The Turtles, Flo and Eddie and The Crossfires

 

Once upon a time, there was a high school band called "The Nightriders" with Mark Volman, Don Murray and Dale Walton. Like most high school, garage bands, they went through changes in members. In 1963, they changed the band name to The Crossfires and began performing guitar-driven surf instrumentals.  The band now included other Los Angeles high school students - Howard Kaplan (changed in 1965 to Kaylan), Al Nichol, and Chuck Portz. The Crossfires as a surf-rock group was active from 1963 to 1965.

When the rock and folk-rock sound became the most popular genres, they rebranded themselves as a folk-rock group under the name The Tyrtles. The stylized misspelling follows that of The Byrds and The Beatles but soon opted to correct the spelling.

Kaylan and Volman dropped the saxophones and became the band's vocalists with Kaylan as lead singer, and one of the keyboardists. Meanwhile, Volman began to harmonize with Kaylan's lead and became the third guitarist and percussionist in what was now a sextet.

They were now The Turtles on White Whale records. Their breakthrough hit was a cover of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" which reached the Billboard Top Ten in the late summer of 1965.

Their biggest hit is "Happy Together" which knocked the Beatles' "Penny Lane" out of number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1967. It was The Turtles' only #1 single and it remained there for three weeks.

In 1968, they released a concept album called The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands. They recorded 11 songs in 11 different styles and pretended to be 11 different bands with names like "Nature's Children" and "The Fabulous Dawgs." They got two hits from the album:  "Elenore" and "You Showed Me" which h both made it into the top 10.

Their 1969 single "You Showed Me" (written by Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds) was their last top 10 single.

The Turtles released a second compilation album, More Golden Hits, and a B-sides and rarities album, Wooden Head in 1970 and disbanded.

Kaylan and Volman made an unlikely move and joined the Mothers of Invention. They used the name The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie. Their contract with White Whale Records prohibited them from using the name The Turtles or even their own names in billings! Eventually, the name was shortened to Flo & Eddie. They recorded with the Mothers, appeared in Zappa's film 200 Motels in 1971, and later released records on their own.

Starting in 2010, the Turtles Featuring Flo & Eddie toured throughout the United States as part of the "Happy Together" tour that has continued and has included other acts from the 60s and 70s such as Gary Puckett, Mitch Ryder, Mark Lindsay, Mark Farner, Gary Lewis, Micky Dolenz, the Buckinghams, the Cowsills, the Grass Roots, and the Association.

Two box sets, The Complete Original Album Collection and All the Singles.