| Sky Saxon & The Seeds
Veteran Sixties survivor and living legend!
In 1965, former rock’n’roll singer Sky Saxon formed THE SEEDS. Their biggest hit, ‘Pushing Too Hard’ took a year to reach the US top 40 in 1966, but was followed by further US hits ‘Mr. Farmer’, ‘Cant Seem To Make You Mine’, ‘One Thousand Shadows’. Their two 1966 albums ‘THE SEEDS’ and the more adventurous ‘A WEB OF SOUND’ were an undeniably simple but nonetheless brilliant blend of British and blues influences, leading to comparisons as being ‘America’s own Rolling Stones’
These raw and simplistic records with Sky’s idiosyncratic vocals, Wurlitzer combo keyboards and fuzztone guitar became to epitomise the phenomenon ‘Garage Rock’ and a decade later influenced punk, but the Seeds soon surpassed that label. In 1967 they coined the term ‘Flower Power’ and were at the centre of the new psychedelic scene. Hanging out with the Mothers of Invention, Captain Beefheart and The Monkees, Sky’s new compositions like ‘March of the Flower Children’ and ‘Travel With Your Mind’ on the ‘FUTURE’ album contained acid-tinged playful whimsy, and like the Beatles they innovated with Eastern-style instrumentation.
At this point in their success they headlined over bands such as The Doors (who built both their vocal & keyboard sound upon the Seeds style), Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, The Kinks, Vanilla Fudge, The Supremes, and split the bill in New York with Jimi Hendrix. They cameoed in Jack Nicholson’s ‘Psych Out’ movie, sold out the Hollywood Bowl and mega-success seemed around the corner.
Later in 1967 Sky released a blues collaboration with Muddy Waters ‘A SPOONFUL OF SEEDY BLUES’ followed in early ’68 with The Seeds ‘RAW & ALIVE: MERLIN’S MUSIC BOX’, a live album showcasing the band to be a powerhouse, but shortly after they disbanded. Since then Sky changed his name to Sky Sunlight Saxon and occasionally resurfaced to release a solo album, whilst always remaining true to his 60’s principles. The Seeds’ huge influence is demonstrated by the many artists who’ve covered them, including Garbage, The Ramones, The Damned, Pere Ubu, The Dwarves, Residents, Cabaret Voltaire, Pretty Things, Billy Childish, Johnny Thunders & Noel Gallagher.
In 2004 Sky Saxon resurrected The Seeds to tour UK & Europe with Arthur Lee and Love and on their own, and recorded the ‘RED PLANET’ album in America. Sky has also been recording a new album ‘TRANSPARENCY’ and filmed a DVD in London with members of The Barracudas, The Scientists and Spacemen 3, scheduled for a double package release in September 2005. Sky Saxon & the Seeds toured Europe from August through to October 2005, and Sky is regularly active in the USA. |
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