Everything Playing
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Everything Playing
| type = studio
| artist = the Lovin' Spoonful
| cover = Everything Plaything.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|1967|12|6}}{{sfn|Ruppli|Novitsky|1998|p=357}}
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio = Mira Sound, New York City{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=181}}
| genre = Folk rock{{cite book |last1=Nelson |first1=Paul |author1-link=Paul Nelson (critic) |editor1-last=Miller |editor1-first=Jim |title=The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll |date=1980 |publisher=Random House |location=New York City |isbn=0-394-73938-8 |pages=231–234 |edition=Revised and Updated |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/rollingstoneillu00mill/page/231/ |chapter=Folk Rock |chapter-url-access=registration |via=the Internet Archive}}
| length = 32:23
| label = Kama Sutra
| producer = Joe Wissert
The Lovin' Spoonful
| prev_title = You're a Big Boy Now
| prev_year = 1967
| next_title = Revelation: Revolution '69
| next_year = 1968
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Everything Playing
| type = studio
| single1 = Six O'Clock
| single1date = April 6, 1967{{sfn|Ruppli|Novitsky|1998|p=306}}
| single2 = She Is Still a Mystery" / "Only Pretty, What a Pity
| single2date = September 21, 1967{{sfn|Ruppli|Novitsky|1998|p=342}}
| single3 = Money" / "Close Your Eyes
| single3date = December 1967{{Cite AV media notes |author=Anon. |title=Anthology |title-link=The Lovin' Spoonful Anthology |others=The Lovin' Spoonful |date=1990 |type=Liner notes|publisher=Rhino |id=R2 70944}}
}}
}}
Everything Playing is the fourth studio album by the Canadian-American folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful, released in December{{nbsp}}1967.
History
Everything Playing was the first album featuring guitarist Jerry Yester (replacing Zal Yanovsky who left shortly after recording "Six O'Clock") and the last commercial album as a quartet; principal songwriter and lead singer John Sebastian would leave the group in June 1968 for a solo career. This album also features the only known track to feature bassist Steve Boone on lead vocal: "Priscilla Millionaira".
Three of the songs made the Top 40: "Six O'Clock," "She Is Still a Mystery," and "Money". John Sebastian sang "Younger Generation" in his unscheduled appearance at Woodstock, dedicating it to an audience member whose wife or girlfriend had a baby at the festival.Fornatale, Pete. [https://books.google.com/books?id=VmcbZdbNcW4C&pg=PA51 Back to the Garden: The Story of Woodstock.] Touchstone, 2009, p. 51–52. {{ISBN|978-1-4165-9119-1}}.
The songs were recorded at Mirasound Studios in Manhattan using a prototype 16-track tape recorder which was custom built for the studio by Ampex.{{Cite web|url=https://www.historyofrecording.com/mirasound.html|title = Mirasound Studios, NY}} This was one of the earliest recordings to use 16-track technology.
Everything Playing was re-issued on CD in 2003 with three bonus tracks — alternate versions of songs from the original recording.
Reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 =Allmusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}} {{cite web |first=William |last=Ruhlman |title= Everything Playing > Review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id= r629816 |pure_url=yes}} |publisher=Allmusic |accessdate=June 15, 2011}}
|rev2 = Rolling Stone
|rev3 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|edition=4th|isbn=978-0195313734|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}
| rev4 = MusicHound Rock
| rev4Score = 3/5{{cite book |last1=Rucker |first1=Leland |editor1-last=Graff |editor1-first=Gary |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1996 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |location=Detroit, Michigan |isbn=0-7876-1037-2 |pages=422–423 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/musichoundrockes0000unse/page/422/ |chapter=Lovin' Spoonful / John Sebastian |chapter-url-access=registration |via=the Internet Archive}}
| rev5 = Uncut
| rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite magazine |last=Stannard |first=Joe |date=July 2003 |title=The Lovin' Spoonful: Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful / Everything Playing |magazine=Uncut |page=134 |issue=74}}
}}
In his Allmusic review, music critic William Ruhlman wrote of the album "When Sebastian wasn't at the mic, the singing could be mediocre, and the group was often all over the map in its attempt at musical sophistication, but the record was saved by Sebastian's writing and singing."
Track listing
All songs by John Sebastian unless otherwise noted.
Side one
- "She Is Still a Mystery" – 3:00
- "Priscilla Millionaira" – 2:20
- "Boredom" – 2:23
- "Six O'Clock" – 2:38
- "Forever" (Steve Boone) – 4:24
Side two
- "Younger Generation" – 2:40
- "Money" – 2:01
- "Old Folks" (Joe Butler) – 3:04
- "Only Pretty, What a Pity" (Butler, Jerry Yester) – 3:04
- "Try a Little Bit" – 3:04
- "Close Your Eyes" (Sebastian, Yester) – 2:44
Personnel
- John Sebastian – vocals, guitar, cover art
- Steve Boone – bass, vocals
- Joe Butler – drums, percussion, vocals
- Jerry Yester – guitar, banjo, vocals, keyboards
- Zal Yanovsky - guitar on "Six O'Clock"
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book |last1=Boone |first1=Steve |last2=Moss |first2=Tony |author1-link=Steve Boone |title=Hotter Than a Match Head: My Life on the Run with The Lovin' Spoonful |date=2014 |publisher=ECW Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-77041-193-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hmyFAwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Ruppli |editor1-first=Michel |editor2-last=Novitsky |editor2-first=Ed |title=The MGM Labels: 1961–1982 |date=1998 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-313-30779-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f9-7b7xXztEC |language=en |via=Google Books}}
{{Refend}}
{{The Lovin' Spoonful}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:The Lovin' Spoonful albums