The Turtles
Turtle Soup - White Whale 1969
Tracks: 1. Come Over / 2. House On The Hill / 3. She Always Leaves Me Laughing / 4. How You Loved Me / 5. Turn Between Tempatations / 6. Love In The City / 7. Bachelor Mother / 8. John And Julie / 9. Hot Little Hands / 10. Somewhere Friday Night / 11. Dance This Dance / 12. You Don't Have To Walk In The Rain / 13. Goodbye Surprise" / 14. Like it or Not* / 15. There You Sit Lonely* / 16. Can I Go on?* / 17. You Want to be a Woman* / 18. If We only had the Time* / 19. Dance This Dance (demo)* / 20. Come Over (demo)* / 21. Howe You Love me (demo)* / 22. Strange Girl* / 23. Marmendy Hill* / 24. Turtle Soup Radio Spot*
Comments:
"Turtle Soup" from 1969 was The Turtles' fifth and final album. During the years 1965-1968, the group had been a regular name on the singles charts, but by 1969, support for the group had begun to decline; the group's sound was already beginning to appear out-dated as new "progressive" tones had begun to emerge.
Perhaps in an attempt to secure renewed interest in the group, Ray Davies of the Kinks was hired to produce the album, and from an artistic point of view, this was a good move. It is by far their most solid album, and the group had hooked up with themselves and written 12 brand new original songs. There is a lot of Kinks sound in the production and also in several of the individual songs. The groups must have been inspired by The Kinks' latest album "The Village Green Preservation Society".
Unfortunately, sales were disappointing and the album did not even reach the top 100. The two otherwise fine singles "You Don't Have to Walk in the Rain" and "Love in the City" also disappointed, but did reach the top 100, though. "You Don't Have to Walk in the Rain" even close to the Top-50.
“Come Over” is solid boogie rocker, with shifting beats; mostly a fun number.
"House on the Hill" actually sounds like an unknown Ray Davies ballad; a really nice number.
"She Always Leaves Me Laughing" is a nice upbeat country-pop song. “How You Love Me” is well-constructed pop song with fine vocals and a fine break. "Torn Between Temptations" also has a lot of Kinks sound; however, also spiced with something very American in its country feel.
"In the City" sounds like a classic Turtles hit; very much in "Eleonore" vein. "Bachelor Man" is one of the more anonymous tracks - easy and upbeat. On the other hand, "John and Julie" is a really nice song - quiet, light and melodic. "Hot Little Hands" can almost be called a hard-rocker; a genre was not normal for the group. "Somewhere Friday Night" is a highlight; both melodic and laid-back; sounds like a potential hit. "Dance This Dance" is a quiet waltzing song – ok; but also a little unexciting.
The final track "You Don't Have to Walk in the Rain" is once again a classic Turtles single; had it been released a few years earlier it would probably have done better than the 51st place it achieved; nice pop number.
On the bonus CD you will find a large part of what could have been the group's sixth album. The title was supposed to be "Shell Shock" and judged on the first 6 tracks, it could well look like a worthy successor to "Turtle Soup". Two of the songs are written by Bonner / Gordon, who were behind some of the group's big hits; while the other four one were written by members of the group. The five subsequent tracks are demos; in nice sound! The first three are available in ready-made versions, while "Strange Girl" and "Marmandy Hill" probably never reached beyond a demo stage; a shame, because both numbers are pretty nice.
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