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{{Short description|1968 studio album by the Lovin' Spoonful}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Revelation: Revolution '69
| type = studio
| artist = [[the Lovin' Spoonful]] featuring [[Joe Butler]]
| cover = Revelation_Revolution_'69.jpg
| alt =
| released =
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre =
*[[Pop Music|Pop]] *[[folk rock]] | length = 32:06
| label = [[Kama Sutra Records|Kama Sutra]]
| producer = [[Bob Finiz]]
| chronology = [[The Lovin' Spoonful]]
| prev_title = [[Everything Playing]]
| prev_year = 1967
| next_title = [[The Very Best of the Lovin' Spoonful]]
| next_year = 1970
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Revelation: Revolution '69
| type = studio
| single1 = Never Goin' Back
| single1date = June 5, 1968{{sfn|Ruppli|Novitsky|1998|p=396}}
| single2 = (Till I) Run with You" / "Revelation: Revolution '69
| single2date = August 20, 1968{{sfn|Ruppli|Novitsky|1998|p=405}}
| single3 = Me About You" / "Amazing Air
| single3date = {{circa}}{{thin space}}January 1969<ref>{{cite magazine|author=''Billboard'' Review Panel|title=Spotlight Singles|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=February 1, 1969|page=79}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Bubbling Under the Hot 100|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=February 1, 1969|page=64}}</ref>
}}
}}
'''''Revelation: Revolution '69''''' is the fifth studio album by [[the Lovin' Spoonful]], released in late{{nbsp}}1968.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|p=195}} Though credited to "The Lovin' Spoonful featuring [[Joe Butler]]",<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |author=Anon. |title=Revelation: Revolution '69 |others=[[The Lovin' Spoonful]] featuring [[Joe Butler]] |date=1968 |type=Liner notes|publisher=[[Kama Sutra Records|Kama Sutra]] |id=KLPS-8073}}</ref> the album features only Butler, the band's drummer, playing with [[session musician]]s.{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=191–192, 195–196}}
Following [[John Sebastian]]'s departure from the Lovin' Spoonful in June{{nbsp}}1968, the remaining members of the band had little contact with one another. Butler received permission from executives at [[Kama Sutra Records]] to record and produce an album under the band's name, which he did without the involvement of either [[Steve Boone]] or [[Jerry Yester]].{{sfn|Boone|Moss|2014|pp=192, 195–196}} The album did not chart,<ref name="Billboard chart history">{{cite magazine |title=The Lovin' Spoonful Chart History (Hot 100) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-lovin-spoonful/chart-history/hsi/ |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121215619/https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-lovin-spoonful/chart-history/hsi/ |archive-date=November 21, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> and it is generally omitted from lists of the Lovin' Spoonful's discography.<ref>{{harvnb|Boone|Moss|2014|p=196}}: "''Revelation: Revolution '69'' is generally dismissed by critics and is often left unmentioned in Spoonful discographies{{nbsp}}..."</ref>
==History==
''Revelation: Revolution '69'' is the final studio album by the group. It features [[Joe Butler]] as lead singer on most tracks, following the departure of former lead vocalist and songwriter [[John Sebastian]].<ref name=allmusic>{{cite web |title=The Lovin' Spoonful - Revelation Revolution '69 Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/revelation-revolution-69-mw0000842481 |access-date=19 December 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Almost all the songwriting for the album is divided fairly equally amongst three songwriting teams:
''Revelation: Revolution '69'' was reissued on CD in 2008, in Japan only, with three bonus tracks—two edited versions of the title track, and the remixed single edit of "Me About You". It was also reissued in 2011 in the UK as part of the box set ''The Lovin' Spoonful: Original Album Classics.'' Both reissues include three bonus tracks.▼
==Composition==
''Revolution: Revelation '69'' is primarily a [[pop music|pop]] album.<ref name="Cash Box" /> One of the album's major set-pieces is the seven-minute "War Games",<ref name="Record World">{{cite journal |title=Album Reviews: Pick Hits |journal=Record World |date=December 14, 1968 |page=18 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/68/RW-1968-12-14.pdf |access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref> a [[sound collage]]<ref name="allmusic" /> that juxtaposes sounds of warfare with the [[Pledge of Allegiance]] and the patriotic song "[[My Country, 'Tis of Thee]]".<ref name="Cash Box" /> One reviewer described it as a mix of "dogs barking, babies crying, guns firing and kids playing".<ref name="NME" /> Further exhibiting the album's use of [[social commentary]], the title track comments that "the prize they give to men who kill is a statue in the park."<ref name="Cash Box">{{cite journal |title=Pop Best Bets; |journal=Cash Box |date=December 7, 1968 |page=39 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1968/CB-1968-12-07.pdf |access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref> According to one reviewer, Butler uses the song to exhort to all "to wake up in contemporary language".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Single Reviews |journal=Record World |date=June 14, 1969 |page=8 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/RW-1969-06-14.pdf |access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref>
==Critical reception==
▲''Revelation: Revolution '69'' was reissued on CD in 2008, in Japan only, with three bonus tracks—two edited versions of the title track, and the remixed single edit of "Me About You". It was also reissued in 2011 in the UK as part of the box set ''The Lovin' Spoonful: Original Album Classics.'' Both reissues include three bonus tracks.
