1. Falling
Off the Edge of the Charts
The last Seeds 45 to be released by GNP Crescendo was
the Kim Fowley-produced Fallin' Off The Edge / Wild Blood from February
1969. While the band was still
popular locally, they hadn't had a real hit since "A Thousand
Shadows" and their fame was beginning to dwindle; the venues shrank
from concert halls to local clubs and the
Sunset Strip teenybopper excitement that helped fuel their rise to stardom
was nowhere to be seen. Disenchanted, the original band began falling apart.
While it's never been properly
documented before, drummer Rick Andridge left the band as early as mid-1968.
His
first replacement was Carl Belknap, veteran of several local LA-area bands.
Carl rehearsed and played some gigs with the Seeds, including a show at
Melodyland in Anaheim that has been preserved on tape. It's a good concert,
ironically pretty close in sound to the fake Raw & Alive LP
from the same timeframe. Carl forwarded the following details to me:
When I had to go back to college in order to
avoid the draft, I was quickly replaced. I met the new drummer at
a rehearsal at Sky's house in Malibu in early '69. Unfortunately,
I don't remember his name, or that of the second guitarist they had
added. They were rehearsing a really kick-ass song called 'Outlaw
Motorcycle Man'. At the end of rehearsal, Jan [Savage] told me he
was leaving the band, but didn't elaborate.
Carl Belknap doesn't perform on
any official Seeds recordings, but an associate of the band from the time recently
forwarded me the following info:
The names of the missing Seeds members from 1968-69 are Bob Norsoph
- guitar and Don Boomer - drums. Along with Sky and Darryl, this is the
group on "Wild Blood", "Outlaw Motorcycle", "Forbidden
Fruit", etc. Also on the recordings is guitarist/ songwriter Dennis
Edmonton/Mars Bonfire and steel guitarist the late Red Rhodes! Boomer also
played drums on some of the tracks on the "Raw & Alive"
album along with Hal Blaine. When Norsoph and Boomer were added the band's
name changed from the Seeds to Sky Saxon & The Seeds, which was Neil
Norman's doing. The band did some shows as a 5-piece with Jan before his
health forced his leaving the group.
Sky Saxon & the Seeds
in early '69 -
Bob Norsoph, Daryl, Sky, Don Boomer
I recently heard from Don Boomer, who indeed was the drummer in
the revamped Seeds 'Mark II' line-up. Don, who describes Sky Saxon as 'the most
charismatic person I have ever met', added some vital info regarding the
outs and ins of the late '60s Seeds. Prior to replacing Rick Andridge in
mid-'68, Don had been in a band called the Good Guys, who recorded some
material but had no records out:
About 2 months after this band ended I
replaced Rick to coincide with the release of the "Raw & Alive"
album and the single Satisfy You/ 900 Million People. My
best remembrance is that Rick left the band after the band was
involved in a lawsuit to remove their manager Lord Tim Hudson.
Richard France who was the band's road manager told me when we
attended Sky's memorial at the Echo that Carl [Belknap] was a
fill-in and only played the one gig (Melodyland). The band continued
as 'the Seeds' for about 6 months until Jan's health became an
issue. This band recorded some of the "Raw & Alive" album. I believe Rick had already left the band and
did not play on it at all. In fact I don't know how much of all the
previous recordings actually had Rick playing, and
how much of the Seeds' catalog was played by Hal Blaine (as it was
before my time), as I was led to believe that
GNP hired Hal Blaine quite
a lot.
On "Raw & Alive" I played on "900 Million
People" and "Pushing Too Hard". I think they were originally cut
with Hal but I told the record company, if they didn't want me on
the recording dates I wouldn't play the live dates either. My big 17
year-old ego I guess :-) The "Raw & Alive" sessions that I played on
were done at Goldstar. There were some other tunes cut that I don't
think ever made it to disc. As I recall there were two versions of
"Raw & Alive" that were released, and I don't remember if I was on
any others.
Bob Norsoph didn't join the band until after
"Raw & Alive" was all done. At the time [Fall 1968], Bob was
considered probably the best rock guitarist in Hollywood. He came
over from the Yellow Payges who were the house band at the
Hullabaloo club. It was also at this time GNP decided we should change the name to 'Sky &
the Seeds'. We played gigs as a 5-piece for a few months until Jan could no longer continue.
Bob and I played on all the Kim Fowley dates which were recorded at
Western and United studios in Hollywood. Besides "Fallin' Off The
Edge" and "Young Blood" there are at least two songs I've never
heard again. One was called "Outlaw Motorcycle" which was co-
written by Mars Bonfire ("Born To Be Wild"), and [the other]
"Forbidden Fruit". The version of "Fallin' Off The Edge" that was
released was just us goofing off. It was never supposed to have the
country sound. I think we just were all tired after a dozen earlier
takes. Originally it was supposed to be a straight rocker.
Also on the Fowley session was Red Rhodes on steel guitar. He's
probably better known as the father of Randy Rhodes of Ozzy fame.
There were some other Seeds sessions with Don Peak (who was Sonny &
Cher's musical director) and Jack Nitzsche, but I can't remember
what new songs came out of them. There was one about Captain
America. There are probably about 8 or 10 Seeds
songs that were scheduled to be released by Crescendo that I believe
were bought up by MGM but as far as I know they were never released
back in '69. "Fallin' Off The Edge" is the only one I have ever
found along with a remake of "Pushin Too Hard" that did end up on
some CD released in EU [...]
