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The California Poppy Pickers were a studio project created by Alshire label head Al Sherman to produce budget-priced copycat LPs of 1960s pop hits. The group was produced by Gary Paxton, known for the novelty hit "The Monster Mash." In 1965, Paxton established his own Hollywood recording studio and began licensing material to Alshire. At Sherman's request, he assembled the California Poppy Pickers to take advantage of the rising country-rock trend. The group, consisting of singers and multi-instrumentalists, along with a pedal steel guitarist, released three LPs in 1969: Sounds of '69, Hair/Aquarius, and Today's Chart Busters, which primarily featured covers and rewrites. The fourth and final album was recorded without Paxton and featured a different lineup, including singer/guitarist Mike Messer, singer/bassist Don Larson, guitarist Randy Wilcox, and drummer Tom Slipp. This new group was actually a Christian rock band that used the proceeds from their Alshire album to finance a self-released project titled Jesus People's Army: On Stage in 1970. A selection of their work is also included on disc 2 of a 3CD compilation.

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