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Leave Them a Flower

1969 single by Ed Ames

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 26, 2026
Entity authorityQ140043401 ↗
Source-derived summary

"Leave Them a Flower" is a 1969 song written by Wally Whyton. It was most notably performed by Ed Ames, who released it as a single in late 1969. His version reached the US and Canadian adult-oriented charts and received positive-to-mixed reception. The lyrics were noted by critics for preserving nature for future generations. Whyton released his own version a few years later.

Background and release

American singer Ed Ames enjoyed brief pop success in 1967 and 1968, charting several songs in the top-100 of charts. As sales decreased he switched his style to message songs in 1969 with "Changing, Changing" and the LP A Time for Living, a Time for Hope. In late 1969 Ames would try do repeat the theme with Wally Whyton's "Leave Them a Flower". The song was noted by critics as being a "flower-power ballad". The single was produced by Jim Foglesong, and arranged by Jimmie Haskell on the A-side and by Al Capps on the B-side "(The) Love of the Common People".

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Leave Them a Flower” as 1969 single by Ed Ames. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Leave, Them and Flower.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1969, 1967, 1968—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1969-09. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Leave, Them and Flower providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Leave Them a Flower”, the useful work is to connect “1969 single by Ed Ames” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q140043401. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1969, 1967 and 1968.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Leave Them a Flower primary sources, Leave Them a Flower archive and Leave research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Leave Them a Flower” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.