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Size: 108 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

The "A Thousand Shadows" 45 rpm from this album, Future, came in a pink sleeve decorated by gray four-leaf clovers and a negative picture of the Seeds next to a sign that says "Wishing Well - Help Us Grow." "A Thousand Shadows" is the melody as well as the feel of their Top 40 1967 hit "Pushin' Too Hard." Breaking no new ground, the band insisted on revisiting its formula, reinventing new versions of "Pushin' Too Hard" like "Flower Lady & Her Assistant." This is a sophisticated package with a gatefold which includes lyrics over pastel sunflowers as if the band was Joni Mitchell. Three colorful pages come inside the album, including two beautiful photos of the group along with single flowers representing the songs on the disc with instructions: "Cut out paste on whatever" for grade schoolers or those so strung out on LSD they have regressed to that point. "Six Dreams" is Black Sabbath's Ozzie meeting George Harrison in some biker film soundtrack with weird sound effects and a sitar.

The harp on "Fallin'" underscores Saxon's passionate garage vocal. Imagine, if you will, Brian Jones during the recording of Satanic Majesties deciding to bare all the excesses of rock stardom. This album is a trip, not because it reflects the ideas captured in the Peter Fonda film of the same name, but because a band had the audacity to experiment with record company money and make something so noncommercial and playful. Droning organ sounds penetrate "Fallin'," the seven minute, 40 second final track. Saxon writes in the inner-sleeve essay "Originations of the Flower Generation" "...The farmer lives by the elements alone, the sun, the rain, and the earth, but the earth needs its seeds to sow the flower generation of the leaf...." It's heady stuff, and the melody and sound of "Pushin' Too Hard" permeates incessantly. Hardly a Future, as the title proclaims, this is actually the Sgt. Pepper of the flower-power set, a reinvention of past efforts, but no "Strawberry Fields" or "Day in the Life" to bring it out of its cult niche. Very listenable, highly entertaining, and totally not for the mass audience. GNP stands for Gene Norman Presents, and the label should be commended for allowing such creativity which inspired Iggy Pop and the Lyres' Mono Mann.

Saxon played his game to the hilt, and that followers like Mono Mann and Jeff Connelly would get stuck in his groove is only testament to how original and enthralling these sounds are. Tunes like "Now a Man" are low-key Ventures riffs with naïve guitar and Saxon being as indulgent as humanly possible. Fans should also seek out a 45 on Expression records, "Beautiful Stars" by Sky Sunlight and Thee New Seeds featuring Rainbow. Despite its musical limitations, Future holds up quite well to repeated plays by sitting firmly in the past.

The Seeds were a rock band. The group which repertorie spread between garage rock and acid rock, are considered one of the pioneers of punk rock.

HistoryLead singer Sky Saxon had a musical career that went back to pre-Beatle music days, when he recorded a few 45s under the name Richie Marsh. Born in Salt Lake City, he was based in Los Angeles from the early 1960s. The Seeds were formed in 1965 with Saxon joining as a response to an advertisement. Keyboardist Daryl Hooper was a major factor in the band's sound; the band was one of the first to utilize keyboard bass. Guitarists Jan Savage and Jeremy Levine with drummer Rick Andridge completed the original quintet, but Levine left shortly after the first recording sessions for personal reasons. Although Sky Saxon is usually credited as bass player, he did not play bass on any of the Seeds' recordings. This was handled by session men, usually one Harvey Sharpe. On stage, keyboardist Daryl Hooper would handle the bass parts via a separate bass keyboard, in the same way as Ray Manzarek 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. The band had their only national Top 40 hit, "Pushin' Too Hard", in 1966 (#44 in Canada). Three subsequent singles, "Mr. Farmer" (also 1966), a re-release of "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" (1967) (#33 in Canada), and "A Thousand Shadows" (1968) achieved more modest success, although all were most popular in southern California. Musically uncomplicated and dominated by Saxon's vocal style and flair for simple melodic hooks, their first two albums are today considered classics of '60s garage music. A later album (Future, 1967) was full-blown psychedelic rock, with ornate flower-themed graphics to match, and another was devoted to the blues (with liner notes by Muddy Waters).

By mid-1968, with their commercial popularity flagging, the group's personnel began to change; the band was renamed "Sky Saxon and the Seeds" in 1969, by which point Bob Norsoph, guitar, and Don Boomer, drums, had replaced Savage and Andridge. Saxon continued to use the name "The Seeds", using various backup musicians, at least through 1972; the last major-label records of new material by The Seeds—two non-charting singles on MGM records—were released in 1970.

After the dissolution of the Seeds, Sky Saxon joined the Yahowha religious group, inspired by their divine leader Father Yod. Although a member of the Source Family for several years, Saxon did not participate in any of the albums released by Yahowha 13 in the mid 1970s. He does appear on the "Golden Sunrise" album by Fire Water Air, which was a Yahowha 13 off-shoot, and later recorded the "Yod Ship Suite" album in memory of the deceased Father Yod. In the 1970s, Saxon also released the solo LPs "Lovers Cosmic Voyage" (credited to Sunlight) and "Live At The Orpheum" credited to Sunlight Rainbow. Sky, (Source family name Arelich) collaborated with Damian and Isis Aquarian for their original vinyls and Isis archive photos- that he produced in a 13 CD Box set called "God and Hair". Members of the Source Family went their separate ways after Father Yod died in a hang gliding accident in Hawaii 1975, although Saxon continued to collaborate with various members of the Yahowa group. The Source Family reunited in the 2000s, following substantial media interest and an official biography Book, the untold story of "Father Yod, Yahowha13 and the Source Family" by Isis Aquarian- who was the family Historian,Archivist, Temple keeper and one of Father/Yahowha wives.

In the 1980s, Saxon collaborated with several bands—including Redd Kross and The Chesterfield Kings—before reforming the original Seeds in 1989 to headline "The Summer of Love Tour", along with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Arthur Lee and Love, The Music Machine and The Strawberry Alarm Clock. The Seeds remained dormant again until 2003, when Saxon reformed them with original guitarist Jan Savage and newcomers Rik Collins on bass and Dave Klein on keyboards. This new version of the Seeds has gone through several incarnations, with Savage departing midway through their 2003 European tour due to his health. Saxon remained the only original member of The Seeds, which continued to tour Europe and the United States. Sky Saxon died on June 25, 2009.

01. Introduction 3:03
02. March of the Flower Children - Hooper, Saxon 1:45
03. Travel With Your Mind - Hooper, Savage, Saxon 3:00
04. Out of the Question - Saxon, Serpent 3:02
05. Painted Doll - Saxon 3:20
06. Flower Lady and Her Assistant - Saxon 3:15
07. Now a Man - Hooper, Savage, Saxon 3:20
08. A Thousand Shadows - Hooper, Savage, Saxon 2:25
09. Two Fingers Pointing on You - Sky Saxon 3:10
10. Where Is the Entrance Way to Play? - Saxon 2:55
11. Six Dreams - Saxon 3:05
12. Fallin' - Hooper, Saxon 7:40