Description
For many, “A Web Of Sound” is the band’s finest moment, and the record is fully in line with the progressive musical atmosphere of Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The second half of 1966 could be viewed as the peak of the original Seeds’ three-year career in terms of creativity and credibility. A quintessential 1966 rock album, “A Web Of Sound” retained the crazed energy of the Seeds first album, but dosed with a growing maturity and a willingness to experiment. It evolved out of a period when the band was truly Los Angeles’s own, for it had been in the back-alley bohemian rock clubs of the city that the contents of “Web” flowered.
| DISC ONE: A WEB OF SOUND GNP Crescendo LP GNPS 2033 Stereo (1966) |
| 1. | Mr. Farmer | 3:11 |
| 2. | Pictures & Designs | 2:41 |
| 3. | Tripmaker | 2:42 |
| 4. | I Tell Myself | 2:24 |
| 5. | A Faded Picture | 5:23 |
| 6. | Rollin’ Machine | 2:43 |
| 7. | Just Let Go | 4:16 |
| 8. | Up In her Room | 14:32 |
| Bonus Tracks (2013) | ||
| 9. | The Wind Blows Your Hair (Version 1) | 3:06 |
| 10. | Dreaming Of Your Love (Version 2) | 2:11 |
| 11. | Out Of The Question (Version 4) | 3:14 |
| 12. | I Tell Myself (Take 1) | 2:45 |
| 13. | Pictures & Designs (Take 14) | 2:52 |
| 14. | Just Let Go (Take 4) | 3:59 |
| 15. | A Faded Picture (Take 1) | 5:33 |
| DISC TWO: A WEB OF SOUND GNP Crescendo LP GNP 2033 Mono (1966) |
||
| 1. | Mr. Farmer | 3:08 |
| 2. | Pictures & Designs | 2:42 |
| 3. | Tripmaker | 2:45 |
| 4. | I Tell Myself | 2:32 |
| 5. | A Faded Picture | 5:19 |
| 6. | Rollin’ Machine | 2:36 |
| 7. | Just Let Go | 4:16 |
| 8. | Up In her Room | 14:32 |
| Bonus Tracks A FULL SPOON OF SEEDY BLUES original mono mix scheduled as GNP Crescendo LP GNP 2035 (2013) |
||
| 9. | Pretty Girl | 2:03 |
| 10. | Moth and the Flame | 3:50 |
| 11. | I’ll Help You (Carry Your Money To The Bank) | 3:29 |
| 12. | Cry Wolf | 6:07 |
| 13. | Plain Spoken | 2:53 |
| 14. | The Gardener | 4:59 |
| 15. | One More Time Blues | 2:26 |
| 16. | Creepin’ About | 2:45 |
| 17. | Buzzin’ Around |
Written and recorded during the band’s residencies at Hollywood’s underground club Bido Litos, alongside Love and the embryonic Doors it achieved notoriety for the 14-minute showstopper ‘Up In Her Room’, but also features some of the Seeds’ signature tunes including ‘Mr Farmer’, ‘Tripmaker’ and ‘A Faded Picture’. There is a questing, proto-psychedelic aura to “Web” that is both delicious and thrilling at the same time.
Seeds fans should note that the entire contents of our deluxe two-disc set are new to compact disc. They include the original stereo mix of the “A Web Of Sound” which has been unavailable since the 1960s, along with its punchier mono incarnation. The previously unreleased outtakes include a cryptic early demo of ‘The Wind Blows Your Hair’, with a completely different arrangement to the version issued as a single, as well as its original mildly controversial lyric.
Also featured is an unused mono mix of the “A Full Spoon Of Seedy Blues” LP, made at the time of its recording in late 1966. This LP, originally credited to the Sky Saxon Blues Band, is traditionally seen as a bit of an aberration in the Seeds catalogue, but listening to it now, it is revealed as a creditable attempt to pay homage to a genre that few white American bands had mastered. Blues legend Muddy Waters’ patronage of the band: he contributed the song ‘Plain Spoken’; and members of his band performed on the sessions and he wrote a tribute on the LP jacket, was also a major feather in the Seeds’ cap.
As with all our Seeds reissues, “A Web Of Sound” comes as a trifold digipak with extensive illustrations and fresh commentary from the participants on both its contents and the career of these garage rock avatars.
By Alec Palao
This album is also available on iTunes and Apple Music, as well as Spotify and many other streaming services.
