Posted by
Tomme Blue July 20, 2009 -
655 views
If you are in Los Angeles, please come!
xx
tb
Richard Marsh, otherwise known to the rocknroll world as SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON, will find tribute & love visualized
at a memorial in his honour to be held Friday, July 24th 2009 at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, California. At 8pm the
service gathering will commence with performances by friends THE SEEDS' DARYL HOOPER & JAN SAVAGE with
other members of SEEDS line-ups with Sky, THE ELECTRIC PRUNES, STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK's GEORGE
BUNNEL - RANDY SEOL - MARK WEITZ - GENE GUNNELS, BILLY CORGAN of THE SMASHING PUMPKINS & MARK
TULIN of THE ELECTRIC PRUNES one-night-only as SPIRITS IN THE SKY, NELS CLINE of WILCO, solo set by Djin
Aquarian of YaHoWha 13, solo set by MIKE RANDLE of BABY LEMONADE (ARTHUR LEE'S LOVE back-up band),
the Simon Stokes Band, Sofizel, & very special guests. Attendees are encouraged to dress in flower children ware
& bring flowers for the stage.
The Echoplex is located at:
1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 413-8200
http://www.attheecho.com/
The venue is 18 yrs & over
Advanced tickets available at: Ticket Web - Click HERE
"SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON left a huge legacy of music but more than that he left a legacy of touching so many people in positive ways & that is the best legacy any of us could hope for," states his wife Sabrina Smith Saxon. "Sky Sunlight Saxon was fearless & he met every day with a new found hope that peace & love could someday rule this world - that someday all wolves & dogs would be taken care of & loved & that all people would cease to eat God's precious animals.
He very deeply believed in YaHoWha & the teachings he learned from his spiritual Father & he spread that word to
everyone he met. Many people began their own spiritual path after being witness to Sky's determination that everyone understand that they are indeed spiritual beings, trying on this human body & human ways, but that one day we all will shed this body & move into our etheric body of light where we then will be unfettered & can continue our work to help mankind & the universe from the other side. Sky Sunlight Saxon, now fully Sunlight Arelich Aquarian, is free from the restraints of this world & his human vehicle & remains with us in spirit & in his music."
SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON of the psychedelic garage rock legends THE SEEDS passed away at 9:10am Thursday, 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 & his spiritual brother in YaHoWha Joshua Aquarian by his side. He died, in his words, at the age of "eternal".
SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON, fell ill as early as Thursday, June 18th in his new home in Austin. Despite feeling under the weather Saturday, he performed a short set of SEEDS classics at the local night club Antone's with his local collective WORLD SPIRITS, his favourite local Austin band SHAPES HAVE FANGS. After continuing illness, he was rushed to St David's South Austin Hospital Monday morning & was immediately placed in ICU. He remained in critical condition in ICU until his passing several days later.
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 Revue, with members of LOVE & THE ELECTRIC PRUNES. The tour will still continue despite his absence.
Sky had many projects in the works that will undoubtedly still be completed & released in the coming months if not years due to his wealth of creative material left behind. 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!"
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
