“Can’t Seem to Make You Mine” – The Seeds
I was born too late. I want to live in a time when lead singers still use tambourines. “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine” is one of my favorite examples of ’60s rock and here we also have the rare treat of seeing The Seeds’ Bandstand performance. How cool are these guys? Look at their clothes! Their hair! Really take some time to absorb keyboardist Daryl Hooper’s complete ensemble, hairdo included. He’s like Mod Mozart.
The Seeds have a great surf-rock-meets-psychedelia sound, and this song was a regional hit in Southern California in 1965. Sky Saxon’s vocal style is just the icing on this cake. At it’s heart it is a simple, catchy song with a story to which we can all relate, but the vocals and musical arrangement elevate it. The song has also been covered very successfully by The Ramones and Garbage (among others). Both deserve a listen. When you have a such a groovy song to start with you’d have to work pretty hard to end up with a shitty cover.
In summary: Need time machine.
