The Seeds: Evil Hoodoo

[depravedskippy66]

Thanks to my good mate Clear Light I just received a copy of this 10 inch EP which serves as an excellent sampler for the forthcoming reissues on Big Beat.

After hearing the full length (13:53) version of the title track, all I could say was "holy shit!" This well and truly pisses all over their other epic, the 14:45 Up In Her Room. It may sound crazy to say this, but the Velvet Underground came most readily to mind. I hear some similarities: basic (but not simplistic) songwriting, uncluttered arrangements, and a commitment to repetition that can be truly hypnotic. The other two tracks are equally ace: Satisfy You minus the screaming teenybopper overdubs and Out Of The Question (Version 1, Take 1) which is taken at a faster pace than the version we all know and love, and threatens to fly off the handle but somehow manages to stay grounded.

I would like to conclude by offering my kudos to Alec Palao as it looks he'll have another winner on his hands.

 

[Mr.Segment]

Thanks for reminding me! Just bought one for £15 off of eBay UK. Not bad. Really looking forward to listening to this!

 

[depravedskippy66]

Thomas, post some feedback once you've given it a spin. I think you'll be blown away by it.

 

[Mr.Segment]

Yep, I'll do that. New discoveries from one of the top 5 60s band ever is a real treat.

 

[MopTopMike]

I still have to get one of these. Tho any song running 15 mins. will bore me, even by the almighty Sky & Co. The LP version of "Up In Her Room" gets tiring. I vastly prefer the 45rpm single/edited version.

 

[pfft]

Thanks to my good mate Clear Light I just received a copy of this 10 inch EP which serves as an excellent sampler for the forthcoming reissues on Big Beat.

After hearing the full length (13:53) version of the title track, all I could say was "holy shit!" This well and truly pisses all over their other epic, the 14:45 Up In Her Room. It may sound crazy to say this, but the Velvet Underground came most readily to mind. I hear some similarities: basic (but not simplistic) songwriting, uncluttered arrangements, and a commitment to repetition that can be truly hypnotic. The other two tracks are equally ace: Satisfy You minus the screaming teenybopper overdubs and Out Of The Question (Version 1, Take 1) which is taken at a faster pace than the version we all know and love, and threatens to fly off the handle but somehow manages to stay grounded.

I would like to conclude by offering my kudos to Alec Palao as it looks he'll have another winner on his hands.

Great review, and I agree wholeheartedly! 13+ minutes is seldom a good thing, but this version doesn't bore me for 1 second.

Thomas: £15 sounds pretty steep. Apollon here in Bergen has a big stack of them for 99 kroner.

 

[Mr.Segment]

Great review, and I agree wholeheartedly! 13+ minutes is seldom a good thing, but this version doesn't bore me for 1 second.

Thomas: £15 sounds pretty steep. Apollon here in Bergen has a big stack of them for 99 kroner.

Ooops. Oh well, too late now.

 

[Clear Light]

Ooops. Oh well, too late now.

I paid £10.00 per copy on Record Store day...

 

[eargasm!]

I grabbed one of these on Record Store Day also...I loved the Evil HooDoo side, but as great as it was to hear, I don't see many repeated listens at !3 minutes,lol! It does get pretty repetitive! The Satisfy You, and Out of The Question side knocked me out. Great work to Alec (as usual!), and all involved!

 

[Mr.Segment]

How to approach thirteenminutesand53seconds of Evil Hoodoo? I guess it helps that I actually like long songs, given the right circumstances. If I can sit through Ra-Ma and enjoy it, I can certainly sit through this. And I’m quite sure Cold Sun had listened to The Seeds.
I don’t know what I had expected but I know I hadn’t foreseen that Sky would actually sing so much during the garage-o-marathon that Evil Hoodoo is. My first impression is that I find this a little bit grating on the ears, but I’ve just listened to this twice; which is nothing really.
If I were to award Trophy Points, g45 style, my 150 would go to session man Harvey Sharpe on bass. Playing almost the exact same riff over and over again for such a long time without going mad is quite the achievement! The fuzz is an added bonus. Kraut rock in it’s infancy indeed.
Big Beat have done an impressive job with the sound, almost too good as it feels like a current band playing, not a 45 year old session tape. But that’s of course also a huge compliment to The Seeds!
I’m certainly going to play Evil Hoodoo a lot in the immediate future, time will tell if it holds up in the prog-length format.
As for Satisfy You, this is a song I’ve never really focused on, but it certainly works in it’s favour cleaning it up.
Out of the Question. The stereo take that’s on Future is garagepunk extraordinaire. It’s got it all in my book (perhaps only lacking an insanely original guitar break, but guitar breaks were never Seeds’ forte so that’s an unjust argument) A TBM 10 for me, I’m sure others will disagree. They be mad.
Never heard the first mono take of OOTQ, but the take included here feels like a blueprint of greatness to come. I vastly prefer the Future take until I hear the mono 45 version. Though the last 20 or so seconds is purified greatness. It’s like a KBD track, rudimentary but knowing the end product: a perfect start. Even got J**** Bia*ra vibes off of Sky’s vocals! But again, the Big Beat sound is so crystal clear it sounds like a minty fresh song.

The fact that Big Beat/Alec Palao is able to unearth hitherto unheard (or?) alternative versions of songs from one of the really big guns in the garage pantheon is simply amazing and I’m now really looking forward to the new re-issues.

 

[depravedskippy66]

Great review, Thomas. I'm hoping that Alec uncovers an extended "Tripmaker." I am also curious as to the ulitmate fate of that 'Streak To The Sun" acetate that turned up on ebay some while back; would be nice to find it on the new reissues. I'm not exactly holding my breath on that count, but one can hope!