Sunday, June 28, 2009

R.I.P. Sky Saxon

Born: 1946, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Died: June 25, 2009 // Austin, TX, United States

Member of:
The Seeds, Sky Saxon & the Seeds

Also Known As:
Richard Marsh [birth name], Little Richie Marsh, Sky Sunlight Saxon.



Sky Sunlight Saxon passed over at: 6/25/2009 at 9:10am.
Best 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 "Can't Seem to Make You Mine," the band continued to record for the remainder of the '60s, eventually delving deep into post-Sgt. Pepper's 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 "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's. While the record reached the Top 100 and spawned the minor hit "A Thousand Shadows," it didn't become a hit. Two other albums — Raw & Alive: The Seeds in Concert at 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 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. ~ By: Stephen Thomas Erlewine, ALLMUSIC.COM.
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The Seeds

Formed: 1965, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Disbanded: 1970 //


Members:
*Sky Saxon (vocals, bass)
*Rick Andridge (drums),
*Daryl Hooper (keyboards),
*Jan Savage (guitar),

Related Artists: Sky Saxon & the Seeds

Also Known As: Sky Saxon Blues Band
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The Seeds - The Seeds (us 1966)



Tracklist:
Side A
01.Can’t Seem To Make You Mine (Savage-Lawrence-Saxon) 2:56
02.No Escape (Saxon) 2:08
03.Lose Your Mind (Hooper-Saxon) 2:11
04.Evil Hoodoo (Saxon) 5:00
05.Girl I Want You (Saxon) 2:15
06.Pushin’ Too Hard (Saxon) 3:03
Side B
07.Try To Understand (Saxon) 2:45
08.Nobody Spoil My Fun (Saxon) 3:50
09.It’s A Hard Life (Saxon) 2:38
10.You Can’t Be Trusted (Saxon) 2:05
11.Excuse, Excuse (Tybalt) 2:20
12.Fallin’ In Love (Saxon) 2:47


If I had to determine the first LP that defined psychedelic music, it would be The Seeds self titled debut. Sure, The Yardbirds. The Beatles & others had indulged in various experimentations over the past year or so but none of them had fully defined psychedelia. The Seeds and Love released there debut albums towards the middle of 1966. They were both Californian acts and they were on the brink of the psychedelic movement. Somehow, both bands were robbed of their legend by inferior hippy bands like The Grateful Dead & The Jefferson Airplane. This most likely was a result of their absence during the ‘Ticket to Rock & Roll legend’ festivals, Monterey Pop & Woodstock. With one listen to ‘The Seeds’ it becomes evident Ray Manzarek and co. brought a pen and paper when they attended Seeds gigs. Their songs, catchy as they can be, are built largely around trancey groves. They sometimes sound like an amateur Stooges (just when you thought it couldn't get any more basic). Hell, they could have been The Stooges. The big differences are they didn’t have Marshall Amps back in the day and their singer wasn’t a self destructive lunatic. Unlike the stereotypes psychedelia would become known for, ‘The Seeds’ weren’t about peace, sitars and incense. In fact, the lyrics and music are quite forceful and sometimes abrasive. They would later conform to the accepted standard. The Seeds, generally labeled as a ‘Nuggets Band’, stand out amongst contemporaries in the same fashion as the 13th Floor Elevators and the Electric Prunes. When it comes to 60's garage rock albums, it's not hard to come across bands such as the Cryin’ Shames or The Litter that have great singles but there albums rely heavy on lame covers of popular songs of the day to fill them out. For Seeds vocalist Sky Saxon there wasn’t a person earth that could put a word in his mouth. He spewed gold.
~ By: mofoking (RYM).
Download Link:
http://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/1SPGVPCA/The_Seeds_-_The_Seeds__us_1966_.rar_mirrors
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-The Seeds - Pushin Too Hard
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The Seeds - A Web of Sound (us 1966)
Tracklist: Side A
01. Mr. Farmer 2:58
02. Pictures and Designs 2:40
03. Tripmaker 2:40
04. I Tell Myself 2:25
05. A Faded Picture 5:14
06. Rollin' Machine 2:28
Side B
01. Just Let Go 4:04
02. Up in Her Room 14:27

