When the powerfully-voiced Susan Pesklevits met her future husband Terry Jacks in the mid-1960s, she was a pretty blonde 17-year-old regular on a national Canadian teen TV show called Music Hop. She asked the 22-year-old Jacks to accompany her on guitar for her live gigs and soon the two would form a trio called The Poppy Family with lead guitarist/sitar player Craig McCaw. McCaw in turn brought in Satwant Singh to play tablas and drums, completing their unique folky pop psych sound. But even with all the exotic instrumentation, the real draw of The Poppy Familywas the voice of Susan Jacks, who could absolutely sell a song.

They had one really big international hit, the weepy “Which Way You Goin’ Billy?” (from the album of the same title) which made it to #2 on the US Billboard charts and to #1 in Canada. The single sold over 3 1/2 million records.
 

 
For Poppy Seeds, their second—and final—album, Singh and McCaw were sacked, replaced by studio musicians. Both of the Jacks recorded solo albums after dropping The Poppy Family name in 1972, while Terry Jacks went on to score his biggest hit, the maudlin and ultra sappy 70s AM radio staple “Seasons in the Sun.” But by that time they were already divorced.

Terry Jacks went on to become a dedicated and award-winning environmental activist and filmmaker, while his ex-wife is still active and performing. A CD compilation of The Poppy Family, A Good Thing Lost: 1968-73 was released in 1996.

In this first clip, the Poppy Family sings “Where Evil Grows” on Kenny Rogers’s 1970 TV series, Rollin’. I love his Waylon-esque guitar playing on this number.
 

 
“Which Way You Goin’ Billy?”:

 
“Beyond the Clouds”

 
“Shadows on My Wall”: