Biography:The Poppy Family was a late 1960s and early 1970s Canadian pop music group, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"In the late summer of 1969 the Canadian record buying public chose to endorse The Poppy Family by establishing "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" as the biggest Canadian hit ever. 'Billy' successfully climbed to the No.1 spot on all radio stations across Canada. Having watched The Poppy Family from Vancouver, British Columbia, evolve as a recording group has been a satisfying and rewarding experience. The constant creative growth, both musically and lyrically, within the group is evident in the album Which Way You Goin' Billy?. The versatility of the group, from Terry Jacks' meaningful writing, to his wife Susan's beautiful and emotion-packed voice allow them to explore avenues of musical expression hitherto uncharted. All the while The Poppy Family retain their own sound so unique to themselves". (Fraser Jamieson, President London Records, Canada - November 17 1969).[citation needed]
Managed and produced by Terry Jacks, with featured vocalist Susan Jacks (tambourine/bean pod) and musicians Craig McCaw (guitar/sitar) and Satwant Singh (tablas/drums), the group recorded two albums, from which came their best known song "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" (No. 1 in Canada and No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts); and their other charted hits "That's Where I Went Wrong" (1970)(#9), 'Where Evil Grows' (1971) (#6), and `Good Friends?' (1972) (#10), all written by Terry Jacks. In the U.S., "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" and "That's Where I Went Wrong" were both Top10 Adult Contemporary chart hits as well. Other charted songs in Canada include "Beyond the Clouds" (#75 1968), "What Can The Matter Be?" (#53 1969), "I Was Wondering" (US #100, 1971) and "No Good To Cry" (#8 1972).
At their career peak, Terry and Susan Jacks performed "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" on Bobby Darin's 1970 television variety special, The Darin Invasion. The special also featured a young Linda Ronstadt performing her first solo hit, "Long Long Time". They also appeared on numerous other variety shows including Rollin' On The River with Kenny Rogers, the Bobby Vinton Show and The George Kirby Special.
The "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" single earned the group a combined total of four 1970 Gold Leaf (Juno) Awards for best performance, best production, most popular song and most sales for a single. The Juno Award is Canada's equivalent of the Grammy Award. The single version of "Which Way You Goin' Billy" was a certified Gold 45 (for sales of more than 1 million U.S. copies) and went on to sell a total of more than 3½ million worldwide.
The Poppy Family disbanded in 1973 when Susan ended their five and a half year marriage, the same year their solo albums were released - Terry's Seasons in the Sun and Susan's I Thought of You Again. Terry Jacks scored an international No. 1 hit with Jacques Brel's "Seasons in the Sun". which earned him Juno awards for Male Vocalist of the year 1973 and 1974 and top selling single in 1973 and 1974. It still remains the best selling single ever released by a Canadian artist with sales of over 13 million worldwide. He was also charted with the singles "If You Go Away" (#45 1974) (another Brel cover, previously a minor hit for Damita Jo), "Concrete Sea" (#16 1972), "Christina" (#9 1975), "Rock'N Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)" (#22 1975) (a bigger American hit by Mac Davis), and the Buddy Holly cover "I'm Gonna Love You Too" (#7 1973). He has since faded from the recording scene.
Susan Jacks went on to release three more solo albums and had a series of Juno nominated hits in Canada including "Anna Marie" (#20 1976), "All The Tea in China" (#93 1980), and "Tall Dark Stranger" as well as other hits such as "I Thought of You Again "(#7 1974), "You Don't Know What Love Is" (#3 1973) and "You're a Part of Me" (#41 1975) (later a Top 40 hit for Kim Carnes and Gene Cotton). In 1982, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee and, in addition to recording, became a staff songwriter for a Nashville publishing company. Several of her compositions have been recorded by Canadian artists, one of her songs being recorded on a Grammy nominated children's album. She recently returned to the Pacific Northwest and has resumed recording and live performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Poppy_Family)
Susan Pesklevits and Terry Jacks met in the band Powerline. They later married and formed the Poppy Family in 1968. With guitarist Craig McCaw and percussionist Satwan Singh, the duo's third single, "Which Way You Goin' Billy," became a hit in the U.S. and their native Canada, selling over two million copies. The group recorded three albums in the early '70s: That's Where I Went Wrong and Which Way You Goin' Billy in 1970 and Poppy Seeds in 1971. Terry and Susan were divorced by 1973, however, and both began solo careers. Susan released Dream (1976), Ghosts (1980) and Forever (1982), but Terry became more successful when his "Seasons in the Sun" single went platinum in Canada (more than 150,000 units). His albums include Seasons in the Sun (1974), Y'Don't Fight the Sea (1976), Pulse (1983) and Into the Past (1989).
(by John Bush, http://www.allmusic.com)
Review:While in recent years dozens of would-be hipsters have written about the dark undercurrents to be found in the music of the Carpenters, anyone looking for a truly great bummed-out soft rock experience needs to dig up the long out of print debut LP from Vancouver's Poppy Family. While producer, arranger, songwriter, and general straw boss Terry Jacks later found fame for his hit adaptation of Jacques Brel's "Seasons in the Sun," his greatest work was with his then-wife Susan Jacks and their group, the Poppy Family. Blending moody soft pop with light psychedelia, the group hit a rich vein of gorgeous melancholy that made sadness sound positively sensual (the album's token "upbeat" tune, "Happy Island," is significantly also one of the set's weakest moments). The album's two international hit singles, "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" and "That's Where I Went Wrong," are both tales of lovers on the run that sound as desperate as Del Shannon and as lonesome as Brian Wilson's worst nightmare, and such lost classics as "You Took My Moonlight Away" and "Beyond the Clouds" are every bit as strong, boasting clear but emotive vocals from Susan Jacks, brilliant if oddball Indian percussion from Satwan Singh, and melodramatic string arrangements from Graeme Hall. And the two side-closing "freakouts," "There's No Blood in Bone" and "Of Cities and Escapes," manage to be cheesy and powerfully effective at the same time. If the '70s were supposed to be about having a nice day, Which Way You Goin' Billy? shows the Poppy Family were one band waiting for a cloud to blot out all that annoying sunshine; at once kitschy and marvelously sincere, it's a great record worthy of rediscovery.
(by Mark Deming, http://www.allmusic.com)
Track listing:1. "That's Where I Went Wrong" – 2:28
2. "Free From The City" – 2:15
3. "Beyond The Clouds" – 2:30
4. "A Good Thing Lost" – 2:00
5. "You Took My Moonlight Away" – 2:40
6. "There's No Blood In Bone" – 2:55
7. "Happy Island" – 2:45
8. "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" - 3:18
9. "Shadows On My Wall" - 2:25
10. "What Can The Matter Be?" - 2:17
11. "For Running Wild" - 2:14
12. "Of Cities And Escapes" - 3:45
Musicians:Susan Jacks: vocals, percussion
Terry Jacks: guitar
Craig McCaw: guitar, sitar
Satwant Singh: tablas, bongos, percussion
Artwork IncludedLINK
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