Steve Boone (born September 23, 1943,

Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune () is a United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports ( Wilmingt ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Steve Boone official website
/ref>) is an American bass guitarist and music producer, who is both a founding member and current member of the folk-rock group

The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including " ...

. Steve co-wrote two of the groups' biggest hits,

You Didn't Have to Be So Nice "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" is a song by American rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. It was issued on a non-album single in November 1965 and reached number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in January 1966. The song was later included the band's M ...

and Summer in the City. Steve has played in the Spoonful since its reformation in 1991 with founding member

Joe Butler Joseph Campbell Butler (born September 16, 1941) is an American drummer and stage actor. He was a founding member of The Lovin' Spoonful, who had seven top 10 hits between 1965 and 1966. Early life Joe Butler was born on September 16, 1941, ...

and was inducted as a member of the band into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

in 2000 and as a member into the

Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame (VGHF) is an American-based hall of fame that honors vocal groups throughout the world in every genre of music. Headquartered in the Columbia Theatre in Sharon, Pennsylvania, it includes a theater and a museum. It was ...

in 2006.

Early life

Steve Boone was born in

. He was born at the Marine base while his father was serving in the

second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and grew up in St. Augustine, Florida, and in

East Hampton, New York The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York. At the time of the 2020 United States census, it had a total ...

. His mother bought him a Gibson Acoustic Guitar as a teenager after being involved in a serious car crash in 1960, which left him severely injured, he stated: While his brother Skip were in the Air Force, he met

(with whom Boone later performed with in

). The two formed a group called The Kingsmen (not to be confused with the group of the same name known for

Louie Louie "Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and r ...

). Steve was originally the groups Rhythm guitarist, but switched to Bass after their bass player moved to

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

The Lovin' Spoonful

In the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

section of lower Manhattan during,

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Zal Yanovsky Zalman Yanovsky (December 19, 1944 – December 13, 2002) was a Canadian folk-rock musician. Born in Toronto, he was the son of political cartoonist Avrom Yanovsky and teacher Nechama Yanovsky (née Gemeril), who died in 1958. He played lead gui ...

formed

. Steve first met Sebastian and Yanovsky in December 1964: Boone and Jan Carl were invited into the group, but Carl was replaced by

after only one gig. Lovin Spoonful 1965

The group made its first recordings for

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

in early 1965 and agreed in principle to sign a long-term deal with Elektra in exchange for a $10,000 advance. However,

Kama Sutra Records Kama Sutra Records was started in 1964 by Arthur "Artie" Ripp, Hy Mizrahi and Phil Steinberg as Kama Sutra Productions, a production house. The "Kama Sutra" is an ancient Sanskrit text.Alan Betrock ''Girl groups: the story of a sound'' 1982 p.1 ...

had an option to sign the Lovin' Spoonful as recording artists as part of a previously signed production deal, and Kama Sutra exercised the option upon learning of Elektra's intent to sign the band. The Lovin' Spoonful are best known for hits such as; Do You Believe in Magic, Summer in the City,

Daydream Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...

, Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?,

Darlin' Be Home Soon "Darlin' Be Home Soon" (or "Darling Be Home Soon") is a song written by John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful for the soundtrack of the 1966 Francis Ford Coppola film ''You're a Big Boy Now''. It appeared on the Lovin' Spoonful's 1967 soundtrack a ...

, and

. The group's only number one was Summer In The City (which stayed there for 3 weeks in August 1966). Boone co-wrote

(a song that has been cited as an inspiration for the composition of the 1966 song "

God Only Knows "God Only Knows" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1966 album ''Pet Sounds''. Written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher, it is a Baroque-style love song distinguished for its harmonic innovation and its subversion of typica ...

