"Tonight we have the BATTLE OF THE BANDS!!" (search terms being The Turtles and not the Mock Turtles)

"Elenore" is my favourite Turtles song, so it has got to be that one.

Really, this album is a mess at times, but the singles (also including the wonderful version of "You Showed Me" are both ace!

I just figured: The pics go down 1 to 3 in columns, to match the tracks on the album.

I always read it across, and couldn't match them. (the poll detail came from wiki obv)

As you may have gathered, I have the LP. It seems hellishly tinny though, is the CD better/remastered/whatever?

Part of the charm with the CD is it contains a few bonus tracks, including the only existing release of the stereo version of "Sound Asleep".

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Chief Kamanawanalea and his Royal Macadamia Nuts

the last thing I remember

"Umbassa and the Dragon", the b-side of a non-album single that came out the same year as Battle of the Bands, is surely the Turtles' most deranged moment, with a seemingly tossed-off cacophony of bird sounds, giggling, roaring, tribal drumming, and a bunch of guys and girls chanting, "Umbassa's going to slay the dragon." I swear, they must have inherited whatever drugs the Beach Boys left behind after the recording of Smiley Smile. no wonder Zappa recruited Flo and Eddie few years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99mzGJpy9g0

thanks for that..

My daughter's called Eleanor and she loves Elenore - calls it Eleanor Gee - so that's easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8-knbCtXdQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBBj82YCEzo

Two of the best pop singles of the late 60s!

For a band often regarded as a less-hip, less-talented version of the Byrds, I'm not sure covering an actual Byrds song ("You Showed Me") was a good move. I think it was their last hit actually. I do like how they slowed it down to almost half speed of the original, and added even more harmonies.

Yeah, but the Byrds never got round to doing it until somebody released their 'old' demos, after their event...

yeah, it looks like the Turtles single preceded the release of the Byrds demo (on Preflyte) by a mere four months. I have no idea if the success of the former had any impact on the way the latter was received.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Voted "Food" due to my love of songs about food.

Beginning of "Umbasa the Dragon" sounds kinda like the end of Pink Floyd's "Bike". Also rather like the Sgt. Pepper runout groove.

Wasn't aware that "You Showed Me" predated the release of Preflyte. Where did they know the song from? Byrds live shows maybe?

Also didn't know they were on the White Whale label. That means the Turtles could accurately be described as an "indie" band, right? I know John's Children were on White Whale, and "Smashed Blocked" was a minor US hit before they had any charting records in their native UK, and it too is a very strange record. A few months later, a guy named Marc Bolan joined the band, and had a UK near-hit "Desdemona" that he wrote and sang. WW chose not to release it in the States - what fools!

that's interesting, because Tyrannosaurus Rex later opened for The Turtles in concert, and Flo & Eddie even contributed backing vocals to the Electric Warrior album. I'll have to check out that John's Children song, which I haven't heard.

The Turtles learned "You Showed Me" from their producer, Chip Douglas, who attended a bunch of the Byrds' pre-fame concerts and played bass for Gene Clark after he left the group. here's an interesting tidbit from allmusic:

The beauty of the melody and romantic sincerity of the message impressed producer Chip Douglas, who played it for the band in his home studio. Due to a broken bellow on his harmonium, he could only play it at a very slow tempo, and this is exactly how you hear it on the finished record.

I love harmoniums! I've only played a real one once; they're getting hard to find. It's the only musical instrument i'm aware of that gives your leg muscles a good workout just by playing it.

I've recently started delving into the Turtles' work. Man, those guys were massively underrated. Their vocal harmonies were amazing and it sounds like they had a decent sense of humour too. Flo and Eddie did some great work too.

Best use of the word "Separated" in "Too much heartsick feeling"