The Flower Pot Men - Listen To The Flowers Grow (2022)

Because the Flower Pot Men weren't so much a conventional group as an act masterminded in large part by two singer/songwriter/producers (John Carter and Ken Lewis) who weren't in the band that toured under the Flower Pot Men, summing up their legacy on CD compilations hasn't been as straightforward a proposition as you'd expect. A previous Flower Pot Men compilation, A Walk in the Sky, combined tracks that had been released under the Flower Pot Men name with recordings that -- while also overseen by Carter and Lewis around the same era, with a similar sound -- were actually billed to artists other than the Flower Pot Men.Listen to the Flowers Grow, a little confusingly, also takes the same approach, and only six of its 19 cuts also appear on A Walk in the Sky. The goal, according to the liner notes, was to make a CD that "represents what a Flower Pot Men album may have sounded like if the front men of the touring band had been given the opportunity."

It succeeds in doing so, though it's still confusing to collectors trying to get a grip on what the Flower Pot Men did and who exactly they were. For just a half-dozen of the songs here were initially released under the Flower Pot Men moniker, those being both sides of their first three singles (including the big British hit "Let's Go to San Francisco"). All of the other tracks are Carter-Lewis productions that could have fit into the general Flower Pot Men sunshine pop-cum-British psychedelic pop vibe, but were actually credited to other names, including a 1966 Carter-Lewis demo; a 1966 single by Neil Landon, later to join the Flower Pot Men; demos by John Carter (solo) and Ministry of Sound; recordings attributed to Haystack, Dawn Chorus, Carter Shaw Keen, and Friends; and a two-part single (not issued until 1981) by Beautiful People, "Let's Go Back to San Francisco."

It's all something of a headache to keep straight, but fortunately, it's not a headache to listen to, if you stop worrying about who's playing on what (which is, fortunately, detailed well in the accompanying liner notes). Basically, this is good, though not great, late-'60s British pop with some flower power to the lyrical content and an extraordinarily heavy influence from Californian harmony pop/rock groups, particularly the Beach Boys (though some bits of the Four Seasons come through too). The production and vocal harmonies are consistently sparkling, and though the songs are sometimes on the lightweight and frothy side, they're pleasing, if a little too sweet to take in one swallow. In a slightly graver mood, "Am I Losing You" is one of the finest emulations of Brian Wilson circa "Caroline No" ever waxed, though without as deeply textured production or emotional gravity. Ultimately, then, it gets the nod over A Walk in the Sky as the best Flower Pot Men compilation, though it should be noted that neither CD includes the fourth and final Flower Pot Men single, 1969's "In a Moment of Madness," probably because it wasn't written by Carter and Lewis. ~ Richie Unterberger