As our appetite for overlooked 60s heroes refuses to diminish, we’re beginning to see more of these albums that bands ‘could have made’ – ie, where a hit or two is fluffed up with demo bits and session bobs. They’re the next logical step in the progression from compilations and bootlegs via outtakes and bonus tracks to a complete digital record of everything ever.
Here we have the chief domestic contribution to the UK’s Frisco Summer Of Love vibe, plus three non-chart singles and various complementary session tracks and 45s recorded pseudonymously by a related, revolving cast. The studio-bound Flower Pot Men were assembled as a showcase for the songs of ex-Ivy Leaguers John Carter and Ken Lewis (whose My World Fell Down was recorded by Curt Boettcher’s Sagitarrius, representing genuine sunshine pop credentials), and later filled out by men looking uncomfortable in kaftans, who went on to become White Plains.
Beach Boys-like fare, overall, but Carter’s stamp of class assures that three or four of these groovy obscurities could easily have been hits.
