Zal Yanovsky Dec.19,1944-Dec.13,2002

Self-taught guitarist found fame:

Like many rockers of his generation, Mr. Yanovsky had led a Bohemian lifestyle before hitting the big time.
Zal Yanovsky, who soared to fame with the 1960s folk-rock group The Lovin' Spoonful, later settled into a comfortable life as a restaurateur in Kingston.
With hit songs such as Do You Believe in Magic?, Summer in the City, Daydream and Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?, The Lovin' Spoonful was one of a handful of groups able to regularly crack the dominance of the charts by the British Invasion groups and Motown artists in the mid-1960s.
Like many rockers of his generation, Mr. Yanovsky had led a Bohemian lifestyle before hitting the big time.
A Toronto native, he died Friday of a heart attack at his farm. He would have turned 58 on Thursday.
Dropping out of high school at age 16, he played guitar at Toronto coffee houses, then went to work at a kibbutz in Israel.
Back in Toronto, he slept for a time on the floor of a coin laundry, making ends meet by busking and stealing empty milk bottles that he would sell to corner stores for the deposit money, he once confessed.
Mr. Yanovsky, who had taught himself to play guitar, was a member of the mildly popular group The Mugwumps with Mama Cass Elliot before joining John Sebastian in 1964 to form The Lovin' Spoonful. The group jelled quickly and had its first hit, Do You Believe in Magic?, in 1965.
He left the group after a marijuana arrest in 1967, and was given a cash settlement that he later said made him "crazy rich." The group disbanded a year later.
"I should have left a year before then, but I was making pretty good money and so I sort of stuck it out," he told an interviewer shortly before his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
He bounced around for a while, trying a solo musical career and producing a TV series, before settling in Kingston and getting into the restaurant business. After first running another coffee shop, he and his wife, Rose Richardson, renovated an old livery stable to create the Chez Piggy Restaurant, now a city landmark. They also owned Pan Chancho, another Kingston eatery.
He played the guitar almost daily and sometimes joined a band for appearances, but he did not appear to regret his career switch.
"You just think of yourself as a guy (who played in a band) and now is doing this," he said in an interview in 2000. "You don't succumb to the hype. And I prefer what I'm doing now. This is great."
Mr. Yanovsky, a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is survived by his wife and a daughter, Zoe.
A private service is to be held today in Kingston. <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by sparkydon on Dec 16, 2002 ---</FONT></center>

What a day for a Daydream

Daydreaming about summer of '68, listening to the Spoonful... I actually had a crush on Zally...

He made beautiful music here, and I am sure is still doing so wherever he is now.

Wow, sorry to hear about him. Back in the 60's & 70's every kid had a Spoonful or John Sebastian record. I have the WELCOME BACK KOTTER theme song by John Sebastian & a Spoonful album I weaseled off my cousin yrs ago. Looks like the singers of my youth are slowily passing on. Peace & God Bless... <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>