" by

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

), as well as Summer in the City. Steve wrote at least one song on every Spoonful album except for the last one, '' Revelation: Revolution '69''. In 1980, Boone, Sebastian, Yanovsky and Butler briefly reunited to appear in the

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

starring-film One-Trick Pony. Boone moved back to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1987. In 1993 he produced the Irish Times' album, ''Live At McGuire's Hill 16'' as well as the pop

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Forq and their album ''Forq Chops'' in 1998. In the early 1990s Boone teamed up with

Jerry Yester Jerome Alan Yester (born January 9, 1943) is an American folk rock musician, record producer, and arranger. Biography Yester was born in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, and grew up in Burbank, California. He formed a duo with brother ...

and

Jim Yester James Yester (born November 24, 1939) is an American musician. He is a member of the sunshine pop group The Association, who had numerous hits on the ''Billboard'' charts including " Windy", " Cherish", "Never My Love" and "Along Comes Mary". H ...

to resume the Lovin' Spoonful's

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

ing. As of 2019, Boone and Butler still tour with: Mike Aturi (Drums), Phil Smith (Guitar), and Murray Weinstock (Keyboard). Steve was inducted into the

in 2000 as a member of the Lovin' Spoonful (where all the original members played together for the last time, following Yanovsky's death in 2002), and inducted as a member of the Spoonful into the

in 2006. Steve wrote the book ''Hotter Than a Match Head: My Life on the Run with The Lovin’ Spoonful'' in 2014.

Other works

After the Lovin' Spoonful disbanded in 1969, Boone went to work producing an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

by the Oxpetals. Soon after finishing the album Boone bought a 56 ft sailboat 'Cygnus' and moved onto it in the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

. During his time living on the Virgin Island sailboat, Boone started secretly smuggling

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

from the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

to the United States, something he would later be arrested for. In 1969, Boone had started work on a solo album, but the album was scrapped shortly after. In 1973, three years after living on the sailboat, he returned to the United States to visit a friend, who was recording at ITI. While visiting ITI, Boone was asked by studio management if he’d be interested in the facility, to which Boone accepted. He sold his boat and moved to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and bought ITI, which he renamed to Blue Seas Studios. His first project was recording

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...

's ''

Feats Don't Fail Me Now ''Feats Don't Fail Me Now'' is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Little Feat, released in 1974, on the Warner Bros. label. The cover was designed by Neon Park. According to Richie Hayward, "Wait Till the Shit Hits the Fan" dates ...

'' album. Boone sold the studio some time later. Do you believe in magic lovin spoonful 1965

Personal life

Steve is married to Lena Boone and lives on an 11 Acre farm in Southport, North Carolina. They have since also purchased a home in

Leland, North Carolina Leland is the most populous town in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 23,504 at the 2020 census, up from 13,527 in 2010. As of 2020, it is considered to be one of the fastest growing towns in North Carolina. It ...

Discography

Albums

* ''Do You Believe in Magic'' (1965) * ''Daydream'' (1966) * '' Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful'' (1966) * ''

Everything Playing ''Everything Playing'' is the fourth studio album and sixth overall by the Lovin' Spoonful (including two soundtrack albums), released in 1967. History ''Everything Playing'' was the first album featuring guitarist Jerry Yester (replacing Zal Ya ...

'' (1967) * '' Revelation: Revolution '69'' (1969)

Songwriting credits

* ''Night Owl Blues'' (Co-wrote with

) ('' Do You Believe in Magic)'' * ''

'' (Co-wrote with John Sebastian) (''

)'' * ''Butchie's Tune'' (Co-wrote with John Sebastian) (''Daydream)'' * ''Big Noise from Speonk'' (Co-wrote with John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky) (''Daydream)'' * ''Full Measure'' (Co-wrote with John Sebastian) ('' Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful'') * ''Summer in the City'' (Co-wrote with John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky) (''Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful'') * ''Forever'' (One of few songs solely written by Boone) (''

)''

References

External links

Steve Boone's Website
{{Authority control, suppress=MBA,VIAF 1943 births American rock bass guitarists Living people People from Baltimore People from Onslow County, North Carolina The Lovin' Spoonful members