I left the band in the Spring of '69 and I
think Bob [Norsoph] left a month after that. I thought that Richard
Barcelona replaced Bob at that time but their may have been someone
else for a short time. Bob and myself went on, along with the
bassist from Barcelona's band American Revolution named John Keith
to form another band but we never released any material.
(Don Boomer, 2013)
Despite
this flurry of activity GNP Crescendo would soon drop the band, or what was
left of it, from their
roster. After a contract-less
period in mid-1969 Sky & the Seeds hooked up with MGM who expressed interest. Ironically,
this happened just a few months before MGM -- led by future politico bigwig Mike Curb --
decided to dump a lot of their "drug-related" acts. Apparently they hadn't
run a check on Sky before signing him! Whatever their intentions were, MGM
was also undergoing a major change at the time, as its music and movie divisions
split into completely separate companies, which left little time to focus on
newly signed pop acts.
2. The MGM 45s
& Shuckin' & Jivin'
OK, so at this point (late 1969) Sky is
still working to keep the Seeds name alive, still no "Sunlight" attached to his name,
but getting increasingly concerned with the well-being of animals and vegetables,
as well as astronomic phenomena. For a period it seems the band consisted of
only him and Daryl Hooper, with the possible addition of pick-up musicians
for live gigs. But with the MGM contract in hand, Sky put together a 'Mark
III' Seeds. The line-up for this incarnation has proven quite difficult to
sort out, as neither Sky nor Daryl Hooper remembered much of it.
One of the players Daryl Hooper recalled being
named "Chip", while Sky has identified the other two as "Rob"
(bass) and "John". In the printed Ugly Things version of this
article I speculated that their full names
will some day be found on an Etruscan drinking vessel or such, but thanks to
the diligent research of Jeff Jarema (who also interviewed Daryl Hooper for
his Here 'Tis fanzine long ago), the full story on the Seeds Mark
III finally emerged. It can be found on the snazzy EP reissue that Sundazed
put out of the two MGM 45s recently, and is excerpted here with Mr Jarema's
generous permission:
[The] Pasadena-based power trio the Solid Mist
had opened for the Seeds at that city’s civic auditorium. At
the time, the Solid Mist consisted of Bill "Chip" Chiapparelli, John
Crass and Don Freeman. Chip and Don alternated on guitar and bass
while Crass drummed. Their manager also handled a stable of
strippers which led to a diverse date sheet of Hollywood dance clubs
(both Gazzarri’s locations, for example) and strip joints. [...] By
’69, both the Solid Mist and Seeds had gone bust. As
Chiapparelli recalls, “Sky was trying to make a comeback. He
remembered us from the Pasadena Civic.” Initially, Sky and
Daryl drafted Chiapparelli and drummer Crass from the Solid Mist
plus one of their Pasadena pals Brian Tobin on bass. The
latter’s involvement was short-lived. His unfamiliarity with his
instrument was initially overlooked for a more practical
consideration. The reconstituted Seeds rehearsed in Saxon’s
Malibu garage, a major haul from Pasadena. Of these new hires, Tobin
was the one with a car. He was shortly replaced as bassist by
Rob Starr.
This five-piece line-up, depicted on the Sundazed
EP, are what is heard on the two MGM 45s. Daryl Hooper has confirmed
playing on the first MGM 45
"Bad Part
Of Town"/"Wish Me Up" (MGM 14163, August 1970), and it appears that he's
also on the second MGM 45 "Love In A Summer Basket"/"Did He Die" (MGM 14190,
November 1970).
Seeds still headlining in 1970;
according to "Chip"
Lee Michaels resented being lower billed
Now if the Seeds had been just an
ordinary 1960s band, and if Sky Saxon had been just an ordinary 1960s teen
idol, then these two releases would have sucked royally, like Dick Dodd's
"Guilty" or that Roy Orbison hippie-epic 45.
But the incredibly strange aspects that seep into the Saxon legend like
highgrade Owsley into an LA water reservoir produces something quite
different: two real killer 45s, as good or better than anything the band did
when they were selling out the Hollywood Bowl. Prior to the Sundazed EP, the
four tracks may be familiar to some of you as they made the rounds
via two parallel Sky retrospectives in the early 1980s, one by AIP
and one by France's Eva label; the "Bad Part Of Town" track also
appeared on a couple of garage compilations..
"Bad Part Of Town" is a
100% successful garage-hardrock transition number, the Saxon songwriting
being instantly recognizable to the point of including rhymes on "day
and night" like the band always utilized back in the charttopping days.
Sky sings a blue collar coalminer's lament that could have been embarrassing
but instead rings with authenticity, simply because he himself and the band
as a whole sounds so damn angry! Not a whiff of burnout vibes here; they
could have shared the bill with Boa or Mystic Siva at some local Detroit
speedfreak club. The drummer has been put down elsewhere, but I think his
frantic hardrock style improves the tune further. The flipside "Wish Me
Up" is essentially a return to the teen crooner sounds that were the
other side of the '66 era Seeds, apart from the two-chord punk manifestos.
Daryl Hooper's electric piano is given a central place just like in the good
old daze, while the lead guitarist plays it clean and simple like Jan Savage
would. The lyrics are a bit more cosmic, and the overall mood is hippiesh
rather than bobbysockish; the end result works pretty well.
