Dash Crofts of Seals & Crofts Has Died
- edgarstreetbooks
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The Singer-Songwriter Was 87
Frank Mastropolo
Jim Seals (left) and Dash Crofts. Rhino Flashback
It is sad to note the passing of Dash Crofts, 87, who scored a number of hits in the 1970s with bandmate Jim Seals, who died in 2022. Crofts was a singer, songwriter, and played guitar and mandolin. Seals and Crofts earned Grammy nominations for “Diamond Girl” and “Summer Breeze.”
In this excerpt from the book 200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs, we look back at the controversy caused by another Seals & Crofts classic, “We May Never Pass This Way (Again).”
Jim Seals and Dash Crofts were a popular soft rock duo of the 1970s. Their songs were often inspired by their Baha'i faith. Their 1973 hit “Hummingbird” was a metaphor for Baha Ulla, the prophet who founded the Bahai in the Middle East in the 19th century.
“We May Never Pass This Way (Again),” also released in 1973, reached №21 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song contains the lyrics: “Like Columbus in the olden days, we must gather all our courage.” That reference created a controversy and made Seals reluctant to rerelease the song.
“The song was written a long time ago, and when I went to school, I was taught that Columbus was a good guy,” Seals told the Los Angeles Times. “I never really stopped to think about the controversy that’s developed over him recently.
“The song wasn’t intended to glorify a slaveowner; it was addressing the kind of courage it took for him to go out at a time when they thought the world was flat. Whether they did it for greed or ignorance or whatever, they did it.
“Now we’ll have to change the lyrics. God knows, I know the Indians and aboriginal peoples are the backbone of the world, and it was not intended to belittle them in any way.”
Frank Mastropolo is the author of 200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.
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