John Sebastian interview

Happy Hour Harmonica Podcast

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
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Blue Moon Harmonicas: https://bluemoonharmonicas.com

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Chapters

1. John Sebastian interview (00:00:00)

2. John was a bona fide pop star with his chart success with the Loving Spoonful in the 1960s (00:01:45)

3. Lives in Woodstock and originally from New York, Greenwich village (00:02:20)

4. Was born in 1944 (00:02:40)

5. Very well known for being a singer songwriter, guitarist, autoharp player, but harmonica was what he started out on (00:02:58)

6. Lived right next to Washington Square, which gave John lots of access to the music scene in Greenwich Village (00:03:38)

7. John’s father was the famous classical and popular music harmonica player, also called John Sebastian (00:04:11)

8. John Sebastian senior was fearless and played in many places, including Africa (00:04:49)

9. John Sebastian senior was playing since before John junior was born and played in several harmonica orchestras (00:05:23)

10. John Sebastian senior spent some years in Italy, where he met the illustrator Garth Williams (00:06:32)

11. 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 (00:07:45)

12. Villa Lobos wrote pieces for the chromatic harmonica for John Sebastian senior (00:08:31)

13. 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 (00:09:14)

14. John Sebastian senior played into his later years, just having an issue with his mouth following a car accident (00:10:36)

15. John Sebastian senior moved to southern France to remarry in later life (00:11:53)

16. How his father influenced John to take up the harmonica, including bringing back lots of Hohner Marine Bands and Little Ladies after visiting Trossingen (00:12:49)

17. John Sebastian senior was a friend of Sonny Terry and brought John junior a Sonny Terry record, which got him interested in playing blues (00:14:01)

18. John junior was never planned to follow his father’s footsteps and pursue a career playing classical chromatic (00:14:32)

19. Met Sonny Terry on several occasions and including at the Gas Light cafe in New York (00:14:50)

20. 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 (00:15:34)

21. His father never pressured him to play harmonica, but John junior heard some of his father’s tuition material (00:16:52)

22. Plays a little chromatic harmonica, including the song Thedy with the New Rhythm Blues Quartet (00:19:09)

23. Authored a children’s book called JB’s Happy Harmonica, based on the story his parents had created in his youth (00:20:06)

24. Played harmonica in his first band, the Even Dozen Jug Band, which included notable musicians David Grisman and Stefan Grossman (00:22:32)

25. Only played harmonica in the Even Dozen Jug Band (00:23:45)

26. Released a jug band album in the 1990s, with his J-Band (00:24:10)

27. 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 (00:24:40)

28. Annie Raines recorded on John’s J-Band album, and John has performed with Annie on other occasions (00:25:25)

29. Joined The Loving Spoonful who were inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and John into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (00:27:17)

30. Singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player with The Loving Spoonful (00:27:43)

31. John credits Zalman Yanovsky for a lot of success of The Loving Spoonful (00:27:54)

32. John made an album with Arlen Roth during the Covid pandemic (00:28:37)

33. Played quite a lot of harmonica with The Loving Spoonful (00:29:04)

34. Left The Loving Spoonful in 1968 to start his solo career and worked with producer, Paul Rothchild (00:29:27)

35. Released first solo album in 1970, John B. Sebastian (00:30:11)

36. Has focused on the harmonica most in the last ten years as he is requested to play it more with people recently (00:30:48)

37. More on the album made with Arlen Roth (00:31:05)

38. Had a big hit when his song ‘Welcome Back’ was used as the theme tune to the US sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (00:33:11)

39. John played the harmonica on The Doors Roadhouse Blues song (00:34:05)

40. Paul Rothchild wanted John to record with The Doors to help keep Jim Morrison in check in the studio (00:34:38)

41. John watched The Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek for his cues while recording Roadhouse Blues (00:36:05)

42. 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 (00:36:51)

43. John only received a one-off session fee for recording Roadhouse Blues, and not royalties for life (00:38:15)

44. Played with The Doors at a live concert in New York (00:38:32)

45. Made other session recordings with musicians, such as with folk musician Gordon Lightfoot (00:39:38)

46. Recorded guitar on a Timothy Leary album, with Jimi Hendrix playing bass (00:40:03)

47. Recorded with Crosby, Stills and Nash on their Deja Vu album (00:40:50)

48. After leaving The Loving Spoonful, wrote a play called Jimmy Shine, starring Dustin Hoffman, which appeared on Broadway (00:42:01)

49. No harmonica in Jimmy Shine play, mainly because John wasn’t in the band (00:43:52)

50. Created a Homespun tutorial recording: John Sebastian Teaches Blues Harmonica (00:44:05)

51. John is strongly associated with the Woodstock festival, especially after a famous appearance there (00:45:38)

52. Ten minute question (00:46:36)

53. Originally played Hohner Marine Bands but then moved across to Seydel harmonicas (00:48:32)

54. Doesn’t play any overblows and thinks there is somewhat of a sacrifice in tone when they’re used (00:49:19)

55. Embouchre: picked up using some tongue blocking from his father, but mainly uses puckering (00:49:47)

56. Amps: mainly used a PA as didn’t want to emulate Paul Butterfield’s sound, who John was friends with (00:51:16)

57. Did get some distortion via using the mics at the time (00:52:32)

58. Effects: didn’t use any (00:53:03)

59. Has had to take a break from playing harmonica due to dental work but will be getting back to it (00:53:30)

60. John Sebastian senior was still able to play harmonica after the car accident which injured his mouth (00:54:35)