CoronaVinyl Day 450 (S): Greatest Hits by Seals & Crofts

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "S," and I listened to '70s soft rock duo Seals & Crofts' 1975 Greatest Hits album.

Jimmy Seals and Dash Crofts both grew up in small towns in mid Texas, both kind of in between Dallas and Abilene.  They met at some point in the '50s and moved to LA to become members of The Champs, after the band's #1 hit "Tequila" had been released.  Future country music star Glen Campbell was also a member of The Champs around this time, and in the early '60s, Campbell, Seals, Crofts, and Jerry Cole left The Champs to form their own band, Glen Campbell and The GCs, which only lasted for a couple years.

Eventually, Seals and Crofts decided to proceed as a duo, releasing their first album in 1969.  If you know any Seals & Crofts song, it's probably their 1972 #6 hit "Summer Breeze," but don't you dare call them one-hit wonders.

The Greatest Hits album was released in 1975 and featured songs from the duo's seven albums released up to then.  The album went double platinum in the U.S. and reached #11 on the Billboard album chart.  Of the ten songs on the album, six charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with five reaching the Top 40 and two reaching the Top 10 ("Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl," both of which went to #6).  It's all pure early '70s easy listening.

Before they decided to take a hiatus from music in 1980, they had 8 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including three Top 10s.  They eventually reunited in the early '90s and toured for about a year before disbanding again, and then they reunited again in the early '00s and released an album in 2004.  Seals died last year at the age of 79.

Interesting tidbit:  Seals's younger brother Dan is "England Dan" in the '70s soft rock duo England Dan and John Ford Coley.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "When I Meet Them"
This is a re-recording of a song from their 1971 album Year of Sunday, and it's got kind of a Traffic meets yacht rock feel to it.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Summer Breeze"
There is something about this song that has always connected with me.  Maybe it was played a lot when I was in the womb or as a young kid, but for whatever reason, I feel nostalgic when I hear it -- but nostalgic for a time before I was born.  Maybe I listened to this song a lot in a prior life.  Prove that I didn't.