Elenore by The Turtles

Elenore...gee I think you're swell!

This song was always a guilty pleasure for me just because it's so damn corny! But now I'm not holding back because most of you know how much I love cheesy, corny, fluffy 60's pop ballads.

Many of The Turtles' hits were composed by other writers, but this one they wrote themselves. Released in 1968,"Elenore" was a dig at their record label, White Whale, who had been hounding them for another "Happy Together," which was The Turtles' big hit in 1967. They quickly threw together this cheesy song ("Gee I think you're swell") and it proceeded to be another smash despite their best effort at sabotage.

Howard Kaylan of The Turtles explained:

"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 to White Whale (their record company), 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."




PS: I love the guy in the band that plays the tamborine and looks like Jonah Hill with an afro!

Until next time,

Ms. January Black