After "Bad Part Of Town"
died in the market, a few months passed
before the band was allowed a second chance to compete with Three Dog Night or whatever it was that rode the charts in
1970. "Love In A
Summer Basket" seems an honest attempt to make a commercial tune,
except that the sentiment and sound it promotes had disappeared into a black hole
between Altamont and the Tate-LaBianca residence the year before. It's
not bad, especially if you enjoy the Scott McKenzie-on-PCP vibes of the
"Future" LP, with a heavy guitar break in the middle aimed to lure
hapless teens away from their Grand Funk and Led Zep albums and realize the
genius of Sky. They didn't, which is a shame as it means they missed out on
the stunning "Did He Die", which I'd rate as the best of all Sky's
early 1970s tunes.
Opening with throbbing, uptempo bass
we are thrown into a vicious acidfuzz variation on the old Seeds two-chord
gospel, some ominous Vietnam-inspired lyrics lead the way into an unexpected
good-timey interlude for a few bars, then it's whammo into a droning
fuzz-fueled rant from Sky: "Did he die...Did he die... He shot him in
the head... He killed his brother... torture, torture on the hill...
thousand crosses mark the kill... ruuuuunnn... I'll protect you with my
life..."; the whole thing plays like a haunted Viet Vet junkie
flashback of the Dho Lung Bridge scenes from "Apocalypse
Now". It's just amazing.
Another 1970
gig, announcing the
unexpected
return of Flower Power
After the
non-success of the 45s MGM dropped the band (the Mike Curb drug purge was
probably invoked), and I must admit the story gets
a bit hazy here. Although Sky himself considered this point, in late 1970,
the end of the original Seeds, the band name would soon surface
again. Any Seeds-related activities during 1971 are unknown and
possibly non-existent, but by 1972 a 'New Seeds' was up and running.
The valiant Daryl Hooper
had finally had enough, and of the new band members Richard Barcelona
is the only known name currently. Barcelona, who had formerly been
with American Revolution (LP on Flick-Disc) may have been briefly
involved with the Seeds already in '69, but by 1972 he was definitely a member. After a recording hiatus (although they
may have
played live) Sky & his merry men came back in 1972 with an atypical
hardrock 45, released on their own Productions Unlimited
label (# AJ-11/22). This one is probably too tough a pill to swallow for the
average Seeds garage fan, but as far as local hardrock/guitarpsych 45s go, it's very
good. No burnout vibes are audible as the band blows through a convincing
interpretation of the sound that was played in a zillion suburban
basements around the US at the time.
The A-side "Shuckin'
And Jivin'"
clocks in at almost 7 minutes and features some truly great playing, but the
most puzzling aspect are the vocals, which several people have suggested isn't
Sky. It really
doesn't sound much like him, but I long found it hard to believe that the guy
would abandon his most
important contribution. However, a former band-mate of Richard Barcelona
recently forwarded the following interesting comment that probably
solves the riddle:
When I played with Richard Barcelona in '73-'75 we used to
play a song called 'Shuckin' and Jivin' (A Penny A day)' that I
was under the impression that Richard had penned. I'm not sure
if he told me that or not. I was just under that impression.
Richard Barcelona used to do a BETTER Robert Plant than Robert
himself. We also used to do some Zeppelin stuff and I was amazed
at how well he could do that Plant head tone.
(John H.)
It may in fact be that Barcelona and
the band demanded to record this song without Sky on lead vocals, as
an anonymous commentator recently suggested; this would have
effectively ended the New Seeds. The flipside
"You
Took Me By Surprise"
is in the same vein but with shorter instrumental passages and a clearly
recognizable Sky Saxon behind the microphone. Not bad, and proof of
the man's enviable ability to identify and emulate the happening sounds of
the moment.
3. The World
Peace Band
We now enter a phase in Sky's career
that is so hazy I doubt it's ever been discussed at all. After
"Shucking And Jivin'" unsurprisingly went nowhere the 'New
Seeds' threw in the towel. Of course Sky
couldn't just walk away from the stage; to begin with, what was he going to
do instead? In what may have been a combined commercial and spiritual move
he added "Sunlight" to his stage name, where it's been ever since,
and went looking for a new crowd. In LA he needn't look long, naturally, and
this marks the beginning of what for practical purposes will be referred to
as the WORLD PEACE BAND period, although that name
actually never appeared on the records they play on.
Apart from Sky Sunlight Saxon, the
main engine in the World Peace Band was one Michael Neal, a k a
"Rainbow" or sometimes even "Rainbow Starburst". A DJ
with KBLA in the late '60s, Rainbow was a slightly younger guy with ambitions to become an actor; he was also an
aspiring songwriter and a good (primarily rhythm) guitarist. In the early
1970s he was playing with a local LA band called the Gypsy Kings when he
hooked up with Sky Saxon via the Seeds old manager, Lord Tim Hudson. Sky's other cohorts in the
WPB fall more into the 1960s hippie veteran camp as you may expect, and
includes impressive names such as Elliot Ingber and Mars Bonfire. The exact
line-up in the WPB beyond Sky and Rainbow isn't known and probably varied
over time.
The first known recording of the
World Peace Band is a circa 1973 DEMO TAPE; about
40
minutes of music recorded in a house in Santa Monica. The tapes include
future Sky staples such as "Starry Ride" and "Wake Up";
while still unreleased a few copies have leaked out into the collector
world.
I recently
came into possession of a dupe of these demos, so here's the first detailed
breakdown ever of the recordings. To begin with, the sound and style is
similar to the subsequent "Universal Stars" 45 (see below), which
means vaguely Stones-influenced 70s garage rock with Sky ad-libbing over a
rough, gritty sound. If you can imagine an inexperienced 70s punk band
trying to sound like "Let It Bleed", except with Sky Saxon on
vocals, you're getting close. Rainbow provides his characteristic cutting
rhythm guitar, often with raw fuzz and distortion. There is a bass player,
some guitar leads and Thundercloud Cassidy (son of Ed) playing drums somewhere in the back,
often drowned out
by Sky's incessant tambourine. Incidentally, an attempt to
remix the recordings created an even less professional sound, due to an
overload of the vocal track.
