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Between 1972 and 1980, Jim Seals and Darrell George “Dash” Crofts charted a dozen singles on the Billboard Hot 100.  Three of those made the top ten – “Summer Breeze” (1972), “Diamond Girl” (1973), and “Get Closer” (1976) – while a further trio notched spots in the top twenty: “Hummingbird” (1973), “I’ll Play for You” (1975), and “You’re the Love” (1978).  The duo was met with similar success on the AC chart, with “We May Never Pass This Way (Again),” a No. 21 Pop hit, reaching No. 2 in 1973 – the same position notched by “Get Closer” and “You’re the Love.”  Though Seals and Crofts made their final recordings in 2004, their string of ’70s hits remain in frequent rotation on soft rock and yacht rock playlists.  Cherry Red’s Lemon imprint has recently collected the lion’s share of their classic albums on the 5CD box set Gold and Rainbows: The Warner Bros. Years 1969-1978.

Seals and Crofts, both Texas natives, first made music together as members of The Champs after that L.A. band had scored a chart-topper with “Tequila” in 1958.  They remained in the band into the 1960s, though Crofts’ tenure was interrupted by a two-year stint in the U.S. Army.  Both men were making inroads in the music industry; Seals’ song “It’s Never Too Late” occupied the B-side of Brenda Lee’s top ten hit “You Can Depend on Me” in 1961 and then “bubbled under” in its own right.  Seals and Crofts later joined up with fellow Champ Glen Campbell on his own road to stardom and then returned to Texas to join The Dawnbreakers.  The band was named after the book The Dawn-Breakers, about the beginnings of the Baha’i faith; soon, Seals and Crofts would become among the religion’s most famous adherents.

Gold and Rainbows opens with the pair of albums which launched Seals and Crofts’ career as a duo.  Their self-titled debut (1969) and Down Home (1970) were first released on the Talent Associates (TA) label.  Though neither album made much noise (with Down Home peaking at No. 122 on the Billboard 200), they featured top musicians including bassist Louie Shelton (formerly of The Dawnbreakers and Wrecking Crew session great), drummer Jim Gordon, percussionist Victor Feldman, arranger Bill Holman, and producer Bob Alcivar on Seals and Crofts; and bassist Harvey Brooks, organist Paul Harris, guitarist John Hall, and producer John Simon on Down Home.  Both albums featured soft but haunting sounds gilded by shimmering harmonies and a rootsy quality emphasized by Seals’ fiddle and Crofts’ mandolin.  Seals wrote most of the songs on the debut LP while the pair collaborated more closely on the second’s compositions.  The albums caught the attention of Warner Bros. who signed them in August 1971.  [Warner also later purchased the masters for both albums and reissued them as Seals and Crofts I & II, hence their inclusion here.]

Year of Sunday (1971) welcomed back Louie Shelton as producer as well as guitarist; he was joined by other session luminaries such as Victor Feldman, keyboardist Larry Muhoberac, and drummer Russ Kunkel.  Joni Mitchell’s frequent collaborator Henry Lewy engineered the album which ultimately set the stage for the duo’s triumphant second Warner album. 1972’s Summer Breeze, helmed by Shelton, introduced the intoxicating title track which shot to No. 6 Pop and No. 4 AC.  With its infectious chorus, soaring harmonies, and instantly memorable riff, “Summer Breeze” inspired a successful reimagining two years later by The Isley Brothers and remains an anthem for those hazy days of summer.  (Larry Knechtel, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Brooks all played on it.)  Summer Breeze yielded another hit with the beguiling ode to a “Hummingbird,” one of many of the duo’s songs based on their Baha’i faith.  The album went to No. 7 on the Top LPs chart, and that placement would be bettered by its follow-up.

