The Turtles
The Turtles were an American rock/pop band, originally active between 1965 and 1970. The group consisted of Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman (vocals, keyboards, percussion), Al Nichol (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Jim Tucker (guitar, backing vocals), Chuck Portz (bass guitar), Chip Douglas (bass guitar, backing vocals), Jim Pons (bass, backing vocals), Don Murray (drums), Joel Larson (drums), John Barbata (drums, percussion), Ray Whitehead (drums), John Seiter (drums).
The Turtles scored hits with It Ain't Me, Babe (a Bob Dylan cover, 1965), Happy Together (1967), She'd Rather Be With Me (1967), You Know What I Mean (1967), Elenore (1968), You Showed Me (1969).
Biography
Moving to California as a child, Kaylan had met Volman at school. Volman joined Kaylan's band The Nightriders which soon evolved into The Crossfires. They then became The Tyrtles, adopting the then trend of misspelling as in The Byrds and The Beatles, but this name was soon replaced by The Turtles. They had early success with a recording of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965 and two further hits in 1966. Their 1967 single "Happy Together" was so successful it knocked The Beatles from the number one spot in the US charts. They had recruited hip Douglas as their new bass player, from The Modern Folk Quartet (also managed by Herb Cohen), but he was soon to leave to become the producer for The Monkees. He was replaced by Jim Pons, from The Leaves, who followed Flo & Eddie into The Mothers in 1971.
Chip Douglas returned to produce their album The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands which saw them performing each track as if a different band in a range of styles. It was released at the end of 1968 around the same time as Zappa's Cruising With Ruben & The Jets.
Frank Zappa
In the sleeve of Freak Out! (1966), Frank Zappa included an unintentionally laughable quote by a Columbia Records executive who believed he could make The Mothers "as big as The Turtles.
In 1967, when The Turtles were performing in New York, they would, after their show, join the audience at the Garrick Theatre to see The Mothers.[1] In his film, My Dinner with Jimi, Kaylan recounts how, at the height of their success with The Turtles, they sought advice from Zappa about avoiding being drafted into the army. He advised them to ask Herb Cohen (who was Howard Kaylan's cousin). Successfully using Cohen's advice they were able to continue performing and toured in England were they met The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.
After The Turtles split, Kayland and Volman performed under the name Flo & Eddie, joining Frank Zappa's The Mothers (1970-1971). Their former guitarist Jim Pons joined the Mothers in 1971. During the Introducing...The Mothers interview, journalist Jan Donkers reminded Zappa of the Turtles quote in the sleeve of Freak Out!:
Jan Donkers: "(...) On the cover of your first album there was this quote from the man who says, "I'm gonna make you guys as big as The Turtles."
FZ: "That's right."
The Mothers: "Ha ha ha!"
Jan Donkers: "You think you're as big as The Turtles now, with two people from The Turtles in your group?"
FZ: "Well it helps a lot if you wanna be as big as The Turtles to have some Turtles in your band."
In Do You Like My New Car?, Zappa adapted a real-life anecdote about Turtles' singer Mark Volman who'd encountered a groupie who didn't want to have sex with him unless he sang him his hit single. This sketch segues into a cover of The Turtles' hit Happy Together, sung by Flo & Eddie.
