(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

The Seeds, fronted by Sky Saxon (Richard Marsh), were proto-punks who exalted depravity and violence. Their sound combined the crude, amateurish edge of garage rock with the dreamy tone of acid rock under the aegis of the Rolling Stones. Saxon’s work, one of the most blasphemous of the 1960s, was in effect a continuous hymn to lust.

Sky Saxon, who had released several singles between 1962 and 1964, formed the Seeds in 1965 in Los Angeles. The feverish and demonic Pushin' Too Hard (their Satisfaction, a 1965 anthem echoing Bad To Me by Billy J. Kramer) and No Escape (1966) are prototypes of their harsh, rude, violent songs. The depraved litany Can't Seem To Make You Mine (perhaps their masterpiece) celebrated the animalistic personality of leader Sky Saxon (Richard Marsh, originally from Utah), an angry and cryptic singer in the Jagger lineage. The first album, Seeds (GNP, spring 1966), contains technically very poor tracks (they used always and only the same two chords), but inspired by an irritating, dirty, rusty blues-rock. From beginning to end, through psychedelic blues like Nobody Spoil My Fun and tribal dances like Evil Hoodoo, a single epidemic riff runs through the album, replicating itself endlessly, brash and quivering.

The second album, A Web Of Sound (GNP, 1966), is perhaps less compact, but boasts a fourteen-minute jam, Up In Her Room, which gives carte blanche to the singer’s roaring and sensual charge in a destructive, orgasmic crescendo of slashing guitar by Jon Savage, and highlights the rough honky-tonk piano style of Daryl Hooper. Tripmaker and Just Let Go continue the saga of Pushin'. Mr. Farmer is a classic worthy of the early singles. The first two albums were later collected on Seeds (GNP, 1987).

Raw And Alive (MGM, 1967) attempted to artificially reproduce their legendary live performances (the record was recorded in the studio with mechanical applause).

Future (1967) was a baroque tribute, complete with horns and violins, to the raga-rock (Travel With Your Mind, Pretty Girl) and flower-power (March Of The Flower Children, Two Fingers Pointing On You) that were spreading at the time. Pieces such as Where Is The Entranceway To Play and Flower Lady And Her Assistant are as chaotic as they are ethereal. Out Of The Question and A Thousand Shadows are the final chapters of the Pushin' saga. The album is one of the most surreal of the psychedelic season, thanks also to the arrangements by Marcus Tybalt (the George Martin of the situation).

The same lineup, renamed Blues Band, released a mediocre blues-rock album, A Full Spoon Of Seedy Blues (1969).

Sky Saxon released The Stars New Seeds Band (1971), joined Father Yod for a few months, and then followed him into exile in Hawaii in 1974. He would resurface with Starry Ride (Psycho, 1984), Destiny's Children (PVC, 1986), and In Search Of Brighter Colors (New Rose, 1988), by then having become a cult figure. Golden Vaults Volume 1 (Timeless, 2002) is an anthology of rarities of dubious artistic value.

Sky Saxon lived an odd life during his exile in Hawaii. For a few years he did not release any music, but he started a religious cult (and actually taped some of his rituals). He never wanted to stage a comeback but was almost forced to stage one by fans who considered him a cult figure. Starry Ride (Psycho, 1984) is virtually the follow-up to A Web Of Sound, thanks to an epic-length 24 Hour Rocker. A Groovy Thing (New Rose, 1986) and Destiny's Children (PVC, 1986) present the old guru surrounded by young disciples of the Los Angeles' underground (the two sets are different selections of songs from the same sessions). In Search Of Brighter Colors (New Rose, 1988) harks back again to the Seeds. Private Party (Voxx, 1986) is a live performance with members of the Redd Kross and others.

Sky Saxon died in june 2009.