Sebastian’s back
ClassicBy Jimmy Mincin, jmincin@altoonamirror.com
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Fact Box
If you go
What: John Sebastian and David Grisman live
Where: State Theatre, State College
When: 8 p.m. Oct. 10
Admission: Tickets are $42, and can be purchased online at www.statetickets.org, by phone at 272-0606 or at the box office.
More information: Box office hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday. Box office is always open one hour before any event.
John Sebastian has had a varied career as a singer, songwriter and musician.
As the leader of '60s folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful, he was
responsible for a string of Top Ten hits from 1965 to 1967 that included "Do You Believe in Magic," "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," "Daydream," "Summer in the City" and "Nashville Cats." He returned to No. 1 in 1976 as a solo artist with "Welcome Back," the theme song for the sitcom "Welcome Back Kotter" starring John Travolta.
He's bringing those perennial hits and more to the State Theatre in State College at 8 p.m. Oct. 10, where he will perform with mandolinist/composer David Grisman, a 40-year music veteran who blends swing, bluegrass, Latin, jazz and gypsy and who spearheaded an acoustic music revolution with what he called "dawg music."
"It's a double thrill for me to come back to State College," Sebastian, 64, said in a recent phone interview from Saugerties, N.Y. "A lot of my favorite relatives are in the great valley - especially Boalsburg and Aaronsburg. My wife's uncle was an agriculture professor at Penn State University. I love performing here."
After leaving the Lovin' Spoonful in 1968, Sebastian embarked on a solo career, considering, but ultimately rejecting, an offer to join a trio of friends who went on to become Crosby, Stills & Nash, he said, adding he also wrote some songs used in a Broadway play, "Jimmy Shine," starring a young Dustin Hoffman - among them was "She's a Lady," a minor chart entry at the end of 1968.
Not long after, Sebastian made an inadvertent appearance at the mythical Woodstock festival in August 1969. Not scheduled to appear, but nevertheless backstage (and somewhat the worse for wear due to recreational drug use, he recalled), he was pressed into service during a set and gave a brief, well-received performance. The Woodstock appearance fueled his solo endeavors, as he was featured on the chart-topping Woodstock soundtrack album in the spring of 1970 and in the documentary film that opened the following August.
He remembered his overall '60s experience with a mix of nostalgia and bitterness.
"The heyday of the Loving Spoonful was a very hard audience to play for," he said.
"People at that time were hypnotized by the very idea of seeing four young guys with long hair performing - it would invariably engender constant screaming at the top of their lungs. Some people might say, oh what a shame, but the fact was, we often had to shut down concerts early just over silly '60s Beatlemania-type stuff.
"There were some great times, but I enjoy performing more now," he added.
And much to the relief of many of his fans, his 2000 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hasn't slowed him down or rendered him complacent. He's enjoying the tour with Grisman to the utmost, he said.
"Grisman and I are both seasoned travelers," he said. "It's still pretty early in the tour, but so far it's been very well-received. It's kind of taken David and I back in time. It's like people had a thirst for this kind of thing for a long time."
But don't come to the show expecting to hear nothing but old Lovin' Spoonful favorites.
"That isn't a real focus, to be honest," he said. "Basically, I show up with a baritone guitar, a conventional acoustic guitar and a harmonica. Grisman shows up with a banjo mandolin, a conventional mandolin and a mandola. So, the keys that are friendly to those respective instruments are really what determines what songs we'll do. It's a mixed bag.
"It's been a wild ride so far," he said. "The first show we did, we did two tunes we never even rehearsed - so you never know."
After 40 years of not seeing each other, Sebastian recently crossed paths with Grisman at a benefit concert in Mill Valley, Calif., Sebastian said. After a mutually enjoyable evening of spontaneous music, it became obvious to both of them that they should continue collaborating.
"Playing with David is like being a great character actor who can turn the meaning of a sentence completely on its head just by changing its inflection."
Kristy Cyone, marketing director at the State Theatre, said people in the State College community are getting "pretty excited" about the two legendary performers coming to Happy Valley.
"It's definitely exciting to see them get together after all these years," she said. "I've heard some great responses from people in the community about the show."
For those who have never been to the 571-seat theater, she said to expect a very up-close-and-personal experience.
"It's a very intimate venue," she said. "To see two performers of this caliber performing in such a small venue is going to be a unique experience. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Mirror Staff Writer Jimmy Mincin is at 946-7460.
