles-area benefit gig.
Sebastian and former bandmates Joe Butler and Steve Boone last performed together at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2000. On February 29th, the three Lovin’ Spoonful members will take the stage at Glendale, California’s Alex Theatre at a benefit concert in support of the Autism Think Tank. The show is presented by the Wild Honey Orchestra.
“I’m delighted to be honored this month by the Wild Honey Orchestra, the musical team that’s doing an Autism Think Tank benefit this year in Glendale, California. And this year their subject is the Lovin’ Spoonful,” Sebastian said in a statement, noting that the performance isn’t a true Lovin’ Spoonful reunion.
“Since Steve, Joe and I agreed to attend, I’ve gotten correspondence about a Lovin’ Spoonful ‘reunion,’ and I want to clarify. Spoonful reunions without Zalman (Zal) Yanovsky are more like get-togethers. Most of the music at the show is played by a great assortment of studio musicians, not always including us. It’ll be a blast but a reunion would be a misnomer.”
Yanovsky, the co-founder of Lovin’ Spoonful with Sebastian, died in 2002. Boone and Butler joined the band in 1965; this Rock Hall-inducted classic lineup produced the singles “Do You Believe in Magic?”, “Summer in the City” and “Daydream.”