THE SEEDS
 Best-known
for their rock & roll standard "Pushin' Too Hard," the
Seeds combined the raw appeal of garage rock with a fondness for ragged,
trashy
psychedelia.
Sky
Saxon (vocals) and guitarist Jan Savage formed the Seeds with
keyboardist Daryl Hooper and drummer Rick Andridge in Los Angles in
1965. By the end of 1966, they had secured a contract with GNP
Crescendo, releasing "Pushin' Too Hard" as their first single.
Its raw, simple riff and Saxon's howling, half-spoken intonation
established a pattern that remained almost unchanged throughout the
group's career. The song climbed into the Top 40 early in 1967, and the
group immediately released two sound-alike singles, "Mr.
Farmer" and "Can't Seem To Make You Mine," in an attempt
to replicate their success. The latter came the closest to being a hit,
just missing the Top 40.
While
their singles were garage-punk, the Seeds attempted to branch out into
improvisational blues-rock and psychedelia on their first two albums,
"The Seeds" (1966) and "Web of Sound" (1966). With
their third album, "Future" (1967) the band attempted a
psychedelic concept album in the vein of Sgt. Pepper. While the record
reached the Top 100 and spawned the minor hit "A Thousand
Shadows", it didn't sell. Two other albums -- "Raw and Alive:
Merlin's Music Box" (1968) and "A Full Spoon Of Seedy
Blues" (1969), which was credited to the 'Sky Saxon Blues Band',
were released at the end of the decade, but both were ignored. The Seeds
broke up shortly afterwards.
During
the early '70s, Saxon re-emerged as 'Sky Sunlight', fronting several
combinations known variously as 'Stars New Seeds' or the 'Universal
Stars Band', before retreating from society and moving to Hawaii.
 Saxon
reunited the original Seeds for a short tour in 1989 and in the late
90's, made still another resurgence, having become a cult icon to the
international psychedelic crowd. As recently as 1998, Saxon performed at
The Camp stove Festival in New York, backed by Question Mark and the
Mysterians.
In
2002, bassist Rick Collins, along with Sky Saxon, resurrected the Seeds
with a new line up, playing all of the Seeds classic songs. Original
guitarist Jan Savage even re-united for a stint in 2003, playing some
West Coast, East coast, and European dates before returning home.
In
2004, another new line-up appeared, with Ryan Maynes on keyboards, Nate
Greely on guitar and Justin Smith on drums joining original members Sky
Saxon and Rick Collins. This new edition toured the US and beginning in
March, 2005, played several shows in Europe, Japan and Australia. The
band was also hard at work on a new album.
DISCOGRAPHY
Albums
The Seeds 1966
A Web of Sound 1966
A Full Spoon of Seedy Blues (as the Sky Saxon Blues Band) 1967
Future 1967
Raw & Alive in Concert at Merlin's Music Box 1968
Fallin Off the Edge 1977
Bad Part Of Town 1982
Travel With Your Mind 1993
Released on Bam Caruso, UK:
Evil Hoodoo 1988
Singles
"Can't Seem to Make You Mine" (#41 US)[1]
"Mr. Farmer" (#86 US)
"Pushin' Too Hard" (#36 US)
"A Thousand Shadows" (#72 US) |
