was a Japanese

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band that was formed in 1967. They were connected to Japan's counterculture movement and noted for their mixture of early heavy metal with psychedelic and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

. They received wide acclaim from critics but failed to achieve commercial success and separated in 1973 to pursue individual careers. The band reunited in late 2007, but permanently disbanded after the 2011 death of vocalist

Joe Yamanaka , better known as , was a Japanese singer and actor. He is known for both his work with Flower Travellin' Band and as a solo musician; singing at a vocal range of three octaves. As an actor, he appeared in many television shows and movies, such ...

. While the band's releases have never sold well they continue to be held in high regard by the music industry. Their albums have never been out of print and they continue to be made available on new

audiophile An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. An audiophile seeks to reproduce the sound of a piece of recorded music or a live musical performance, typically inside closed headphones, In-ear monitors, open ...

formats such as SHM-CDs. Former members of the Flower Travellin' Band continue to perform FTB songs live together under the name Flower Power with other musicians.

History

The band was initially started as a side-project by Yuya Uchida when he returned to Japan after visiting his friend

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

in England in the mid 1960s, where he was introduced to various upcoming artists such as

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

and Jimi Hendrix. Yuya wanted to introduce a similar sound to the Japanese, and formed the "Flowers" as a cover band with various

group sounds , often abbreviated as GS, is a genre of Japanese rock music which became popular in the mid to late 1960s and initiated the fusion of Japanese '' kayōkyoku'' music and Western rock music. Their music production techniques were regarded as playi ...

musicians, and two vocalists; male singer Hiroshi Chiba and female singer Remi Aso. They released the album '' Challenge!'' in 1968, featuring covers of songs by Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Jefferson Airplane and

Big Brother and the Holding Company Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After som ...

, in addition to an original song. The cover caused a stir in the Japanese media as it depicted each member posing naked. In 1969, after the release of the album; Remi Aso and guitarist Katsuhiko Kobayashi relocated to the United States. Yuya dropped all the remaining members, except drummer George Wada, recruited guitarist

Hideki Ishima is a Japanese musician, known primarily for his work with Flower Travellin' Band and for creating the sitarla instrument. A guitarist and sitar player for nearly forty years, he now exclusively plays the sitarla, an instrument he invented in 2 ...

and vocalist

from the blues group Mystic Morning and bassist Jun Kobayashi, and formed the Flower Travellin' Band as a band that would appeal to international audiences. Their first releases were backing

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

trumpeter

Terumasa Hino is a Japanese jazz trumpeter. He is considered one of Japan's finest jazz musicians. His instruments include the trumpet, cornet, and flügelhorn. Early life He was born in Tokyo, Japan, and his father was a trumpeter and tap dancer. Hino start ...

on the single "Crash" followed by the mini-album '' Anywhere'' in 1970, made to emulate the Flowers' release by means of cover songs and a nude photo on the album's front. At

Expo '70 The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

, members of Canadian rock band Lighthouse saw Flower Travellin' Band perform, liked what they saw and suggested they go to Canada. The group quickly recorded their first album of original material, ''

Satori is a Japanese Buddhist term for awakening, "comprehension; understanding". It is derived from the Japanese verb satoru. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, ''satori'' refers to a deep experience of '' kenshō'', "seeing into one's true nature ...

'' released in 1971, to have something to bring with them. In December 1970, they relocated to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

where they performed with

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...

and

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

. In 1971 they performed four large concerts with Lighthouse at Ontario Place. While in Toronto they recorded their second original album '' Made in Japan'' and were approached by

GRT Records GRT Records was the name of both a U.S. and a Canadian record label, both created by General Recorded Tape, a California-based company that existed from 1965 to 1979.Richard GreenGRT of Canada, Ltd. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2013-02-26. ...

. They returned to Japan in March 1972 for a show at the

Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium is a sporting complex in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Built in 1954 for the World Wrestling Championship, it was also used as the venue for gymnastics at the 1964 Summer Olympics, and hosted the table tennis competition at the 2020 Summ ...