The songs
are basically riffs and a few key phrases, from which Sky wings the rest.
Tracks are as follows:
Got
The Magic (vers. 1)
Lead Singer*
Wives Tales
American Eagle*
Got The Magic (vers. 2 -- longer and better)
Starry Ride
You Got The Power
Wake Up
Sleepwalking
The Village
Young Girl* (vers. 1 -- aborted)
Young Girl* (vers. 2 -- complete)
*vocals by Rainbow
The last
three tracks border on chaos, which in a way enhances the stark Vietnam
hallucination of "The village", while Rainbow's "Young Girl"
is best forgotten. On the other hand, "You Got The
Power" and "Sleepwalking" are snappy, forceful tunes that
hint of the excellent protopunk the World Peace Band would achieve on the
1977 EP. Supposedly presented to Martin Cerf of United Artists in 1973, these demos are
probably too rough to ever see a commercial release, and they certainly didn't put
a line of executives outside Sky's door.
Instead, the first vinyl imprint of
the World Peace Band's ambitions was a humble private press 45 on the
Emerald Light label from Northern California. The dead wax info (delta
#97810) points to a 1974-1975 release date, which is in line with the
overall chronology. The tracks are Diamonds In The Rough b/w Universal Stars
(Emerald Light 8). The label shows
SUNLIGHT
& THEE NEW SEEDS/UNIVERSE SUN
as
recording artists. Sky's manager Jeff Gruber has been credited for getting
the record out. Gruber
had been working for Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, but dazzled by
the magnetism of an even greater star he left to become Sky's manager.
According to a c1980 interview with Bomp magazine, Sky tried to get Hefner
to invest large sums in the revival of his rock career!
"Diamonds In The Rough"
sets
a musical pattern that the subsequent 45s would follow; a primitive 70s Stones
"rock" sound with remnants of guitar-psychedelia, plenty of
unexpected breaks, and an echo-laden Sky half-singing about stars and the
universe on top of this. This one is so chaotic that it doesn't sound quite
finished; it's odd that not more work was put into it.
"Universal
Stars"
is similar to the point of
being almost the same tune, but it's more successful and less chaotic, with
some nice psych effects towards the end.
While it wasn't no "Pushing Too
Hard", the gentlemen involved felt strongly enough for these 45 tracks
to have them released again in 1976; now on the Expression label
(Expression
777-1/2)
and with some
minor edits applied. The title of
the A-side was changed to "Beautiful Stars"
and the first two chord changes and Sky's words "Diamonds in the
Rough" were edited out. Apart from allowing for a title change and
creating some confusion, the purpose of this edit is unknown. The B-side "Universal
Stars" remained unchanged, but apparently the sound on the earlier Emerald Light
pressing is better on both sides. The band was now credited as
SKY
SUNLIGHT & THEE NEW SEEDS,
the
"Sky" being added vs the Emerald Light issue.
The late 1970s was a
fairly busy period for Sky, and apart from the releases with the World Peace
Band he found time for several other projects. These are detailed in the
sections below which allows me to skip onto his third and last 7"
release, an EP from 1977 in the same style and on the same label as the
preceding 45. Relased as by
STARS
NEW SEEDS, the
EP consists of: In Love With Life / Starry Ride / The
Queen / Tired Of Bein' Poor (Expression 777-3/4). The overall sound is
similar to the preceding 45, but the recording is a lot better, and the
songs seem more finished.
1977 EP with two unique tracks
"Starry
Ride"
is
one of Sky's major 1970s creations, recorded at least four times by various
constellations. This first official release of it is a highly credible piece
of hippie-psychedelia, characterized by Rainbow Neal's cutting rhythm
guitar, both on the excellent riff and some Pete Townshend string whamming towards
the end. The lyrics are vintage Sky, that's all you need to know.
"I
Am In Love With Life"
too is a fine recording, more towards the rootsy rock style; Sky again shows
his uncanny ability to find simple yet effective chord changes -- he was far from making "hit" records at this point, but
when hearing things like this the old stories about him being approached by
various record execs don't seem so outlandish. The band is tight and has a
raw, almost '77 punk-style sound.
"Tired
Of Being Poor"
is another excellent psych-rocker with a slightly droning sound, while the
lyrics and overall mood is reminiscent of "Bad Part Of Town". This is
also one of Sky's few non-Yahowha recordings where he
explicitly mentions "Father" and "Yahowha".
"The
Queen"
is an atypical track with an r'n'b/funk vibe and unusual pizzicato guitarplaying.
Both these tracks can only be found on the original EP and have never been
reissued. All over, the 1977 EP must rank as the best of all Sky's
post-Seeds releases, and with a bit more ambition
and resources it could have re-launched his career much like Roky
Erickson's. The sound is slightly muffled and mastered at a very low volume,
and the subsequent reissues of the first two tracks by Psycho and the Yahowa
box are clearly superior.
