The Turtles Happy Together

The Turtles are the sound of early rock TOP 40 radio. They also ooze ultra rock cool. There aren't many who haven't heard their "So Happy Together." I popped this 'best of' collection into the player and the whole lot of us were singing along. That included a 20 year old (2004). Now that says something about longevity and recognizeability. So..we don't have to preach to the choir where The Turtles are concerned. We all know 'em; we all love 'em.

This latest collection for The Turtles hails from Shout! Factory and contains enough music to satisfy the curious and the fan. It doesn't go as in-depth as Rhino's 2002 Turtle Anthology, which spans 2 CDs worth of songs, some 50 total in all but it a gracious set nevertheless.

This set contains 14 remastered songs that sound pretty good. The stereo separations are sharp with a distinctly apparent depth. Remember that many of these songs were originally mono (as found on the Rhino set) as many were back in the early 60s. But the hits are here. This 'best of' kicks off with everyone's favourite, "Happy Together", immediately followed by "She'd Rather Be With Me", meeting up with other Top 40 White Whale singles in back and forth chronological fashion. The album has "Elenore", "You Showed Me" ( a McGuinn and an unlikely Turtles hit), and a platter full of more or less popular Turtles hits.

The set contains a 20-page full colour booklet that provides plenty of photos, an essay by David Wild who writes about The Turtles from a fan's perspective, isolated notes by Volman and Kaylan on all of the tunes found on this CD, and detailed song information such as year of release, catalog number, chart placement, and writer. Best of all, this collection is available at a mid-line price, which means you won't have to pay an arm and a leg for a helluva nice package such as this is.

It's great to see the Turtles get such attention as their music is as historically important as any from that era. Important because their songs are the very encapsulation of that era like other Top 40 bands that share the same period (Dave Clark 5, Buckinghams). But they also were great fun to listen to. If you have found yourself without a decent collection of Turtles hits, then you'll find satisfaction in this latest issue.