Review Summary: The summer in the city turned out to be a big disappointment.
After a disappointing soundtrack album in "What's Up, Tiger Lily?", The Lovin' Spoonful are back with the long awaited sequel to "Daydream". With John Sebastian responsible for all of the songs it seems that nothing could go wrong. The band's intentions with the new album, "Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful", was to make a collection of songs that sound nothing like the other. The end result was...
...Well, to put it lightly; it's a mess. As an album, it's horrible. Six of the eleven songs are just boring, with no sense of direction. The problem is that the songs are bad. The Lovin' Spoonful wanted to make an album where the songs sound completely different from one another. They certainly succeeded. But, the songs aren't good. It would've been one thing if the songs were good, but still different. As it is now, they're just awful. Which makes the album awful. Bands often get a lot of stick for changing their sound too much and trying to evolve. Sure, I respect John Sebastian for trying to evolve as a songwriter; for trying something new. It's just a bit disappointing that the first six songs on the album are fillers.
Then, something happens. After six songs. Six songs of bleak country/blues songs that wouldn't even fit on their debut album. After all of that -- if you even made it that far, that is -- comes "Rain on the Roof". A cosy, lullaby-esque song with dreamy guitars and a fantastic vocal performance from Sebastian. It's almost as if this the reward you get for your perseverance. This is the consolation prize. "Rain on the Roof" is the first truly great song on the album. Yeah, well, too bad. 'Cause it's too late. But, then it happens again: another great song! "Coconut Grove" is even better than "Rain on the Roof" before it. They share the same type of sound, but the big difference is that "Coconut Grove" is a bit melancholy; a rare find in The Lovin' Spoonful's discography. Hats off to songwriters Sebastian and Yanovsky for that one! I could also argue that the lyrics have political significance, but I'll let you decide for yourself:
It's really true how nothin' matters
No mad, mad world and no mad hatters
No one's pitchin' cause there ain't no batters
In coconut grove
Don't bar the door
There's no one comin'
The oceans roar, will dull the drummin'
Of many city thoughts and city ways
After "Coconut Grove" follows "Nashville Cats", the catchy country song written by Sebastian. Now, this song differs an awful lot from the previous songs. But it's a good song so it works! This shows that a collection of songs can be different, as long as they're
good songs. Unfortunately, it seems that the band figured this out a bit too late. "Nashville Cats" sounds like a good album closer, but it's actually the penultimate song on the album (not counting "4 Eyes" because it doesn't appear on some versions of the album). Instead the band chooses to end "Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful" with a song that should be an album opener.
"Summer In The City" is the song that ends the album. The best song on the album and, arguably, The Lovin' Spoonful's best song. "Summer In The City" was written by John Sebastian, with the help of his brother Mark Sebastian and bassist Steve Boone. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is also ranked number 401 on Rolling Stone's
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Needless to say, "Summer In The City" is their most famous song. And it's placed at the end of this album. Funny how things turn out, isn't it?
"Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful" is an album that could be described as a disaster with a happy ending. The album only has four songs that are worth listening to. These four songs are also four of their best. "Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful" came to be the last album by the original line-up after the departure of guitarist Yal Zanovsky.
Recommended tracks:
"Rain on the Roof"
"Coconut Grove"
"Nashville Cats"
"Summer In The City"
