The Turtles

[stoutfellow]

Some years ago, on impulse, I picked up a five-disc set of the collected works of the Turtles. At the time, I knew them only for "Happy Together", and on that basis had them pegged as a lightweight feel-good group, on the order of, say, the Lovin' Spoonful.

Procrastinator that I am, I never got around to actually listening to the CDs. When I began transferring my music library to the computer, I slowly added them to the playlists. (It wouldn't do to have all five discs on one list, of course.) Finally, though, they're all in the rotation, and I've now heard most of what's on them. There were a number of surprises.

1) There are quite a few other songs on the discs that I knew and liked, but had never connected with the Turtles: "Let Me Be", "She'd Rather Be With Me", "It Ain't Me Babe", "Elenore", and "You Baby". None of this contradicted my initial assessment.

2) There are several more songs which, though still aimed at the pubescent male, don't exactly fall into the feel-good category, such as "Hot Little Hands" and "Bachelor Mother".

3) There are some politically conscious songs, both originals and covers, including "Earth Anthem" and "Eve of Destruction".

4) Then there are a few songs which are simply weird: "Buzzsaw", "The Owl", "I'm Chief Kamanawanalea* (We're The Royal Macadamia Nuts)", a strange cover of "It Was A Very Good Year", and "Who Would Ever Think That I Would Marry Margaret".

On the whole, I like the collection, but it definitely didn't fit my expectations.

Now I'm starting to worry about the Lovin' Spoonful...

*Ed., later: Dear Lord, I just got that one. Ow.

Comments

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

It would have bypassed me entirely had you not posted a note indicating that there was something to be *gotten* from it! "Ow" is right!