Zal Yanovsky got his start playing in coffee houses in his native Toronto, eventually teaming with future Mama and Papa Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty (a fellow Canadian) to form folk group the Mugwumps. Then in 1964 Yanovsky founded the band that would make him a rock star. Referring to their sound as "good-time music," the Lovin' Spoonful captured the zeitgeist of the mid-1960s with groovy tunes made for singing along. A talented and versatile guitarist ("He could play like Elmore James, he could play like Floyd Cramer, he could play like Chuck Berry,” said Spoonful co-founder John Sebastian), Yanovsky helped build that signature sound – and as we remember his life today, we're listening to a few favorite tunes. Daydream
You Didn't Have to Be So Nice
Summer in the City
Do You Believe in Magic
Written by Linnea Crowther
