Raw & Alive [The Seeds In Concert] 8-track tape cartridge
by The Seeds
Label: NAL [CRE-82043]
Like other Seeds 8-track tapes, the North American Leisure version of the 1968 album Raw & Alive is a disappointing release in that it omits some songs from the LP. This version was made by NAL with the catalog number CRE-82043 (similar to the GNP Crescendo LP’s number GNPS-2043).
The phrase Raw & Alive does not appear anywhere on the 8-track case or labels except for the reproduced full-color album cover art on the front. On the spine and the back label the name used is The Seeds In Concert.
More unusual and unforgivable are the song omissions. Like all 8-tracks, The Seeds In Concert is split up into four programs and, like the NAL 8-track tape of Future, each program features two songs for a total of eight, the remainder be damned. Songs are ordered like this (LP placements in brackets):
Program 1
"Mr. Farmer" [A-2]
"Satisfy You" [A-4]
Program 2
"Forest Outside Your Door" [B-4]
"Pushin' Too Hard" [B-6]
Program 3
"No Escape" [A-3]
"900 Million People Daily (All Making Love)" [B-5]
Program 4
"Night Time Girl" [A-5]
"Gypsy Plays His Drums" [B-1]
Not appearing on the tape are the “Introduction By ‘Humble’ Harv”, "Up In Her Room", "Can't Seem To Make You Mine", and "Mumble And Bumble". Our copy is sealed (and we don’t have an 8-track player anyway) so we’re not sure if Harvey Miller’s introduction is really missing or just not listed. It is listed on other versions of Raw & Alive, including the 4-track tape and the cassette, so we can only assume it’s not in fact here.
So 8-track fans of The Seeds were given very short shrift on NAL’s “Super Stereo 8” tapes of the band. Too bad; the even more obscure 4-track version of Raw & Alive included all the tracks from the LP, in their original order, and used the correct name of the album to boot.
Imagine, a subset of a whole generation grew up not knowing "Mumble And Bumble". An American tragedy. At least the rarity of this 8-track makes it something of a lovable loser amongst Seeds collectibles.
