Jamie Records put out Dorothy & the Hesitations' fine R&B single, "Don't Set Me Up (For the Kill)" b/w "Trying To Work A Plan" (Jamie 1358 ) on July 16, 1968. Originally scheduled for Phil-LA of Soul Records, it had label copy prepared for that release, but for some now-unknown reason, it was switched to Jamie. The release file explains at least why Dorothy & the Hesitations suddenly changed their name, as detailed in a September 17, 1968, news release from Jamie: "In order to avoid the confusion that may possibly be brought about the use of the name "Dorothy and the Hesitations...Jamie has changed the name of the group to 'Dorothy and the Poppies.'" The change was prompted by letters from Kapp Records on September 5, 1968 and producer Gerard W. Purcell on September 9, 1968 claiming the possibility of confusion with the group that had had the releases, "Born Free," "Impossible Dream" and "Who Will Answer" on Kapp. Jamie's news release noted, "Despite the fact that Dorothy and the Hesitations is an all-girl group, there was a question raised by a few people concerning the possibility of the record being confused" with the other one.
The original Poppies with whom Dorothy Moore recorded for Epic Records were Rosemary Taylor and Petsye McCune. By the time of the Jamie release, it seems likely that Dorothy had a different backup group to explain the abortive effort to change their name. The Jamie release was produced by Bob McRee of the Big Bottom Recording Studio in Dorothy Moore's hometown of Jackson, Mississippi under the production name, A MAC Production, which stood for Mississippi Artists Corporation. They had a number of productions on the Columbia subsidiary label, Okeh, including recordings by Tommy Tate. Dorothy Moore's numerous hits on Malaco Records in the 1970s included "Misty Blue," "Funny How Time Slips Away," and "I Believe You." Dorothy Moore has received four Grammy nominations and been inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame.
