The Turtles' White Whale albums are back on vinyl as expanded double-LP sets, due June 26 on Manifesto

Happy Friday everyone. I wanted to help share the exciting news about soon-to-be-released vinyl reissues featuring some of The Turtles' most legendary titles... 


The Turtles' White Whale albums are back on vinyl as expanded double-LP sets, due June 26 via Manifesto

Formed in Westchester, Calif. by high school friends Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, along with Don Murray, Al Nichol, Chuck Portz, and Jim Tucker, the Turtles racked up nine Top 40 hits, including the unforgettable “Happy Together,” during their original run from 1965-1970. While the band may be best known for that and a few other chart-toppers, each of their six studio albums offers unique gems and unsung treasures, featuring unforgettable harmonies and sardonic wit. At long last, those albums are being reissued as they were meant to be heard — on vinyl — on June 26, 2020 by Manifesto Records.

 

Originally released on the Los Angeles-based White Whale label, the long out of print albums were reissued on CD in 2016, but now, for the first time in more than a decade, they’re back on vinyl, digitally remastered from the original tapes.

 

And purists won’t have to struggle with the old mono vs. stereo conundrum. The band’s first three albums — It Ain’t Me Babe, You Baby, and Happy Together — will be issued in high-quality gatefold jackets as two-record sets with both the mono and stereo versions, so you’ll get the best of both worlds. The later three albums — Battle of the Bands, Turtle Soup, and Wooden Head— will also be released in gatefolds as two-record sets with the original album, plus a second disc featuring rare bonus material, including previously unreleased recordings.

 

It Ain't Me Babe, the Turtles’ 1965 full-length debut, includes the Top 10 hit cover of the classic Bob Dylan tune that served as the album’s title track, and renditions of Dylan’s “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” and “Like a Rolling Stone,” as well as a take on P.F. Sloan’s “Eve of Destruction.” The album also features several Kaylan originals that show his evolution as a songwriting force.

 

You Baby, the band’s 1966 sophomore set, also features a mix of covers and originals, including the Top 20 hit title track, penned by Sloan and Steve Barri, whose “Can I Get to Know You Better” closes out the album. Another Sloan cover from the album, “Let Me Be,” was also released as a single and cracked the Top 30 prior to the album’s release.

 

With 1967’s Happy Together, the Turtles reached their peak, both chart-wise (#25 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart) and artistically. It features the band’s two highest-charting singles:  the #1 title track as well as “She’d Rather Be With Me” (#3), both written by the songwriting team of Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon. A third song written by the duo, “You Know What I Mean,” reached #12. Also notable are the Kaylan/Volman co-write “Think I’ll Run Away,” and “Like the Seasons,” composed by a young Warren Zevon.

 

On 1968’s The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands, the group broke out of their, er, shell with a concept album in which the band adopted the personas of 11 fictitious acts, including the Atomic Enchilada and Chief Kamanawanalea and His Royal Macadamia Nuts. It included the band’s most original material to date, plus the title track, written by Harry Nilsson and producer Chip Douglas, and “You Showed Me,” penned by the Byrds' Jim McGuinn and Gene Clark, which became the Turtles’ final Top 10 hit. “Elenore,” credited to Howie, Mark, Johny, Jim and Al on the album, also cracked the Top 10.

 

Although 1969's Turtle Soup failed to spawn a hit single, and stalled at No. 117 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, it’s notable as the full-album production debut of the Kinks’ Ray Davies, who likely felt a kinship to a group that seemed the American pop cousins of the British band. With 1970's Wooden Head, the Turtles collected B-sides and other rarities, including an alternate version of “The Wanderin’ Kind,” which goes back full circle, as the original version was the opening track on the band’s first album, 1965’s It Ain’t Me Babe.

 

 

It Ain’t Me Babe (MFO 48041)

Record One - MONO
Side A
1. Wanderin' Kind         
2. It Was A Very Good Year      
3. Your Maw Said You Cried      
4. Eve of Destruction     
5. Glitter and Gold        
6. Let Me Be
Side B
1. Let the Cold Winds Blow        
2. It Ain’t Me Babe
3. A Walk in the Sun     
4. Last Laugh   
5. Love Minus Zero       
6. Like A Rolling Stone

Record Two - STEREO
Side C
1. Wanderin' Kind         
2. It Was A Very Good Year      
3. Your Maw Said You Cried      
4. Eve of Destruction     
5. Glitter and Gold        
6. Let Me Be
Side D
1. Let the Cold Winds Blow        
2. It Ain’t Me Babe
3. A Walk in the Sun     
4. Last Laugh   
5. Love Minus Zero       
6. Like A Rolling Stone

 

You Baby (MFO 48042)

