Which Way You Goin’ Billy?

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page originally published on 5 November 2013; latest edit, 7 January 2023

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(above) left: debut album of the Poppy Family; right: group photo

Which Way You Goin’ Billy? (Terry Jacks)

The title of the song is a colloquial form of the question “Which way are you going, Billy.” The title is sometimes transcribed incorrectly as “Which Way You’re Going Billy?,” probably by persons unfamiliar with colloquial American English.

The Poppy Family —  issued 30 September 1969 on the single London Records 45-129 (and variant 45-LON-129), b/w “Endless Sleep” (Jody Reynolds, Dolores Nance); chart success: #1 Canada in October 1969, #2 US in June 1970 — personnel: Susan Jacks: vocal, Terry Jacks: rhythm guitar, Craig McCaw: lead guitar, Satwant Singh: drums, others

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Billie Jo Spears — from her album Country Girl, Capitol ST-560, released in August 1970

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unknown artist* — from the LP Top of the Pops, Vol. 13, (UK) Hallmark Records ‎ CHM 700, released in September 1970

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unknown artist (sounds like the same vocalist as in the Top of the Pops recording directly above) — released in 1970 on the album Hot Hits 2, (UK) Music For Pleasure MFP 1426

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Samantha Jones — (as “Which Way You Going Billy”) originally released as the first track on the 1970 album The Other Jones, (UK) Penny Farthing ‎PELS 512; later included on the 1974 compilation Star For the Millions, (Benelux) Penny Farthing ‎6468 007

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Cassandra “Cassie” James — from an episode of the Australian TV series Hit Scene, originally broadcast on 5 December 1970, according to the description in a video previously available at YouTube, which indicated that the interview at the end of the song is by Dick Williams, and that the segment was also aired on the 15 April 1971 episode of Hit Scene

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John Holt — recorded as “Which Way You Going Baby” — released on the 1973 LP 1000 Volts of Holt (Jamaica) Sonic Sounds ‎TRLS 75, (UK) Trojan Records TRLS 75

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Buffalo Bill — Buffalo Bill (link fixed, 1/7/2023) was a Swedish band, active from 1972 to 1974 — The title phrase is evidently sung as “Which way you’re going, Lilly.” Text overlay on the video says “Liveinspeling på kassett någonstans i Nyland 1973,” which translates as “Live recording on cassette somewhere in Nyland, 1973.“

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Los Sportmen — (date unknown) Spanish-lyric version “Donde Estas Billy,” b/w “Todo lo que hago es soñar contigo” (“All I Have to Do is Dream”); evidently issued on the Mexican Orfeón label

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Sonja Gabršček — (date unknown) Slovenian-lyric version titled “Kje je moj Billy” (Where is my Billy?) — evidently released on a single (1, 2) in the 1970s

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Julie Quang — The following version, which features both the original English lyrics and Vietnamese lyrics, was released under the title “Biệt Ly” and is dated 1975 by the video provider. Another YouTube provider of the recording indicated that it was recorded sometime “before 1975.”

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