Comments:

"Wooden Head" as the album was to be called when released after the group's dissolution in 1970, consists of songs mainly recorded in 1965-66 when the group was still a sextet. Most of the songs are based on the aforementioned pop folk tradition and the majority of the songs are written by various group members. The group would continue throughout their career writing songs and their final album "Turtle Soup" consisted exclusively of their own compositions. As mentioned, "Wooden Head" consists of 11-12 fine recordings - there is a slight difference in which songs are included. On some editions, "Wanderin 'Kind", which comes from the group's debut album, has been replaced by "Grim Reaper of Love" and "Is it Any Wonder" - is a nice exchange in fact. Apart from the old Vera Lynn song "We'll Meet Again" and partly the slightly uninteresting "Wanderin 'Kind", these are high quality songs, well-sounding even though a few of them were never completely finished. "I Can't Stop" is a fine group composition that was later recorded by English The Roulettes - a fine catchy pop number.

Also catchy is the Kaylan / Garfield song "She'll Comer Back", which is a good mix of folk and pop. Folk-pop is also bassist Chuck Portz’ '"Get Away" - again a very catchy song.

One of the less prominent songs is Peter & Gordon's "Wrong From the Start" – which is upbeat, but still folkish. A very nice track is PF Sloan and Steve Barris' "I Get Out of Breath" – the song probably could have been a big hit for the group; incomprehensible that this fine recording was kept unreleased for four years. Guitarist Al Nichols' "On a Summer's Day" is a nice melancholy folk ballad. Lead singer Howard Kaylan wrote "Come Back" which yet another nice upbeat pop song. Portz and Nichol co-wrote "Say Girl" - easy and catchy. The melodic "Tie Me Down" sounds like a P.F. Sloan sang, but it was actually written by David Gates. "Grim Reaper of Love" was perhaps a bit too experimental for a single, and one of the few that flopped for the group. "Is it Any Wonder" is another great Sloan / Berri song that also sounds like an overlooked potential hit-single.

On deluxe versions of "Wooden Head" there are very nice bonus songs like "You Baby" (big hit), "So Goes Love" (a very nice Goffin / King song), "Making My Mind Up" (another a flop- single), "Let Me Be" (a P.F. Sloan song that was a nice hit), "It Ain't Me Babe" the group’s breakthrough song), "Can I Get to Know You Better" (a Sloan / Barri song that became a minor hit), "Outside Chance" (a fine garage-rock number written by Warren Zevon). Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon, who later wrote hits such as "Happy Together" and "She'd Rather Be With Me", also wrote "You Know What I Mean" and "Cat in the Window" for the group. Both songs are very nice and can be found as bonus tracks for "Wooden Head"; the former actually was a big hit for the group while the latter was only released after the group's dissolution.

So if you only want to have a single Turtles CD in your collection, I would clearly suggest that you choose the deluxe version of "Wooden Head"; simply because it is a collection of high quality songs where you can enjoy the group's fine sound - not least vocally.