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

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/348026

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