Turtles, The
The Turtles were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The band achieved several Top 40 hits throughout the latter half of the 1960s, including "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "You Baby" (1966), "Happy Together" (1967), "She'd Rather Be with Me" (1967), "Elenore" (1968), and "You Showed Me" (1969), with "Happy Together" reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The group originally consisted of lead vocalist Howard Kaylan, backing vocalist Mark Volman, lead guitarist Al Nichol, rhythm guitarist Jim Tucker, bassist Chuck Portz, and drummer Don Murray, with subsequent members being bassists Chip Douglas and Jim Pons, and drummers Joel Larson, Johnny Barbata, and John Seiter. As the Turtles' commercial success waned by the end of the 1960s, they became plagued with management problems, lawsuits and conflicts with their label, White Whale Records, leading the group to break up in 1970. Kaylan and Volman (alongside Pons) then joined Frank Zappa's band, the Mothers of Invention, where, for contractual reasons, they performed under the name Flo & Eddie (Volman as "Flo", Kaylan as "Eddie"). After leaving Zappa at the end of 1971, Kaylan and Volman continued to perform under the Flo & Eddie name, becoming popular as a comedy rock act, and also went on to long-lasting success as session musicians for artists including John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, and Alice Cooper. In 1983, Kaylan and Volman began touring as The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie. Kaylan ceased touring in 2018, while Volman continued to tour with the Turtles until his death in September 2025, with Ron Dante (previously of The Archies) replacing Kaylan. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Founded 1965, Died Ceased 1971
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1966
Roles Represented in DAHR: Musical group
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decca | L 13982 | 2/16/1966 | She'll come back | Turtles, The | Musical group |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Turtles, The," accessed December 26, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/348026.
Turtles, The. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 26, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/348026.
"Turtles, The." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 26 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: The Turtles
Discogs: Turtles, The
Allmusic: Turtles, The
Apple Music: Turtles, The
IMDb: Turtles, The
Britannica: Turtles, The
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Turtles (Musical group) - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n94061413
Wikidata: The Turtles - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q627470
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/159600247
MusicBrainz: The Turtles - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/335b6182-0da8-4dc6-a5ec-fe13f0f87e4b
ISNI: 0000 0001 0676 1255 - http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000106761255
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/698318 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/698318
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