Another
track that probably derives from this era is
"Drums,
Stars And Guitars",
which made its first appearance on
the
"Starry Ride" Psycho mini-LP from 1984, although a version of it
appears on the Sky-less Juicy Groove album from 1978 (detailed below). The tune isn't bad, pretty close to classic Seeds territory, except for the
lyrics of course, which in addition
to dogs, Yahowa and the names of various countries also inserts the words "Gotta be a farmer again" from
"Mr Farmer", another indication that the earlier band never died for Sky. The
track also pops up on Yahowa 13 CD box set from 1999, mislabelled as
"Tired Of Being Poor" and in much
inferior sound to the Psycho mini-LP.
4. Lovers
Cosmic Voyage
Sky's obscure 1976 LP "Lovers Cosmic Voyage"
is one of several one-off projects he had going in the late 1970s. It leans
towards the cosmic Yahowha side of his output, as opposed to the Seeds
"rock" heritage. The album -- all 15 minutes of it -- is quite an
experience, although more in an "Incredibly Strange" manner than
the deep meditational soundtrack it may have been intended as. I've earlier
written a detailed review of it, which can be found here.
The
label is usually listed as Golden Flash but there's also a reference to Emerald
Light publishing, which was the imprint used for Sky's first World Peace
Band 45.
The press size is unknown, but the LP is hard to find today. It was
pressed on colored vinyl, and came without any cover.
5. Yahowha 13
You could write a whole separate
article about Sky's involvement with the infamous Source Family and its
leader Father Yod. From what I gather Sky was one of their later recruits,
and hooked up with them around the time of their first LP recordings in
1973. Sky wasn't "Sunlight" when he was in the Family; instead Yod
gave him the name "Arelich". What's interesting is that Sky was a
disciple for several years without partaking in their recordings, which
produced not less than 12 albums. The probable reason for this is that Sky's
main -- or only -- forte was vocals, and of course that spot was held by the
big guy with the long beard. Here are some comments regarding Sky's tenure
with the Yahowans, from Gary Bearman's excellent band interview.
DJIN:
I can't say
exactly how Sunlight, then Sky Saxon, first met Father. I do know the
Seeds had just broken up and Sky was drifting a bit when he met Father,
and saw God in him. Sunlight was in and out of the family body because of
his personal music career which was understandable to Father, and he never
played with Father because Father sang solo to get the wisdom teachings
across. Sunlight was directed by father, around 73, to do an album with
the other musicians of YHW13 called Fire, Water, Air (before Earth, Wind
and Fire who actually frequently ate at our restaurant and may have gotten
the idea for their name from us). We called that band Ya Ho Wha Ho as I
recall.
OCTAVIUS: Please,
no offense intended, just the facts. Sky Saxon, bless his heart, wanted
and wants to emulate Father. Sky was the lead singer for a early '70's
group called the "Seeds." I saw them a couple times myself -
very, very psychedelic. Well, he was as happy as could be when he found
us. We were just beginning to do our spontaneous stuff. He was fearless
when it came to just jumping in. Let me tell you it is not easy to just
step off. He was very willing and wanting to be in that position of
channeling wisdom in the music. The rest of us were not quite so eager to
be represented by one so young in the ways of it all. Then at some point
he and another put together the "box set" which added to and
validated his own continuing efforts to be a voice of wisdom. For me it is
just not the same. He is a good intentioned person. Yodship, etc is his
own agenda.
Sky Sunlight/Arelich appears on
three nominal "Yahowha 13" releases, all of them from the time
after Father Yod's fatal hanggliding crash in Hawaii August 1975. "Golden
Sunrise" was released (on 8-track only) in 1977 as by
Fire Water
Air and features Sky alongside the nucleus of Yahowha musicians Djinn,
Pythias, Octavius and Sunflower. The album, which was released on vinyl by
Psycho Records in England 1982, shows distinct traces of both Sky's droning
1970s psych-rock style, as well as the tribal jam orientation of the regular
Yahowha albums. It's an essential experience for those interested in the
style and personages. Some alternate takes from the recording session appear
on the 13-CD Yahowha box set on the Japanese Captain Trips label, and side 2
of "Sky Saxon -- Masters Of Psychedelia" on New Rose (France, 1984) has been
reported as outtakes from Fire Water Air.
Rare promo pic of
Fire Water Air, with Sky/Arelich
at the centre.
Photo courtesy the "Source Family Recipe Book".
The next Yahowha/Yod-related album
was the "Yod Ship Suite" on the
Father label circa 1977, an eerie hippie folkpsych drone affair with flutes
and acoustic guitars and voices lamenting the deceased Father. I like it,
although it's of a different nature than the earlier acid rock Yahowha LPs.
This was followed by an even more
obscure outing, the one-sided "Yod Ship Suite pt
3" LP, again on the Father label and probably released shortly
after the preceding album (=pt 1 and 2) in 1977. "Part 3" is not
included in the Yahowha 13 CD box set and has in fact never been reissued. I
recently got to hear this and was surprised to find a considerably
more aggressive sound than the preceding LP. "Part 3" consists of
14 minutes of music, the first half which is a successful variation on Yod
trips such as "Contraction", with full-on
psychedelic rock sounds, evil guitars and Sky rambling like Fathers' lost
son. The second half (crudely spliced on) is somewhat more introspective,
like the mellower tracks on "Golden Sunrise". Djin Aquarian
recently revealed that the "Part 3" recordings, although not
released until 1977-78, were actually laid down in 1973 with the original
Spirit Of '76 band, which explains their vintage sound. All over a very
appealing piece despite its short play-time, hopefully to be reissued some
day.
