"Elenore"is a 1968 song bythe Turtles,originally included onThe Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands.Although written byHoward Kaylan,its writing was co-credited to all five members of the band: Kaylan,Mark Volman,Al Nichol,Jim Pons,andJohn Barbata.The song was written as asatireof their biggestpophit"Happy Together."

"Elenore"
SinglebyThe Turtles
from the albumThe Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands
B-side"Surfer Dan"
ReleasedSeptember 1968
GenrePop rock[1]
Length2:31
LabelWhite Whale
Songwriter(s)Howard Kaylan,Mark Volman,Al Nichol,Jim Pons,John Barbata
Producer(s)Chip Douglas
The Turtlessingles chronology
"The Story of Rock and Roll"
(1968)
"Elenore"
(1968)
"You Showed Me"
(1969)

Background

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By 1968,the Turtleshad had a number of successful pop records on theWhite Whalelabel,includingBob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe,""Happy Together,"and"She'd Rather Be with Me,"the latter two written by Gary Bonner andAlan Gordon.The band members wanted to diversify their musical output (in parallel with more innovative musical groups of the time) and to record their own material. However, their record company was reluctant to allow them to do so.[2]

As a demonstration of their musical versatility, the Turtles recorded the album...the Battle of the Bands,which featured performances in a wide variety of different musical styles.[3]The band recorded "Elenore" as aparodyof the type of happy-go-lucky pop songs they themselves had been performing, but with deliberately clichéd and slapdash lyrics such as: "Your looks intoxicate me / Even though your folks hate me / There's no one like you, Elenore, really"; and "Elenore, gee, I think you're swell / And you really do me well / You're my pride and joy, et cetera..."[4]

The original lyrics used the phrase "Fab and Gear", which got replaced by the phrase "Pride and Joy".

This was one of the first pop songs to use theMoog synthesizer,which is heard during the last half of the second verse, featuring Kaylan's double voiced track plus Volman's harmonic supporting track.

Howard Kaylan later said:

Elenore was a parody of "Happy Together." It was never intended to be a straight-forward song. It was meant as an anti-love letter toWhite Whale [Records],who were constantly on our backs to bring them another "Happy Together." So I gave them a very skewed version. Not only with the chords changed, but with all these bizarre words. It was my feeling that they would listen to how strange and stupid the song was and leave us alone. But they didn't get the joke. They thought it sounded good. Truthfully, though, the production on "Elenore" WAS so damn good. Lyrically or not, the sound of the thing was so positive that it worked. It certainly surprised me.[5]

According to his autobiographyShell Shocked,Kaylan stated that the Turtles had agreed that any song written by one or more members would be credited to the entire group. He added that he regretted this arrangement when "Elenore" became a hit. Describing the song in liner notes to the 1974 compilationHappy Together Again,Kaylan claimed to have written the song in an hour after locking himself in a hotel room.[6]In his 2013 autobiography, he wrote that the time of composition was 30 minutes.[7]

Release

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The song was produced byChip Douglasand released as a single (White Whale 276).Cash Boxcalled it a "delightful turn to the softer rock style," saying it is "a powerful vocal stew blending attractively over a medium-slow rhythm track."[8]

"Elenore" reached No. 6 on theBillboardHot 100[9]and also reached # 7 on theUK Singles Chart,[10]# 4 in Canada, # 8 in Australia, and# 1 in New Zealand.[11]It has since been featured on many anthologies and as part of the soundtrack ofThe Boat That Rocked.[12]

Chart performance

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Cover versions

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References

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  1. ^Unterberger, Richie.Various Artists -Chartbusters USA, Vol. 2(2002) ReviewatAllMusic.Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  2. ^John Bush."The Turtles | Biography & History".AllMusic.RetrievedOctober 1,2016.
  3. ^"The Turtles" Present the Battle of the Bands "".RISING STORM.June 12, 2008.RetrievedJanuary 11,2016.
  4. ^"THE TURTLES".Shsu.edu.RetrievedJanuary 11,2016.
  5. ^Liner notes for The Turtles' anthologySolid Zinc
  6. ^Liner notes for the Turtles' anthologyHappy Together Again(Sire, 1974)
  7. ^Google Books
  8. ^"CashBox Record Reviews"(PDF).Cash Box.September 7, 1968. p. 20.RetrievedJanuary 12,2022.
  9. ^abWhitburn, Joel (2003).Top Pop Singles 1955-2002(1st ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p.727.ISBN0-89820-155-1.
  10. ^abBetts, Graham (2004).Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004(1st ed.). London: Collins. p. 802.ISBN0-00-717931-6.
  11. ^ab"Song artist 525 - The Turtles".Tsort.info.RetrievedJanuary 11,2016.
  12. ^Stephen Thomas Erlewine(March 30, 2009)."The Boat That Rocked [Movie Soundtrack] - Original Soundtrack | Songs, Reviews, Credits".AllMusic.RetrievedOctober 1,2016.
  13. ^"Top 100 1968-11-09".Cashbox Magazine.Archived fromthe originalon 2012-09-30.RetrievedDecember 19,2014.
  14. ^"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada".Collectionscanada.gc.ca.Archived fromthe originalon March 14, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 11,2016.
  15. ^"The Irish Charts – Search Results – Eleanor ".Irish Singles Chart.Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  16. ^"SA Charts 1965–March 1989".RetrievedSeptember 5,2018.
  17. ^"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada".Collectionscanada.gc.ca.RetrievedOctober 1,2016.
  18. ^"Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978".Musicoutfitters.RetrievedJanuary 11,2016.
  19. ^"Top 100 Year End Charts: 1968".Cashbox Magazine.Archived fromthe originalon August 14, 2012.RetrievedMay 24,2016.
  20. ^Adam Bregman."Blow in the Wind".AllMusic.RetrievedJanuary 11,2016.
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