John Sebastian joins me on episode 135.
John had considerable chart success in the 1960s as part of the folk rock band, The Lovin' Spoonful, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the year 2000. John was also inducted into the songwriters Hall Of Fame. Probably better known as a singer songwriter and guitar player, harmonica was John’s first instrument, inspired by his father, also called John Sebastian, who was a renowned classical harmonica player. And we discuss some of his father’s music and how this inspired his son to take up the harmonica.
John started out playing harmonica in a jug band before his success with The Lovin' Spoonful, before he then enjoyed a solo career and some notable recording sessions, not least as the harmonica player on The Doors song, Roadhouse Blues.
Links:
John's website: https://www.johnbsebastian.com/
John’s children’s book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jbs-Harmonica-John-Sebastian/dp/0152400915
Review of Jug Band DVD by Todd Kwait: Chasin' Gus' Ghost: https://driftwoodmagazine.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/dvd-review-chasin’-gus’-ghost/
Videos:
John Sebastian senior live performance of Villas Lobos Harmonica Concerto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2EO0SUraGQ
Playing ‘Thedy’ on chromatic with the New Rhythm Blues Quartet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f9IGhcGiQQ
Harmonica duet with Annie Raines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmPOnRUDZAE
John’s Homespun Blues Harmonica course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIVWaVSOoLE
John’s appearance at Woodstock in 1969: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBXL7FaPod4
Liam Ward interview with John and a lesson from Liam on how to play Roadhouse Blues: https://www.learntheharmonica.com/post/roadhouse-blues-harmonica-john-sebastian
Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com
Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB
Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ
Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
--------------------------------
Blue Moon Harmonicas: https://bluemoonharmonicas.com
Support the show
John was a bona fide pop star with his chart success with the Loving Spoonful in the 1960s
Lives in Woodstock and originally from New York, Greenwich village
Very well known for being a singer songwriter, guitarist, autoharp player, but harmonica was what he started out on
Lived right next to Washington Square, which gave John lots of access to the music scene in Greenwich Village
John’s father was the famous classical and popular music harmonica player, also called John Sebastian
John Sebastian senior was fearless and played in many places, including Africa
John Sebastian senior was playing since before John junior was born and played in several harmonica orchestras
John Sebastian senior spent some years in Italy, where he met the illustrator Garth Williams
John Sebastian senior played popular music as well as classical and played at Cafe Society in New York, one of the first clubs offering both black and white artists on the bill
Villa Lobos wrote pieces for the chromatic harmonica for John Sebastian senior
John Sebastian senior was keen to avoid being a pop harmonica player, due to prevalence of popular harmonica bands at the time, which incorporated humour into their performance
John Sebastian senior played into his later years, just having an issue with his mouth following a car accident
John Sebastian senior moved to southern France to remarry in later life
How his father influenced John to take up the harmonica, including bringing back lots of Hohner Marine Bands and Little Ladies after visiting Trossingen
John Sebastian senior was a friend of Sonny Terry and brought John junior a Sonny Terry record, which got him interested in playing blues
John junior was never planned to follow his father’s footsteps and pursue a career playing classical chromatic
Met Sonny Terry on several occasions and including at the Gas Light cafe in New York
John’s parents created a song for him called JB’s Happy Harmonica, with his mother writing the words and his father narrating them and playing some harmonica
His father never pressured him to play harmonica, but John junior heard some of his father’s tuition material
Plays a little chromatic harmonica, including the song Thedy with the New Rhythm Blues Quartet
Authored a children’s book called JB’s Happy Harmonica, based on the story his parents had created in his youth
Played harmonica in his first band, the Even Dozen Jug Band, which included notable musicians David Grisman and Stefan Grossman
Only played harmonica in the Even Dozen Jug Band
Released a jug band album in the 1990s, with his J-Band
Interest in jug band music came from seeing the musicians from the original jug bands in his youth, including the harmonica players in those bands
Annie Raines recorded on John’s J-Band album, and John has performed with Annie on other occasions
Joined The Loving Spoonful who were inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and John into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player with The Loving Spoonful
John credits Zalman Yanovsky for a lot of success of The Loving Spoonful
John made an album with Arlen Roth during the Covid pandemic
Played quite a lot of harmonica with The Loving Spoonful
Left The Loving Spoonful in 1968 to start his solo career and worked with producer, Paul Rothchild
Released first solo album in 1970, John B. Sebastian
Has focused on the harmonica most in the last ten years as he is requested to play it more with people recently
More on the album made with Arlen Roth
Had a big hit when his song ‘Welcome Back’ was used as the theme tune to the US sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter
John played the harmonica on The Doors Roadhouse Blues song
Paul Rothchild wanted John to record with The Doors to help keep Jim Morrison in check in the studio
John watched The Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek for his cues while recording Roadhouse Blues
The credit for the harmonica playing is G. Puglese, John’s father’s family name. John used a pseudonym at the request of Paul Rothchild
John only received a one-off session fee for recording Roadhouse Blues, and not royalties for life
Played with The Doors at a live concert in New York
Made other session recordings with musicians, such as with folk musician Gordon Lightfoot
Recorded guitar on a Timothy Leary album, with Jimi Hendrix playing bass
Recorded with Crosby, Stills and Nash on their Deja Vu album
After leaving The Loving Spoonful, wrote a play called Jimmy Shine, starring Dustin Hoffman, which appeared on Broadway
No harmonica in Jimmy Shine play, mainly because John wasn’t in the band
Created a Homespun tutorial recording: John Sebastian Teaches Blues Harmonica
John is strongly associated with the Woodstock festival, especially after a famous appearance there
Originally played Hohner Marine Bands but then moved across to Seydel harmonicas
Doesn’t play any overblows and thinks there is somewhat of a sacrifice in tone when they’re used
Embouchre: picked up using some tongue blocking from his father, but mainly uses puckering
Amps: mainly used a PA as didn’t want to emulate Paul Butterfield’s sound, who John was friends with
Did get some distortion via using the mics at the time
Has had to take a break from playing harmonica due to dental work but will be getting back to it
John Sebastian senior was still able to play harmonica after the car accident which injured his mouth
