Darrell dash crofts biography

Seals and Crofts

American soft-rock duo

Seals and Crofts were an American soft rock duo made up of James Eugene Seals (October 17, – June 6, )[1][2][a] and Darrell George "Dash" Crofts (born August 14, )[5] They are best known for their hits "Summer Breeze" (), "Diamond Girl" (), and "Get Closer" (), each of which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot chart. Both Seals and Crofts were publicly outspoken advocates for the Baháʼí Faith. Though the duo disbanded in , they reunited briefly in –, and again in , when they released their final album, Traces.[6] Seals and his younger brother, the charting singer-songwriter "England" Dan Seals, later performed publicly together as Seals & Seals.[7]

Early careers

Jim Seals and Dash Crofts were both born in Texas: Crofts in Cisco in and Seals in Sidney in They first met when Crofts was a drummer for a local band. Later, Seals joined a rockabilly band called Dean Beard and the Crew Cats, in which he played sax; later on, Crofts joined Seals in the band. With Beard, they moved to Los Angeles to join the Champs after the group's "Tequila" reached No.&#;1 in Seals also spent time during in the touring band of Eddie Cochran.

Seals had a song ("It's Never Too Late") recorded by Brenda Lee in , which was featured as the B-side of her U.S. Billboard No.&#;6 single, "You Can Depend on Me". "It's Never Too Late" nevertheless reached No.&#; on Billboard and No.&#; on Cash Box (week ending April 8, )[8] in its own right. In the UK, the sides were switched when the single was released, but the single failed to make the UK Singles Chart (at that time only a Top 50 listing).[9]

By , Seals, Crofts, Glen Campbell and Jerry Cole left the Champs to form a band named Glen Campbell and the GCs, which played at The Crossbow in Van Nuys, California. The band lasted only a couple of years before the members went their separate ways. Crofts returned to Texas and Seals joined a band named the Dawnbreakers (a reference to The Dawn-Breakers, a book about the beginnings of the Baha'i Faith). Crofts eventually returned to California to team up with Seals again, in the Dawnbreakers, and thus both Seals and Crofts were introduced to and became members of the Baháʼí Faith. After becoming longtime adherents of the religion, the two began to include references to and passages from Bahá'í scripture in their songwriting. When they appeared in concert, they often remained on stage after the performance to talk about the faith, while local Bahá'ís passed out literature to anyone interested.[6]

As Seals and Crofts

After the failure of the Dawnbreakers, the two decided to play as a duo, with Seals on guitar, saxophone and violin and Crofts on guitar and mandolin. They signed a contract with the record division of Talent Associates (TA) in and released two LPs, of which only the second reached the Billboard chart, peaking at No.&#; in October Crofts married fellow Dawnbreaker Billie Lee Day in and Seals married Ruby Jean Anderson in The pair signed a new contract with Warner Bros. Records in August [10] Their first album with their new label, Year of Sunday, peaked at # in the US. Their second Warner Bros. album, Summer Breeze, was a hit, peaking at No.&#;7 in The title cut was released as a single, peaking at #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and #6 Pop. The song "Hummingbird" was the second single released from the album, climbing to #12 AC, #20 Pop. The album has since been certified 2× platinum by the RIAA for sales of two million copies in the US.[11]

In Warner Bros. released Diamond Girl. That album has been certified gold for sales of , copies in the US. The title song reached No. 6 on the US chart in July , and another single, "We May Never Pass This Way (Again)", peaked at No.

The controversial Unborn Child followed in Written shortly after Roe v. Wade, Seals & Crofts expressed their anti-abortion position in the title song, which created a huge dilemma for radio stations. Some stations banned it while others added it to rotation. The album still went gold despite the controversy and the lack of a Top 40 hit.

The duo played at the California Jam festival in Ontario, California, on April 6, Attracting over , fans, the concert put them alongside s acts such as Black Sabbath; Eagles; Emerson, Lake & Palmer; Deep Purple; Earth, Wind & Fire; Black Oak Arkansas; and Rare Earth. Portions of the show were telecast on ABC Television in the US, exposing the duo to a wider audience.

's I'll Play for You was a gold seller as well, featuring the No. 18 hit title track, and their multi-platinum selling Greatest Hits, released later the same year, has been certified 2× platinum.

The duo had a return to the singles chart with the song "Get Closer", the title track from their album. Carolyn Willis (from the R&B vocal group Honey Cone) appeared on the song and it peaked at No. 6 in July of that year. Willis also joined them for their tour, which resulted in the live album Sudan Village.

The pair also recorded songs that appeared in the feature films One on One () and Foolin' Around (), as well as the song "First Years" that was the theme song to the debut (–79) season of the television series The Paper Chase.

's Takin' It Easy featured the two branching out and experimenting with other types of sounds, including the disco influenced "You're the Love", which reached No. But their gold selling days were behind them by this point.

In they contributed to the album Lote Tree, which was a narrated history of the Baháʼí Faith that included songs by them and other artists. It was distributed only within Baháʼí media outlets.

The Longest Road, released in , was their last for Warner Brothers.

Hiatus and reunions

In , after a long and successful run of recordings in the s, the two decided not to renew their contract with Warner Brothers and took a hiatus from music.

There was brief attempt to start up their recording career again in when they began to work on another album, and Lenny Waronker of Warners expressed interest, but the sessions were abandoned and nothing ever came of it.

Crofts lived in Mexico, Australia, and then Nashville, Tennessee, playing country music and making occasional singles. He currently resides on a ranch in the Texas Hill Country. Seals moved to Costa Rica and had lived on a coffee farm off and on since , as well as in Nashville and southern Florida.

