Summer Breeze

by

Seals & Crofts

Edit

It's quite a mystery to me why only two albums from Seals & Crofts are available on CD (at the current time of this writing): 1972's SUMMER BREEZE, and a greatest hits disc. They have made some wonderful music, and it's quite criminal that their other albums, are either out of print, or on different, hard-to-find formats, like vinyl or 8-track.

Seals & Crofts were a duo who specialized in a mix of soft rock and wistful folk. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Jim Seals, who is the brother of Dan Seals of England Dan & John Ford Coley (remember them, with their lovely hit "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight"), and mandolinist/backing vocalist Dash Crofts, the duo, along with contemporaries such as James Taylor, America, Cat Stevens and others, created wonderful, soothing folk-rock to heal, soothe, and uplift during times of hardship.

SUMMER BREEZE (1972) is a beautiful collection of folk-rock tunes, with reflective, emotional and poignant lyrics - some of which feature spiritual overtones. In fact, a few of the tracks on here adopt small lyrical passages from the Baha'i scriptures. Not only that, the musicianship, arrangements -- it's all of high caliber, which seem to go unnoticed. Jim Seals also possessed one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. In fact, I always thought he had a voice of an Englishman -- he sounds very British.

"Hummingbird" features a gentle, wispy opening with Jim Seals' lovely voice, which reminds one of a mix between Cat Stevens and Phil Collins, backed by some lovely arpeggiated acoustic passages to create a floating aura, as if one were being 'lifted up' as the Baha'i lyric suggests. The rest of the song is a straightforward, mellow, nicely orchestrated track. Lovely vocal harmonies as well. "Funny Little Man" will remind some of Cat Stevens. Features impressive mandolin playing from Crofts. The title track is a mainstay for good reason. Highly enjoyable - even after more than thirty years after it's release.

"East of Ginger Trees" is a lovely, wispy, and breathtaking number, which nicely blends folk with Indian flavors. Features the tabla, tamboura and other instruments, which appear on the 7/4-ish chorus. The vocal harmonies are particularly touching and nostalgic. "Fiddle In The Sky," like the title implies, is a country-folk/rock song with lovely use of the fiddle. Unbelievably beautiful, and too good for words.

The rest of the album is splendid as well, but not necessarily easy to put into words, just like the aforementioned tracks weren't easy to describe as well.

If you're a fan of Cat Stevens, folk-rock, with touches of other elements, and the like, you should enjoy Seals & Crofts tremendously.