Seals and Crofts | |
---|---|
Seals and Crofts in 1975
|
|
Background information | |
Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Genres | Soft rock, pop rock, folk rock |
Years active | 1969–80, 1991–92, 2004 |
Labels | Warner Bros., Wounded Bird |
Associated acts | The Champs |
Website | sealsandcrofts |
Past members |
|
Seals and Crofts were an American soft rock duo made up of James "Jim" Seals (born October 17, 1941) and Darrell "Dash" Crofts (born August 14, 1940). They are best known for their Hot 100 No. 6 hits "Summer Breeze" (1972), "Diamond Girl" (1973), and "Get Closer" (1976).
The duo disbanded in 1980. They reunited briefly in 1991–1992 and again in 2004, when they released their final album, Traces.
Both members have long been public advocates of the Bahá'í Faith.
Jim Seals and Dash Crofts were both born in Texas, Seals in Sidney and Crofts in Cisco. They first met when Crofts was a drummer for a local band. Later, Seals joined a band called Dean Beard and the Crew Cats, where he played guitar; later on Crofts joined the band. With Beard, they moved to Los Angeles to join The Champs, but the two did so only after the group's "Tequila" reached No.1 in 1958. Seals also spent time during 1959 in the touring band of Eddie Cochran.
Jimmy Seals had a composition ("It's Never Too Late") recorded by Brenda Lee in 1961, which featured as the B-side 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 8 April 1961) in its own right. In the U.K., the sides were switched when the single was released, but the single failed to make the U.K. singles chart (at that time only a Top 50 listing).
In 1963, Jimmy Seals, Dash Crofts, Glen Campbell, and Jerry Cole left The Champs to form a band named "Glen Campbell and the GCs" which played at The Crossbow in Van Nuys. The band only lasted 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 a book by the same name about the beginnings of the Baha'i Faith). Crofts eventually returned to California to join The Dawnbreakers and thus both Seals and Crofts were introduced to and became members of the Bahá'í Faith. However, the band turned out to be unsuccessful. Crofts married fellow Dawnbreaker Billie Lee Day in 1969 and Seals married Ruby Jean Anderson in 1970.