Watch the Flowers Grow

"Watch the Flowers Grow"
US picture sleeve
Single by The Four Seasons
from the album Edizione d'oro (Gold Edition)
B-side"Raven (non-LP track)"
ReleasedOctober 1967
GenrePsychedelic pop[1]
Length3:11
LabelPhilips
Songwriter(s)L. Russell Brown-Raymond Bloodworth
Producer(s)Bob Crewe
The Four Seasons singles chronology
"Lonesome Road
(as The Wonder Who?)"
(1967) 		"Watch the Flowers Grow"
(1967) 		"Will You Love Me Tomorrow"
(1968)

"Watch the Flowers Grow" is a song composed by L. Russell Brown and Raymond Bloodworth and popularized by The Four Seasons in 1967. The single was released in the wake of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, "Watch the Flowers Grow" struggled up the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #30,[2] as The Four Seasons' music was rapidly falling out of favor with the American record-buying public (the Four Seasons' next single, a cover of The Shirelles' #1 hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" did slightly better, reaching #24 as the last Top 40 Four Seasons hit until "Who Loves You" in 1975).

Billboard described the single as a "timely, easy-beat ballad" that was one of the Four Seasons' "most unusual entries."[3] Cash Box said that it's "gently pulsing, melodic, romp."[4] Bassist Joe Long expressed some embarrassment at the song in hindsight shortly before his death, feeling it to be a poor representation of his work with the Seasons compared to their cover of "I've Got You Under My Skin" and their later album The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette; he recalled that it was recorded at a point of desperation in the band's career.[5]

Songwriter L. Russell Brown would compose (or co-compose) a string of hit records in the 1970s, including several recorded by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando.

References

  1. ^ Lanza, Joesph (November 10, 2020). "Strobe Lights and Sweet Music". Easy-Listening Acid Trip - An Elevator Ride Through '60s Psychedelic Pop. Port Townsend: Feral House. p. 29.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 238.
  3. ^ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. October 21, 1967. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  4. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. October 21, 1967. p. 46. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  5. ^ Trevelise, Steve (February 21, 2019). "Joe Long dishes on 'Jersey Boys,' time with the Four Seasons". WKXW. Retrieved July 4, 2023.


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