FOLLOW US ON:
GET THE NEWSLETTER
CONTACT US
The Turtles run with the ‘Sgt. Pepper’ concept on their brilliant 1968 LP, ‘Battle of the Bands’
06.25.2020
10:15 am
Topics:
Tags:

Battle cover
 
I’m a big fan of irreverent ‘60s pop band, the Turtles. This fabulous and underrated group doesn’t get much respect, but they had lots of great, catchy tunes, though they are essentially only remembered for two hits—“Happy Together” and “Elenore.” The latter song was the lead single from their brilliant, tongue-in-cheek concept LP, The Turtles Present The Battle of the Bands (1968).

Following the massive success of the “Happy Together” single, which went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the popular LP of the same name, the Turtles began planning their next album. Inspired by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, in which the Beatles envisioned the record as a performance by an imaginary group, the Turtles came up with the ambitious idea of portraying not one, but twelve fictitious bands. In turn, these made-up acts would go up against each other in a comic “battle.” The project was the perfect vehicle to showcase the group’s particular brand of humor.
 
Gatefold
The Turtles appear as the bands in the album’s gatefold sleeve (click to enlarge).

For Battle of the Bands, the group recruited their former bassist and current Monkees producer, Chip Douglas, to produce the record. Each member of the Turtles, which included two lead singers in Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, would contribute material, but they would also seek assistance from outside songwriters to fill a few of the slots on the LP. Through Douglas, the Turtles had met Harry Nilsson, and the group asked him if he’d write the opening number. Credited to Nilsson and Douglas, “Battle of the Bands” functions just as “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” did, perfectly setting the stage for what would follow.

For the next track, the Turtles (as “The Atomic Enchiladas”) emulated the Beatles on “The Last Thing I Remembered.” The psychedelic track begins with the sound of a harp, signaling to listeners that they’re headed into a dream. The group would satirize a number of genres on the record, including country (“Too Much Heartsick Feeling”) and bluegrass (“Chicken Little Was Right”), as well as other groups, like the spot-on Beach Boys sendup “Surfer Dan.” For this number they were billed as “The Cross Fires,” a nod to the Turtles’ previous incarnation, the Crossfires, who were a surf rock band. The Turtles even spoofed themselves on “Elenore,” though the song wasn’t originally meant to even be considered for the album—quite the opposite, really. Frustrated that their record label, White Whale, wouldn’t stop pestering the Turtles for another hit on par with “Happy Together,” Howard Kaylan penned what he thought was a ridiculous parody. I’ll let Kaylan take it from here.

I had gotten so pissed off that I had decided to show White Whale, once and for all, what dicks they were. So I took the song “Happy Together” and mutated it, just for Lee and Ted [the founders of White Whale]. Every time the melody took a cheesy turn, mine took a cheesier one. Then, to sweeten the deal, I threw in handfuls of pimply teenage hyperboles: “pride and joy, etcetera” was originally “fab and gear, etcetera.” “Your folks hate me” and “I really think you’re groovy” were meant to inflame the wrath of these L.A. lames and I couldn’t wait to sing this new ditty for the band, hear their cynical laughter, and forward it on to our slave-driving masters in the West. But instead, something else happened.

Everybody liked it! Humor? What humor? This just what we’ve been looking for! Chip was nearly orgasmic. We worked out the harmonies right then and there. Chip called the label to tell them that we had the hit they had been looking for. We came back to L.A. to cut “Elenore” at Gold Star and it was a monster hit, not only in America but in Canada, the UK, even Australia and New Zealand. (from Howard Kaylan’s autobiography, Shell Shocked)

So, there you have it. What was intended as a means to get their label to stop bothering them, ended up becoming one of the Turtles’ biggest and most-loved songs. 
 
Japanese sleeve
Japanese picture sleeve.

“You Showed Me,” another hit from the album, was brought in by Douglas. It’s a tune the early Byrds had demoed, and at the time was unreleased. Written by Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn, the Byrds rendition is mid-tempo and sounds like the Beatles, circa 1964, while the Turtles take is much slower and has a ghostly quality.
 
Italian sleeve
Italian picture sleeve.

“Food,” about the joys of eating, is the most outrageous number on the LP. The middle section features “The Bigg Brothers” reciting their recipe for special brownies.

More Turtles after the jump…

READ ON
Posted by Bart Bealmear
|
06.25.2020
10:15 am
|
Happy Together: The Turtles in the 1960s
08.08.2014
02:46 pm
Topics:
Tags:


 
Slow and steady wins the race: I’m nuts about The Turtles and I have been for my entire life. A 45 of “Happy Together” b/w “Eleanor” purchased on a family trip to Washington, DC when I was 8 or 9 years old was one of the first singles that I ever bought. Loved it then, loved it now and their Turtle Soup album (which was produced by head Kink Ray Davies) easily places in my top ten of all time.

Most people know The Turtles’ two biggest hits, but the soaring falsetto harmonies of Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman can also be heard on classic songs like “Get It On (Band a Gong)” by T.Rex, Blondie’s “T Birds,” “Love My Way” by the Psychedelic Furs and Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart.”
 

 
In any case, fellow Turtles fans, this half-hour compilation of “The Turtles in the 1960s” is a treat. It even has footage of the pre-Turtles surf-rock group, The Crossfires. The entire thing is a delight, but there are some especially fun moments, like during the clip of “Outside Chance” that starts at the 15:40 mark. Mark Volman was known for often “playing” an instrument not being heard whenever the group was obliged to mime along to their records on TV. Here he sticks out his arm and Howard Kaylan pretends it’s a keyboard. In a performance of “Happy Together” (32:17) Volman sports a sort of infantile “Baby Huey” outfit that’s almost… disturbing.

But what I especially want to call to your attention—aside from a young Mark Volman’s uncanny resemblance to Jonah Hill (who should option the rights to The Turtles’ life story stat)—is the promo clip made for the group’s final single, their absolutely gorgeous rendition of folk singer Judee Sill’s “Lady-O.” That starts at 26:25. I’ve never seen a watchable version of this on YouTube. The song’s a stunner.

Also included, “She’s My Girl,” “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “Eleanor” and more.
 

 
Bonus: I wanted to see if there was a video for their single “A Guide for the Married Man,” a number composed by John Williams and Leslie Bricusse for the 1967 bedroom farce of the same name starring Walter Matthau and directed by Gene Kelly. There is a performance clip of the song, but I’m going to embed this one, which is cut to scenes from the film. I’ve never seen this before, but it looks like a must! Dig the cameos! Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, a young Robert Morse, Terry-Thomas, Jayne Mansfield, Sid Caesar, Louis Nye, Phil SIlvers, Carl Reiner, Joey Bishop, Art Carney and the voice of “Underdog” Wally Cox:
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Voices of angels on AM radio: Isolated vocal track for The Turtles’ ‘Happy Together’

Posted by Richard Metzger
|
08.08.2014
02:46 pm
|