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Do You Believe in Magic (album)

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Do You Believe in Magic
Studio album by
the Lovin' Spoonful
ReleasedOctober 23, 1965 (1965-10-23)
RecordedJune–September 1965[1]
Studio
Genre
Length30:03
LabelKama Sutra
ProducerErik Jacobsen
The Lovin' Spoonful chronology
Do You Believe in Magic
(1965) 		Daydream
(1966)
Singles from Do You Believe in Magic
  1. "Do You Believe in Magic" / "On the Road Again"
    Released: July 20, 1965
  2. "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?"
    Released: April 1966

Do You Believe in Magic is the debut album by the folk rock group the Lovin' Spoonful. It was released in the United States in November 1965, on the Kama Sutra label. Release in the United Kingdom followed in March 1966. The album features the hits "Do You Believe in Magic" (U.S. No. 9) and "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" (U.S. No. 2).

Do You Believe in Magic was re-released on CD in 2002 with five bonus tracks.

Release and reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [5]
MSN Music (Consumer Guide)A−[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
MusicHound Rock3.5/5[7]

Do You Believe in Magic first went on sale on October 23, 1965, when the Lovin' Spoonful held an autograph session outside a White Front department store in Pleasant Hill, California.[8] Kama Sutra Records issued the album across the United States in November,[1] one month after the title track peaked at number nine on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart.[9] In conjunction with the release of the album, the label issued the non-album single "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice".[10][nb 1] The album entered Billboard's Top LPs chart on December 4, 1965,[9] and it initially ran on the chart for 19 weeks, peaking in February 1966 at number 71.[12] After the album fell off the chart in April,[13] Kama Sutra issued another single from it, "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?",[14] which peaked at number two on the Hot 100 in June.[9][nb 2] That same month, Do You Believe in Magic re-entered the Top LPs chart,[16] and it spent 16 more weeks on the chart, reaching a new peak in August at number 32.[9]

Pye International Records issued the album in the United Kingdom in March 1966,[17] but it did not chart.[18]

In a review for The Village Voice, the critic J. R. Goddard wrote that though the Lovin' Spoonful was made up of talented musicians, the album was "so dull and poorly engineered".[19] Writing in retrospect for AllMusic, the critic William Ruhlmann wrote, "The album elaborated upon Sebastian's gentle, winning songwriting style... The album also revealed the group's jug band roots in its arrangements of traditional songs... The Spoonful would be remembered as a vehicle for Sebastian's songwriting, but Do You Believe in Magic was a well-rounded collection that demonstrated their effectiveness as a group."[5]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by John Sebastian, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Do You Believe in Magic" 2:04
2."Blues in the Bottle"Traditional, adapt. and arr. by the Lovin' Spoonful, Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber2:10
3."Sportin' Life"Traditional, adapt. and arr. by the Lovin' Spoonful4:03
4."My Gal"Traditional, adapt. and arr. by the Lovin' Spoonful, Jim Kweskin and Erik Jacobsen2:30
5."You Baby"Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Phil Spector2:55
6."Fishin' Blues"Traditional, adapt. and arr. by Sebastian1:58
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" 2:00
2."Wild About My Lovin'"Traditional, adapt. and arr. by Sebastian2:38
3."Other Side of This Life"Fred Neil2:30
4."Younger Girl" 2:23
5."On the Road Again" 1:52
6."Night Owl Blues" 3:00

Note

  • Track lengths are per the original LP liner notes. Songwriting credits are from the 2002 CD remaster.[1]

Charts

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Weekly chart performance
Chart (1965–66) Peak
position
US Billboard Top LPs[20] 32
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[21] 71
US Record World 100 Top LPs[22] 67

Notes

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  1. ^ "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" was later included on the Lovin' Spoonful's second album, Daydream, issued in February 1966.[11]
  2. ^ Before the single's U.S. release in April 1966,[14] Quality Records issued it in December 1965 in select Canadian cities to test its potential performance in the American market.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Edmonds, Ben (2002). Do You Believe in Magic (Liner notes). The Lovin' Spoonful. Buddha Records, Kama Sutra Records. 74465 99730 2.
  2. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (March 29, 2013). "The Lovin' Spoonful". MSN Music. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  3. ^ Segretto, Mike (2022). "1965". 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Backbeat. p. 70. ISBN 9781493064601.
  4. ^ Billboard review panel (November 20, 1965). "Album Reviews". Billboard. p. 68.
  5. ^ a b Ruhlman, William. "Do You Believe in Magic > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  7. ^ Rucker, Leland (1996). "Lovin' Spoonful / John Sebastian". In Graff, Gary (ed.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit, Michigan: Visible Ink Press. pp. 422–423. ISBN 0-7876-1037-2 – via the Internet Archive.
  8. ^ Anon. (October 22, 1965). "Autorama Begins Today at Store". Contra Costa Times. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com. The Lovin' Spoonful ... will be at the Autorama ... on Saturday [October 23] to sign autographs. Their first L.P. album, 'Do You Believe in Magic' will be on sale for the first time at the Autorama.
  9. ^ a b c d "The Lovin' Spoonful Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 21, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  10. ^ Jackson 2015, p. xx.
  11. ^ Diken, Dennis (2002). Daydream (Liner notes). The Lovin' Spoonful. Buddha, BMG Heritage, RCA, Kama Sutra. 74465 99731 2.
  12. ^
    • "Billboard Top LP's". Billboard. April 9, 1966. p. 40.
    • "Billboard Top LP's". Billboard. February 19, 1966. p. 31.
  13. ^ "Billboard Top LP's". Billboard. April 9, 1966. p. 40.
  14. ^ a b Savage 2015, p. 556.
  15. ^
  16. ^ "Billboard Top LP's". Billboard. June 11, 1966. p. 42.
  17. ^ Anon. (April 30, 1966). "News Extra: Spoonful LP". Melody Maker. p. 15.
  18. ^ "Lovin' Spoonful". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  19. ^ Goddard, J. R. (November 25, 1965). "Records: One Spoonful's Enough". The Village Voice. pp. 7, 15 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ "The Lovin' Spoonful Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 21, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  21. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Albums". Cash Box. July 9, 1966. p. 45.
  22. ^ "100 Top LP's". Record World. July 16, 1966. p. 18.

Sources

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