What's Shakin'
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Album Summary
What's Shakin' is a 1966 compilation album released on Elektra Records that brought together a handful of the most vital voices in the mid-1960s folk-rock and blues-influenced underground, with The Lovin' Spoonful contributing a substantial and deeply soulful portion of the material. The Spoonful's tracks were produced by Erik Jacobsen, the man behind the boards during the band's most inspired early recordings, and together they captured something truly special — a band firing on all cylinders, riding that jug band-infused, good-time rock energy that made them unlike anybody else on the American scene. Elektra Records, long revered as a home for the folk tradition, was stretching its arms wide in this period, and What's Shakin' stands as one of the clearest signals of that evolution, a label finding new room in its heart for electric strings and bluesy grooves without ever losing its roots-minded soul.
Reception
- The album was warmly regarded among critics and collectors as a richly curated snapshot of the mid-1960s folk-rock and electric blues underground, valued more for its cultural honesty than for any mainstream chart ambitions.
- The Lovin' Spoonful's contributions were consistently singled out as the emotional and musical high points of the compilation, further cementing their standing as one of the most original and essential American rock acts of the era.
- The record found its most appreciative audience not in the pop charts but among the devoted college radio listeners and underground rock faithful who understood exactly what Elektra was putting together.
Significance
- What's Shakin' stands as a vital historical document of Elektra Records' deliberate and courageous evolution from a purely folk-oriented label into a home for the wider electric rock and blues sounds that were reshaping American music in the mid-1960s.
- The Lovin' Spoonful's tracks on this album — running the range from the rolling groove of Good Time Music to the deep blues reverence of Spoonful and Crossroads — are a masterclass in how the band wove jug band tradition, folk sensitivity, and rock and roll electricity into something entirely their own.
- As a compilation, What's Shakin' functioned as a kind of curated introduction to the diverse and restless sounds of the mid-1960s underground, exposing listeners to multiple artists at once and serving a cultural role not unlike the mixed tapes and playlists that would carry that same spirit of discovery into later generations.
Tracklist
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A1 Good Time Music —
3:06
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A2 Almost Grown —
1:50
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A3 Spoonful —
2:55
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A4 Off The Wall —
2:02
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A5 Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes —
4:30
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A6 I Want To Know —
2:14
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A7 Crossroads —
2:32
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B1 Lovin' Cup —
2:35
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B2 Good Morning Little Schoolgirl —
2:20
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B3 Steppin' Out —
3:12
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B4 I'm In Love Again —
2:04
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B5 Don't Bank On It Baby —
1:52
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B6 Searchin' —
3:13
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B7 One More Mile —
3:30
Artist Details
The Lovin' Spoonful were a beautiful blend of folk, rock, and jug band magic that came together in New York City in 1965, led by the warm and witty John Sebastian, and they hit the world like a sweet summer breeze with anthems like "Do You Believe in Magic" and "Summer in the City" that perfectly captured the freewheeling spirit of the mid-sixties. Their sound — loose, playful, and drenched in good-time Americana — carved out a lane all their own between the British Invasion and the heavier sounds that were coming, making them one of the most beloved American bands of their era. They may not always get the headlines they deserve, but the Lovin' Spoonful laid down a foundation of joyful, roots-infused rock that echoed through decades of American music that followed.
