The Best of The Lovin' Spoonful

The Best of the Lovin' Spoonful is a best of album of The Lovin' Spoonful hits featuring tracks from their first three albums. It charted the highest of the group's career, hitting number three on the Billboard chart.

The Best of the Lovin' Spoonful
Greatest hits album by The Lovin' Spoonful
Released	1967
Genre	Folk rock
Length	29:10
Label	Kama Sutra
The Lovin' Spoonful chronology
Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful (1966) The Best of the Lovin' Spoonful (1967) You're a Big Boy Now (1967)

The album also included 9" x 12" individual color photos ("Suitable for framing", as labeled) of John Sebastian, Joe Butler, Steve Boone, and Zal Yanovsky.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

In his Allmusic review, music critic William Ruhlman wrote "this compilation is an attempt to balance group concerns rather than present their most successful performances. Nevertheless, it picks the strongest material from the group's three previous albums..."[1] The album was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[2]

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Do You Believe in Magic" (John Sebastian) – 2:04 (from Do You Believe in Magic)
2. "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" (John Sebastian) – 2:00 (from Do You Believe in Magic)
3. "Butchie's Tune" (Steve Boone) - 2:34 (from Daydream)
4. "Jug Band Music" (John Sebastian) – 2:49 (from Daydream)
5. "Night Owl Blues" (John Sebastian/Zal Yanovsky/Steve Boone/Joe Butler) – 3:00 (from Do You Believe in Magic)
6. "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" (John Sebastian/Steve Boone) – 2:29 (from Daydream)

Side 2

1. "Daydream" (John Sebastian) – 2:18 (from Daydream)
2. "Blues In The Bottle" (Arranged and adapted by John Sebastian/Zal Yanovsky/Steve Boone/Joe Butler/Stephen Weber/Peter Stampfel) – 2:10 (from Do You Believe in Magic)
3. "Didn't Want To Have To Do It" (John Sebastian) - 2:06 (from Daydream)
4. "Wild About My Lovin'" (Arranged and adapted by John Sebastian) - 2:38 (from Do You Believe in Magic)
5. "Younger Girl" (John Sebastian) - 2:23 (from Do You Believe in Magic)
6. "Summer In The City" (John Sebastian/Mark Sebastian/Steve Boone) – 2:39 (from Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful)

References

1. Ruhlman, William. "The Best of The Lovin' Spoonful > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "A Basic Record Library: The Fifties and Sixties". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0899190251. Retrieved March 16, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.