Record One - MONO

Side A
1. Flyin' High     
2. I Know That You'll Be There  
3. House Of Pain          
4. Just A Room
5. I Need Someone      
6. Let Me Be

Side B  
1. Down In Suburbia     
2.Give Love A Trial       
3. You Baby     
4. Ball Bearing, Ball Bearing World        
5. All My Problems        
6. Almost There

 

Record Two - STEREO

Side C
1. Flyin' High     
2. I Know That You'll Be There  
3. House Of Pain          
4. Just A Room
5. I Need Someone      
6. Let Me Be

Side D  
1. Down In Suburbia     
2. Give Love A Trial       
3. You Baby     
4. Ball Bearing, Ball Bearing World        
5. All My Problems        
6. Almost There

 

Happy Together (MFO 48043)

Record One - MONO
Side A

1. Makin' My Mind Up    
2. Guide For The Married Man   
3. Think I'll Run Away    
4. The Walking Song     
5. Me About You          
6. Happy Together        

Side B
1. She'd Rather Be With Me       
2. Too Young To Be One          
3. Person Without A Care          
4. Like The Seasons     
5. Rugs Of Woods And Flowers

 

Record Two – STEREO

Side C
1. Makin' My Mind Up    
2. Guide For The Married Man   
3. Think I'll Run Away    
4. The Walking Song     
5. Me About You          
6. Happy Together        

Side D
1. She'd Rather Be With Me       
2. Too Young To Be One          
3. Person Without A Care          
4 .Like The Seasons     
5.R ugs Of Woods And Flowers

 

Battle of the Bands (MFO 48044)

Record One - Stereo
Side A
1. The Opening: The Battle of the Bands
2. The Last Thing I Remember   
3. Elenore        
4. Too Much Heartsick Feeling  
5. Oh Daddy!    
6. Buzz Saw
Side B  
1. Surfer Dan    
2. I'm Chief Kamanawanalea (We're the Royal Macadamia Nuts)
3. You Showed Me       
4. Food
5. Chicken Little Was Right        
6. The Closing: Earth Anthem (All)         

Record Two - The Bonus Tracks
Side C
1. She's My Girl
2. Chicken Little Was Right (single version-stereo)          
3. Sound Asleep           
4. Umbassa The Dragon           
5. The Story of Rock and Roll
Side D  
1. Can't You Hear the Cows       
2. The Last Thing I Remember (The First Thing I Knew)  
3. The Owl        
4. To See the Sun        
5. Earth Anthem (alternate version) [previously unreleased]        
6. Battle of the Bands Radio Spot

 

Turtle Soup (MFO 48045)

Record One
Side A
1. Come Over
2 .House on the Hill
3. She Always Leaves Me Laughing      
4. How You Love Me
5. Torn Between Temptations   
6. Love in the City
Side B  
1. Bachelor Mother       
2. John & Julie  
3. Hot Little Hands        
4. Somewhere Friday Night
5. Dance This Dance With Me    
6. You Don’t Have to Walk in the Rain    

Record Two - The Bonus Tracks
Side C
1. Goodbye Surprise
2. Like It Or Not
3. There You Sit Lonely
4. Can I Go On
5.Y ou Want to be A Woman
6 .If We Only Had the Time        
Side D
1. Dance This Dance With Me (Demo)    
2. Come Over (Demo) [Previously Unreleased]  
3. How You Love Me (Demo)     
4. Strange Girl (Demo) [Previously Unreleased]  
5. Marmendy Mill (Demo)           
6. Turtle Soup Radio Spot

 

Wooden Head (MFO 48046)

Record One
Side A
1. I Can't Stop  
2. She'll Come Back      
3. Get Away      
4. Wrong From The Start           
5. I Get Out Of Breath   
Side B
1. We'll Meet Again       
2. On A Summer's Day  
3. Come Back   
4. Say Girl         
5. Tie Me Down
6. Wanderin' Kind         

Record Two - The Bonus Tracks
Side C
1. You Baby (1967 Stereo Mix)  
2. So Goes Love           
3. Makin' Up My Mind (1966 Version-Stereo)     
4. Is It Any Wonder?     
5. Let Me Be (1967 Stereo Mix)
6. Grim Reaper Of Love
Side D
1. It Ain't Me Babe (1967 Stereo Mix)     
2 .Can I Get To Know You Better           
3. Outside Chance        
4. You Know What I Mean         
5. Cat In The Window    
6. We'll Meet Again (Alternative Take) [Previously Unreleased]   
7. The Turtles! Golden Hits Radio Spot   

Album reviews: The Turtles, the Beach Boys, the Cult, KISS, 'Ben-Hur' soundtrack

A new crop of releases will allow listeners to rediscover classic '60s-spawned heroes the Turtles and Beach Boys, as well as enduring hard rock icons the Cult and KISS. The soundtrack for the new movie "Ben-Hur" scored by Marco Beltrami rounds out this writer's list of essential new releases.

