Жапондық «Flower Travellin' Band» тобының тарихы

Japanese band

Flower Travellin' Band (フラワー・トラベリン・バンド) was a Japanese rock 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. 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. 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 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.

The band was initially started as a side project by Yuya Uchida when he returned to Japan after visiting his friend John Lennon in England in the mid 1960s, where he was introduced to various upcoming artists such as Cream 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 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, 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 and vocalist Joe Yamanaka 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 trumpeter Terumasa Hino 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. While in Toronto they recorded their second original album Made in Japan and were approached by GRT Records. Hideki Ishima continued his studies of the sitar, 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 and the sitar. Yuya Uchida died from pneumonia in a Tokyo hospital on March 17, 2019, aged 79.