The Turtles - Let Me Be (Shindig - Nov 13, 1965)

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The Turtles were one of the more enjoyable American pop groups of the 1960s, 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.

The Turtles hit the Top 40 twice more during 1965-66 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 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" 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. Original member Jim Tucker left the group as well, after a tour of dingy pubs in England caused more than a bit of disillusionment about the group's lack of success.

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 self-produced the disappointing "Sound Asleep," which was the band's first single after "Happy Together" to miss the Top 40. "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. "You Showed Me" also hit number 6.

Before the end of 1970, Kaylan, Volman and Pons had joined Frank Zappa's early-'70s edition of the Mothers of Invention.

~ John Bush, All Music Guide

Category:

Education

Tags:

• rock
• and
• roll
• 1960s

[HippieJimi]

I'm not a piece of clay....

To mold to your mood each day...

[BeatleBangs1964]

This is the autism/Asperger's anthem. Flo & Eddie, on behalf of everybody on the spectrum, a heartfelt THANK YOU!

Your spectrum friends live by the message in this song.

[russallert]

@John1948ThirteenA From what I understand, the AFM got very uptight about lip-synching because they saw it as putting musicians out of work. I suspect that they were especially up in arms about shows like Shindig, because competing shows like Hullabaloo had a resident big band that would back up performers (sometimes with dodgy results). There was also an aspect of "respectable professional musicians" versus "dirty filthy rock & rollers" that was part of the cultural wars of the era.

[John1948ThirteenA]

@russallert I know there has always been a lot of lip-syncing. What I have trouble believing is that the musicians union outlawed it.

[russallert]

@John1948ThirteenA I've come across comments about this in various books, articles, interviews, etc., so I don't have one particular "source". I remember the first time I watched the Who doing My Generation on the Smothers Brothers Show, I noticed that Roger Daltrey was singing live, but the band was faking, and the backing track was definitely not the same as the original record. Ray Davies mentions pre-recording backing tracks for the Kinks' appearance on Shindig.

[John1948ThirteenA]

@russallert This is the first I've heard of that. What is your source?

[russallert]

@harrietcow At that time, the musicians' union imposed a rather stupid ban on lip-synching on TV, despite the fact that live sound on TV back then was pretty primitive. The bands on shows like Shindig got around it by singing live to the instrumental track of their record, or sometimes re-recording a new instrumental track so that it didn't sound like the record and then singing live on top of it.

[harrietcow]

The vocals seem to be live here, I'm impressed!  I thought most shows had the acts lip-synch back in the day. They aren't really playing their instruments, but the voices are live.

[mickeymousebiker1]

The voice of a generation (the 1960s). This still applies even more to the 21st century. Where is the TRUE individualism that made America great? Are we truly free? We need not ask "who's 'trending' now." Work on being individual --original. THAT"S freedom!

[blueticecho]

I just love that janglin Ric !

[pkappel006]

@jaytf1231 what year, what was his instrument

[jaytf1231]

Johhny Barbata also played for the Jefferson Airplane/Starship.