Think that's a fair point John?
Maybe the original 45 simply bombed and Roy Ayers simply recorded it a couple of years later?
.........or maybe if Flowers was made in '76 and promoted in 'say '77, then Roy Ayers could have heard it in '77, bought the track, got the original pulled, then recorded it for himself and the LP eventually came out in '78
Phew! Even Sherlock Holmes would have struggled with that one but that's my story and i'm sticking to it