JIM SEALS (1942 - 2022)

Jim Seals, one half of the pop-rock duo, Seals & Crofts who had the hits, "Summer Breeze", "Diamond Girl" and "Get Closer" in the '70's, passed away on June 6th at the age of eighty. He had suffered a stroke in 2017 and had been struggling with illness for a period of time afterward.

He was born in Texas to a musical family (with his younger brother, Dan who would find success as part of the the pop-rock duo, England Dan and John Ford Coley and passing away in 2009) and met fellow Texan, Dash Crofts as teens playing in several local bands together. After a move to Los Angeles, the two joined the band, The Champs who had a number one instrumental hit with "Tequila" in 1958.

By 1963, Seals and Crofts along with fellow band members, Jerry Vale and Glen Campbell had left the Champs to form their own band, Glen Campbell and the GCs but they were only together for a couple of years before going their separate ways. Seals and Crofts would join another band, the Dawnbreakers before deciding to just become a musical act together in 1969. 

Their first two albums did not receive any attention but then Seals & Crofts signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1971. Although their first album on the label, "Year of Sunday" failed to gain much traction, the duo's follow-up, "Summer Breeze" became a major hit with the title track reaching number six on the pop chart in 1972. The Isley Brothers would do a guitar-driven soul cover in 1974 that also became popular and reached the top-ten on the R&B chart. And another single from the album, "Hummingbird" would be a charting success for Seals & Crofts.

Their next album, "Diamond Girl" would become another hit thanks to the title track and the single, "We May Never Pass This Way (Again)". And their final top-ten hit would be "Get Closer" in 1976 that features vocals by Carolyn Willis of the R&B group, Honey Cone. With their follow-up albums, Seals & Crofts would experiment with their sound (even dabbling in disco) and write music for movies and television. After their 1980 album, "The Longest Road", Seals & Crofts were dropped from their label and then decided to take some time off from working together. The duo would not reunite until 1991, performing a series of concerts. Seals & Crofts didn't come together again until 2004 to record their first album in twenty-four years with "Traces". This would be the final time the duo would work together. Jim Seals is survived by his wife, Ruby (who he married in 1970) and their three children.