Seals & Crofts: two Texans, a hit about summer and a faith they shared

Seals & Crofts sound like pure Californian ease, but both men were from Texas. Dash Crofts was born in Cisco in 1938 and Jim Seals in Sidney in 1942. Crofts first met Seals when he was drumming in a local band, and Seals later joined a rockabilly group, Dean Beard and the Crew Cats, as a saxophonist. When the Champs had a number one with “Tequila” in 1958, the pair moved to Los Angeles to join them, and Seals also spent time in 1959 in Eddie Cochran's touring band.

Before the duo, there were long detours. Seals wrote “It's Never Too Late”, recorded by Brenda Lee in 1961 as the B-side of a single. By 1963 Seals and Crofts had left the Champs with Glen Campbell and Jerry Cole to form Glen Campbell and the GCs, which played at The Crossbow in Van Nuys and lasted only a couple of years. In a later band, the Dawnbreakers, both men discovered the Baháʼí Faith and began adding references and scripture to their songs.

As a duo from 1969, with Seals on guitar, saxophone and violin and Crofts on guitar and mandolin, they signed with Talent Associates and released two LPs. A new deal with Warner Bros. in 1971 brought Year of Sunday, and then Summer Breeze, which peaked at number seven. The title song reached number six on the pop chart and number four on the Adult Contemporary chart, and the album was certified double platinum. Diamond Girl in 1973 went gold, with its title track reaching number six in July 1973. “Get Closer” in 1976 reached number six as well.

Their next album, Unborn Child, in 1974, caused controversy because its title song stated an anti-abortion position shortly after Roe v. Wade; some radio stations banned it, others added it, and the album still went gold. The duo disbanded in 1981, reunited briefly from 1989 to 1992, and returned in 2004 for a final album, Traces. Seals later performed with his younger brother “England” Dan Seals as Seals & Seals.