Though many remember only their 1967 hit, "Happy Together,"
the Turtles were one of the more enjoyable American pop groups of the '60s, moving from folk-rock inspired by
the Byrds to a sparkling fusion of
Zombies-inspired chamber pop and straight-ahead, good-time pop reminiscent of
the Lovin' Spoonful, the whole infused with beautiful vocal harmonies courtesy of dual frontmen
Howard Kaylan and
Mark Volman. Though they hit number one in 1967 with the infectious "Happy Together,"
the Turtles scored only three more Top Ten hits and broke up by the end of the '60s.
Kaylan and
Volman later joined
Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention during the early '70s and also recorded themselves as
Flo & Eddie, but were on the oldies circuit with a revamped
Turtles by the mid-'80s.
Born within two months of each other in 1947 (though on opposite coasts),
Howard Kaylan (b. Howard Kaplan) and
Mark Volman attended the same school, Westchester High in Los Angeles (
Kaylan had moved from New York as a child). The two sang in the school's a cappella choir, where
Volman soon heard about
Kaylan's instrumental surf group, the Nightriders (which also included choir members
Al Nichol on lead guitar, Don Murray on drums and
Chuck Portz on bass).
Volman joined the group just before they became
the Crossfires in 1963. After high school graduation,
the Crossfires continued on while its members attended area colleges (picking up rhythm guitarist Jim Tucker along the way).
The group finally got its big break in 1965 after local disc jockey and club owner Reb Foster heard them. Foster liked
the Crossfires so much, he became their manager and found the group a contract with White Whale Records. The sextet changed their name to the Tyrtles (an unveiled homage to
the Byrds, soon amended to the correct spelling) and recorded a
Bob Dylan cover as their first single. The song's fusion of folk with glittering rock & roll was also lifted from
the Byrds, and "It Ain't Me Babe" reached the Top Ten in August 1965, just three months after "Mr. Tambourine Man" had hit number one.
Moving from the songwriting talents of
Dylan to the new "king of protest," producer
P.F. Sloan,
the Turtles hit the Top 40 twice more during 1965-1966 with "Let Me Be" and "You Baby," after which
Murray and
Portz left (to be replaced by
John Barbata and, for a short time, bassist/producer
Chip Douglas). Though
the Turtles had appeared to run out of steam by the beginning of 1967, the group stormed back with a song they'd heard in a batch of demos, a surefire hit written by
Gary Bonner and
Alan Gordon. "Happy Together" spent three weeks at number one on the American charts, and proved to be one of the biggest hits of the year.
The Turtles' next three singles were written by
Bonner-
Gordon, and each hit the Top 20: the number three hit "She'd Rather Be with Me" (which eclipsed even "Happy Together" in terms of international success), plus "You Know What I Mean" and "She's My Girl."
Chip Douglas, who had arranged the horns on "Happy Together," left the group to work with
the Monkees, and was replaced by
Jim Pons (formerly with
the Leaves). Original member Jim Tucker left the group as well, after a tour of dingy pubs in England caused more than a bit of disillusionment with the group's lack of success.
Like so many other pop groups in the late '60s,
the Turtles felt they had to stretch artistically to keep pace with their more critically respected rivals, and beginning with "You Know What I Mean,"
the Turtles' revolving-door cast of producers and arrangers made their sound progressively more psychedelic, though they were still much closer to the pop/rock mainstream than to the era's premier psychedelic groups. The group asserted their rights in late 1967, and self-produced the disappointing "Sound Asleep," which was the band's first single after "Happy Together" to miss the Top 40. White Whale Records demanded an outside hand be brought to the studio, so
the Turtles compromised by going back to
Chip Douglas. The result, "The Story of Rock and Roll," was shut out of the Top 40 as well, prompting the career-saving "Elenore" in September 1968, which hit number six (the best placing by a single actually written by
the Turtles). The inevitable concept LP came in November 1968:
The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands, on which the group attempted to sound like (and even dress up as) 11 distinct bands -- one for each song on the LP. It was an interesting concept, and a measured success, with "Elenore" to its credit as well as another number six hit, "You Showed Me" (originally written and recorded by
the Byrds). Drummer
John Seiter joined
the Turtles after the recording of
Battle of the Bands, replacing
Barbata (who had left to work with
Crosby, Stills & Nash).
After White Whale attempted to record
Monkees-style, with the vocals of
Kaylan and
Volman added to a generic studio backing track, the duo rebelled and attempted to get back to the band aesthetic. Inspired by
the Kinks' then-recent
Village Green Preservation Society LP,
the Turtles recruited frontman
Ray Davies to serve as producer for their 1969 LP, Turtle Soup. Two singles from the album, "You Don't Have to Walk in the Rain" and "Love in the City," both failed to reach the Top 40.
Kaylan and
Volman formed their own label, Blimp Records, and signed a few acts, including folksinger
Judee Sill, who wrote
the Turtles' last recording, "Lady-O." More wrangles with White Whale, on top of the lack of chart success, had destroyed
the Turtles by 1970, though. White Whale continued to raid the vaults during the year, releasing old singles, a second hits compilation, and an album of rarities (Wooden Head).
Before the end of 1970, though,
Kaylan,
Volman, and
Pons had joined
Frank Zappa's early-'70s edition of
the Mothers of Invention. (The use of
the Turtles' name or even their own names in a musical context was illegal according to an earlier contract, so
Kaylan and
Volman appeared as the Phlorescent Leech & Eddie.) Besides touring with
Zappa, the trio appeared on four of his albums from 1970 to 1972: Chunga's Revenge, 200 Motels, Live at the Fillmore, and Just Another Band from L.A. After
Zappa was injured in an on-stage altercation, though, the re-christened
Flo & Eddie toured with several of the
Mothers for awhile, and recorded five LPs for themselves between 1975 and 1981. The duo also did session work, composed music for children's' movies (The Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake) and broadcast their own radio show on L.A.'s KROQ and later New York's WXRK.
By 1984,
the Turtles' name had reverted back to the group, and
Volman and
Kaylan began touring with a new lineup as the Turtles...Featuring Flo & Eddie.
Volman and
Kaylan also won back the rights to the group's master recordings and publishing, leading to numerous reissues of their catalog. Rhino Records returned the group's albums to print in the '80s, Sundazed brought out new editions in the '90s, and in 2016 Manifesto Records kicked off their
Turtles reissue program with two ambitious collections. All The Singles was a two-disc set that collected all the group's seven-inches, including some unreleased sides, while The Complete Original Albums Collection brought together remastered versions of
the Turtles' six LP's. ~ John Bush