The Turtles were one of those male vocal groups the US seemed to produce so easily in the mid-60s. The Association and The Cowsills also spring to mind along with The Happenings. The Beach Boys, however, were always a cut above the rest.
The Turtles’ name had an unfortunate resonance with the US label they signed for, White Whale, and they feared they might be thought of as a novelty group as a result. There were no such problems in the UK on London American.
The single of Happy Together seemed to hang about the lower reaches of the British charts for weeks before finally climbing into the top twenty, during which time I bought it, but it’s one of those which has had an extensive after-life, unlike its successors She’d Rather Be With Me and Elenore – both bigger hits in the UK (or at least higher chart placings.)
This is an odd mixture of psychedelia and that USian vocal sound exemplified by The Association. The guitar intro is reminiscent of Paperback Writer and Pleasant Valley Sunday.
Edited to add: a cleaner sounding version than in the clip below is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DcN39Pc7uQ but I’ve also kept the original so that the following comments make sense.
Despite the hippy gear they still managed to look very USian and clean cut. But that keyboard player was so affected.
From the group’s name, Strawberry Alarm Clock, this was an attempt to surf the psychedelia bandwagon but in that it was somewhat lame. It does, though, have that 1960s US vocal group sound I, ahem, associate with The Association and The Turtles with a touch of psychedelia added in.
The Beach Boys weren’t the only US group to prioritise harmony. Others to do so included The Turtles and this band, The Association whose songs Windy, Cherish and Never My Love may be more familiar as they actually troubled the lower reaches of the UK charts.
There is a bizarre (and failed) attempt at humour in the preface to this clip. It was The Smothers Brothers Show, though.
A cleaner sound – though not the original version – is available here. Edited to add; well it was available.
