Susan Jacks

Susan Jacks (née Pesklevits; 19 August 1948 – 25 April 2022) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer.

Susan Pesklevits was born on 19 August 1948 to a family of eight children in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Her family moved to British Columbia when she was nine, settling in Haney. She began her professional career at 15 when she was asked to be a regular performer on the national Canadian television show, Music Hop.

She also appeared on several other national television shows and regularly did live performances in the British Columbia and Alberta areas. She recorded her first singles with two other well known Vancouver performers, Howie Vickers and Tom Northcott, under the name of "The Eternal Triangle".

In 1966, 18-year-old Susan Pesklevits asked Terry Jacks to accompany her on guitar for an upcoming appearance. Susan performed a small number of dates with Terry accompanying her on guitar. They decided to add Craig McCaw on lead guitar and, although she continued to make various solo television appearances, Susan made the decision to stop performing live as a solo artist, left the "Eternal Triangle" and dedicated her time to the newly formed trio. The trio used the name "Powerline" for a number of months before settling on the name "The Poppy Family". Susan and Terry married in 1967. Craig McCaw introduced Satwant Singh to the group and he soon joined the trio on tablas.

The group began recording as "The Poppy Family featuring Susan Jacks" and had a number of hits from 1968 through the early 1970s. "Which Way You Goin' Billy?", originally called "Which Way You Goin' Buddy?", was written from a male perspective but was re-written at Susan's suggestion to be sung by a female. Susan's brother Billy's name was chosen to replace "Buddy" and the song went on to sell nearly four million copies worldwide, hitting No. 1 in Canada, No. 1 in Cashbox and No. 2 in Billboard in the United States. "That's Where I Went Wrong" and "Where Evil Grows" also charted well on Billboard. They consequently followed up with numerous hits in Canada.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.