Zal Yanovsky, guitarist with the Lovin Spoonful

I never got a chance to see them live, but the Loving Spoonful were a huge influence on my life. And Zal brought a sense of fun and craziness to the band that was great. Plus they knew where their music came from and honored those roots. At least Zal made it long enough to be entered into the R&R Hall of Fame.

The music industry today sure could use a good shot of that type of innocence and joy.

"The doctor said give them Jug Band Music. It seems to make them feel just fine." - John Sebastian

Zal was definitely the personality of the group while Sebastian handled the talent element. A fun group and I still spin the greatest Hits LP to take me back to those innocent or not so innocent summers of the 60's. I still have the indivdual pictures of them from that LP. Zal was holding what looked like a baby toy of some sort. Fun time of life.

I used to see them perform in the early days of the Cafe Wha, Cafe A Go-Go and at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village. Zal was definately the looney one of the group. He'll liven up the place in rock and roll heaven.

BTW- How is it that John Sabastian (I saw him about 4-5 years ago) hasn't aged very much in all these years. He must see David Bowie's doctor.