Nuggets: Pushin’ Too Hard by The Seeds

Before he became Patti Smith’s lead guitarist, Lenny Kaye compiled the 2 album set, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era. Released in 1972, the two-LP set covered American garage rock and psychedelia from the years 1965-1968 and was a major influence on punk rock. Rhino Records reissued an expanded version of the set in 1998, with 118 tracks in total. I’m profiling and rating each of these 118 tracks, working backwards.

Track 9/118: Pushin’ Too Hard by The Seeds
Release Year: 1966
From: Los Angeles, California
Aphoristic Rating: 8/10

PUSHIN’ TOO HARD – The Seeds [2:30]
Featuring Sky Saxon
[First pressings were titled “You’re Pushin’ Too Hard”]
(Sky Saxon)
Personnel/SKY SAXON: vocals, bass * JAN SAVAGE: guitar, vocals * DARYL HOOPER: electric piano, vocals * RICK ANDRIDGE: drums
Produced by MARCUS TYBALT for BROMPTON PRODUCTIONS
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA
GNP Crescendo single #GNP-364 (3/66); GNP Crescendo single #GNP-372 (8/66);
Pop #36

After moving to L.A. from Salt Lake City, vocalist and bassist Sky Saxon had already been kicking around with a few different acts. He recruited some buddies and started rehearsing in the garage (obviously…) of his Malibu home.

Sky Saxon wrote ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’ in a car while waiting for his girlfriend to finish shopping. It’s unclear whether it’s aimed at his girlfriend or a consumeristic society. Some radio stations banned the song for drug references, simply because the word “push” is in the title.

I find Saxon’s vibrato-laced voice an acquired taste, but it works fine on the fast-paced ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’. The primitive musicianship and thin sound are an asset for this raw song.

The DIY spirit of the garage bands of the 1960s influenced punk, and lots of punks have specifically cited The Seeds as an influence. The band split in the late 1960s but later reformed for a 1989 Summer of Love tour. Saxon passed away in 2009, but the band have sporadically reformed, with keyboardist Daryl Hooper.

Read More

• Nuggets Song by Song
• 1960s Album Reviews