The Seeds - Web Of Sound / A Full Spoon Of Seedy Blues (1966-67 us, stunning garage punk psych bluesy rock, 2013 double disc remaster and expanded)

For many, “A Web Of Sound” is the band’s finest moment, and the record is fully in line with the progressive musical atmosphere of Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The second half of 1966 could be viewed as the peak of the original Seeds’ three-year career in terms of creativity and credibility. A quintessential 1966 rock album, “A Web Of Sound” retained the crazed energy of the Seeds first album, but dosed with a growing maturity and a willingness to experiment. It evolved out of a period when the band was truly Los Angeles’s own, for it had been in the back-alley bohemian rock clubs of the city that the contents of “Web” flowered.

Written and recorded during the band’s residencies at Hollywood’s underground club Bido Litos, alongside Love and the embryonic Doors it achieved notoriety for the 14-minute showstopper ‘Up In Her Room’, but also features some of the Seeds’ signature tunes including ‘Mr Farmer’, ‘Tripmaker’ and ‘A Faded Picture’. There is a questing, proto-psychedelic aura to “Web” that is both delicious and thrilling at the same time.

Seeds fans should note that the entire contents of our deluxe two-disc set are new to compact disc. They include the original stereo mix of the “A Web Of Sound” which has  been unavailable since the 1960s, along with its punchier mono incarnation. The previously unreleased outtakes include a cryptic early demo of ‘The Wind Blows Your Hair’, with a completely different arrangement to the version issued as a single, as well as its original mildly controversial lyric.

Also featured is an unused mono mix of the “A Full Spoon Of Seedy Blues” LP, made at the time of its recording in late 1966. This LP, originally credited to the Sky Saxon Blues Band, is traditionally seen as a bit of an aberration in the Seeds catalogue, but listening to it now, it is revealed as a creditable attempt to pay homage to a genre that few white American bands had mastered. Blues legend Muddy Waters’ patronage of the band: he contributed the song ‘Plain Spoken’; and members of his band performed on the sessions and he wrote a tribute on the LP jacket, was also a major feather in the Seeds’ cap.

As with all our Seeds reissues, “A Web Of Sound” comes as a trifold digipak with extensive illustrations and fresh commentary from the participants on both its contents and the career of these garage rock avatars.

by Alec Palao

Tracks

Disc 1 A Web Of Sound (stereo) 1966

1. Mr. Farmer (Sky Saxon) - 3:14

2. Pictures And Designs (Darryl Hooper, Sky Saxon) - 2:44

3. Tripmaker (Darryl Hooper, Marcus Tybalt) - 2:45

4. I Tell Myself (Marcus Tybalt) - 2:27

5. A Faded Picture (Darryl Hooper, Sky Saxon) - 5:26

6. Rollin' Machine (Sky Saxon) - 2:51

7. Just Let Go (Darryl Hooper, Jan Savage, Sky Saxon) - 4:19

8. Up In Her Room (Sky Saxon) - 14:42

Bonus Tracks 

9. The Wind Blows Your Hair (Version 1) (Buddy Biglow, Sky Saxon) - 3:10

10.Dreaming Of Your Love (Version 2) (Sky Saxon) - 2:15

11.Out Of The Question (Version 4) (Sky Saxon, Russ Serpent) - 3:17

12.I Tell Myself (Take 1) (Sky Saxon) - 2:49

13.Pictures And Designs (Take 14) (Darryl Hooper, Sky Saxon) - 2:56

14.Just Let Go (Take 4) (Darryl Hooper, Jan Savage, Sky Saxon) - 4:03

15.A Faded Picture (Take1) (Darryl Hooper, Sky Saxon) - 5:33

Disc 2 A Web Of Sound (Mono) 1966
1. Mr Farmer (Sky Saxon) - 3:10
2. Pictures And Designs (Darryl Hooper, Sky Saxon) - 2:45
3. Tripmaker (Darryl Hooper, Sky Saxon) - 2:47
4. I Tell Myself (Sky Saxon) - 2:34
5. A Faded Picture (Darryl Hooper, Sky Saxon) - 5:21
6. Rollin' Machine (Sky Saxon) - 2:43
7. Just Let Go (Darryl Hooper, Jan Savage, Sky Saxon) - 4:20
8. Up In Her Room (Sky Saxon) - 14:42
A Full Spoon Of Seedy Blues (Mono) 1967
9. Pretty Girl (Luther Johnson) - 2:06
10.Moth And The Flame (Sky Saxon) - 3:53
11.I'll Help You (Carry Your Money To The Bank) (Sky Saxon) - 3:32
12.Cry Wolf (Sky Saxon) - 6:09
13.Plain Spoken (Muddy Waters) - 2:56
14.The Gardener (Sky Saxon) - 5:02
15.One More Time Blues (Luther Johnson) - 2:29
16.Creepin' About (Sky Saxon) - 2:48
17.Buzzin' Around (Sky Saxon) - 3:44

The Seeds
*Rick Andridge - Drums
*Darryl Hooper - Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Backing Vocals
*Jan Savage - Guitars, Backing Vocals
*Sky Saxon - Lead Vocals, Bass, Harmonica
*Harvey Sharpe - Bass
*Luther Johnson - Guitar (A Full Spoon Of Seedy Blues)
*Mark Arnold - Guitar (A Full Spoon Of Seedy Blues)
*George "Harmonica" Smith - Harmonica (A Full Spoon Of Seedy Blues)
*James Wells Gordon - Saxophone (A Full Spoon Of Seedy Blues)

1966  The Seeds - The Seeds (2012 remaster and expanded) 

1965-93  The Seeds - Pushin' Too Hard
1967  The Seeds - Future (Vinyl edition)
1967  The Seeds - Future (2013 double disc digipack edition)
1986  Sky "Sunlight" Saxon And Firewall - Destiny's Children

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