THE SEEDS' SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON DIED TODAY IN AUSTIN, TEXAS 06/25/09 OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
-- For Immediate Release --
- Austin, Texas -SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON of the psychedelic garage rock legends
THE SEEDS passed away this morning at 9:10am, June 25th, 2009 at
St. David's South Austin Hospital in Austin, Texas. Sky died of heart
& kidney failure, due to an undiagnosed infection of his internal organs.
He passed peacefully with his wife Sabrina Smith Saxon & spiritual brother in YaHoWha Joshua Aquarian by his side. He died, in Sky's words, at the age of "eternal".
SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON fell ill as early as last Thursday in his new home of
Austin, Texas. Despite feeling under the weather Saturday, he performed a short set of SEEDS classics at the local legendary night club Antone's with his local collective WORLD SPIRITS, his favorite
Austin band SHAPES HAVE FANGS. Sky & his wife Sabrina recently
moved to Austin, following his exciting headlining performance at
the Austin Psych Fest #2 in March. Several tours were scheduled,
including the East Coast/Mid-West tour in August with the California '66 Revue, with members of LOVE & THE ELECTRIC PRUNES. The tour will still continue despite his absence.
Arrangements are being made for a local tribute & a memorial gathering. Sabrina Saxon will be making a pilgrimage to the Hawaiian Islands in the coming months to spread her husband's ashes. Please look for further announcements on how fans worldwide may honor
Sky's memory in lieu of flowers. Fans & friends are encouraged to
leave memories & visual tokens of love & memoriam at these following websites:
http://www.skysaxon.com
http://www.myspace.com/theseeds
http://www.facebook.com/SabrinaSaxonSky
had many projects in the works that will undoubtedly still be completed
& released in the coming months. One of which is a documentary
about his legendary band THE SEEDS to be released next year in 2010.
The documentary chronicles the band's activities with exclusive
interviews with all original members, & rare never-before-seen
footage of the band live & in session. The project is spear-headed
by Alec Palao of Ace Records U.K. (The Zombies' box set "Zombie
Heaven"):
"Part of the impetus for the
SEEDS documentary is to correct a lot of
the misperceptions about the band," explains documentary-maker
ALEC PALAO, "and to properly state their role and
achievements, and celebrate their music for what it is. The band were
way ahead of their time, which I realize more and more as I go thru
the nuts and bolts of their recordings. Due to various circumstances
beyond the band's control, the original integrity of what the band was
doing got lumped in with the worst commercial hype of the psychedelic
scene as it expanded. Ultimately it means that the hipsters and
tastemakers got turned off by the hype, and those prejudices have
remained with all the commentators and writers ever since. So
THE DOORS
remain hip and leaders and
THE SEEDS are seen as commercial hippies,
followers, or not even an authentic part of the initial movement, which
of course is dead wrong. I'm doing my part to correct that!"
http://www.acerecords.co.uk______________________________________________________________________
SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON BIOGRAPHY From
http://www.ponderosastomp.com:
During
the mid 1960's, suburban garages across America rocked to the
fuzz-drenched frenzy created by kids hoping to emulate THE SEEDS, one
of the biggest and best bands to emerge from the phenomenon known as
Garage Rock. The Seeds style was undeniably simple but nonetheless
brilliantly original. Muddy Waters once called them, "America's own
Rolling Stones".
The Seeds' debut album arrived in April 1966.
Saxon's lyric's were infected by a wondrous charm, while the blend of
British and blues influences served notice that The Seeds were
developing a sound quite distinct from that of their "Louie Louie"
based rivals. "Evil Hoodoo" is a piece of high octane freak-beat that
was as much a genuine slice of punk as anything the late seventies punk
explosion threw up. This sentiment of primal angst, as defined in the
classic "Pushin' Too Hard", is the reason why Joey Ramone started
singing in the first place, as the now deceased founder of punk titans,
The Ramones, expressed in an interview.
Best known for their
rock and roll standard "Pushin' Too Hard", the Seeds combined the raw
appeal of garage rock with a fondness for psychedelia. They were the
creation of charismatic vocalist Sky Saxon who, along with guitarist
Jan Savage, recruited Daryl Hooper on keyboards and Rick Andridge on
drums to unleash The Seeds onto the world. They soon signed to record
biz pioneer Gene Norman's label Crescendo Records and debuted the 45
RPM, "Can't Seem Too Make You Mine" (1965). This was a slow, driving'
number that highlighted Saxon's unique vocal style, and their patented
Combo sound, which for the record, pre-dated the Doors! This single
earned the band appearances on all the major variety shows at the time
including American Bandstand and Shebang. "Pushin' Too Hard" was the
anthem for a generation and hit number one in many cities across
America including Los Angeles and New York and hit #36 on the Billboard
national chart in 1966. It was based on a simple driving riff over
which Sky vented and growled and was characterized by a masterful
minimalism that would make the band a source of inspiration for
countless bands to come (check out bands that have covered The Seeds).
Their self titled debut LP had other great groovy stompers like "No
Escape", "Nobody Spoil My Fun" and "Girl I Want You".
A second
more adventurous LP, "A Web of Sound", appeared in October 1966. The
album brimmed with rockin' mid-60's classics, including the
fourteen-minute "Up in Her Room". Another smash on the American charts
was the tightly grooving', pro-pot / working class anthem "Mr. Farmer."
The band then changed their garage style and threw the lot in
with their emergent flower-power movement. The Seeds coined the term
"Flower Power" only to watch it crumble in commercial media hype. The
result was "Future" (1967). Saxon's compositions contained a strong
element of acid-tinged horticultural playful whimsy as in "Travel with
Your Mind" and "March of the Flower Children", while the band, like The
Beatles, were innovators with Eastern-style instrumentation. Mega
success seemed just around the corner, especially after their cameo
appearance in the Jack Nicholson film "Psych Out" performing the song
"Two Fingers Pointed at You" and a follow up 45, the moody, haunting,
psychedelic rush of "Wind Blows Your Hair" (1967). At this point in
their success the Seeds headlined over bands like The Doors, Buffalo
Springfield, The Byrds, Vanilla Fudge, Jefferson Airplane, The Kinks,
Four Seasons, Diana Ross and The Supremes and others. They also split
bill with Jimi Hendrix in New York City. One has to realize that the
Seeds far surpassed the Garage rock label, what other garage band can
boast selling out the Hollywood Bowl!
The next LP was A
Spoonful Of Seedy Blues (1967), released under the moniker Sky Saxon
Blues Band and featuring sleeve notes and songwriting collaboration by
blues giant Muddy Waters. The Seeds were back with the 1968 album "Raw
and Alive: Merlin's Music Box". This exciting live LP was recorded in
Orange County California at Merlin's Music Box and produced a song that
captured The Seeds at one of their most powerful moments, "I Can
Satisfy You", Jan's scorching brilliant guitar and Daryl's wonderful
contrapuntal bass and keyboards demonstrate one of the bands most vital
ingredients-Intensity. Originally a single, this song was a powerhouse
live. In later years, some called The Seeds "the original punk rock
band". Although this was true as far as raw furor goes, their
sophistication level was light years beyond this label, especially for
the 60's.
Learn more about
SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON by visiting:
http://www.skysaxon.com
http://www.myspace.com/theseeds______________________________________________________________________
For further inquiries, please contact:
Jennifer Marchand
Publicist :: Sky Sunlight Saxon
"Pushin' Too Hard" by THE SEEDS - Top 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Bleu French Laundry Rocknroll Promotions
Austin, Texas
bleufrenchlaundry@hotmail.comhttp://www.skysaxon.com