1973’s Diamond Girl, produced by Shelton, spun off another hit title song and summer anthem.  “Diamond Girl” was even looser, funkier, and breezier than its predecessor.  It was joined by the lush ballad “We May Never Pass This Way (Again)” which barely missed the U.S. top 20 but fared much better on the AC chart (not to mention scoring many high school graduations).  Seals and Crofts were joined on the LP by England Dan and John Ford Coley – the hitmaking duo formed by Jim’s younger brother Dan Seals and his friend Coley – plus David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, Wilton Felder, John Guerin, Harvey Mason, Bobbye Hall, and engineer Dave Hassinger.  Diamond Girl contained an ode to the pair’s wives (“Ruby Jean and Billie Lee”), a country tune written by Seals in the ’60s (“Dust on My Saddle”), and more overt expressions of the Baha’i religion, which would lead to the most controversial album of Seals and Crofts’ career.  1974’s Unborn Child was named for its explicitly anti-abortion song penned by Seals with lyrics by Lana Bogan (wife of the album’s engineer, Joseph Bogan).  A loose concept album, it nonetheless found room for another throwback (1970’s “King of Nothing”) and the kind of lithe grooves, abundant melodies, and sparkling vocals that fans expected. Despite the expected reservations, Warner Bros. stood by the duo and Unborn Child peaked at No. 14 on the Top LPs chart, though radio didn’t embrace the title song which stalled at No. 66 Pop.

Though it was produced, as ever, by Louie Shelton and featured many of the same musicians (among them David Paich, Wilton Felder, and Jeff Porcaro), 1975’s I’ll Play for You lacked a standout song on the order of “Summer Breeze” or “Diamond Girl.”  It wasn’t lacking in worthwhile music, though, as it embraced the duo’s impressionistic and soulful side.  Seals and Crofts bounced back the next year with Get Closer and another mammoth title track, this time featuring The Honey Cone’s Carolyn Willis joining them on vocals.  The ballad arranged by Gene Page was their smoothest yet, returning them to the Pop top ten and AC top five.  “Goodbye Old Buddies,” unusual in that it wasn’t written by Seals or Crofts but rather by Parker McGee (writer of England Dan and John Ford Coley’s mega-hit “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” and a writer signed to Dan and Jim Seals’ Dawnbreaker Music firm), earned S&C another moderate chart entry.  “Sweet Green Fields” was notably sampled years later by Busta Rhymes for “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See.”

Sudan Village (1976) was Seals and Crofts’ first live album but differed from the expected concert set.  Recorded at unspecified locations on tour, it didn’t reprise any of their familiar hits but, rather, focused on deep cuts (“‘Cause You Love,” “Sudan Village,” “Advance Guards,” “East of Ginger Trees”) and new songs as performed by Seals, Crofts, and their touring band.  It added one studio cut.  “Baby, I’ll Give It to You” was again based on a Lana Bogan poem, and boasted Carolyn Willis on vocals.  Willis was also heard on the live renditions of “Cause You Love” and “Put Your Love in My Hands.”

S&C’s lone release of 1977 was the soundtrack to the film One on One, in which they performed songs written by Charles Fox (“Killing Me Softly with His Song,” “I Got a Name,” “Happy Days”) and Paul Williams.  It hasn’t been included in this collection.  They returned to the studio for the final album here, 1978’s Takin’ It Easy, but one could be forgiven for believing the old magic was gone.  Four songs were the work of outside songwriters, and the album lacked a unified band feeling, with roughly 30 credited musicians including David Foster, Tom Hensley, Tony Peluso, and Jim Keltner.  The title song featured no participation from Crofts, while Seals was absent on “One More Time.”  David Batteau and producer Louie Shelton’s “You’re the Love” (with a big, disco-friendly Gene Page arrangement) was selected as the lead single, becoming their final top 40 chart entry.

Cherry Red’s box set concludes there, but Seals and Crofts released one more Warner Bros. album, 1980’s The Longest Road.  Though Louie Shelton remained in the producer’s chair, Dash Crofts was absent from many of its tracks and didn’t contribute to the songwriting.  The cover depicted the duo seemingly walking off into the sunset, and indeed, they did.  The 1980s saw reunions at Baha’i events, and in 1989, they reunited for a series of Canadian concerts which soon led to a U.S. tour.  They disbanded again in 1992, but teamed up again in 2004 for their final album.  Traces featured numerous re-recordings of their Warner Bros. recordings, but there was still pleasure to be found in their vocal blend.  Also in the early 2000s, Jim Seals joined his brother Dan as Seals and Seals, singing from both of their considerable catalogues.  In 2018, Jim’s cousin Brady Seals began performing with Dash’s daughter Lua Crofts as Seals and Crofts 2.  Jim Seals died on June 6, 2022 at the age of 79.

