Flower Travellin' Band

Flower Travellin' Band were an esoteric Japanese psychedelic rock/ heavy metal outfit active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, consisting of Akira "Joe" Yamanaka (vocals), Hideki Ishima (guitar), Joji "George" Wada (drums) and Jun Kozuki (bass).
The band was initially organized by Japanese entertainer and entrepreneur Yuya Uchida as "The Flowers," a cover band, and featured two vocalists - male vocalist Yuya Uchida, and female vocalist Remi Aso, who was touted as the Japanese version of Janis Joplin. Their first album consisted of covers of Western pop songs. It was primarily notable for the fact that all of the band members appeared nude on the cover, including Aso, which was considered scandalous at the time.

However, after the "Flowers" album, Uchida lost interest and Aso drifted away. The remaining members reorganized themselves, acquiring Joe Yamanaka as a vocalist on the recommendation of Uchida, and proceeded to explore a more original and rock-oriented direction.

In early 1973, they were billed to open for the Rolling Stones, but Mick Jagger's visa was rejected from a previous drug conviction and all concerts were cancelled. Later that year the band broke up, with Yamanaka going on to release solo albums in styles varying from David Bowie-styled glam rock to roots reggae.
Guitarist Hideki Ishima released a solo album, One Day, in 1973, and continued a career as a studio musician, guesting on several of Yamanaka's solo albums. Ishima is still active in the music scene in Japan, and specializes in playing the "sitarla," an instrument he designed. The sitarla apparently combines the qualities of a solidbody electric guitar and the sitar... [wikipedia]