Last week I reviewed Flower Power: United We Stand (you can read my review here). I found another volume in the Flower Power compilation series by TIME-LIFE, Flower Power: Age of Aquarius from 2007. Several commentors complained Flower Power: United We Stand didn’t have some of the classic “Flower Power” songs. This set includes Scott McKenzie “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) as well as The 5th Dimension’s “Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In.”
Strawberry Alarm Clock is included with their best known hit, “Incense And Peppermints”. I’m not sure The Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man” qualifies as a “Flower Power” song, but here it is. And who doesn’t like Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody To Love”?
Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
| 1-1 | Norman Greenbaum– | Spirit In The Sky |
| 1-2 | Scott McKenzie– | San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) |
| 1-3 | The 5th Dimension*– | Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In |
| 1-4 | The Spencer Davis Group– | Gimme Some Lovin’ |
| 1-5 | The Monkees– | Daydream Believer |
| 1-6 | Sonny & Cher– | I Got You Babe |
| 1-7 | Donovan– | Mellow Yellow |
| 1-8 | Oliver (6)– | Good Morning Starshine |
| 1-9 | The Rascals– | People Got To Be Free |
| 1-10 | Canned Heat– | On The Road Again |
| 1-11 | The Byrds– | Mr. Tambourine Man |
| 1-12 | Thunderclap Newman– | Something In The Air |
| 1-13 | Dion (3)– | Abraham, Martin & John |
| 1-14 | Judy Collins– | Both Sides Now |
| 1-15 | The Lovin’ Spoonful– | Summer In The City |
| 1-16 | Joe Cocker– | With A Little Help From My Friends |
| 2-1 | The Guess Who– | American Woman |
| 2-2 | The Mamas & The Papas– | Monday Monday |
| 2-3 | The Youngbloods– | Get Together |
| 2-4 | Edwin Starr– | War |
| 2-5 | The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown– | Fire |
| 2-6 | Jefferson Airplane– | Somebody To Love |
| 2-7 | Vanilla Fudge– | You Keep Me Hangin’ On |
| 2-8 | Eric Burdon & The Animals– | San Franciscan Nights |
| 2-9 | Strawberry Alarm Clock– | Incense And Peppermints |
| 2-10 | The Turtles– | Happy Together |
| 2-11 | The Hollies– | He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother |
| 2-12 | Melanie (2)– | Brand New Key |
| 2-13 | Seals & Crofts– | Summer Breeze |
| 2-14 | Lobo (3)– | Me And You And A Dog Named Boo |
| 2-15 | Barry McGuire– | Eve Of Destruction |
| 2-16 | Matthews’ Southern Comfort– | Woodstock |
This is more like it. I would say most of these songs (with the exception of the execrable “Me & You & A Dog Named Boo”—which, in addition to being on the jukebox in Hell, is definitely not a flower power anthem) qualify at least marginally as emblematic of the flower power/summer of love era. IMHO, Melanie would have been better represented here by “Lay Down Candles in the Rain”, her song about Woodstock. But on the whole, a good selection and fairly true to the flower power spirit.
Deb, yes this is more like it! There is a 10 disc box-set of all the “Flower Power” songs: https://www.allmusic.com/album/flower-power-time-life-box–mw0000582465#:~:text=Spanning%20genres%2C%20the%20set%20jumps,Baez)%20to%20soul%20(Marvin%20Gaye).
Matthews’ Southern Comfort? WTF? Never heard of it/them.
Otherwise, what Deb said. I enjoyed the vision of her “jukebox in Hell” and have many worthy songs I’d include there.
On this collection, glad to see my suggestion from last time ( “Get Together”) made the cut. I’ve always liked The Crazy World of Arthur Brown’s “Fire” – I had a 45 of it – but it isn’t very mellow, is it? “People Got To Be Free” has the right sentiment, but I’d have gone with “Groovin’.”
In fact, I bef I could put together a CD’s worth of songs with “groovy” or “grooving” in the title and/or lyrics. Flower Power 3: A Groovy Collection.
Jeff, it you check out the list of songs I included in my comment to Deb, you’ll see all the songs in the entire 10 disc series.
I see “Groovin’c is the first song on the first disc.
Groovy.
Matthews Southern Comfort did indeed have a big hit with Woodstock. It was overshadowed by the CSNY version in America, but hit number one in the UK. I heard it and another song or two (Neil Young’s Tell Me Why) on the radio. It was led by Ian (later Iain) Matthews, who had been a singer for Fairport Convention on their first two albums. I have an excellent (but now out of print, unfortunately) 3-disc set by Matthews in the “Collected” series.
This Flower Power collection gets a thumbs up from me, too. Only a couple things I don’t like.
Jeff, this FLOWER POWER volume is much better than last week’s volume.
A pretty good compilation with some songs verging on great. Yeah, some don’t quite conform to the flower power ideal but the vibe of the Age of Aquarius is there. The only name that threw me was Thunderclap Newman; when I checked out the song I recognized it and realized why I understandably blocked out Thunderclap Newman from my memory. meh. The rest of the compilation led me to believe that I may have actually been a hippie, after all.
Jerry, well you certainly are hip!
Faves–Burdon, Spoonful, Starr, Youngbloods, Rascals, McGuire, but I like em all except for Vanilla Fudge’s terrible take on “Hangin On.” Isn’t it time to reboot “Eve of Destruction”?
The Jefferson Airplane song is “Somebody to Love,” not Someone! Most of these are good songs! The only one I despise is the Sonny and Cher, because I hate Sonny and don’t think much of Cher! I’m amazed Jeff Meyerson, who knows everything about music, hadn’t heard of Matthew’s Southern Comfort!
Bob, thanks for the correction! I’m sure Jeff Meyerson has had a sip of Southern Comfort!
All of these are so familiar. I think when you could hear them on the radio is made a difference. My radios were always on.
Patti, same here. The radio was alway on in my house and when I left it, I had my trusty transistor radio.
I think fire is the only one I didn’t like. A few I’m not sure of just from the title. This would be great for a road trip, if we can ever afford one again
Maggie, I just gassed my Nissan Rogue and it cost me $80!
If “flower power” meant or means self-indulgent to the point of masturbatory mis-assigning blame for Johnson and Nixon Admin policies to American women generally, rather than pre-adolescent-terror misogyny, with equal parts Canadian xenophobia and self-righteousness, then to Hell with it. But I’ve hated “American Woman”, as I’m sure I had occasion to mention here before, since I was 5 or 6yo, and haven’t had reason to stop doing so since.
Most of the others are Much better, even if the selection doesn’t send me…the Vanilla Fudge cover is a more anodyne surt of self-indulgence, if unintentionally funny as a result.
Todd, yet Vanilla Fudge made a lot of money with that indulgence.
Taste has never gotten in the way of financial success, then nor now.
Todd, but TIME-LIFE packaged dozens of CD compilations…and made money.
Todd, I share your loathing for “American Woman.”
And it’s the Time-Life folks who are to blame for putting the Guess Who song on this disc. Typical of their haphazard cynicism.
Todd, as Deb wrote, the Jukebox in Hell is filled with songs like “American Woman.”
I forget whom it was I first read who mocked the reference to San Franciscan nights as “warm” (Dave Marsh, most likely) in the Burdon song, but, then, perhaps compared to the Newcastle nights Burdon grew up with….