He played lead guitar and sang for the Lovin' Spoonful, a rock band which he founded with John Sebastian in 1964.

It was at this time that he met John Sebastian, and they formed the Lovin' Spoonful with Steve Boone and Joe Butler.

[2] Returning to his native Canada, he recorded the solo album Alive and Well in Argentina (and Loving Every Minute of It).

The single (on which the B-side was the same track without vocals and with playback backwards) just missed the Billboard Hot 100, but fared a little better in Cashbox, peaking at No.

While a member of Kris Kristofferson's backing band at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, he had a brief reunion with John Sebastian;[5] Sebastian had been (apparently) unaware of Yanovsky's presence, and was made aware by a message passed through the crowd, written on a toilet roll.

Although not an original cast member, he contributed a musical number, "Nirvana Banana", a Donovan parody.

In 2000 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Lovin' Spoonful, and performed alongside his former bandmates at the ceremony.

After retiring from the music business, Yanovsky became a chef and restaurateur,[2] with his second wife, Rose Richardson; together they opened Chez Piggy in 1979, and Pan Chancho Bakery in 1994, both in Kingston, Ontario.

Yanovsky met Canadian actress Jackie Burroughs in 1961 in a laundromat in Toronto, where he was sleeping in a dryer while homeless.