Wilson Simonal

Artist: Wilson Simonal

LP: Alegria, Alegria - Vol. 3
Song: "Mustang Color Sangre"

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Song: "Muchacha"
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I carted off an exciting haul of vinyl from Beats and Bohos last week on my way home from breakfast in Edmonds with my old college chum, John, and his wife and their cute young daughter. Included in my bounty was this 1969 LP from Brazilian artist Wilson Simonal. According to Wikipedia, Simonal, who has been dead for nearly twenty years, was mostly unknown outside of South America. I can't speak for the rest of my continent, but this week he's certainly been a hot item on the playlist at a particular one-bedroom apartment in Seattle!

[ Wilson Simonal: February 23, 1938 — June 25, 2000 ]

The Flower Pot Men

Artist: The Flower Pot Men

LP: 7" single

Song: "A Walk In the Sky"

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Song: "Am I Losing You"

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I'm still snowed in, with a brand new storm descending upon me now, and then another planned for tomorrow afternoon. So yes, I'm still in the midst of a winter wonderland, but I needed a break from the Christmas music. Today I'm reminiscing about my hot August nights in Barcelona, with my days spent rummaging through dusty Spanish record stores, at one of which I found this 1967 British psychedelic gem from The Flower Pot Men (called The Flower Men in the USA, where we just say no to drugs). 

According to Wikipedia, it was session musicians that recorded "Let's Go To San Francisco," which became a smash hit in the UK. Songwriters and homebodies John Carter and Ken Lewis weren't really the types to go on tour, so they quickly threw together a band made up of hand-picked psychedelic-looking session musicians that would hit the road to perform the hit song and try to keep the momentum alive. "A Walk In the Sky" was The Flower Pot Men's follow-up single, and though it did well in Germany and The Netherlands, it wasn't all that popular in England. After a few more failed attempts to cultivate another hit, The Flower Pot Men wilted and died in 1970, each moving on to greener gardens. And speaking of greener gardens, it's snowing like the dickens outside right now.

[ The Flower Pot Men ]

Faze-O

Artist: Faze-O

LP: Good Thang

Song: "Funky Lady"
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It's my birthday! I'm gonna' put on my milk-chocolate silk shorts and go get me some ice cream!

[ Faze-O in full bloom ]

The Poppy Family featuring Susan Jacks

Artist: The Poppy Family featuring Susan Jacks

LP: Which Way You Goin' Billy?

Song: "Which Way You Goin' Billy?"
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Song: "Free From the City"
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Music fanatics (ones with good taste, anyway)  have got to do two things when they pass through Montgomery, Alabama. (They can do additional things too if they want, like visit the Alabama State Capitol.) The first is to visit the grave where country music legend Hank Williams is buried, which I did as soon as I pulled into town. 

The second is to stop by Montgomery's newest (and only) record store, RAD! Vinyl Records. I found some great stuff there, including this 1969 LP by The Poppy Family (featuring Susan Jacks). The group is originally from Vancouver, British Columbia—my own neck of the woods—but sometimes you have to travel far and wide just to find the gems that have been lying right under your nose! (Or something like that.) Anyway, singer Susan Pesklevits met guitarist Terry Jacks in the mid 1960s while performing on TV; they married and brought guitarist Craig McCaw and tablas player Satwant Singh on board to form The Poppy Family. They went international with the hit "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" in 1969 (it reached #1 on the Canadian singles charts, #2 in the USA, and peaked at #95 in Australia) and had several more hits in Canada in the following years. Sadly, the group recorded only two LPs, and Terry Jacks "released" both McCaw and Singh from the group before making "Poppy Seeds," which was LP #2. Not long after "Poppy Seeds" came out in 1971, Susan "released" Terry from their marriage and The Poppy Family was no more. You can read all about The Poppy Family (featuring Susan Jacks) here, and a photo and some notes from the back of their first LP are included below. 

 [ The Poppy Family featuring Susan Jacks ]

[ RAD! Vinyl Records — Montgomery, Alabama ]