Download    This is us doing that great John Sebastian tune “What a Day for a Daydream”.  Sebastian grew up listening to folk music in the Greenwich Village section of lower Manhatten and eventually  formed his group “The Lovin’ Spoonful” in 1964.  Their first gig together was so bad the manager told them to go away and practice.  Obviously they did, because the Lovin Spoonful had numerous hits through the 60’s which are still played today.  Apparently that’s true – we’re even still doing them.  “Day Dream” has always been one of my favorite songs to perform.

At the peak of their success, the producers of the television series The Monkees wanted to base their program around the Lovin’ Spoonful but dropped the band from the project due to song publishing rights.  That’s too bad since not one member of The Monkees could play a musical instrument – they were all actors!  Their whole career was a sham, but that’s Hollywood.  The “Spoonful” were the real deal, largely because of Sebastian’s songwriting ability and smooth vocals.

I based our arrangement largely on the original, but I wanted something different in the middle.  So I worked up a kind of Dixieland solo that some people might consider odd – but consider the source.  And the whistling at the end isn’t either one of us – the keyboard has a pretty good “whistle” sound.  The ending is kind of abrupt, but it can be faded out.  It’s a live recording, so I couldn’t tweak it.  Singers, if you like this sequence, feel free to download the midi backing tracks from the Pop/Rock list.  Won’t cost you a dime – I’m just that nice.