Steve Boone

Steve Boone
Boone, 2014
Background information
Birth name	John Stephen Boone
Born	(1943-09-23) September 23, 1943 (age 81) Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, United States
Genres	Rock, pop rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, producer
Instrument(s)	Bass, vocals, guitar, keyboards
Years active	1964–present
Member of	The Lovin' Spoonful
Website	https://www.steveboone.net/index.html

Steve Boone (born John Stephen Boone, September 23, 1943^[1][2]) is an American bass guitarist and music producer, best-known as a member of the American folk-rock group the Lovin' Spoonful. Boone co-wrote two of the groups' biggest hits, "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" and "Summer in the City". Besides the Spoonful, Boone is also a record producer, he produced albums by several artists. He also was the owner of Blue Sea Studios, a recording studio that recorded albums by Little Feat, Robert Palmer and many other artists.^[3]

Joining the Lovin Spoonful in 1964, Boone played bass and keyboards and wrote songs for the band along with John Sebastian and co-wrote some with Sebastian. Boone would stay with the band until they broke up in 1969; shortly after the band broke up Boone briefly worked on a solo album, which was never finished. In 1991 the band reunited, and Boone has played in the Lovin Spoonful since its reformation. Boone was inducted as a member of the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000,^[4] Boone would play with original line up one final time, he was later inducted as a member into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006.^[5]

Boone has also produced several albums by many artists including Forq, Irish Times and the Oxpetals, Boone has owned a recording studio in the 1970s called Blue Seas Studios. Boone would start working in the studio recording albums, he would eventually sell the studio. In 2014 Boone published a book called Hotter than a Match Head: Life on the run with the Lovin Spoonful; the book is about Boone's time in the band and the history of the Lovin Spoonful.

Boone is still a member of the Spoonful, the only original member in the current lineup following Joe Butler's retirement in 2023.

Steve Boone was born a Military Brat in Camp Lejeune, the Marine base where his father, Emmett E. Boone Jr.,^[6] was serving in during the second World War,^[7] and grew up in North Carolina, St. Augustine, Florida, and in Westhampton, New York. He is the younger brother to Emmett E. Boone III, a.k.a. Skip Boone, later of Autosalvage.^[8] He has another younger brother, Michael,^[6] who is not involved in music.

In the 1930s, Boone's family owned The Howell House Hotel in Westhampton Beach.^[9] It was demolished in 1978.^[9]

The Boone family had previously lived on Long Island but moved away in 1952, after his younger brother, Charlie, was scalded and badly injured in an accident involving boiling water.^[9] He needed skin grafting and they moved to Florida, where his brother was referred to in order to heal. In 1958, Boone returned to East Hampton, where his father managed the Sea Spray Inn hotel.^[9]

His mother bought him a Gibson Acoustic Guitar as a teenager after he was involved in a serious car crash in 1960, when the driver rammed into an oak tree going 100mph,^[9] which left him severely injured, he stated:

"I was in a very bad car crash on the last night of my junior year of high school in East Hampton. I was out celebrating with one of my friends and we hitchhiked home. We dropped my friend off at his house, and on the way to my house the driver crashed into a tree. My injuries were so severe that I was going to be laid up on a sofa for at least 18 months where I wouldn’t be able to do any of my normal activities, so my mom bought me a guitar."

A 1961 graduate at the Westhampton Beach High School, he was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2012.^[9] Boone helped the Hampton Chronicle, a precursor to The Southampton Press Western Edition, when his mother managed the newspaper.^[9]

While he and his brother Skip were in the Air Force, they met Joe Butler (with whom Steve later performed with in the Lovin' Spoonful). The three formed a group called the Kingsmen (not to be confused with the group of the same name known for "Louie Louie").^[10] Steve was originally the group's rhythm guitarist, but switched to bass after their bass player moved to Louisiana.^[11]

In the Greenwich Village section of lower Manhattan during, John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky formed the Lovin' Spoonful. Steve first met Sebastian and Yanovsky in December 1964:

"In December 1964, I was in New York City picking up my motorcycle that I had shipped back from Europe where I had spent the previous 3 months riding around. Once in New York, my brother Skip and band mate Joe Butler suggested I go and meet John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky at a music club in Greenwich Village. There they proposed that we start a band and get a record deal, and so the story begins of the Lovin' Spoonful.