, and in 1973 were billed to perform with the Rolling Stones throughout their Japanese tour; however, all concerts were canceled when

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

was rejected due to a drug conviction. They released a half-studio, half-live album titled ''

Make Up Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

'' and in April performed at

Maruyama Park is a park in Kyoto, Japan. It is noted as the main center for cherry blossom viewing in Kyoto, and can get extremely crowded at that time of year (April). The park's star attraction is a weeping cherry tree (''shidarezakura'') which becomes li ...

in Kyoto. It was their last concert before a long hiatus, as at this time Yuya became involved in numerous projects and each member went on to an individual career. Joe Yamanaka recorded numerous solo albums, and collaborated with the iconic

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

band

The Wailers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

in the 1980s. Having quit the guitar in 1990, Hideki Ishima continued his studies of the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

, which he began around 1968, under Indian classical musician Manilal Nag and his Japanese apprentice in 1998. In 2000, he invented the sitarla, which combines the qualities of a solid-body

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

and the sitar. On November 25, 2007, Flower Travellin' Band officially reunited and formally recruited keyboardist Nobuhiko Shinohara, with whom they had previously worked. Ishima revealed that there were several talks about getting back together prior, but they were all centered around nostalgia, something he has no interest in. It was only when their producer suggested they write new material and play it together with the old songs for a three-year period that a reunion came to fruition. Ishima also said that even though Kobayashi and Wada had not played in years, they were eager and pushed him into doing it, helped by the fact that his new instrument made the old material interesting. In 2008, 35 years after their last, they released the album '' We Are Here''. They performed in New York City in November and in Canada the following month. In March 2010, future tours and productions were halted when it was announced that Yamanaka was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

. Yamanaka died from his cancer on August 7, 2011 at the age of 64, putting an end to the band. Yuya Uchida died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in a Tokyo hospital on March 17, 2019, aged 79.

Members

* – drums (1967–1972, 2007–2011) * –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, harmonica (1969–1972, 2007–2011, his death) * – sitarla,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(1969–1972, 2007–2011) * , formerly – bass (1969–1972, 2007–2011) * –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

(2007–2011) * –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, backing vocals, producer (1967–1972, died 2019) * – vocals, guitar (1967–1969) * – guitar (1967–1969) * – guitar, backing vocals (1967–1969) * – bass (1967–1969) * – vocals (1967–1968) * – vocals (1968–1969) ;Timeline

ImageSize = width:1100 height:350 PlotArea = left:150 bottom:100 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1967 till:08/07/2011 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 Colors = id:band value:gray(0.60) legend:Band id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitars value:green legend:Guitar id:Sitar value:teal legend:Sitar,_Sitarla id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Producer value:yellow legend:Producer id:Lines value:black legend:Releases id:bars value:gray(0.92) Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 BackgroundColors = bars:bars ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1967 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1967 LineData = at:07/25/1969 color:black layer:back at:10/21/1970 color:black layer:back at:04/05/1971 color:black layer:back at:02/10/1972 color:black layer:back at:02/25/1973 color:black layer:back at:09/17/2008 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Flowers text: Yuya Uchida & the Flowers bar:FTB text:Flower Travellin' Band bar:Chiba text:Hiroshi Chiba bar:Nakamura text:Kento Nakamura bar:Aso text:Remi Aso bar:Yamanaka text:Joe Yamanaka bar:Katushiko text:Katsuhiko Kobayashi bar:Susumu text:Susumu Oku bar:Ishima text:Hideki Ishima bar:Shinohara text:Nobuhiko Shinohara bar:Hashimoto text:Ken Hashimoto bar:Kobayashi text:Jun Kobayashi bar:Wada text:George Wada bar:Uchida text:Yuya Uchida PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Flowers from:01/01/1967 till:09/01/1969 color:band bar:FTB from:11/01/1969 till:12/01/1973 color:band bar:FTB from:07/01/2007 till:end color:band bar:Chiba from:01/01/1967 till:07/01/1968 color:Vocals bar:Nakamura from:07/01/1968 till:06/01/1969 color:Vocals bar:Aso from:01/01/1967 till:09/01/1969 color:Vocals bar:Yamanaka from:11/01/1969 till:12/01/1973 color:Vocals bar:Yamanaka from:07/01/2007 till:end color:Vocals bar:Ishima from:11/01/1969 till:12/01/1973 color:Guitars bar:Ishima from:07/01/2007 till:end color:Sitar bar:Katushiko from:01/01/1967 till:09/01/1969 color:Guitars bar:Susumu from:01/01/1967 till:09/01/1969 color:Guitars bar:Shinohara from:07/01/2007 till:end color:Keyboards bar:Hashimoto from:01/01/1967 till:09/01/1969 color:Bass bar:Kobayashi from:11/01/1969 till:12/01/1973 color:Bass bar:Kobayashi from:07/01/2007 till:end color:Bass bar:Wada from:01/01/1967 till:12/01/1973 color:Drums bar:Wada from:07/01/2007 till:end color:Drums bar:Uchida from:01/01/1967 till:12/01/1973 color:Producer width:3 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Aso from:01/01/1967 till:09/01/1969 color:Guitars bar:Ishima from:11/01/1969 till:12/01/1973 color:Sitar