After this last gasp there were no
more Yahowha-related releases with or without Sky, and the reissues and
growing cult appreciation of the Source Family were several years away. In
the 1980 Bomp! interview Sky's manager Jeff Gruber talks at some length
about Sky's involvement with the Family. The Yod disciples told him that Sky
had been more interested in working on record deals than partaking in the
manual work in and out of the Source restaurant. Apparently the Yahowans
thought that Gruber was a Family member too, and he picked up a bit of their
philosophy and details of the death of "this cat Jim" (meaning Father Yod),
and how the family was now scattered.
Sky
would continue to refer to "Father" and "Yahowa" in both
song lyrics and interviews, although people were slow to understand how
important this era was (and still is) to him. It did not fit well with their
idea of the teen garage icon of the 1960s.
As a postscript, Sky hooked up with
original Yahowha 13 guitarist Djin Aquarian for an independently released CD
titled "Happy Hour Band - Happy Now" in 2002. The album is well
worth searching out for any Sky and/or Yahowha fan, and is remarkably
similar in style and sound to the "Golden Sunrise" album from 25
years earlier. Copies are still available here.
6. Sunlight
Rainbow Stars New Seeds
As Sky's cosmic mind
expanded, his band names became increasingly unwieldy. This moniker refers
to a loose crew of musicians assembled around Sky and Rainbow Neal to perform a
series of shows at the Orpheum Theatre on the Sunset Strip in
September-October 1977. The musicians changed between the different nights,
and it's reasonable to assume that both World Peace Band guys and Yahowa 13-related
guys may have been part of the line-ups.
The September 9 show was preserved
on tape and edited into an album, which was released later in the year. For
this particular night, the line-up was Sunlight, Rainbow, Brian Eye-Zen on
organ, and a guy known only as Ed on drums, who in fact came up from the
audience.
The LP, titled "Heavenly
Earth" and released on the band's own Sunbow label (#001), reeks of
underground hippie DIY vibes far from the Lord Tim-fuelled hipness of the
1960s Seeds. Front and back cover look very much like those local private
press 1970s LPs popular among hardcore psych fans and that's pretty much
what it sounds like too, from the lo-fi nature of the recording to the
amusing stage raps from the lead singer; the only difference being that this
guy is the once world-famous Sky Saxon. The music varies in
quality but should appeal to any fan of 1970s cosmic garage-psych; if the
album had been made by a bunch of unknown guys it probably would have been a
lot more coveted than it is today -- a nice little paradox that makes
you wonder about the retro psych music scene. In any event, there are three
Seeds covers including a very good take on "Nobody Spoil My Fun";
"Pushin Too Hard" is renamed "Pushin' too fast" by Sky,
who also changes the lyrics to deal with environmental concerns.
The rest is made up of recent Sky-Rainbow originals, all of which are quite
enjoyable, the closing "Star Jewels" being a druggy epic in which Sky
rattles off the names of various precious stones with great drama. The band
provides solid backing from Rainbow's rhythm and Ed's drums, while Brian
Eye-Zen's keyboard fills up the space from the lack of bass, as well as
providing nice Daryl Hooper runs on the Seeds numbers. My main objection is
the lack of guitar leads, and it seems Rainbow Neal wasn't comfortable as a
solo player, while his rhythm playing is always excellent. Apart from the
music there is an amusing exchange between Sky and a heckler in the audience
who misses the "old" Seeds and demands that Sky cuts off his beard, an
argument that Sky elegantly deflates in his "God Rap". The LP used to be
around in the 1980s but is seldom seen nowadays.
Ad for the
Heavenly Earth album, intended for
the never published issue #22 of Bomp!
With the advent of the retrospective Bomp! magazine
book in 2007 (the title is "Saving The World One Record At A Time"),
some new info surfaced on Sky in general, and the late 70s era in
particular. Bomp editor Greg Shaw had a big Sky feature lined up for issue
#22, which never came out, but the current book contains the article in a
semi-finished state from circa 1980. Following an eloquent introduction,
Shaw reveals that a combination of Sky's major label ambitions and his
manager's incompetence stressed him out to the point where he was
hospitalized, and later withdrew to Hawaii. Seeing their collaboration
terminated, Rainbow Neal instead put together his Juicy Groove album
(below). Apparently a rumor was going around that Sky was dead.
In Hawaii, Sky got involved with a project called
the
ALRIGHT FAMILY BAND. This was
a congregation of hippie musicians who released an LP in 1980.
The LP isn't terribly interesting, but does feature Sky on one
track, which is yet another take on "Starry Ride". While hardly
the greatest version it's clearly the best track on the album.
In the aforementioned, unpublished Sky Saxon article in Bomp! magazine #22,
there is a short interview with Sky from the Alright Family Band era. Sky
claims that George Harrison, Neil Young and Danny Hutton are all on their
way to become Alright Family Band members!
7. Odds &
Ends
HALE /
EVERYONE
The 1977 10" release by
Hale/Everyone is one of the most obscure items in both the Sky Saxon and
Yahowha 13 catalog. Hale was a member of the Yahowa/Source Family but this is
the only recording of his that I'm aware of. Djin Aquarian of the Yahowha
band forwarded me some comments regarding Hale:
Hale is a dear family
brother who made some cool recordings back in the 70's in and out of the
family. Hale wasn't on the YHW13 records but has a definite niche in our
family of magician musicians. He now lives in Santa Cruz and is involved
in our family reunion and Hawaiian YHWLand.
