The Lovin' Spoonful folk musicians who were involved with the American folk music revival of the 1950s through the early 1960s. Sebastian formed the Spoonful with guitarist Zal Yanovsky from a bohemian folk group called The Mugwumps (two other members, Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty, later formed half of the Mamas & the Papas), playing local coffee houses and small clubs. The formation of the Lovin' Spoonful during this period was later described in the lyrics of the Mamas & the Papas' 1967 top ten hit, "Creeque Alley". Drummer Jan Carl and bassist Steve Boone rounded out the group, but Carl was replaced
The Papas & The Mamas In retrospect, Adler has said that the recording space was not well made, and the sound quality was not well-suited for a vocal group like The Mamas & The Papas. With the exception of the very successful cover version of "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (which is not representative of the rest of the album), the album's subject matter is often downbeat and world-weary, most notably in the lyrical content of "Safe in My Garden", "Mansions", "Too Late" and "Rooms". There are few love songs and it is also more experimental - the Hendrix-like guitar textures of "Gemini Childe"