The Rose Garden

About

The Rose Garden was an American folk rock musical group from Los Angeles, California, that was active in 1967 and 1968. The members were Diana De Rose on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, John Noreen on 12-string guitar and backup vocal, James Groshong on lead vocal and guitar, William Fleming on bass and Bruce Bowdin on drums. The group originally formed in Los Angeles in 1964 as the Blokes, by John Noreen, Jim Groshong, Bruce Bowdin, and Bill Fleming. They first performed surf music, then switched to folk-rock and Byrds' covers. De Rose joined in late 1966 or early 1967, and the group was soon renamed to The Rose Garden. In 1967, they signed with Atco Records and had enjoyed a hit record with "Next Plane To London", which reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the end of that year, and #1 in Canada in January 1968. They released their eponymous album in April 1968, which included the hit song. Subsequent releases were unsuccessful, and dissension within the group led to its break-up by the end of 1968. The group reformed in the 2000s with Noreen, Groshong, Bowdin, and Fleming along with vocalist Gay Dement.