The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands

The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands is the fourth studio album released by the American rock band the Turtles. Produced by Chip Douglas (who returned to work with the Turtles after a brief stint shepherding The Monkees' transition into a live band), it was released in November 1968 by White Whale Records. It includes John Barbata's final recorded performances with the band; he left shortly after its release to join Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Barbata's eventual replacement, former Spanky and Our Gang drummer John Seiter, also contributed to the album. Some issues of the album were retitled Elenore.

The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 1, 1968
Recorded1968
GenreComedy rock, progressive pop
Length37:07
LabelWhite Whale
ProducerChip Douglas
The Turtles chronology
Golden Hits
(1967)
The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands
(1968)
Turtle Soup
(1969)
Singles from The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands
  1. "Elenore"
    Released: September 1968
  2. "You Showed Me"
    Released: December 1968
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Rolling Stone(negative)[2]
Tom HullB–[3]

It is a concept album, with the band pretending to be a series of different groups, playing in varying styles from psychedelic ("The Last Thing I Remember") to R&B instrumental rock ("Buzzsaw") to surf music ("Surfer Dan") to bluegrass ("Chicken Little Was Right"), competing in a mock Battle of the Bands. The outer cover shows the Turtles in evening dress, playing hosts of the "show", while the inside gatefold shows them in different costumes for each song. The entire album is filled with puns and hidden jokes. (According to liner notes on various Turtles CDs, White Whale Records was in reality, a one-artist label and they were consistently pressuring The Turtles to come up with another "Happy Together," which resulted in "Elenore," a humorous reworking of the classic "happy pop" single.)

"Kamanawanalea" was a made-up Hawaiian idol ("the god of lust and perversion"), and a rude pun. The lyrics of "Food" included a recipe for brownies, with a special ingredient. "Surfer Dan" was billed as being by The Cross Fires, a nod to the Turtles' previous incarnation as a surf-music band known as The Crossfires before it had signed with White Whale Records. "You Showed Me" was written by Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark of The Byrds, and became the last major Turtles hit. The final song, "Earth Anthem," was recorded at 3:00 A.M. by candlelight, to capture the exact mood the Turtles wanted.

"I'm Chief Kamanawanalea" has been sampled in many tracks, such as "Say No Go" by De La Soul and "Jimmy James" by the Beastie Boys. It was also used in an episode of the TV show "Life on Mars" (US version) in a discotheque scene.

Charts and awards

The album peaked at #128 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, but its singles were more successful. "Elenore" and "You Showed Me" both reached #6 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Johnny Barbata, Howard Kaylan, Al Nichol, Jim Pons, and Mark Volman, except as noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)"Band"Length
1."The Battle of the Bands"Harry Nilsson, Chip DouglasThe U.S. Teens featuring Raoul2:14
2."The Last Thing I Remember" The Atomic Enchilada2:55
3."Elenore" Howie, Mark, Johny, Jim & Al2:31
4."Too Much Heartsick Feeling" Quad City Ramblers2:43
5."Oh, Daddy!" The L.A. Bust '662:45
6."Buzzsaw" The Fabulous Dawgs1:59
7."Surfer Dan" The Cross Fires2:42
8."I'm Chief Kamanawanalea (We're the Royal Macadamia Nuts)" Chief Kamanawanalea and his Royal Macadamia Nuts1:34
9."You Showed Me"James McGuinn, Gene ClarkNature's Children3:16
10."Food" The Bigg Brothers2:40
11."Chicken Little Was Right" Fats Mallard and the Bluegrass Fireball2:47
12."Earth Anthem"Bill MartinAll3:54
Sundazed Records CD re-issue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Sound Asleep" 2:29
14."The Story of Rock and Roll"Harry Nilsson2:38
Repertoire Records CD re-issue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Goodbye Surprise" 2:54
14."She's My Girl" 2:35
15."Sound Asleep" 2:29
16."Umbassa And The Dragon" 3:00
17."The Story of Rock and Roll"Harry Nilsson2:39
18."Can You Hear The Cows" 2:16
19."Elenore" (mono single mix) 2:33
20."You Showed Me" (mono single mix) 3:13
Manifesto Records (Flo and Eddie, Inc., 2016) CD re-issue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."She's My Girl"  
14."Chicken Little Was Right" (stereo single version)  
15."Sound Asleep"  
16."Umbassa The Dragon"  
17."The Story of Rock and Roll"Harry Nilsson 
18."Can't You Hear the Cows"  
19."The Last Thing I Remember (The First Thing I Knew)"  
20."The Owl"  
21."To See the Sun"  
22."Earth Anthem" (previously unreleased alternate version)  
23."Battle of the Bands Radio Spot"  

Personnel

The Turtles
Additional personnel
  • Chip Douglas - producer
  • Jim Hilton - engineer
  • anonymous - strings, woodwinds, banjo on "Chicken Little Was Right"
  • Arrangements by The Turtles and Chip Douglas
  • Album layout designed by The Turtles
  • Photography by Rod Dyer

References

  1. Ofjord. "The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  2. Miller, Jim (January 4, 1969). "The Battle of the Bands". Rolling Stone. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc.
  3. Hull, Tom (November 2013). "Recycled Goods (#114)". A Consumer Guide to the Trailing Edge. Tom Hull. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
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