Cherry Red’s box differs a bit from the label’s usual collections.  Likely due to a longstanding contract quirk between the artists and Warner Bros. Records (which has affected past reissues, as well), the package could not add any bonus tracks or alter the original albums’ artwork in any way, including new liner notes.  So Gold and Rainbows is a bare-bones package, with the 28-page booklet merely reprinting the original art (which, at CD size, is often too small for legibility of lyrics and credits).  Each disc is in a wallet reprinting one front cover on one side, and the second on the other side.  There are no remastering credits.

For those who didn’t purchase the previous, also bare-bones Wounded Bird reissues, Lemon’s box set is a fine and budget-conscious way to pick up all but two of Seals and Crofts’ seminal Warner Bros. albums.  It’s available now at the links below.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Seals and Crofts, Gold and Rainbows: The Warner Bros. Years 1969-1978 (Cherry Red/Lemon QCDLEM5BX259, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red)

CD 1:

Seals & Crofts (T-A 5001, 1969)

1. See My Life
2. Sea of Consciousness
3. Seldom’s Sister
4. Not Be Found
5. Birthday of My Thoughts
6. In Tune
7. Cows of Gladness
8. Earth
9. Seven Valleys
10. Jekyll and Hyde
11. Ashes in the Snow
12. See My Life (Reprise)

Down Home (T-A 5004, 1970)

13. Ridin’ Thumb
14. Hand-Me-Down Shoe
15. Purple Hand
16. Robin
17. Hollow Reed
18. Gabriel Go On Home
19. Tin Town
20. Today
21. Cotton Mouth
22. Granny Will Your Dog Bite?
23. Leave

CD 2

Year of Sunday (Warner Bros. BS 2568, 1971)

1. When I Meet Them
2. ‘Cause You Love
3. Antoinette
4. High on a Mountain
5. Year of Sunday
6. Paper Airplanes
7. Irish Linen
8. Springfield Mill
9. Ancient of the Old
10. Sudan Village

Summer Breeze (Warner Bros. BS 2629, 1972)

11. Hummingbird
12. Funny Little Man
13. Say
14. Summer Breeze
15. East of Ginger Trees
16. Fiddle in the Sky
17. The Boy Down the Road
18. The Euphrates
19. Advance Guards
20. Yellow Dirt

CD 3

Diamond Girl (Warner Bros. BS 2699, 1973)

1. Diamond Girl
2. Ruby Jean and Billie Lee
3. Intone My Servant
4. We May Never Pass This Way (Again)
5. Nine Houses
6. Standin’ on a Mountain Top
7. It’s Gonna Come Down (On You)
8. Jessica
9. Dust on My Saddle
10. Wisdom

Unborn Child (Warner Bros. W 2761, 1974)

11. Windflowers
12. Desert People
13. Unborn Child
14. The Story of Her Love
15. Dance by the Light of the Moon
16. Rachel
17. King of Nothing
18. 29 Years from Texas
19. Ledges
20. Follow Me
21. Big Mac

CD 4

I’ll Play for You (Warner Bros. BS 2848, 1975)

1. I’ll Play for You
2. Golden Rainbow
3. Castles in the Sand
4. Blue Bonnet Nation
5. Ugly City
6. Wayland the Rabbit
7. Freaks Fret
8. Truth Is But a Woman
9. Fire and Vengeance

Sudan Village (Warner Bros. BS 2976, 1976)

10. Sudan Village
11. Advance Guards
12. ‘Cause You Love
13. Baby I’ll Give It to You
14. Thunderfoot
15. East of Ginger Trees
16. Put Your Love in My Hands
17. Arkansas Traveller
18. Eighth of January

CD 5

Get Closer (Warner Bros. BS 2907, 1976)

1. Sweet Green Fields
2. Get Closer
3. Red Long Ago
4. Goodbye Old Buddies
5. Baby Blue
6. Million Dollar Horse
7. Don’t Fail
8. Passing Thing

Takin’ It Easy (Warner Bros. BSK 3163, 1978)

9. Takin’ It Easy
10. One More Time
11. Midnight Blue
12. You’re the Love
13. Sunrise
14. Breaking In a Brand-New Love
15. Magnolia Moon
16. Nobody Gets Over Lovin’ You
17. Forever Like the Rose
18. A Tribute to Abdu’l-Baha’​