“Satisfy You” (version 1 take 6) / “You Can’t Be Trusted” (alternate version)

This fairly obscure 2015 release by Record Collector Magazine pairs an early version of The Seeds’ "Satisfy You" from 1968 with an unreleased take of "You Can't Be Trusted" from 1965, the latter being exclusive to this 7″ single. Only 350 numbered copies were pressed; each comes with a hand-numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

The picture sleeve

The front of this thick cardboard picture sleeve uses an image from the photo shoot that launched a thousand Seeds releases: the four guys looking weird and hippie-ish in a black and white photo taken on a farm. Here, Rick Andridge, Jan Savage, Daryl Hooper, and Sky Saxon crouch in the tall dead grass next to a barbed-wire fence, each wearing clothes somewhere between hipster finery and a costume. The Seeds’ logo, adapted from The Seeds, sits at the top on a black background and the two song titles in red appear in a simple, bold typeface on a yellow-green stripe underneath.

The back cover is interesting in that it pays homage to 1960s European EPs, with their glued-flap construction printed directly onto the flat cardboard of this release. (See the image here – those are pictures of worn, yellowing flaps, not the real thing.) Song information appears in a big black box to the left, while the right side is used to promote GNP Crescendo’s The Seeds: Pushin’ Too Hard documentary movie which they promise is “Coming to a cinema near you soon”, plus other Record Collector releases by the likes of The Zipps, The Keith Emerson Trio, Poppa Ben Hook, and The Riot Squad.

"Satisfy You", on Side A, is not the take from Raw & Alive; this is take 6 of an earlier attempt from January 15, 1968. It was also released on the Contact High bonus disc of rarities from Big Beat’s 2013 Future reissue. "You Can't Be Trusted" (listed as Side AA) is the heretofore unreleased take 3 from July 20, 1965 (take 4 appeared on The Seeds). Unavailable elsewhere, this inclusion makes the single vital for Sky Saxon and Seeds lovers.

The bass players

Robert Atkins is listed as the bass player on "Satisfy You", just as Alec Palao stated in his Big Beat Future CD liner notes (where he referred to him as Bob Atkins), but Side AA is a little confusing: this single shows Jimmy Lawrence as the bassist on "You Can't Be Trusted", but in the liner notes for Big Beat’s The Seeds CD Alec Palao says that the bass player at this session is unknown and might be Jimmy Lawrence. Did more information come to light between that 2012 CD and this 2015 vinyl single that definitively identified Lawrence as the musician here? Or did they just want a concrete name and so went with their best guess?

The record

The disc itself has a small center hole, and both labels are of high quality and use a green, Seeds-y color scheme. They’re labeled “SIDE A” and “SIDE AA” like the sleeve. The song titles are in the same bold red font as the cover, with “(Version 1)” and “(Alternate Take)” in smaller black text. Take numbers, unlike the sleeve, aren’t listed on the record labels.

The usual legal disclaimer is written around the outer edge of the circular label as on many labels, but this time ends with an exclamation mark (“unauthorized … broadcasting of this recording prohibited!”) So watch it!

The Certificate of Authenticity

Record Collector included a Certificate of Authenticity in copies of their "Satisfy You" b/w "You Can't Be Trusted" single, signed by Ian Shirley, the magazine’s editor under the Rare Vinyl Series banner. The CoA is also hand-numbered on a line reading This is limited edition no …… of 350 copies of The Seeds 7″.

The other side of this full-color insert shows The Seeds’ logo, the song titles in green, and the logos of both Record Collector and Ace with the phrase “In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Ace Records” at the bottom. (Somehow, GNP Crescendo isn’t mentioned at all on this insert; they usually make sure their name and logo is on every Seeds item possible.)

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