Boone and Jan Carl were invited into the group, but Carl was replaced by Joe Butler after only one gig. The group made its first recordings for Elektra Records 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 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", "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?", "Darling Be Home Soon", and "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice". The group's only number one was Summer In The City (which stayed there for 3 weeks in August 1966).^[12] Boone co-wrote "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" (a song that has been cited as an inspiration for the composition of the 1966 song "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys),^[13] 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 May 1966, Boone and Yanovsky were arrested in San Francisco for possessing 28g of marijuana. They had attended a party in Pacific Heights, where they were sold the drugs by Bill Loughborough.^[14] They left in a rental car, and the substances were discovered by police, who had pulled them over. Yanovsky was deported back to Canada as he wasn't a U.S. citizen, and Boone spent a night in jail before Rich Chiaro, the band's road manager, bailed him out. This was the first time of many more to come where a pop group were arrested for drug charges.^[15][16][17]

In 1980, Boone, Sebastian, Yanovsky and Butler briefly reunited to appear in the Paul Simon starring-film One-Trick Pony. In the early 1990s Boone teamed up with Joe Butler, Jerry Yester and Jim Yester to resume the Lovin' Spoonful's concert touring.^[18] Jim Yester left in 1994, Jerry Yester was fired in 2017 following child pornography charges, and Joe Butler retired in 2023, so the current lineup only consists of Boone from the original personnel, who tours with Jeff Alan Ross, Bill Cinque, Rob Bonfiglio and Mike Auturi.^[19]

Steve was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 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),^[4] and inducted as a member of the Spoonful into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006.^[5]

Boone recorded bass for vocal group The Cherry Drops’ Lovin Spoonful song covers of "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" and "Sweet Lovin’".^[20][21][22]

Lead singer John Sebastian hasn't been an official member since 1968, but Boone has mentioned that he lives near him, and has often asked him if he wants to rejoin the band, which he always refuses due to travelling, although John has performed the odd guest appearance.^[9]

Boone owns the rights to the Lovin' Spoonful name with Joe Butler.

Steve wrote the book Hotter Than a Match Head: My Life on the Run with The Lovin’ Spoonful in 2014.^[23] He held a book signing on September 27, 2014.

In 1973, three years after living on a sailboat, he returned to the United States to visit a friend, who was recording at ITI.^[3] While visiting ITI, Boone was asked by studio management if he’d be interested in the facility, to which Boone accepted.^[3] The studio recorded works by Robert Palmer, Emmylou Harris and Little Feat, among many other artists.^[3]

He sold his boat and moved to Baltimore, Maryland and bought ITI, which he renamed to Blue Seas Studios.^[24][3] His first project was recording Little Feat's Feats Don't Fail Me Now album.^[18][24][25]

Boone sold the studio sometime later.^[3] The studio eventually sank in the ocean, due to faulty design and a lack of proper maintenance.^[3]

After the Lovin' Spoonful disbanded in 1969, Boone went to work producing an album for Mercury Records by the Oxpetals.

In 1969, Boone had started work on a solo album, but the album was scrapped shortly after.

In 1993 he produced the Irish Times' album, Live At McGuire's Hill 16 as well as the pop rock band Forq and their album Forq Chops in 1998.^[18]

Sometime in 1970, Boone bought a 56 ft sailboat 'Cygnus' and moved onto it in the Virgin Islands. During his time living on the Virgin Island sailboat, Boone started secretly smuggling marijuana from the Caribbean to the United States, something he would later be arrested for.^[24]

Steve and Zal Yanovsky were arrested for possessing marijuana in 1966, making them the first bands in pop music to be arrested on drug charges.

Boone moved back to Florida in 1987, and still currently lives there.^[26] Steve is married to Lena Boone and lived on an 11 Acre farm in Southport, North Carolina. They have since also purchased a second home in Leland, North Carolina.

Boone’s older brother, Skip, later of the band Autosalvage, died in 2015.^[27]

• Steve Boone's Website
• Steve Boone at lovinspoonful.com