"Houston had a special message for me as a young musician, and it came directly through Lightnin' Hopkins," John Sebastian says from his home in New York.
But the former front man of the '60s band the Lovin' Spoonful and solo artist didn't just get the Houston vibe through the music of the storied and legendary bluesman. He got it up close and personal with the man. Real personal. Like sharing-a-bathroom personal.
"Lightnin' would stay with me in New York when he came to play at the Village Gate or some other places in Midtown," Sebastian laughts. "And it was hilarious, my relationship was completely obsequious. It became all about getting Lightnin' to the gig, carrying his guitar, and getting him his pint!"
Sebastian first encountered Hopkins when the bluesman appeared on the same television show as Sebastian's father, who was a classical harmonica virtuoso.
"His playing was astonishing," Sebastian recalls. "By the end of the afternoon, I wanted to be Lightnin' Hopkins!"
Soon, the teenage boy was acting as unofficial guide and valet for the elder performer.
"I began to sort of speak for him because he didn't like talking to white club owners," Sebastian continues. "He also needed an interpreter because he had this thick accent and would slur his words on purpose as a device to back off the white guys."
And when he finally got to Houston?
"It was a mythical thing to me, this city," Sebastian laughs. "I was like 'wow, this is a modern city with skyscrapers! I thought I was going to see Centerville or something!"
John Sebastian returns to the not-so-mythical city Saturday night for his "One Guy, One Guitar" show of material from his Spoonful and solo catalogue.
"I'll have my Baritone and by big fat arch top guitars," he says. "Me offering my renderings of songs that had 18 overdubs originally!"
In the mid-'60s, the Lovin' Spoonful -- Sebastian on vocals, harmonica, guitar and autoharp; Zal Yanovsky on guitar (but later replaced by Jerry Yester); bassist Steve Boone; and drummer/vocalist Joe Butler racked up a string of chart hits, including "Do You Believe in Magic?", "Summer in the City," "Daydream," "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?", "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" and "Darling Be Home Soon."
Sebastian and Yanovsky, who became fast friends, actually met at Cass Elliot's place to watch the Beatles make their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. All three were also part of a group called the Mugwumps, a story is told in the Mamas and the Papas' single "Creeque Alley."
"Cass had this kind of salon going, even before she had any money," Sebastian says. "She introduced Zal and I just like she did for Crosby, Stills and Nash. And I think she enjoyed the 'den mother' role. It was almost as if she could have all these beautiful boys at her feet in a way that smokin' hot babes couldn't."
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