Artist: The Turtles
Title: All the Singles (Manifesto Records)
You might like if you enjoy: The Turtles, the Hollies, the Kinks
Tell me more: Spanning a shimmering cover of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" released in June 1965 to the sweeping baroque pop nugget "Me About You" released in late 1970, the Turtles' lasting legacy is celebrated across the glorious All the Singles. The two-disc, 48-track collection allows plenty of time to explore the Los Angeles-spawned group's radio hits as well as more experimental material that draws comparisons with the Kinks and the Byrds. With Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman's artful and wonderful harmony vocals leading the way, the material ranges from folk-rock (the Warren Zevon-penned "Like the Seasons"), garage rock ("Almost There," "Outside Chance"), power-pop ("She'd Rather Be With Me," "Elenore"), sunshine pop ("So Goes Love," "On a Summer's Day"), psychedelic ("Sound Asleep") and even country ("Who Would Ever Think That I Would Marry Margaret"). The Turtles' 1967 number 1 hit "Happy Together" remains one of that decade's most enticing songs and has never sounded better thanks to the remastering from Bill Inglot and Dave Schultz showcased across this must-have collection. Information: manifesto.com.

Get 'All the Singles' here




Artist: The Beach Boys
Title: Becoming the Beach Boys: The Complete Hite & Dorinda Morgan Sessions (Omnivore Recordings)
You might like if you enjoy: The Beach Boys, Jan & Dean
Tell me more: Lovers of the Beach Boys will want to get Becoming the Beach Boys: the Complete Hite & Dorinda Morgan Sessions, which is being released by Omnivore Recordings on Aug. 26. The lovingly-remastered recordings on the collection date back to September 1961 when brothers Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson along with Mike Love and Al Jardine shared a microphone together at the home of Hite and Dorinda Morgan to demo recordings eight months before they signed a contract with Capitol Records There are nine songs the young group recorded between September 1961 and March 1962, with multiple demos and versions for each of the songs included here. Listening to the magic and craft of even the earliest takes of "Surfin' Safari," "Surfer Girl" and several obscure songs is to be dazzled that every member of the young group was 20 or younger (Carl Wilson was only 15 when they cut their first demo of "Surfin' "). Fifty-five years into their career, the Beach Boys remain one of modern music's most important architects and a glimpse at the origins of that ride can be found here. Information: omnivorerecordings.com.

Get 'Becoming The Beach Boys: The Complete Hite & Dorinda Morgan Sessions' on (2-CD Set)




Artist: The Cult
Title: Hidden City (Cooking Vinyl)
You might like if you enjoy: AC/DC, Band of Skulls, the Church
Tell me more: If I hadn't caught the Cult in the band's winning performance opening for Guns N' Roses at Dodger Stadium earlier this month, I might have missed the fact the band issued a new album earlier this year. Hidden City is a superb effort, branded with the band's blend of hard and goth rock. On the band's first album since 2012's "Choice of Weapon," singer Ian Astbury and guitar hero Billy Duffy lead the ensemble through a dozen original songs that deliver on the outfit's past glories while forging ahead. "Dark Energy," "No Love Lost" and the infectious "Dance the Night" rock with unbridled power yet capture the shadowy sonics that have been a part of the group's sound since the 1980s. The Cult is no one-trick pony and explores an expansive and lush modern rock soundscape on the reflective "In Blood." The hypnotic "Birds of Paradise," rocking "Goat" (which recalls the Cult's Electric period) and progressive "Deeply Ordered Chaos" are other standouts on a stunning return. Information: thecult.us.

Purchase 'Hidden City' here

Artist: KISS
Title: Kiss Rocks Vegas (Eagle Rock Entertainment)
You might like if you enjoy: Kiss, AC/DC
Tell me more: In November 2014, KISS performed a string of intimate shows at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Now, KISS Rocks Vegas captures highlights from those dates via a multi-format release (including DVD+CD, Blu-ray+CD and DVD+2LP versions). The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers perform a mix of hard rocking hits and deeper material, including the iconic "Detroit Rock City" (with an impressive twin guitar attack from Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer), hard hitting "Psycho Circus," blazing "Parasite" and an extended version of "Lick It Up" (the latter which incorporates part of the instrumental bridge of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" into its run). For hardcore fans of KISS, the DVD track listing also delivers an acoustic set including a bluesy take on "Coming Home" and folk rock version of the band's ballad "Beth." Information: eagle-rock.com.

