Seals and Crofts was an American

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

duo made up of James Eugene Seals (October 17, 1942 – June 6, 2022) and Darrell George "Dash" Crofts (born August 14, 1938) They are best known for their hits " Summer Breeze" (1972), " Diamond Girl" (1973), and " Get Closer" (1976), each of which peaked at No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Both members have long been public advocates of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

. Though the duo disbanded in 1980, they reunited briefly in 1991–1992, and again in 2004, when they released their final album, ''Traces''.

Early careers

Jim Seals and Dash Crofts were both born in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, Seals in Sidney in 1942, and Crofts in

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

in 1938. They first met when Crofts was a drummer for a local band. Later, Seals joined an outfit called Dean Beard and the Crew Cats, in which he played sax; later on, Crofts joined Seals in the band. With Beard, they moved to Los Angeles to join

the Champs The Champs are an American rock band, most famous for their Latin-tinged rock and roll instrumental "Tequila". The group took their name from that of Gene Autry's horse, Champion, and was formed by studio executives at Autry's Challenge Recor ...

, but the two did so only after the group's "

Tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the Agave tequilana, blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ...

" reached No. 1 in 1958. Seals also spent time during 1959 in the touring band of

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...

. Seals had a composition ("It's Never Too Late") recorded by

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...

in 1961, which was featured as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of her U.S. ''Billboard'' No. 6 single, " You Can Depend on Me". "It's Never Too Late" nevertheless reached No. 101 on ''Billboard'' and No. 100 on ''Cash Box'' (week ending April 8, 1961) in its own right. In the UK, the sides were switched when the single was released, but the single failed to make the UK Singles Chart (at that time only a Top 50 listing). By 1963, Seals, Crofts,

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...

and

Jerry Cole Jerald Edward Kolbrak (September 23, 1939 – May 28, 2008), known professionally as Jerry Cole, was an American guitarist who recorded under his own name, under various budget album pseudonyms and as an uncredited session musician. Biograph ...

left the Champs to form a band named Glen Campbell and the GCs, which played at The Crossbow in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

, California. The band lasted only a couple of years before the members went their separate ways. Crofts returned to Texas and Seals joined a band named the Dawnbreakers (a reference to ''

The Dawn-Breakers ''The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Baháʼí Revelation'' (''Maṭāle al-anwār'') or ''Nabíl's Narrative'' (''Táríkh-i-Nabíl'') is an account of the early Bábí and Baháʼí Faiths written in Persian by Nab ...

'', a book about the beginnings of the Baha'i Faith). Crofts eventually returned to California to team up with Seals again, in the Dawnbreakers, and thus both Seals and Crofts were introduced to and became members of the

. After becoming longtime adherents of the Bahá'í Faith, a number of their songs began to include references to and passages from Bahá'í scripture. When they appeared in concert, they often remained on stage after the performance to talk about the faith, while local Bahá'ís passed out literature to anyone interested.

As Seals and Crofts

After the failure of The Dawnbreakers, the two decided to play as a duo, with Seals on guitar, saxophone and violin and Crofts on guitar and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

. They signed a contract with the record division of

Talent Associates Talent Associates, Ltd. (also known as Talent Associates-Paramount, Ltd. and Talent Associates-Norton Simon, Inc.), was a production company headed by David Susskind, later joined by Daniel Melnick, Leonard Stern and Ron Gilbert. Origins In the ...

(TA) in 1969 and released two LPs, of which only the second reached the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, peaking at No. 122 in October 1970. Crofts married fellow Dawnbreaker Billie Lee Day in 1969 and Seals married Ruby Jean Anderson in 1970. The pair signed a new contract with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in August 1971. Their first album with their new label, ''Year of Sunday'', peaked at #133 in the US. Their second Warner Bros. album, '' Summer Breeze,'' was a hit, peaking at No. 7 in 1972. The title cut was released as a single, peaking at #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and #6 Pop. The song "Hummingbird" was the second single released from the album, climbing to #12 AC, #20 Pop. The album has since been certified 2× platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for sales of two million copies in the US. In 1973 Warner Bros. released '' Diamond Girl''. That album has been certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies in the US. The title song reached No. 6 on the US chart in July 1973, and another single, "

We May Never Pass This Way (Again) "We May Never Pass This Way (Again)" is a song by American soft rock duo Seals and Crofts, released as a single in 1973. It was the second single from their fifth studio album, '' Diamond Girl''. The song reached No. 21 on the US ''Billboard'' Ho ...

