The Turtles
The Turtles can be booked through this site. The Turtles entertainment booking site. The Turtles
is available for public concerts and events. The Turtles can be booked for
private events and The Turtles can be booked for corporate events and
meetings through this The Turtles booking page.
Unlike most middle agents that would mark
up the performance or appearance fee for The Turtles, we act as YOUR agent in
securing The Turtles at the best possible price. We go over the rider for
The Turtles and work directly with The Turtles or the responsible agent for
The Turtles to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
the acquisition of The Turtles for international dates and newer promoters
providing you meet professional requirements.
The Turtles Biography
Though many remember only their 1967 hit Happy Together, 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.
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 1965-66 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
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 about 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' 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 Judy 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
onstage 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 childrens' 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. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Written by John Bush