Classic Albums: The Seeds by The Seeds

As promised yesterday I’m back for 1966 again today for this week’s Tuesday’s post with one of the greatest sixties bands. Which I was going to say always gets forgotten, they’re remember by some like myself so not totally forgotten but did miss out on that book I’m blogging about at the moment.

They’re called The Seeds and if you read my blog before today you most likely know I’m a bit obsessed with The Bad Seed and there singer but this has nothing at all to do with them, as far as I know I can’t link them up somehow like I sometimes do on my blog.

There’s an Aussie link because it’s the underrated singer-songwriter Kim Salmon who intro me to them. By way a newspaper story, he was talking about punks in 70’s but was saying you got to know the much older garage rock from the late 60’s and then named dropped these guys. When on to talk about the Nuggets various artists comp album too which really will just have to be added sooner or later to this pile of records I’m writing about here. The Seeds are and was pretty much one of the very earliest bands like that from America and this album was a killer no filler debut album. It seems like after writing about over 70 albums now this is the very first self-titled album to make my cut.

Now it’s only the fifth LP from that decade to be selected for my own CA collection after The Monks, Pink Floyd, John Coltrane and The Velvet Underground but only The Monks was in the exactly same year. The Monks formed Germany but The Seeds where States side in Los Angeles. Released this album in April 66 but the 7″ singles of Pushin’ Too Hard in November 65 and before that Can’t Seem To Make You Mine in June 1965 too.

Now wikipedia compares and goes on the cite critic Lester Bangs who said at the time dismissed the leader and singer-songwriter Sky Saxon to the vocals of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger. But I enjoy this album as whole including all the bonus tracks on the reissue much more than any of the Stones albums of this time, they seem to me much more of a 7″ single band at this point than an album band. Maybe it’s just because you know all those huge hit singles so much more that the Stones album tracks so it takes away from the whole but I do love their 70’s album more.

Anyway I’m writing about The Seeds album today, the song Pushin’ Too Hard was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and by 1967 the track did go top 40 too. Saxon even predated The Beatles with his proto-punk sound recording 45’s under the name Richie Marsh which was his birth name, before joining the band on moving to LA from Salt Lake City where he born. Sly was credited as the bass player but he did not play bass on any of the Seeds’ recordings apparently. The rest of The Seeds are Rick Andridge on drums, Daryl Hooper on organ melodica, piano, keyboards and Jan Savage on guitar. The Pushin’ Too Hard song was also covered by Pere Ubu on the album I wrote about a week or two ago.

So who else digs The Seeds? Or never heard them before or what?

The Seeds tracklisting and times:

1. Can’t Seem To Make You Mine – 2:56
2. No Escape – 2:08
3. Lose Your Mind – 2:11
4. Evil Hoodoo – 5:00
5. Girl I Want You – 2:15
6. Pushin’ Too Hard – 3:03
7. Try To Understand – 2:45
8. Nobody Spoil My Fun – 3:50
9. It’s A Hard Life – 2:38
10. You Can’t Be Trusted – 2:05
11. Excuse Excuse – 2:20
12. Fallin’ In Love – 2:47

Bonus Tracks:
13. She’s Wrong – 2:13
14. Daisy Mae – 2:20
15. Dreaming of Your Love – 2:19
16. Out of the Question (Take 1) – 3:02
17. Out of the Question (Master) 2:23
18. Pushin’ Too Hard (Take 1) – 3:15
19. Girl I Want You (Alternate Overdub) – 2:22
20. Evil Hoodoo (Unedited Take And Intercut Section) – 15:59
21. It’s a Hard Life (Take 3) – 2:37
22. Nobody Spoil My Fun (Alternate Overdub) – 3:50

All my Classic Albums posts are in that link or they’re all linked below too!

So the idea here is simply for me to write a post about each of my favourite albums that I consider total stone cold classics!

Please do leave a reply below and tell me what you think about this album and/or artist or whatever you’d like to say about it?

2 Comments

Julian says:

February 11, 2019 at 10:31 pm

The Seeds were great and criminally unknown. Bands like them, The Sonics, The Chocolate Watchband and more should be part of everyday music appreciation.
I first heard of bands like them, 13th Floor Elevators, Q65, Blue Cheer, Bob Seger System (way before his Old Time Rock’N Roll days) and so many more, listening to a radio show in San Diego, hosted by John Reis, the lead singer of Rocket From The Crypt..called Swami Sound System, I dug it the most. He exposed me to so so much I had never heard of. But that was before internet days.

Anyway, the Seeds rock.

LikeLiked by 1 person

1. William says:
  
  February 12, 2019 at 11:34 pm
  
  Cool, you know The Seeds! Yeah, they’re totally criminally unknown!
  Cheers again and again Julian 🙂
  
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