Buy 'KISS Rocks Vegas' (Amazon Exclusive) [Blu-ray]




Artist: Marco Beltrami
Title: Ben-Hur: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Sony Classical)
You might like if you enjoy: Rupert Gregson-Williams, Hans Zimmer
Tell me more: Marco Beltrami is not your average composer. The Academy Award-nominated Beltrami has scored a number of eclectic films ("Scream," "3:10 to Yuma," "The Hurt Locker") and provided each with a unique sonic world that fits perfectly with the film. On "Ben-Hur," his soundtrack includes ancient Greek and Roman instruments (aulos, citira, lyres, salpinx) that he has processed electronically so his score blends old and new in an exciting ways that lure the listener at every turn. There are tracks that are simply gorgeous ("Ben-Hur Theme," "Dear Messala, "Messala and Tirzah, "Horse Healer"), and others that are wonderfully tense or haunting ("Carrying Judah," "Brothers Divide"). "Jesus Arrested" recalls some of the otherworldly material released by modern-day group Dead Can Dance, with the mix of a mournful soprano and powerful drumming capturing the intensity of the moment. Information: BenHurMovie.com or SonyClassical.com.

Buy 'Ben-Hur (Original Motion Picture Score)' here

Robert Kinsler

'Happy Together Tour' brings Summer of Love nostalgia to Pacific Amphitheatre

My Happy Together Tour review originally ran on The Orange County Register Soundcheck blog on Sunday, July 15, 2012.

Pacific 2012: Happy Together Tour's nostalgia trip back to Summer of Love clicks with cheering fans

With ’60s hit-makers from the Turtles and Monkees lead singer Micky Dolenz (seen on the right) to the Grass Roots, the Buckinghams and Gary Puckett all teaming up for the Happy Together Tour this summer, it’s no surprise that a near-capacity crowd gathered at Pacific Amphitheatre Saturday (July 14, 2012) to catch the fun-spirited, relatively inexpensive event on a beautiful summer evening.



What’s not to like about a two-hour show during which several dozen bona fide classics of the era, staples of oldies radio, are performed with gusto by some of the decade’s marquee names?

The success of the event, with stops in 42 cities this year, is simple. The Turtles, led by founding singers Mark Volman (seen on the left performing a bit of tambourine juggling) and Howard Kaylan (better known as Flo & Eddie), headline a roster that one by one plays a handful of hits. At the end of the night, the lineup comes together as a single ensemble to perform each act’s biggest smash, upping the excitement even more.


The formula worked Saturday. And while there was a touch of sadness during Dolenz’s heartfelt tribute to Davy Jones (who died Feb. 29), the atmosphere of the fast-paced evening was mostly about good vibes, celebrating the spirit of the ’60s and its enduring music.


That said, the Turtles threw most of the crowd into an amusing (if temporary) state of bewilderment when they performed a bit of Frank Zappa’s groundbreaking instrumental gem “Peaches en Regalia” (the vocalists worked with the innovative iconoclast at the turn of the ’70s).


But Kaylan and Volman redeemed themselves with faithful fans by offering up shining versions of their staples for this delighted audience, including their cover of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe” and subsequent singles from the group, including “You Baby,” “Elenore” and “She’d Rather Be with Me.” Naturally they had the crowd on their feet for the finale, a rousing version of the tour’s namesake, “Happy Together.”


Dolenz’s appearance in Costa Mesa came almost a year to the day since the Monkees’ final show in Los Angeles as part of their 45th anniversary tour. The actor-turned-singer, who calls Southern California home, may well have had that in mind during his spirited set here.


Performing most of the hits he sang with the Monkees – “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone,” “She,” “Last Train to Clarksville,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday” – he also took a well-timed detour midway through his set to acknowledge the recent loss of Jones, who he noted was like a brother to him.


He then effortlessly sang one of Jones’ signature tunes, the John Stewart-penned “Daydream Believer,” while video screens projected a number of photos of Davy and the rest of the Monkees to powerful effect. Dolenz ended things on a brighter note, however, leading the standing crowd through a rousing take on “I’m a Believer.”


Those sets shone brightest on Saturday (along with the backing band’s drummer, Steve Murphy), yet there was little shortage of singalongs to keep people tuned in all evening.


The Buckinghams, much like the Monkees and the Turtles, had a big Summer of Love, and the Chicago-spawned group brought back that fabled year of 1967 with strong versions of “Kind of a Drag,” “Don’t You Care” and “Susan.” There also was little doubt that the crowd loved the uptempo mix of soul and psychedelic rock from the Grass Roots. “Let’s Live for Today,” “Midnight Confessions” and “Temptation Eyes” were among the standouts that garnered strong cheers.


And while Puckett’s once-glorious voice is no longer always a thing of beauty, he did prove to be an energetic and engaging performer during his five-song turn. Opening with “Lady Willpower,” he had many fans clapping and moving to the beat during his takes on “Woman, Woman” and “Young Girl.”