Wednesday, 31 January 2018

Great Album Of Psych Pop/Folk Rock by Wendy & Bonnie - Genesis 1968 - 1970 (2008 Sundazed 2CD)

The sister duo of Wendy Flower and Bonnie Flower (their real names, not aliases), Wendy & Bonnie recorded one album in the late '60s. Genesis is pleasant, if naïve, harmonized light rock with psychedelic, jazz, and folk influences. It is impressive given their tender ages -- Wendy Flower was just 17, and Bonnie Flower only 13, when it was recorded in late 1968, and the pair wrote all of the material on the LP.



The album was released in 1969, but stalled when Skye Records folded the following year. The death of producer Gary McFarland in 1971 further discouraged the duo. Although they did sing backup vocals on a couple of Tjader albums and some jingles and background vocals at Fantasy Records, they never recorded their own material again, and broke up in the early '70s. They did perform music separately in the subsequent decades, Wendy Flower issuing a children's music cassette, and Bonnie Flower once rejecting an invitation to join the Bangles. The rare Genesis album was reissued with bonus tracks by Sundazed in 2001.(Richie Unterberger, allmusic.com)


A wonderful work of these two sisters, who could more than compete with comparable acts of those days. Their songs have an above-average quality and the album has been produced and arranged by top professionals in their field. There is no need to say anything about the singing qualities of the sisters. An album that succeeded in every way. Absolutely recommendable.
Frank