The Seeds

The Seeds
The group in 1966. From left: Rick Andridge, Daryl Hooper, Sky Saxon, and Jan Savage
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Psychedelic rock,acid rock,garage rock, proto-punk
Years active	1965–1969, 1969–1972 (as Sky Saxon and the Seeds), Present
Labels	GNP Crescendo, MGM Records, Bam Caruso
Members	Daryl Hooper Jan Savage Don Boomer Paul Kopf Jeff Prentice Alec Palao
Past members	Sky Saxon Daryl Hooper Jan Savage Rick Andridge Bob Norsoph Don Boomer

The Seeds were an iconic and highly influential American rock band. The group, whose repertoire spread between garage rock and acid rock, are considered an influential proto-punk band.

Pioneers of mid-sixties garage rock and acid rock, the Seeds are widely recognized for coining the phrase, "Flower Power", and developed a sound and aesthetic later acknowledged as paving the way for seventies punk rock. Before the band's formation, lead singer Sky Saxon had a professional musical career that predated The Beatles, when he recorded a string of 45s under the name Richie Marsh. Born in Salt Lake City, he'd relocated to Los Angeles and was making records in the early 1960s. The Seeds were formed in 1965 with Saxon joining as a response to an advertisement. The band secured regular gigs at the LA club Bido Lito's and quickly gained a local reputation for high energy live performances. Keyboardist Daryl Hooper was a major factor in the Seeds' sound; the band was one of the first to utilize keyboard bass. Guitarists Jan Savage and Jeremy Levine along with drummer Rick Andridge completed the original quintet, but Levine left shortly after the first recording sessions for personal reasons. Although Sky Saxon was usually credited as bass player, he did not play bass on any of the Seeds' recordings. This was handled by session musicians, usually one Harvey Sharpe. On stage, keyboardist Daryl Hooper would perform the bass parts via a separate bass keyboard, in the same manner as Ray Manzarek later did with The Doors.

The Seeds' first single "Can't Seem to Make You Mine" was a regional hit in Southern California in 1965. The song was also played regularly on AM rock stations in northern California (and probably elsewhere), where it was well received by listeners, and eventually went on to become, and is considered today, a 60s cult classic song. The band had a national Top 40 hit, "Pushin' Too Hard", in 1966 and performed the song on national television. Three subsequent singles, "Mr. Farmer" (also 1966), a re-release of "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" (1967), and "A Thousand Shadows" (1967) achieved more modest success, although all were most popular in southern California. Musically uncomplicated with a flair for simple melodic hooks and dominated by Saxon's unorthodox vocal delivery, their first two albums, The Seeds and A Web of Sound, are today considered classics of '60s garage music.