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref name=allmusic/>
| rev2 =''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|4}}<ref name="Billboard"/>
| rev3 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev3Score = {{Rating|1|5}}<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|last1=Larkin|first1=Colin|title=Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music|date=1997|publisher=Virgin Books|location=London|isbn=1-85227 745 9|page=775|chapter=Lovin' Spoonful}}</ref>
| rev4 = [[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock]]
| rev4Score = 1/5<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rucker |first1=Leland |editor1-last=Graff |editor1-first=Gary |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1996 |publisher=[[Visible Ink Press]] |location=Detroit, Michigan |isbn=0-7876-1037-2 |pages=422–423 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/musichoundrockes0000unse/page/422/ |chapter=Lovin' Spoonful / John Sebastian |chapter-url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>
}}
Reviewing the album for the British music magazine ''[[New Musical Express]]'', the critic Richard Greene disparaged the album when compared to the Lovin' Spoonful's previous output. He concluded that the only valuable elements of the LP were the track "Only Yesterday" and "the nude lady on the cover".<ref name="NME">{{cite magazine|last=Greene|first=Richard|title=Lovin' Spoonful: Revelation: Revolution '69|date=June 7, 1969|magazine=[[New Musical Express]]|page=11|url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-lovin-spoonful-irevelation-revolution-69i-kama-sutra|url-access=subscription|via=[[Rock's Backpages]]}}</ref> Don Heckman of ''[[Stereo Review]]'' praised the recording and sound quality, but panned the music for being unlike "the original Spoonful". He noted that, due to ego problems, rock groups often splinter after a year or two riding "the crest of popularity", with the Lovin' Spoonful being an example. He wrote that "Sebastian's departure, in particular, has diminished the group's performing skills and the quality of its material", and commented that Butler had failed to "put together a group that in any way approaches the light-hearted joie de vivre of the original Spoonful."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heckman |first1=Don |title=Entertainment |journal=Stereo Review |date=April 1969 |page=116 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/60s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1969-04.pdf |access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref>
''[[Cash Box]]'' described the album as "a mixture of pop tunes and social comment", and believed that it "could see appreciable sales activity".<ref name="Cash Box" /> In their review, ''[[RPM Weekly]]'' said the album should bring the Lovin' Spoonful "back into prominence".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Album Review |journal=RPM Weekly |date=December 23, 1968 |page=27 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-RPM-IDX/IDX/60s/RPM-1968-12-23-OCR-Page-0026.pdf#search=%22lovin%20spoonful%20revelation%20revolution%2069%22 |access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref> ''[[Record World]]'' highlighted Butler for being the "nominal head of the group" since John Sebastian departed for a solo career. The magazine believed "War Games" to be one of the album's "main attractions".<ref name="Record World" /> ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' hailed it as one of their four-star albums, one of five popular music LPs to receive the rating that month.<ref name="Billboard">{{cite journal |title=Album Reviews Continued |journal=Billboard |date=December 14, 1968 |page=77 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1968/Billboard%201968-12-14.pdf |access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref>
Retrospectively, Gary Mollica of [[AllMusic]] gave the album two out of five stars, saying "Just when everybody had written them off after [[John Sebastian|Sebastian's]] departure, this flawed gem came [[out of left field]]," and praising the songs "Never Going Back" and, to a lesser extent, "Run With You" while strongly criticizing the tracks that Joe Butler wrote, especially "War Games."<ref name=allmusic/> ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' contributor Dave DiMartino rote that ''Revelation: Revolution '69'' contained the Lovin' Spoonful's final two singles and "a memorable album sleeve depicting Butler and a woman, both naked, and a lion, running", but believed that Sebastian's absence was "notable".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=DiMartino |first1=Dave |title=The Lovin' Spoonful: End of the Rainbow |journal=Mojo |date=July 2002 |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-lovin-spoonful-end-of-the-rainbow |access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref>
==Track listing==
'''Side one'''
# "Amazing Air" (Bonner, Gordon) – 2:50
# "Never Going Back" ([[John Stewart (musician)|John Stewart]]) – 2:48
Line 38 ⟶ 70:
# "Only Yesterday" (Dino, Sembello) – 2:43
# "War Games" (Butler) – 7:02
'''Side two'''
# "(Till I) Run With You" (Gordon, Bonner) – 2:52
# "Jug of Wine" (Dino, Sembello) – 2:31
Line 43 ⟶ 77:
# "Me About You" (Bonner, Gordon) – 3:48
# "Words" (Dino, Sembello) – 2:18
==
{{Reflist}}
===Sources===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Boone |first1=Steve |last2=Moss |first2=Tony |title=Hotter Than a Match Head: My Life on the Run with The Lovin' Spoonful |date=2014 |publisher=[[ECW Press]] |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-77041-193-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hmyFAwAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Ruppli |editor1-first=Michel |editor2-last=Novitsky |editor2-first=Ed |title=The MGM Labels: 1961–1982 |date=1998 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-313-30779-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f9-7b7xXztEC |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
{{Refend}}
{{The Lovin' Spoonful}}
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[[Category:1969 albums]]
[[Category:Kama Sutra Records albums]]
[[Category:Pop albums by American artists]]
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