Discography

Yuya Uchida & the Flowers

;Studio albums * '' Challenge!'' (1969) – Debut album. ;Singles * "Last Chance" b/w "Flower Boy" (1969) – Single. * "Flower Boy" b/w "Last Chance" (1969) – Single. * "Fantastic Girl" b/w "Yogiri no Trumpet" (1969) – Single. ;Appearances * ''Opera from the Works of

Tadanori Yokoo is a Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker and painter. Yokoo’s signature style of psychedelia and pastiche engages a wide span of modern visual and cultural phenomena from Japan and around the world. Career Tadanori Yokoo, bo ...

'' (1969) – Multimedia compilation by

Toshi Ichiyanagi was a Japanese avant-garde composer and pianist. One of the leading composers in Japan during the postwar era, Ichiyanagi worked in a range of genres, composing Western-style operas and orchestral and chamber works, as well as compositions usin ...

and featuring various artists. * ''Rock 'n' Roll Jam '70'' (1970) – Live album featuring various artists. The Flowers perform "All Is Loneliness", "

Piece of My Heart "Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul love song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles char ...

", "

You Shook Me "You Shook Me" is a 1962 blues song recorded by Chicago blues artist Muddy Waters. Willie Dixon wrote the lyrics and Earl Hooker provided the instrumental backing; the song features Waters' vocal in unison with Hooker's slide-guitar melody. "Yo ...

" and "

Kozmic Blues "Kozmic Blues" is a song from American singer-songwriter Janis Joplin's '' I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!'' album, her first after departing Big Brother and the Holding Company. It was a part of Joplin's set at the Woodstock Festival ...

Flower Travellin' Band

;Studio albums * '' Anywhere'' (1970) – First Flower Travellin' Band album. * ''

'' (1971) – First original studio album. * '' Made in Japan'' (1972) – Second original studio album. * ''

'' (1973) – Double album, consisting of both live and studio recordings. Featuring keyboardist Nobuhiko Shinohara. * '' We Are Here'' (2008) – First album after reuniting without Yuya Uchida. ;Singles * "Crash" b/w "Dhoop" (1970) – Single with trumpeter

and the first recording credited to the Flower Travellin' Band. * "Map" b/w "Machine Gun Kelly" (1971) – Split single with American band Jo Mama. * "Satori Pt. 1" (1971) – Canada-only single. ;Compilations * ''

'' (1971) – Canada-only compilation album. * ''The Times'' (1975) – A best-of album. ;Videos * ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...

'' (2008) – DVD. ;Others * ''

Kirikyogen is a 1970 album by Japanese musician Kuni Kawachi and the Flower Travellin' Band. It was originally credited to when initially released. The album showcases Kuni Kawachi's progressive rock influences, as well as the growing Heavy metal music, hea ...

'' (1970) – Album by

Kuni Kawachi Kuni or KUNI may refer to: People * Kuni-no-miya (久邇) ''ōke'' (princely house), the second oldest branch of the Japanese Imperial Family created from branches of the Fushimi-no-miya house * Kuni Nagako (1903–2000), member of the Imperial ...

, sometimes co-credited to the Flower Travellin' Band although only Yamanaka and Ishima took part.

References

External links

Official Flower Travellin' Band website

Official Joe Yamanaka website

Official Hideki Ishima website

Official Yuya Uchida website

Official Yuya Uchida International website
{{Authority control Japanese progressive rock groups Japanese heavy metal musical groups Japanese psychedelic rock music groups Musical groups from Tokyo Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups disestablished in 1973 Musical groups reestablished in 2007 English-language musical groups from Japan