The Flowerpot Men - Peace Album & Past Imperfect (1969-70) {2000 Repertoire Rec. }
This British group was an outgrowth of mid-'60s pop group the Ivy League. Songwriting partners John Carter and Ken Lewis wrote, produced and performed "Let's Go to San Francisco" and licensed it out to Deram, who had an international hit with it as the Summer of Love was just winding down. The pair released four more singles, including one under the moniker Friends. None were hits and the group dissolved in 1970. Though they were extremely derivative of the then-au courant West Coast sound (especially the post-surf Beach Boys), the group managed to come up with some worthwhile tracks that showed a talent for smooth pop in a variety of modes (folkish, progressive, psychedelic, etc.) albeit with little rock backbone.
The Flower Pot Men were created as a result of the chart success of the single "Let's Go To San Francisco", written and recorded by songwriters John Carter and Ken Lewis[1] (Carter-Lewis and the Southerners and The Ivy League, which had three UK Top 20 hits previously).
The duo licensed the recording to Deram Records which suddenly found itself with a full-fledged hit, but with no group to promote it. Carter and Lewis, having no interest in going on the road to promote the record, created the group from a hand-picked collective of recording studio session musicians and vocalists. They continued to write, record and produce all the subsequent recordings for the next three years until the project ended in 1970.[1]
The name was derived from the children's show Flower Pot Men, with the obvious psychedelic era puns on flower power and "pot" (cannabis).
Track-List:
1 Prologue 1:58
2 These Heavy Times 2:42
3 Mythological Sunday 5:44
4 Colours 2:44
5 Blow Away 5:52
6 Cooks of Cake & Kindness 2:56
7 Gotta Be Free 3:30
8 Heaven Knows When 3:39
9 White Dove 4:09
10 Epilogue 1:46
11 Now and Then 3:57
12 Say Goodbye to Yesterday 3:04
13 Memories of Tomorrow 2:35
14 Autumn Love 2:35
15 Morning Prayer 2:43
16 Blues 1:34
17 I Am Me 3:48
18 Journey's End 4:27
19 All You Have Is You 3:03
20 Brave New World 3:14
21 Children of Tomorrow 7:02
John Carter: Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Vocals (Background), Vocals, Producer
Peter Barnfather: Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Ken Lewis: Organ, Vocals, Vocals (Background), Producer, Piano
Chris Welch: Liner Notes
Barry Kingston: Synthesizer, Piano
Richard Hudson: Percussion, Drums, Sitar, Washboard
John Ford: Bass
Alan Hawkshaw: String Arrangements
Paul Holland: Engineer
Dave Kerman: Guitar
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