John Benson Sebastian 约翰本·森塞巴·斯蒂安

John Benson Sebastian(born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonicist, and autoharpist, who is best known as a founder ofThe Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Famein 2000; for his impromptu appearance at theWoodstock festivalin 1969;and for his No. 1 hit in 1976, "Welcome Back".

Sebastian was born in New York City and grew up in Italy and Greenwich Village. His father, John Sebastian (né Pugliese), was a noted classical harmonicaplayer and his mother, Jane, was a radio script writer. His godmother was Vivian Vance ("Ethel Mertz" of I Love Lucy), who was a close friend of his mother. His godfather and first babysitter was children's book illustrator Garth Williams, a friend of his father.

Sebastian grew up surrounded by music and musicians, including Burl Ives and Woody Guthrie, and hearing such players as Lead Belly and Mississippi John Hurt in his own neighborhood. He graduated from Blair Academy, a private boarding school in Blairstown, New Jersey, in 1962. He next attended New York University for just over a year, but dropped out as he became more interested in musical pursuits.

In the early 1960s, Sebastian developed an interest in blues music and in playing harmonica in a blues style, rather than the classical style used by his father. Through his father's connections, he met and was influenced by blues musicians Sonny Terry and Lightnin' Hopkins (for whom Sebastian served as "unofficial tour guide and valet" when Hopkins was in New York City).Sebastian became part of the folk and blues scene that was developing in Greenwich Village and later gave rise to folk rock.

In addition to harmonica, Sebastian played guitar and occasionally autoharp. One of Sebastian's first recording gigs was playing guitar and harmonica for Billy Faier's 1964 album The Beast of Billy Faier. He also played on Fred Neil's album Bleecker & MacDougal and Tom Rush's self-titled album in 1965. He played in the Even Dozen Jug Band and in The Mugwumps, which split to form the Lovin' Spoonful and the Mamas & the Papas. Bob Dylan invited him to play bass on his Bringing It All Back Home sessions (though Sebastian's parts probably did not appear on the album) and to join Dylan's new electric touring band, but Sebastian declined in order to concentrate on his own project, The Lovin' Spoonful.

Sebastian has been married three times. His first wife was Jean "Butchie" Webber (later known as Butchie Denver after she married actor Bob Denver). According to Steve Boone, Butchie was an early supporter and friend of The Lovin' Spoonful who secretly married Sebastian in the early 1960s to reduce his chances of being drafted for service in the Vietnam War. The couple divorced in 1966. That same year, Sebastian married Loretta "Lorey" Kaye, a waitress at Steve Paul's The Scene who later worked for Hit Parader magazine; they divorced in 1968.

In 1972, Sebastian married his third wife, Catherine Barnett, a photographer and artist who has designed numerous album covers. They have been married for over 40 years and have two children.

Since the early 1990s, Sebastian has struggled with throat problems that eventually affected and changed his singing voice. But he has continued to perform and tour.

From：https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sebastian