Trivia / The Lovin' Spoonful

• Breakup Breakout:
  • After the band's dissolution John Sebastian went on to a moderately successful solo career, including an appearance at Woodstock and the chart-topping theme to TV's Welcome Back, Kotter.
  • The Spoonful themselves were one of two successful bands to break off from the early-'60s folk rock group The Mugwumps, the other being The Mamas & the Papas. (John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky were members, along with Cass Elliott and Denny Doherty.)
• Creative Differences: According to his bandmates, part of the reason Zal Yanovsky left was that he was dissatisfied with the direction John Sebastian's songwriting was taking, and wanted to return to the band's earlier sound.
• Role-Ending Misdemeanor:
  • In 1966, Zal Yanovsky was arrested for possession of marijuana. The police pressured him to give out the name of his dealer, and he complied, fearing that he wouldn't be allowed back into the United States otherwise (Zal was a Canadian citizen). The counterculture responded by calling for a boycott of the Spoonful's music, and Zal left the band partially to save face for the other members.
  • Jerry Yester was fired from the later incarnation of the group after being arrested on 30 counts of possession of child pornography.
• What Could Have Been: They were considered for the Monterey Pop Festival, but had to decline due to the legal troubles of guitarist Zal Yanovsky, who had been arrested on marijuana charges.

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