The 10" single
(released on Cataclysm, credited to "Everyone") features Sky on
backing vocals; he was not involved with the songwriting. The track
"40
Days In The Desert"
is a very good tune with a clear influence from 1969-1970 era Rolling
Stones, both in style and Hale's Jagger-influenced vocals. Incidentally the
lyrics may deal with the Yahowha legend, wherein the "40 days"
refers to a period when the Source Family was forced to live under harsh
conditions in San Francisco due to lack of proper housing. The B-side
features the same track in a shorter edit. Musicians credited are Hale, White
Magick, Wings, Sunlight. The shorter edit appears on the Yahowha 13 CD box
set.
JUICY GROOVE & RAINBOW NEAL
Juicy Groove
was a Rainbow Neal-lead one-off congregation featuring most of the World
Peace Band including Elliot
Ingber a k a Mercury Flyer and Mars Bonfire a k a
Dennis Edmonton. The LP, titled "First
Taste" was released as a picture disc in 1978. Also present was Gary
"Magic" Marker, while Ron Bushy (Iron Butterfly) drums on one song.
Sky Saxon was not a member of this band, and while they cover three tunes
("Starry Ride", "Drums Stars & Guitars" and a
retitled "I'm In Love With Life") co-written by him Sky's name does not appear anywhere in the credits.
All songs except one had been written during the early days of the
Sky-Rainbow collaboration, 1972-73.
Magic Marker shared some
entertaining memories from the recording session in an internet chat forum
recently: "...In my opinion, it's unlistenable--and further proof that
a whole bunch of musicians who have consumed a whole bunch of assorted
controlled substances (that were liberated from control) should not be
allowed into a recording studio. Among other curiosities, Ed Cassidy plays
drums on some songs--and then another one of his many sons, Mike
"Thundercloud Heartbeat" Cassidy, plays drums on some songs.
Thundercloud had a chemically-induced revelation just before the recording
sessions: That he should get rid of all his cymbals and no longer play drums
with them hanging around on stands and stuff. So it's easy to tell which
songs he played on, because there are no cymbals present in the mix. It's
not a mistake as a result of super recording isolation, it was intentional."
Contrary to Mr Marker I think the LP
is entirely listenable; a powerful hippierock sound with good playing all
around. "Starry Ride" is perhaps the highpoint.
Rainbow Neal and much of the
same gang returned for a second effort in 1980, this being the "Recorded
Lies" album released as by
Rainbow Red Oxidizer
on Quark/Bomp. I haven't heard this, but received a trustworthy
opinion from Stephane Rebeschini as follows: "...The Bomp LP is quite
good, in a style a bit different of the Juicy Groove LP. More "punk
rock" oriented on some tracks, with a surprising cover of "When
You Walk In The Room" and an anti record companies-song "Recorded
Lies". Even a crazy track "Wild Beast Planet Ruler" with
werewolf screams, noises and nice guitars. No Sky Saxon tunes on it."
The band members for this second LP were : Rainbow Neal
(vcls/rh gtr) Ed Cassidy (drms), Mars Bonfire (g, kbds), Leon Rubinhold (g)
(ex Outlaw Blues Band), Gary Marker (b). Some songs were arranged by Jerry
Yester. Magic Marker recalls the sessions briefly as: "...It worked out
a little better, and we even had the legendary "Bumps" Blackwell
in the studio every now and then, attempting to keep a lid on things--and
no, not that kind of lid."
SKY IN THE EARLY 1980s
After the flurry of activity in
1976-1978 Sky had retreated to Hawaii and went into another "quiet" phase in terms of
releases, before the true re-discovery and re-emergence of him as a
garage/psych icon began in the mid-1980s. The 1984 "Starry
Ride" mini-LP release on Psycho Records in England consisted
entirely of older recordings (see Discography); the sound quality is superior to
other releases of this material though. The long track on the B-side is only
on this mini-LP.
An album that falls outside the
scope of this article but is worth searching out is "Masters
Of Psychedelia" on the French New Rose label from 1984. Side 2
has been reported as a recording dating back to the Fire Water Air band
c1975, and it is an impressive piece of droning heavy-psych with a
truly eerie vibe in parts. It's possible that the "Superman 5"
track in the Yahowa 13 CD box set dates from this era too; the sound is
similar.
The front cover shows an Elephant's
Eye, while the back cover contains almost no credits except the song titles.
Both these titles shouldn't be hard to find.
8. Chronology
& Discography
SKY SAXON & THE SEEDS 1969-1970
(Sky Saxon, Daryl Hooper,
Bill "Chip" Chiapparelli, John Crass, Rob
Starr)
1. Bad Part Of Town / Wish Me
Up (MGM 14163) Aug-1970
2. Love In A Summer Basket / Did He Die (MGM 14190)
Nov-1970
(NEW) SEEDS 1972
(Sky Saxon, Richard Barcelona +unknowns)
3. Shuckin And Jivin /
You Took Me By Surprise (Productions Unlimited AJ-11/22) 1972
This
45 was bootlegged in the 1980s.
WORLD PEACE
BAND 1973-1977
(Sky Sunlight Saxon, Rainbow Neal, a selection of hippies incl Mars Bonfire
and Elliot Ingber)
Sky utilized several different band names during the 1970s, but the
records below are all believed to consist of the same nucleus of members.
Sky himself listed the band(s) as "World Peace Band" in his liner
notes for the Yahowa 13 "God and hair" box set.
4. 30 minute demo tape
(1973)
5. Sunlight & Thee New Seeds/Universe Sun: Diamonds
In The Rough/Universal Stars (Emerald Light 8) (1975?)
6. Sky Sunlight & Thee New Seeds: Beautiful
Stars/Universal Stars (Expression 777-1/2) (1976)
Same tracks as on the Emerald Light 45 above; the A-side has been
retitled and a few seconds edited out at the beginning. This was
repressed several times, and also reissued with a picture sleeve by Bomp in
the 1980s.
