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Remembering Sky Saxon by Steve Propes | Hometown Music | 06.26.09 | | Text Size: +
In the winter 1963, famed author of “Brave New World’ and psychedelic pioneer Aldous Huxley died. Normally, the death of such a giant of letters and controversy would have been front-page news, but most people didn’t even know it had happened. Three years later, in the winter of 1966, the song “Pushin’ Too Hard” by a proto-punk garage band called the Seeds hit the charts, mainly because it was a great example of the genre, and somewhat because it was taken as a protest over police response to the so-called riots on the Sunset Strip, the subject of various books, films and musical expression. But for the presence of psychedelics, the two events would seem to have little in common, yet as events unfolded over the following decade, the parallels if not eerie, are certainly worth noting. Yesterday, the Seeds’ creator and lead singer Sky Saxon passed away at the estimated age of 63. I met Sky in a school bus in front of DiPiazza’s on Pacific Coast Hwy in 2002. Knowing a bit about his rock and roll legend, I wanted to know more and he was most obliging, though the smoke was thick. He told me he was from Salt Lake City, he began singing as an Elvis Presley emulator and cut various early “teen idol” records he cut as Ritchie Marsh – his real name was Richard Marsh. He talked about being backed by or recording in the Mormon Tabernacle Echo chamber choir, but that part was as clear as the air in the bus: not very. He talked about a recording studio owner who let him record in exchange for Marsh digging him a swimming pool. Then he talked about his days with the Seeds and the band’s growing popularity and a felt competition with the Doors’ Jim Morrison. “I couldn’t get past Jim Morrison; since he was dead, I couldn’t get past him. The Doors were good for people who were down, the Seeds were good for upbeat, happy music.” So death was always in his mind, yet in his post-Seeds days, he went out of his way to characterize himself and his music in terms of sunlight and skies… thus Sky Saxon. At the end of our conversation, Sky autographed and gave me a copy of his latest CD and a very colorful poster. He also gave me his phone number and told me next time I was in Shasta, to look him up. By the time I got to Shasta, his number didn’t work and I looked around that small town for his bus, to no avail. Then I heard about yesterday’s news, Sky had passed away in Austin, Texas at the approximate age of 63 and I thought about our extended conversation in his school bus parked in front of DiPiazzas. I think I cautioned him about drawing attention to large clouds of smoke that filled the bus, but he didn’t seem concerned. Today I checked the L.A. Times. All Michael Jackson, some half dozen pages of coverage and two pages coverage on Farrah Fawcett’s death. Sky? Nothing. On oldies KRTH, which went to all-Michael Jackson programming, to his credit, Shotgun Tom Kelly managed to sneak in one play of “Pushin’ Too Hard.” And Sky Saxon’s connection to Huxley? Huxley’s death would have been major international news but for the fact he died on November 22, 1963, the same day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, thus he was completely swamped by history. So history repeated itself. On any other day, Sky Saxon’s passing would have warranted a major article, ironic for a guy who adopted sunshine as his identity, to be put in the shadows by the King Of Pop. One of Sky’s memorable quotes about the Seeds and other bands he created was thus: “I see all these bands as missiles, like we have wars, this way I can be all these different bands, I can send all these bands out in different directions as there’s no personality involved, just to get the message out, how do you fight for peace? You have to earn it, you can’t fight for peace, that’s war. We can’t give awards or stars for killing somebody. That’s the cradle of civilization.” Comments
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barry Thanks for this.. He deserved more for sure! Jeff Wow...did i tell anyone about my meeting Elvis? It was in Oct 1967 or so. I was at Monterey airport, doing a PR political gig. I was on the DC 6 and everyone was aboard and waiting. Suddenly a black Caddie Limo swept up and 3 or 4 doeskin clad cowboys jumped out followed by The Man...all in black. Priscilla, the newlywed was right behind him in a huge beehive and longer lashes. Guess what, he sat right in front of me and to the right. Priscilla (and her beehive) was in front of me. His Memphis Boys were in the quasi-first class with curtain open. They had quite a scene going, like secret vibes. I tapped on his shoulder and his vibrant blue eyes looked back, he was smiling. I asked him for his autograph which he signed on a napkiin "to Margaret with Love, Elvis" in purple ink. Margaret is my wife. She lost it, of course. Oh well. Sky Saxon really rings a bell. I remember the Seeds, they were seminal (no pun intended) in those early smoky daze of the 60s. Thanks for the memories. Jeff Finley Bob of Manhattan Beach Steve, Thank you for a great article and bringing back some fun musical memories from a far different musical era in Los Angeles. Lenny Wow. There's the trilogy. All in a day. 1966 I saw Sky Saxon & the Seeds perform in an Antelope Valley gym. As a high school aged rock and roll musician, I thought he had an incredible new sound. He really did. Thanks Sky. heather nice article, dad! I remember you talking about the seeds and playing them for me. "Pushing Too Hard" was a great song. Jim Sky was the man. And the Seeds were the band. R.I.P. KaRi of ThePrimeSpot.com Great article, you could have written his wikipedia entry! I was beginning to think that only one or two people in the past few days;) PS Nice to see someone else promoting wpmd, keep it up! Dave Wielenga As great as Pushin' Too Hard was, sometimes I turned over the single and played the song on the flip side: Mr. Farmer. It was cool, too. Jeri Holloway Thank you for remembering Sky Saxon and mentioning his death. When I moved to L.A. in 1968, I met him, went to many concerts, took photos, etc., stayed in touch on and off while I lived there until I moved back to Louisiana the end of 1975. He was so talented and he was a good person. Only recently I reconnected with him and some of his family, learning how much touring he had still been doing. Reading comments from fans the world over on various fan sites on the internet was amazing. His death is so sad, and what is tragic is the news of it will be left out of many newspapers and magazines as they fill their publications with Michael Jackson's death. Even Farrah Faucet's death was shoved aside. Not fair, not fair. But as someone will throw out, no one ever said life was fair. Jeri Holloway Fred "Pushin' Too Hard" is indeed a classic, but let's not forget "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" which also got a lot of airplay in LA. There was a great photo of Sky with a cop backstage at a gig the Seeds did in Downey (!) that I saw in a "History of Downey" display at the Downey Library 20 years ago. You should look it up. Great article, Steve! lloyd casner goodbye SKY loved pushing to hard!
Hometown Music
A graduate of Wilson High (1960) and CSULB (1965), Steve Propes has been collecting records for many decades; was the KLON R&B DJ from 1981 to 1990 (with a short return in '93); has interviewed hundreds of singers, players, DJs and label owners; hosted Steve Propes Rock & Roll House Party on Charter Cable; founding member of the So. Cal Doo Wop Society; author of seven published books on R&R history and hosts the Steve Propes 45s Show is heard live on www.wpmd.org on Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m. and on www.rockitradio.net, playing from his collection of over 35,000 45s, about 1,000 CDs and hours on interviews on tape.
Since 2000, Steve has reported for and written a police column for the Beachcomber and contributed to various music publications like Record Collector News, which can be found at record stores and record meets.
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