Track Listing
1. Lovin' You
2. Bes' Friends
3. Voodoo In My Basement
4. Darlin' Companion
5. Henry Thomas
6. Full Measure
7. Rain On The Roof
8. Coconut Grove
9. Nashville Cats
10. 4 Eyes
11. Summer In The City
Review
So here's some good rock/folk/pop/country stuff. The Lovin' Spoonful are particularly good becuase they have a really great songwriter in John Sebastian who was able to create a number of classic numbers which have lived on through covers and other version throughout the years.
The most obvious example of that in this album is Summer In The City known to several generations in several iterations. The original is still the best, however, and this is the definitive version of that track.
The album is extremely eclectic but all is brought together by the sheer quality of it, even if some tracks are a bit too gonzo for their own good. This is a band which can appeal to a wide number of people from Johnny Cash who covered Darlin' Companion to Joe Cocker who did Summer in the City and has been sampled by endless musicians. Great stuff.
Track Highlights
1. Summer in the City
2. Rain on the Roof
3. Lovin' You
4. Darlin' Companion
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Cover versions of the song include BB King in 1972, Quincy Jones in 1973, Tim Curry in 1982, Joe Cocker in 1993, and The Stranglers on their 1997 album Written in Red. In 2000, Joe Jackson released a live album titled Summer in the City: Live in New York, which opens with a cover of the song. The band Eat released a cover of the song in 1989. Country music artist Larry Stewart recorded it on his 1999 album Learning to Breathe. The Butthole Surfers covered the song on "Music for Our Mother Ocean (MOM)" Series No. 3 released in 1999. Styx covered the song on their "Big Bang Theory" released in 2005. It was also sampled by Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip in 2006 for their song "First Time We Met Musik". A modified version of the chorus was used in the third single Thru Ya City from Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump by De La Soul, Feat. D.V. Alias Khrist. In 2008, Barry Hay (The leadsinger of Golden Earring) covered this song together with the Metropole Orchestra.
The Quincy Jones cover of "Summer in the City" has been sampled by Massive Attack in the song "Exchange" from their acclaimed album Mezzanine, Nightmares on Wax in his song "Night's Introlude" on the album Smokers Delight, and also by The Pharcyde on their seminal hit "Passin' Me By" from the album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde. It has also been sampled by Black Moon on their 1994 song "Reality" and also sampled by Joe on the remix to his 2001 hit "Stutter". Another cover, by the Gutter Brothers appeared on the soundtrack to the Only Fools and Horses film "Miami Twice". The song has also been covered by UK jazz-dance act, Incognito on the 2006 album Bees + Things + Flowers.
Summer in the City:
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