John Sebastian was one of the few musicians on the 1960s Greenwich Village scene who was actually born in the Village. In the mid '60s, he backed up artists like Fred Neil on harmonica, and was a member of the Even Dozen Jug Band and the Mugwumps, the latter splintering into the Mamas & the Papas and the Sebastian-led Lovin' Spoonful. Perhaps the first great American rock band of the '60s, the Spoonful combined blues/folk/jug-band roots with unerring pop sensibilities and scored a string of huge, seminal hits between '65 and '67. Sebastian began a solo career in 1969, though he didn't see much success at it until his 1976 hit "Welcome Back," the theme for TV's WELCOME BACK, KOTTER. He continued recording into the 21st century, often returning to his blues/jug-band roots.