Turtles – She’s My Girl

I remember hearing this on an oldies channel I listened to in the 80s. I always liked the song but for the longest I never knew who played it. When I was a kid I had the original single of Eleanor and I loved it. I’ll never forget the cover art with a White Whale.

The band was formed by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan in the early sixties. They were saxophone players who did whatever was trendy in order to make a living as musicians. They were also in the choir together in high school. They started off as an instrumental band but with the Beatles and the British invasion, they soon switched to a rock and roll band with Howard Kaylan as lead singer. They hit with a Bob Dylan song called It Ain’t Me Babe released in 1965.

The Turtles had a large vocal sound. Kayblan was a good singer and when combined with Volman…it made a unique sound for the Turtles. After the Turtles broke up Volman and Kaylan would join Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention for a while and they would be known after that as Flo (Phlorescent Leech) and Eddie. The reason for the new names was because of their old Turtle contract…they were not allowed to use their real names. They adapted the nicknames of two of their roadies.

Some radio stations objected to themes expressed in the song and banned the song from their playlists and refused to play it…lead singer Howard Kaylan thought this was because of the song’s references to Morning Glories, a flower with hallucinogenic properties. The last of the song had the phrase “Gettin’ so high” so that probably didn’t go over well either.

This song was written by Alan Gordon and Garry Bonner. The song peaked at #5 in Canada and #14 on the Billboard 100 in 1967

This song was released as a stand-alone single in 1967. It would eventually make it onto multiple Turtles compilations and greatest hits LPs and CDs.

Every time I do a post on The Turtles…I recommend watching their documentary… one of the most entertaining docs I’ve ever seen. If you have watched it…what do you think?

She’s My Girl

Mornin’, mornin’ glory
If you’d like to know where was I last night
Well, I saw a girl with a boy in her eye
And she’s so outta sight

She’s my girl
And that’s where I was last night
Off in a dream

She’s my girl
I took her away last night
Went for a ride
Off in the sky, that’s where I was last night

I just come back to tell ya
There’s a little bit of heaven underneath the apple tree
And every time I see you with that smile upon your face
There’s a little bit there for me

And she’s my girl
And that’s where I was last night
Went for a ride

She’s my girl
I took her away last night
We went for a ride
My girl
And that’s where I was last night
Off in the sky

She’s my girl
I took her away last night
Off in the sky
My girl
And that’s where I was last night
Gettin’ so high
Off in the sky, that’s where I was last night

My girl
I took her away last night
We went for a ride
My girl
And that’s where I was last night
Gettin’ so high
My girl
I took her away last night
Off in the sky
My girl
And that’s where I was last night
Gettin’ so high

…

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

24 thoughts on “Turtles – She’s My Girl”

  1. Whoa, once again you make me reach back for a song that I’d all but forgotten about! Yo mentioned that doc before and I really must watch it. I loved those Flo and Eddie clips you provided awhile back. The Turtles really did have a great sound.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. They tell the story near the end on how they went through 8 different managers. It’s so clever what they did to the last one…which was the first one also.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  2. Cool! I didn’t know “My Girl”. Every time I listen to The Turtles, I’m blown away by their harmony singing. They also really had a great sense of melody.

    Inevitably, I also think of the earworm “Happy Together”, one of the best feelgood songs I know. It will probably be stuck in my head now for the rest of the day but, hey, you could do a lot worse! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I noticed last night that Graham also had the Turtles.
      They did have a lot of songs like Eleanor and Happy Together that will stick in your head.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. They were smart also…a couple years or maybe a little more after they broke up…they bought all of their masters back from their record company White Whale for little or nothing….in the 80s and after they cleaned up.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. It makes a nice change from the record company getting the profits. The guys flipped the script there, or… turned Turtle. (Groan…) Good song I’d forgotten long ago and the vocals are great
        PS WP is declining to play with my comments at random with me today.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. They did flip the script…and it was great to see.
        Yes I’ve seen that on the comments as well. On some I’ve had to sign in again.

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Flo & Eddy always seemed happy together…I don’t think I’ve heard this one before. Not a bad tune, I’m surprised as I find how big the Turtles were for a few years.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Dave…if you ever get a chance…watch the documentary on them on youtube…it is worth it. I watched it before I became a fan…it’s that good.

      Like

      Reply

  10. I watched the doc when you recommended it before. Fascinating! I never saw them with Zappa, but I did see them tour as Flo and Eddie. I can’t help but admire a band that gets away with singing “Elenore, gee I think you’re swell and you really do me well. You’re my pride and joy, etcetera.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I loved the story at the end where they talked about going through their 8 managers and how they got rid of the final manager….who was also the first.
      On Elenore… I totally agree.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a comment