‘A Web of Sounds’ shows THE SEEDS continuing with the same caliber tracey Garage Rock they injected into the California rock & roll circuit with their debut. Though it was not much of a progression, it is easy to hear their influence on the upcoming psychedelic scene of 1967. Apart from the inclusion of instant Garage Rock classic ‘Mr. Farmer’, one of the most important, yet least impressive tracks on ‘A Web of Sound’ is ‘Up in Her Room’. THE SEEDS did have the longest recorded extended jam on a Rock & Roll LP on their debut with the 6 minute ‘Evil Hoodoo’. Since then, THE ROLLING STONES released their own extended jam titled ‘Goin’ Home’ on the LP ‘Aftermath’. Sky was obviously not satisfied with THE STONES retort and extended ‘Up in Her Room’ to 14.5 minutes. Their title would be taken forever a mere 4 months later when LOVE dedicated an entire side of their upcoming sophomore release ‘Da Capo’ to one song ‘Revelation’. THE SEEDS were an incredible and original band. Their music was a big influence on many popular bands of the day including THE DOORS. THE SEEDS are often lumped into the NUGGETS crowd of 'One-Flop-Wonders' but with a little more awareness these guys could easily attain the current status that a band like, say, the MC5 have today. They were equally as important & ‘A Web of Sound’ makes that obvious.
~ By: mofoking (RYM).

Download link:
http://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/0RKZGKCP/The_Seeds_-_A_Web_Of_Sound__us_1966_.rar_mirrors

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-The Seeds - Two Fingers Pointing At You

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Sky Saxon & Firewall - A Groovy Thing (us 1986)
a.k.a.: A Groovy Thing [Sky Sunlight Saxon / Fire Wall]



Members:
*Sky Sunlight Saxon (Lead vocals)
*Eddie Munoz (Guitars)
*Rich Coffee (Guitars)
*Dan West (Guitars)
*Shelley Ganz (Guitars)
*Lee Joseph (Bass)
*Greg Steward (Bass)
*Toby Keil (Bass)
*Roy McDonald (Drums)
*Mars Bonfire (Chesey keyboards)

background vocalists:
*Steve Wynn,
*Peter Case,
*David Provost,
*Marc Platt,
*Ric Alvin,
*Johnette,
*Frank Beeson

Tracklist:
01. Starving For Your Love
02. House Of Mine
03. Return Of The Sixties (Spirit Of The Sixties)
04. Love Dog
05. Burning Down The Walls Of The City
06. Sha La La La, It's A Groovy Thing
07. Medley-Over-Reaction-Hollywood Blvd

After the breakup of the seminal psychedelic garage punk band the Seeds in 1969, frontman Sky Saxon (born Richard Marsh) embarked on an erratic solo career in between stints as a mystical guru in Hawaii. Much of his post-Seeds work fit the mold of a curious 1960s relic, a hippie acid casualty with a strong cult following, in the mold of Roky Erickson. Saxon began his career under the name Little Richie Marsh, performing sugary, doo wop-influenced teenage pop in 1962. Changing his name to Sky Saxon, he joined two L.A. garage bands, the Soul Rockers and the Electra Fires, before forming the Seeds in 1965. Saxon continued to record under the Seeds' name following the group's official dissolution in 1969, releasing a series of singles that increasingly reflected a drug-induced separation from reality. Beginning in 1976, the late '70s saw the release of several albums credited to variously named outfits: Sky Sunlight, Sunstar, Sky "Sunlight" Saxon, the Universal Stars Band, Star's New Seeds Band, Sunlight and the New Seeds, and so on. 1983 saw the release of a rarities collection, New Fruit From Old Seeds: The Rare Sky Saxon, Vol. 1 (there never was a planned Vol. 2), which contained material dating back to Saxon's pre-Seeds days. Saxon, who had not produced any new albums since 1978, returned on the U.K. Psycho label in 1984 with Starry Ride, which featured support from Steppenwolf's Mars Bonfire (composer of "Born to Be Wild"), as well as former members of Iron Butterfly and Fraternity of Man. The Saxon/Bonfire collaboration reached full fruition in the group Firewall, who debuted with the album A Groovy Thing in 1986 (Destiny's Children features the same songs in a different order). Firewall featured guest appearances from members of such California neo-psychedelic bands as the Dream Syndicate, the Plimsouls, the Droogs, and Yard Trauma, demonstrating Saxon's enduring influence and appeal, particularly among that set of musicians. That same year, Saxon recorded a largely unrehearsed live album with Purple Electricity, a one-off project featuring members of Redd Kross and the Primates, entitled Private Party. Firewall returned in 1988 with In Search of Brighter Colors, which was released in the U.S. as World Fantastic, with several rare '80s cuts replacing the former version's weaker tracks. Saxon has since returned to Hawaii.

~ By: Steve Huey, All Music Guide.

Download Link: http://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/0RIZJZUW/Sky_Sunlight_Saxon___Firewall_-_A_Groovy_Thing__us_1986_.rar_mirrors
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-Sky ''Sunlight'' Saxon - The Wind Blows Your Hair


More Infos:
http://skysaxon.com/

And Don't Forget!
You Can't Have Flower Power Without The Seeds!
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2 comments:

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