''The Seeds'' is the debut album by American

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band

the Seeds The Seeds were an American psychedelic garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965, best known for their highest charting single "Pushin' Too Hard". The band's classic line-up featured frontman Sky Saxon, guitarist Jan Savage (b ...

. It was released in April 1966 through

GNP Crescendo Records GNP Crescendo Record Co. is an independent record label founded in 1954 by Gene Norman ''(né'' Eugene Abraham Nabatoff; 1922–2015). It started as a producer of jazz, then expanded into many other genres, including comedy, rock, and ''Star Trek' ...

and produced by Marcus Tybalt and

Sky Saxon The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

. After the release of two singles in 1965, " Can't Seem to Make You Mine" and "

Pushin' Too Hard "Pushin' Too Hard", originally titled "You're Pushing Too Hard", is a song by American rock group The Seeds, written by vocalist Sky Saxon and produced by Saxon with Marcus Tybalt. It was released as a single in 1965, re-issued the following year, ...

", the album was released and charted in the United States where it peaked at No. 132 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tapes chart. Modern reception of the album is positive, with critics considering the album's similarity to punk rock a decade later.

Style

Like many

bands, lead singer

's vocal style was influenced by the vocals of

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

front man

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

, but have also received comparisons to the vocals of

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

acts such as

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

and

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 ...

Release

The Seeds released two singles ahead of the album: " Can't Seem to Make You Mine" in June 1965 and "

" in November. ''The Seeds'' was released in April 1966 and charted in the United States, peaking at No. 132 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tapes chart. The first single to follow up the album's release was "Try to Understand", which failed to chart in the US. "Pushin' Too Hard" was re-issued in October 1966 and peaked at No. 36 in the US in February 1967. ''The Seeds'' has been re-issued several times in the United Kingdom on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

and CD. Several re-issues contain bonus tracks while the album itself has also been re-released as a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

on compact disc with the Seeds' second album, ''

A Web of Sound ''A Web of Sound'' is the second album by the American garage rock band the Seeds. Produced by Marcus Tybalt and released in October 1966, it contained the single " Mr. Farmer" and the 14-minute closing song "Up In Her Room". The album did not ch ...

''. Some of the re-issues omit the song "Lose Your Mind" from the original album vinyl release.Mark Deming, "Review: ''The Seeds''" ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' In 2012, Big Beat Records re-released the Seeds' debut album as a deluxe edition, with the album in remastered mono form, plus ten new bonus tracks of previously unreleased material.

The Seeds The Seeds were an American psychedelic garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965, best known for their highest charting single "Pushin' Too Hard". The band's classic line-up featured frontman Sky Saxon, guitarist Jan Savage (b ...

(2012)
"The Seeds - Deluxe Reissue"
GNP Crescendo Records. Retrieved 2013-08-21

Reception

Modern reception of the album has been generally positive. In their review for the double disc re-issue,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album a positive rating of four and a half stars out of five, writing "The Seeds is probably the best album by any of the original American garage bands, without the usual time-filling cover versions and elongated jams, and of course it features the immortal 'Pushin' Too Hard' and the even better 'Can't Seem to Make You Mine', two classics of the ''

Nuggets Nuggets may refer to: Music * ''Nuggets'' (series), a series of compilation albums by Elektra Records, continued by Rhino * '' Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968'' * '' Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from ...

'' era." The British music magazine ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' gave the compilation a positive rating of four and half stars out of five, describing the album as "...A brilliantly simple, headlong surge of fuzz-drenched guitar, bubbling organ riffs and Saxon's raw, throat-tearing vocals..." Many of the tracks are featured in The Seeds biopic documentary "Pushin' Too Hard" which had a sold out premiere in London in 2019.

Track listing

Personnel

; Musical personnel *

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

, vocals, producer, concept, cover art * Rick Andridge –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Chuck Britz Charles Dean Britz (November 7, 1927 – August 21, 2000) was a recording engineer who worked with Jan and Dean, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, P.F. Sloan and The Grass Roots on numerous albums between 1962 and 1967. Biography Britz was bor ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Cooker –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

bottleneck guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

* Daryl Hooper –

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Jan Savage – guitar,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, vocals ; Production personnel * Mike Durrough – engineering, remixing, mixing * David Hassinger – engineering * Lanky Linstrot – engineering * Stan Ross – remixing * Doc Siegel – remixing * Marcus Tybalt – production, liner notes * Rafael O. Valentin – engineering * Alec Palao - Executive Producer * Neil Norman - Executive Producer

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seeds, The (album) 1966 debut albums The Seeds albums GNP Crescendo Records albums