Jim Sils, ’70s band sails and half of the Crofts, dies at 80

Jim Sills, who worked with fellow musician Dash Crofts on 1970s soft rock hits like “Summer Breeze,” “Diamond Girl” and “We May Never Pass This Way Again,” has died at age 80.

His death was announced on Tuesday by several people, including John Ford Cole, who formed a 1970s duo with Danny from England, and John Ford Cole with Sales’ older brother Dan. Additional details were not immediately available.

“This is a difficult period on many levels as this musical era for me passes,” writes Cole. And that will never happen as long as he sang his song. He belonged to a group that was unique.”

Sales and Darrell George “Dash” Crofts were Texans who had known each other since their teens and had previously been to the Champs, where they had a hit single with “Tequila” and the band Glenn Campbell before joining. They started Seals and Crofts in the late 1960s and in the following years were part of a wave of soft rock bands that included America, Bread and England Dan and John Ford Cole.

Seals and Crofts had three top 10 hits: “Summer Breeze”, “Diamond Girl” and “Get Closer”. His other popular songs include “Hummingbird”, “You’re the Love” and “We May Never Pass This Way Again”.

The Seals and Crofts also released the controversial “Unborn Child”, an anti-abortion song released on Roe v. After a Supreme Court decision Wade and banned some radio stations.

They divorced in 1980, but reunited briefly in the early 1990s and in 2004, when they released the album Trace. Sales also dated her brother Dan, who died in 2009.

He is survived by his wife Ruby and three children.