", peaked at No. 21. The controversial ''

Unborn Child ''Unborn Child'' is the sixth studio album by American pop/folk duo Seals and Crofts. It included two low-charting singles, the title track (which reached ) and "The King of Nothing", which reached . The single "Unborn Child" reached No. 63 in ...

'' followed in 1974. Written shortly after ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...

'', Seals & Crofts expressed their anti-abortion position in the title song, which created a huge dilemma for radio stations. Some stations banned it while others added it to rotation. The album still went gold despite the controversy and the lack of a Top 40 hit. The duo played at the

California Jam California Jam (also known as Cal Jam) was a rock music festival co-headlined by Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, on April 6, 1974. It was produced by ABC Entertainment, Sandy Fel ...

festival in

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...

, on April 6, 1974. Attracting over 200,000 fans, the concert put them alongside 1970s acts such as

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

;

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

;

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

;

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

;

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

;

Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970charting ten albums according to Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Their style is punctuated ...

; and Rare Earth. Portions of the show were telecast on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Television in the US, exposing the duo to a wider audience. 1975's ''

I'll Play for You ''I'll Play For You'' is Seals & Crofts' seventh studio album. The title cut reached #18 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #4 on the Adult Contemporary charts in the summer of 1975. It was equally successful in Canada (Pop #28, AC #2). It a ...

'' was a gold seller as well, featuring the No. 18 hit title track, and their multi-platinum selling ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'', released later the same year, has been certified 2× platinum The duo had a return to the singles chart with the song " Get Closer", the title track from their 1976 album. Carolyn Willis (from the R&B vocal group

Honey Cone Honey Cone was an American R&B and soul girl group formed by lead singer Edna Wright (sister of Darlene Love) with Carolyn Willis and Shelly Clark in 1968. They are best remembered for their number-one ''Billboard'' Hot 100 single, "Want Ads" ...

) appeared on the song and it peaked at No. 6 in July of that year. Willis also joined them for their 1976 tour, which resulted in the live album ''

Sudan Village ''Sudan Village'' is a live album by Seals & Crofts. It features the single "Baby I'll Give It to You", which reached #58 on Billboard's charts, #85 on the RPM charts, and #5 on the RPM AC charts. Track listing #"Sudan Village" ( James Seals, ...

''. The pair also recorded songs that appeared in the feature films '' One on One'' (1977) and ''

Foolin' Around ''Foolin' Around'' is a 1980 American comedy film, comedy romance film, romance sport film directed by Richard T. Heffron and starring Gary Busey and Annette O'Toole. The film was shot on location in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, St. Pa ...

'' (1980), as well as the song "First Years" that was the theme song to the debut (1978–79) season of the television series '' The Paper Chase''. 1978's ''

Takin' It Easy ''Takin' It Easy'' is the ninth studio album by Seals and Crofts, released in 1978 by Warner Bros. Records. It was their last album to contain any charting singles. " You're the Love" reached #18 in early 1978 and #8 in Canada. The title track re ...

'' featured the two branching out and experimenting with other types of sounds, including the

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

influenced " You're the Love", which reached No. 18. But their gold selling days were behind them by this point. In 1979 they contributed to the album ''Lote Tree'', which was a narrated history of the

that included songs by them and other artists. It was distributed only within Baháʼí media outlets. ''

The Longest Road ''The Longest Road'' is the eleventh studio album by Seals and Crofts, released in July 1980 by Warner Bros. Records. It was the final album the group released before being dropped by the label, and was their last studio album until 2004's ''Trace ...

'', released in 1980, was their last for Warner Brothers.

Hiatus and reunions

In 1980, after a long and successful run of recordings in the 1970s, the two were dropped from

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

. As a result, they decided to take a hiatus from music. During the 1980s, despite no longer being officially together as a duo, they continued to appear at several Baháʼí gatherings, including a world peace concert at the Baháʼí Center in Los Angeles for the film and music community in February 1989. After this, they made the rounds of Canadian radio stations and some American talk shows to promote the Baháʼí Peace Document. Crofts lived in Mexico, Australia, and then

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, playing

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

and making occasional singles. He currently resides on a ranch in the

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...

. Seals moved to

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and had lived on a

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

farm off and on since 1980, as well as in Nashville and southern Florida. In 1991, Seals and Crofts officially reunited and made concert appearances once again until disbanding a year later. In 1998, Crofts released a solo CD titled ''Today'', which contained some re-recordings of Seals and Crofts material. In 2004, the duo reunited again and recorded their first new album since 1980, released as ''Traces''. In the early 2000s up to 2008, Seals embarked on various tours with his brother Dan ( "England" Dan Seals, of

England Dan & John Ford Coley England Dan & John Ford Coley were an American soft rock duo composed of Dan Seals, Danny Wayland "England Dan" Seals and John Ford Coley, John Edward "John Ford" Coley, active throughout the 1970s. Native Texas, Texans, they are best known for t ...

