"John B. Sebastian" is the 1970 eponymous debut album of John Sebastian, who had been famous in the 1960s as the singer and leader of The Lovin' Spoonful. The album was released the year after Sebastian's performance at Woodstock, and the album includes several songs performed there, as well as pictures of him performing. The album was written and performed by Sebastian, although many tracks had accompaning musicians, including, notable, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Dallas Taylor. One song also had The Ikettes singing backup.
To me, the most interesting thing about this album is the variety of styles Sebastian performs in. The Lovin' Spoonful were somewhere between bubblegum pop and psychedelia, and this album is in the same general mold, but it includes "hippie" songs like "Rainbows All Over Your Blues", songs closer to easy-listening ballads like "She's a Lady", a song that is almost menacing in "The Room Nobody Lives In" (a song that explores the common phenomena of an empty room in a house) and then doo-wop on the song "Baby, Don't Ya Get Crazy" (which is the song featuring The Ikettes). Most of the songs are mostly light, featuring acoustic guitar, but there are a few times when the music almost growls.
When I first listened to this album, I knew Sebastian mostly through the few songs by the Lovin' Spoonful that got the most radio play. It quickly became one of my favorite albums to listen to, because it was lyrically and musically interesting enough that it was stimulating to listen to, but also it was fun and smooth enough to be relaxing. I later listened to other albums by Sebastian from the time period and found that he continued to make records that were diverse and challenging, while also being fun to listen to. I find it unfortunate that Sebastian was pigeonholed as a "hippy" playing "60s music" when his abilities were beyond that. Still, if you listen to this album, and compare it to Neil Young's debut album, recorded around the same time, the level of innovation and intensity is not quite the same. Still, this album shows that Sebastian was more than just a teen idol.
Side One
- Red-Eye Express
- She's a Lady
- What She Thinks About
- Magical Connection
- You're a Big Boy Now
- Rainbows All Over Your Blues
Side Two
- How Have You Been
- Baby, Dont Ya Get Crazy
- The Room Nobody Lives In
- Fa-Fana-Fa
- I Had a Dream