Flower Travellin' Band
Satori
2023 Life Goes On (Italy)

Originally released in 1971. Can you pick up a better iconic band than Japan's Flower Travellin' Band? Have a look at Julian Cope's Japrocksampler cover with the band bare naked wildly ridin' on their wheels. Is any description more appropriate? A sense of freedom has always enhanced their music, a heavy rock manifesto clearly informed by British stalwarts. Their second album Satori was released on Atlantic Japan in 1971 and still is a masterpiece on its own. The band was made up of Joe Yamanaka (vocals) -- possibly an Eastern version of Rob Tyner of MC5 -- Hideki Ishima (guitars), Jun Kobayashi (bass), and George Wada (drums). By the end of 1970, they had relocated to Toronto, Canada and lived there until March of 1972. In April 1973, the band split up, but they reunited in January 2008 with all original members joined by Nobuhiko.