), billing themselves as Seals & Seals and performing their successful hits from Seals & Crofts and England Dan & John Ford Coley, Dan's hits from his solo career and a few original songs written by the two brothers. A few shows featured Jim's sons Joshua on bass guitar and backing vocals and Sutherland on electric guitar. Seals and Crofts were instrumental in England Dan and John Ford Coley becoming adherents of the Baha'i Faith, some 28 years before Coley became a Christian. Dan Seals died of cancer in 2009. At the time of his death, Dan and Jim Seals had been working on songs together. The status of those recordings is unknown. In December 2010, the bandmates' daughters Juliet (Seals) Crossley and Amelia (Crofts) Dailey, along with Genevieve (Bogan) Dozier, daughter of Seals and Crofts engineer Joey Bogan, formed a musical trio called The Humming Birds. They released their self titled EP ''The Humming Birds'' in September 2012. In 2018, Brady Seals (Jim's cousin) and Lua Crofts (Dash's daughter) began touring as Seals and Crofts 2, performing the catalog of Seals and Crofts, as well as some new music.

Seals' death

Seals had a stroke in 2017. After a long illness, he died at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 6, 2022, at age 79.

Discography

Albums

* ''

Seals & Crofts Seals and Crofts was an American soft rock duo made up of James Eugene Seals (October 17, 1942 – June 6, 2022) and Darrell George "Dash" Crofts (born August 14, 1938) They are best known for their hits " Summer Breeze" (1972), " Diamond Girl" ...

'', 1969, No. 64 Canada Jul. 1970 * '' Down Home'', 1970, No. 74 Canada Dec. 1970 * ''

Year of Sunday ''Year of Sunday'' is the third album by soft rock duo Seals and Crofts. It was released in 1971 on Warner Bros. Records and was their first record for a major label. Track listing All songs written by Jim Seals and Dash Crofts unless otherw ...

'', 1971, No. 133 * '' Summer Breeze'', 1972, No. 7 (RIAA: 2× Platinum), No. 6 Can. Jan. 73 * '' Diamond Girl'', 1973, No. 4 (RIAA: Gold), No. 8 Can. Sep. 73 * ''

'', 1974, No. 14 (RIAA: Gold), No. 18 Can. Apr. 74 * '' Seals & Crofts I & II'', 1974, No. 69 Can. Sep. 74 * ''

'', 1975, No. 30 (RIAA: Gold), No. 31 Can. Jun. 75 * ''

'', 1975, No. 11 (RIAA: 2× Platinum), No. 8 Can. Jan. 76 * '' Get Closer'', 1976, No. 37 (RIAA: Gold), No. 25 Can. Aug. 76 * ''

'', 1976, No. 73, No. 90 Can. Jan. 77 * '' One on One (soundtrack)'', 1977, No. 118 * ''

'', 1978, No. 78, No. 45 Can. Jul. 78 * ''Lote Tree'', 1979 * ''Collection'', 1979 * ''

'', 1980 * ''Traces'', 2004

Singles

Songs in movies

* "These Moments Never Live Again", from ''

'' (1980) * "My Fair Share" from '' One on One'' (1977) * "Summer Breeze" from '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993) * "Summer Breeze" from '' King of California'' (2007) * "Summer Breeze" from ''

Land of the Lost Land of the Lost may refer to: * Land of the Lost (1974 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1974 TV series), the original 1974 children's television series * Land of the Lost (1991 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1991 TV series), the 1991 remake of ...

'' (2009) * "Summer Breeze" from ''

Vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

'' (2015)

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Bentivegna, Anthony (ed.) ''sealsandcrofts.com'', Novato, California, 2000–2013. * George-Warren, H. (ed.) ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'', 3rd ed., Fireside, New York, 2001. * Landau, Deborah
"Introducing Seals and Crofts"
''

Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' is an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review''. ...

'', January 1971.

External links

Official website

* * {{Authority control American Bahá'ís American pop rock music groups American soft rock music groups Folk rock groups from California Carlton Records artists Challenge Records artists Warner Records artists 20th-century Bahá'ís 21st-century Bahá'ís American musical duos Soft rock duos Male musical duos Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1980 Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups from Texas 1969 establishments in California 1980 disestablishments in California