During the s, despite no longer being officially together as a duo, they continued to appear at several Baháʼí gatherings, including a world peace concert at the Baháʼí Center in Los Angeles for the film and music community in February After this, they made the rounds of Canadian radio stations and some American talk shows to promote the Baháʼí Peace Document.

Also in , Seals and Crofts officially reunited and made concert appearances once again up in Canada, and then they toured the US in until disbanding again in late

In Crofts released a solo CD titled Today, which contained some re-recordings of Seals and Crofts material.

In the duo reunited again and recorded their first new album since , released as Traces.

In the early s up to , Seals embarked on various tours with his brother Dan ("England" Dan Seals, of England Dan & John Ford Coley), billing themselves as Seals & Seals and performing their successful hits from Seals & Crofts and England Dan & John Ford Coley, Dan's hits from his solo career and a few original songs written by the two brothers. A few shows featured Jim's sons Joshua on bass guitar and backing vocals and Sutherland on electric guitar.[12]

Seals and Crofts were instrumental in both England Dan Seals and John Ford Coley becoming adherents of the Baha'i Faith,[13] although Coley became a Christian some 28 years later.[14] Dan Seals died of cancer in At the time of his death, Dan and Jim Seals had been working on songs together.[15] The status of those recordings is unknown.

In December the bandmates' daughters Juliet (Seals) Crossley and Amelia (Crofts) Dailey, along with Genevieve (Bogan) Dozier, daughter of Seals and Crofts engineer Joey Bogan, formed a musical trio called the Humming Birds.[16] They released their self titled EP The Humming Birds in September

In Brady Seals (Jim's cousin) and Lua Crofts (Dash's daughter) began touring as Seals and Crofts 2, performing the catalog of Seals and Crofts, as well as some new music.[17]

Seals' death

Jim Seals had a stroke in After a long illness, he died at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 6, , at age [1][a]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Songs in movies

See also

Notes

  1. ^ abWhile some sources[3][4] have said that Seals was born on October 17, , public records of his birth list him as being born in

References

  1. ^ abGenzlinger, Neil (June 7, ). "Jim Seals, Half of Harmonious Duo On 'Summer Breeze,' Is Dead at 79". The New York Times. p.&#;B ISSN&#; Retrieved June 8,
  2. ^Sweeting, Adam (June 10, ). "Jim Seals obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved June 10,
  3. ^Granberry, Michael (June 7, ). "Texan Jim Seals of the s hit duo Seals & Crofts dies at 80". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved June 9,
  4. ^"Jim Seals, of s soft-rock duo Seals and Crofts, dies at 80". The Washington Post. June 8, Retrieved June 9,
  5. ^Hall, Michael (January 22, ). "The Secret Oil Patch Roots of 'Summer Breeze'". Texas Monthly. Retrieved June 7,
  6. ^ abHuey, Steve. "Seals & Crofts – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved June 28,
  7. ^"Seals and Seals - Dan Seals Memorial". . Archived from the original on August 25, Retrieved October 14,
  8. ^Randy Price. "Cash Box Top Singles: week ending April 8, ". Retrieved April 16,
  9. ^Discogs entry confirms the UK release in the photographs submitted.
  10. ^"S&C Sign". Sounds. Spotlight Publications. August 28, p.&#;2.
  11. ^Murrells, Joseph (). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd&#;ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
  12. ^"Seals and Seals". . Retrieved October 26,
  13. ^Kasem, Casey. American Top 40. July 30,
  14. ^John Ford Coley (March 5, ). Backstage Pass. Keegan Music Publishing. ISBN&#;.
  15. ^Nelson, Valerie (March 27, ). "Dan Seals dies at 61; half of the pop duo England Dan and John Ford Coley". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 27,
  16. ^"Unity Feast, drops of one ocean, leaves of one tree: The Humming Birds". . Retrieved December 2,
  17. ^[1][dead link&#;]
  18. ^"Seals & Crofts - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 18, Retrieved April 17,
  19. ^"RPM Top Albums – August 1, "(PDF).
  20. ^"RPM Top Albums – December 5, "(PDF).
  21. ^"RPM Top Albums – January 20, "(PDF).
  22. ^ abcdef"American certifications – Seals & Crofts". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 17,
  23. ^"RPM Top Albums – September 8, "(PDF).
  24. ^"RPM Top Albums – April 20, "(PDF).
  25. ^"RPM Top Albums – September 21, "(PDF).
  26. ^"RPM Top Albums – June 21, "(PDF).
  27. ^"RPM Top Albums – January 10, "(PDF).
  28. ^"RPM Top Albums – August 28, "(PDF).
  29. ^"RPM Top Albums – January 22, "(PDF).
  30. ^"RPM Top Albums – July 29, "(PDF).
  31. ^Whitburn, Joel (). Top Pop Singles –. Record Research, Inc. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
  32. ^Whitburn, Joel (). Top Adult Contemporary: –. Record Research. p.&#;
  33. ^Kent, David (). Australian Chart Book – (illustrated&#;ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
  34. ^"RPM Top Singles - December 9, "(PDF).
  35. ^"RPM Top Singles - August 11, "(PDF).
  36. ^"RPM Top Singles - November 17, "(PDF).
  37. ^"Image&#;: RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". . July 17,
  38. ^"Image&#;: RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". July 17,

Bibliography

  • Bentivegna, Anthony (ed.) , Novato, California, –
  • George-Warren, H. (ed.) The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, 3rd ed., Fireside, New York,
  • Landau, Deborah. "Introducing Seals and Crofts", Stereo Review, January

External links