"...Try To Understand..."
Now here's a sweetie for fans of 60ts Garage
and Psych (and even a bit of 50ts Blues) - "Pushin' Too Hard: The
Seeds" – another Big Beat Records compilation - but this time offering an
aural CD companion to the 2019 Neil Norman Directed/Alec Palao Produced
Documentary Movie and Soundtrack of the same name celebrating the explosive
career of THE SEEDS who took L.A. by storm in the latter half of that amazing decade.
You get twenty-one tracks that include an
impressive thirteen previously unreleased – mouth-watering and saucy stuff
indeed for such a sought after and influential group. In the words of the song
- let’s try to understand - here are the skyward details…
UK released Wednesday, 27 February 2019 -
"Pushin' Too Hard: The Seeds – Original Soundtrack" by THE SEEDS [and
Other Artists] on Big Beat CDWIKD 342 (Barcode 029667093224) is a CD
compilation that offers up 21 tracks (including unreleased) as follows (73:23
minutes):
1. Pushin' Too Hard
(November 1965 Debut US 7" single on GNP
Crescendo GNP 364X, A-side originally credited as "You're Pushing Too
Hard" by The Seeds Featuring Sky Saxon with "Out Of The
Question" on the flipside - reissued July 1966 again as The Seeds
Featuring Sky Saxon on GNP 372X as "Pushin' Too Hard" with "Try
To Understand" on the B-side)
2. They Say by RITCHIE MARSH (1963 USA 7"
single on Shepherd SR-2203, A-side)
3. No Escape (Take 3) (recorded 20 July 1965,
2019 Previously Unreleased GNP Crescendo recording)
4. Can't Seem To Make You Mine (February 1967
USA 7" single on GNP Crescendo GNP 354, A-side)
5. Try To Understand (Take 3) (recorded January
1966, 2019 Previously Unreleased GNP Crescendo recording)
6. Out Of The Question (Alternative Mix) (Take
8 recorded 14 Sep 1965, 2019 Previously Unreleased GNP Crescendo recording)
7. The Perfect Wave by NEIL NORMAN (from the
1982 US compilation LP "Bustin' Surfboards" on GNP Crescendo GNPS
2152)
8. Tripmaker (Live) (recorded 29 April 1967 at
the Hollywood Bowl, intro by "Humble Harve" Miller, 2019 unreleased)
9. Evil Hoodoo (Full Length Stereo Mix) (from
the April 2011 10" EP "Evil Hoodoo" on Big Beat LTDEP 101)
10. Mr. Farmer (Stereo Album Version) (from the
1966 "A Web Of Sound" US Stereo LP on GNP Crescendo GNPS 2033)
11. Up in Her Dream (Take 1, recorded 2 April
1968, 2019 Previously Unreleased GNP Crescendo recording)
12. Satisfy You (Version 3) (Take 6, recording
details as per Track 11)
13. Night Time Girl (Take 8) (Take 8, recording
details as per Track 11)
14. Baby Please Don't Go (Live) by MUDDY WATERS
(1954 live recording performed for GNP's Gene Norman in Los Angeles - 2019
Previously Unreleased)
15. The Gardener (Take 1) (recorded 4 October
1966, 2019 Previously Unreleased GNP Crescendo recording)
16. A Faded Picture (Stereo Album Version)
(from the 1966 "A Web Of Sound" US Stereo LP on GNP Crescendo GNPS
2033)
17. Fallin' Off the Edge Of My Mind (Take 12)
(recorded 3 September 1968, 2019 Previously Unreleased GNP Crescendo recording)
18. The Wind Blows Your Hair (Version 3) (Take
6, recorded 10 August 1967, 2019 Previously Unreleased GNP Crescendo recording)
19. A Thousand Shadows (1993 Mix) (from the
1993 CD compilation "Travel With Your Mind" on GNP Crescendo GNPD
2218)
20. Ballad Of Sky Saxon by KIM FOWLEY (1:20
minute monologue recorded 2009, 2019 Previously Unreleased GNP Crescendo
recording)
21. YMCA Spot/ SKY Speaks (1:03 minute Radio
Promo Advert) 2019 Previously Unreleased GNP Crescendo recording
Tracks 1 to 6, 8,14 and 21 are MONO - all
others in STEREO
The three-way foldout card digipak sleeve
features a festooned 24-page booklet inside rammed to the gills with period
photos, trade adverts, mastertape boxes and even a fan's Fact Sheet on the back
page from the September 1967 issue of Teen Set. Beneath the see-through CD tray
is a repro photo of the second issue US single for "Pushin' Too Hard"
on GNP Crescendo GNP 372. Alec's notes talk of the songs in recording order
with additional notes on the stragglers - the Kim Fowley monologue and the 1954
Muddy Waters live recording (is that Little Walter warbling on the Harmonica).
It's very tastefully done and the artwork gives it that Garage/Psych look too.
Long-time Audio Engineer NICK ROBBINS has once again done the honours and even
the rougher stuff sounds tickettyboo...
Historically accurate or not - the Ritchie
March inclusion feels unnecessary and a tad lame (Sky Saxon’s real name). Not
so the Neil Norman hey big bird frat surf of "The Perfect Wave" (so
cool) and the live reasonably well recorded Muddy Waters cut of "Baby
Please Don't Go" before the fabulous bluesy Take 1 of "The
Gardener" are cleverly placed. Even better are the two superlative
sounding Stereo cuts from the "Weed..." LP of 1966 - "Mr.
Farmer" and "A Faded Picture" – those keyboards and guitars so
fantastically clear (like a Them recording). The phased Kim Fowley vocals for
"Ballad Of Sky Saxon" is backed by cool fuzzed-up boogie guitar while
old Kim waffles on about leather jackets and Sky’s arrival on the West Coast.
The flower children and colours and really groovy talk in the YMCA slot is a
hoot – Sky telling the kids to drop wars and get down with the vibe of love.
For sure its not all brill, but there's more
than enough in those unreleased versions to keep fans happy and the uninitiated
understanding why the band was held in such affection then and still is now.
Very cool indeed...
