John Sebastian's early group affiliations in the Even Dozen Jug Band and the Lovin' Spoonful rose out of the casual party jug band music that enjoyed a brief period of popularity during the folk boom, mixing folk elements with the more celebratory elements of country and blues with a touch of zany fun thrown in. Combining with guitarist Jimmy Vivino and drummer James Wormworth, Sebastian brought in original jute player Fritz Richmond from the Jim Kweskin Jug Band to form the J-Band, co-credited on this album, which updates jug music for the '90s. Sebastian opens the proceedings with the old Spoonful song "Mobile Line" for reference, and then things get really crazy. Sebastian and Vivino contribute four originals, but the heart of the album is material by the likes of Sleepy John Estes and Blind Willie McTell, and guest stars Paul Risell, Annie Raines, Rory Block, Yank Rachell, Richard Crooks, and John Simon are just as likely to be playing or singing as the nominal leader or his band, which can mean that Sebastian is frequently a sideman on his own album, especially during a three-song Rachell mini-set near the album's end. No matter. The result is like a particularly enjoyable club date in which friends keep stumbling onstage from the bar to sing a verse or play a lick. In other words, the spirit of jug band music has been brought back to life.
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