The Lovin' Spoonful - The Very Best Of (1998)

Dating two years before Buddah Records' Lovin' Spoonful Greatest Hits, the quality on this 26-song, 65-minute collection, issued in England and Ireland, is quite good. All of the expected hits are here, though not in order, starting with "Summer in the City" and zigzagging across their history, through "Daydream," "Nashville Cats," "Darling Be Home Soon," "Do You Believe in Magic," "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," "Younger Girl," "Wild About My Lovin'," etc. Side by side with the Buddah collection, however, absent from this collection are "You Baby," "Didn't Want to Have to Do It," and "Full Measure," and in their places are "She's a Lady," "Voodoo in My Basement," and "Boredom." Although the omission of "Didn't Want to Have to Do It" and even "You Baby" is unfortunate, the three cuts unique to this collection aren't bad; "Boredom" is a genuinely funny song, "She's a Lady" is a quietly gorgeous love song, and "Voodoo in My Basement" is an unusual blues-style number (roughly patterned after "Spoonful," which is a nice in joke). The sound is excellent throughout, with impressive stereo separation, though the annotation is minimal compared with other compilations.