A Good Thing Lost: 1968-1973

by The Poppy Family

Overview

A Good Thing Lost: 1968-1973 is an excellent best-of collection from the Poppy Family, a great, if largely forgotten, late-'60s Canadian soft rock/psychedelic group. The meticulous songwriting, production, and arranging skills of guitarist/mastermind Terry Jacks (who later had a huge solo hit with the classic pop single "Seasons in the Sun") lift these recordings above the work of many of the group's better-known contemporaries. Singer Susan Jacks has a beautiful voice that sometimes sounds like (but predates) Karen Carpenter, but is eminently more soulful. Although characterized in the liner notes as a "soft pop" band, the Poppy Family was also capable of a somewhat tougher sound that sometimes recalled Surrealistic Pillow-era Jefferson Airplane and folkier material in the Kenny Rogers & the First Edition/Roger McGuinn vein. Throughout, Jacks frames the songs with creative, if often dated, arrangements that compare favorably to his obvious influences, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Phil Spector. In addition to "Which Way You Goin' Billy," the group's biggest hit (number two in 1970) and a generous helping of singles and high-quality album tracks, the disc includes an alternate, wildly psychedelic mix of "There's No Blood in Bone" and two different versions of "That's Where I Went Wrong" (the second of which features some cool country guitar leads). Overall, A Good Thing Lost: 1968-1973 is a fantastic find -- one of those hidden gems that record fanatics always hope to discover. ~ Pemberton Roach

Product Details

Release Date:	08/06/1996
Label:	What Are Records?
UPC:	0744626001729

Tracks

1. Beyond the Clouds
2. Free from the City
3. What Can the Matter Be?
4. Which Way You Goin' Billy?
5. Happy Island
6. There's No Blood in Bone
7. A Good Thing Lost
8. You Took My Moonlight Away
9. Shadows on My Wall
10. That's Where I Went Wrong
11. Where Evil Grows
12. I Was Wondering
13. Tryin'
14. Winter Milk
15. Good Friends
16. I'll See You There
17. You Don't Know What Love Is
18. I Thought of You Again
19. Another Year, Another Day
20. Evil Overshadows Joe
21. That's Where I Went Wrong

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Poppy Family   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Terry Jacks   Composer,Producer,Remastering,Arranger,Liner Notes
Michael Bianco   Art Direction
Keni Burke   Engineer