The Seeds

by Stephen Thomas ErlewineBest known for their rock & roll standard Pushin Too Hard, the Seeds combined the raw, Stonesy appeal of garage rock with a fondness for ragged, trashy psychedelia. And though they never quite matched the commercial peak of their first two singles, Pushin Too Hard and Cant Seem to Make You Mine, the band continued to record for the remainder of the 60s, eventually delving deep into post-Sgt. Peppers psychedelia and art rock. None of their new musical directions resulted in another hit single, and the group disbanded at the turn of the decade.Sky Saxon (born Richard Marsh; 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. The song climbed into the Top 40 early in 1967, and the group immediately released two sound-alike singles, Mr. Farmer and Cant 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. Peppers. While the record reached the Top 100 and spawned the minor hit A Thousand Shadows, it didnt become a hit. Two other albums — Raw & Alive: The Seeds in Concert at Merlins 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 afterward.During the early 70s, Saxon led a number of bands before retreating from society and moving to Hawaii. Savage became a member of the Los Angeles Police Department. A collection of rarities and alternate takes, Fallin off the Edge, was released in 1977.