The Turtles, one of psychedelic pop’s greatest bands, recorded a number of great love songs, and here are two of them. 1967’s “Happy Together” is their best-known and most beloved hit, a tale of love, and an innocent love at that.
1968’s “Elenore” was a song that was meant to be a “screw you” to their record label, who had been insisting on them writing “Happy Together II.” So the duo of Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman wrote a song based on the same chords, but with intentionally silly, insincere lyrics. The label didn’t get the message, and fast-tracked it to a single release, much to the chagrin of the band.
Of course, minds were changed when it went into the top ten, showing that occasionally, the suits are right….
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