7. Stars New Seeds: In Love With
Life/Starry Ride/The Queen/Tired Of Bein' Poor (Expression 777-3/4) 7
inch EP (1977)
This is the same band name as on the "Heavenly Earth"
LP below, but apart from Sky & Rainbow Neal any member overlap is unconfirmed.
Copies exist on both black and blue vinyl.
SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON solo
8. "Lovers Cosmic Voyage" LP (Emerald Light GF
571231) (1976)
Released as by SUNLIGHT.
YAHOWHA
13, 1976-1977
(only Sky Sunlight Saxon-related recordings included)
Sky joined the Yahowa/Source
Family around 1973 but with the exception of the rare Yod Ship Suite #3, he does not appear on any of their recordings prior to
1976.
9. Fire, Water, Air:
"Golden Sunrise" (Emerald Light
ELR-84510, 1977) 8-track
This original release was on 8-track tape only.
10. Fire, Water, Air:
"Golden Sunrise" (Psycho, UK 1982)
Vinyl release of the 8-track. Some covers had original 8-track
stickers that were left over. Pressed on marble blue vinyl in a limited run.
The album was also reissued as part of the "God and Hair" Yahowha 13 CD-box set
from Japan, 1999. Outtakes from the "Golden Sunrise" sessions appear as bonus
material in the "God and Hair" box set
11. "Yod Ship Suite"
(Father no #, 1977)
Reissued/bootlegged on vinyl circa 1993.
Reissued as part of the "God and Hair" Yahowha 13 CD-box set
from Japan, 1999.
12. "Yod Ship Suite part 3"
(Father no #, c1977) 1-sided LP
Never reissued, and not known to exist until recently.
The preceding LP constitutes part 1 & 2. Djin Aquarian of the YHWH
band has confirmed this as 1973 recordings, done when Father Yod was not
present.
Details on all Yahowa LPs can be found
here.
SUNLIGHT RAINBOW & STARS NEW SEEDS
(Sky Sunlight Saxon, Rainbow Neal, Brian Eye-Zen, Ed + other guys)
13. "Heavenly Earth - Live at the Orpheum" LP
(Sunbow 001, 1977)
Pressed on blue vinyl, with two inserts.
See note to Expression EP above.
HALE / EVERYONE
(Hale, Sky Sunlight Saxon, Wings, White Magick)
14. 40 days in the desert (long edit) / 40 days in the desert (short edit)
(Cataclysm, 1977) 10" single
Sky on backing vocals. Released as by Everyone. Pressed on blue vinyl, no album cover.
ALL RIGHT FAMILY BAND
15.
"Music is
Love" (A.F.B., 1980)
Sky guests as vocalist on the "Starry
Ride" track only.
RELATED
JUICY GROOVE:
"First Taste" (no label) (1978) picture disc
Sky is not
featured on this LP, which contains three (at least) Sky/Rainbow
compositions. See "Odds
& Ends" section above for details on the musicians and their
subsequent LP. The first pressing of this picture disc was 550 copies;
there may have been more runs.
RETROSPECTIVE
Sky Saxon:
"New Fruit From Old Seeds - The Rare Sky Saxon
Volume One" (AIP 10009) (1983)
One side of Richie Marsh-era 45s (plus a rare 1967 live Seeds track), one
side with all tracks from the 1970-1972 45s. There never was a "Volume
two"
The Seeds & Sky Saxon: "Bad
Part Of Town" (Eva 12019, France) (1983)
Contents are very similar to the AIP album.
Sky Sunlight Saxon & The Stars New Seeds Band:
"Starry Ride" (Psycho 29, UK) (1984) mini-LP
Contains 4 tracks,
all of which are
mid-1970s Stars New Seeds/World Peace Band tracks: "Starry Ride"
and "I'm in Love With Life" are from the Expression 7" EP
while "Drums, Stars & Guitars" from the same era made its
first ever appearance here.
Side 2 is "24
Hour Rocker" which is believed to be a leftover from the Orpheum Theatre
shows in 1977 (see above).
Yahowha 13 "God and hair" (Captain
Trips CTCD-130-142, Japan) (1998) 13-CD box set
A reissue of all
Yahowha albums from the 1970s. Contains 1 bonus CD of Sky Saxon-related material from the 1970s and 1980s;
mostly 45 and EP tracks, plus the Hale 10" track. It's not a complete
selection and excludes "Diamonds In The Rough", "The
Queen" and "Tired Of Being Poor". "Drums, Stars and
Guitars" is included but incorrectly listed as "Tired Of Being
Poor", the sound quality on this track is also inferior to the Psycho
mini-LP. However, the tracks from the Expression single & EP (four in
total) have very good sound. The playtime of the CD is only 35 minutes, so there was plenty of room to make a complete selection. There
are a couple of obscure 1980s tracks that fall outside the scope of this
article but are very good, such as "Superman 5".
Credits & Sources
Special thanks to Brian Eye-Zen,
Richard Iwanicki, Jeff Jarema and Stephane Rebeschini for
invaluable input.
Read more on Sky's
"Sunlight" years here:
- Phonograph Record Magazine
interview, 1973
- Ugly Things, issue #3, 1985
- Bucketfull Of Brains, issue #14,
1985
- Here
'Tis, issue #7, 1995
- Bomp! issue #22, 1981; never published but partly printed in "Saving The World
One Record At A Time", 2007
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