White Whale Records was an American independent record label, founded in 1965 by Ted Feigin and Lee Lasseff in Los Angeles, California, and probably best known as the record label of The Turtles and a handful of one-hit wonder bands.
White Whale, in addition to releasing almost all of The Turtles' discography, also released Nino Tempo & April Stevens's single "All Strung Out (On You)", a hit single by Rene y Rene titled "Lo Mucho Que Ti Quiero", an album by Liz Damon's Orient Express, and the only album by Texas band The Clique. Warren Zevon was a staff songwriter for the label, and they issued some of his earliest recordings (as part of the duo Lyme & Cybele). Dobie Gray also recorded for the label, recording the first chart version of "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," which later became a much bigger hit for Lynn Anderson.
Three compilations of singles from the label have been released on compact disc: Happy Together: The Very Best of White Whale Records, and two volumes of the Phantom Jukebox series, on Rev-Ola records.
When White Whale signed the Turtles, they were known as "The Crossfires"; a surf music band looking to change their style, as surf music was fading. The label encouraged a name change to "The Tyrtles", in the manner of The Beatles and The Byrds. The band accepted the new name, but not the variant spelling. Relations between the label and the band were not always smooth, with White Whale pressuring the band for "more hits", then for singers Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman to fire the rest of the group, and work instead with hired musicians, in order to save money. Kaylan wrote the song "Elenore" as a humorous take on "Happy Together" (the only #1 hit for both the group and the White Whale label), which ironically became a hit itself. He and Volman also democratized the group, insisting everyone share in the writing and vocal duties, despite what the label wanted, and recorded a concept album, The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands (on which "Elenore" was featured).
When the Turtles disbanded in the early 1970s, White Whale lost their big moneymaker; in retaliation, and to prevent Kaylan and Volman from continuing their musical careers, White Whale insisted they held the rights to not only the Turtles' name and back catalog, but Kaylan and Volman's individual given names. Kaylan and Volman responded by moving into session work and continuing under a pseudonym, Flo and Eddie; White Whale Records, on the other hand, went out of business not long after. The label's final releases were the single "1900 Yesterday" by Liz Damon's Orient Express and a self-titled album by the same group; although both charted (the single reaching a respectable #33), it wasn't enough to keep the company going. White Whale's assets were sold at auction in 1974, at which point Kaylan and Volman won the rights to the Turtles' master recordings. Kaylan and Volman would not earn the rights to their own names (or the Turtles') again until 1983.
Feigin and Lasseff folded White Whale Records in 1971 and created a new label called Anthem Records (not to be confused with the later Canadian label of the same name.) Anthem was initially distributed in the United States by United Artists. Two White Whale acts were transferred to Anthem (Liz Damon's Orient Express and The Dillards), and they are the only artists to have albums issued on the label. The label also provided US distribution for a single by Freddie Mercury under the alias "Larry Lurex". One of Anthem's last signings was the duo of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, whose Buckingham Nicks LP was released via Polydor in 1973. (Polydor issued several albums with credits to "Anthem Record Productions" after the label lost distribution with United Artists the previous year.) Anthem Records was officially dissolved that same year.
While Flo & Eddie Inc (distributed by Manifesto Records) controls The Turtles' catalog [1] the rest of the White Whale catalog is currently controlled by Concord Music's Craft Recordings under Varese Sarabande. [2] Since the 1990s, several CD reissues and compilations of White Whale material have been released. [3]
Catalog # | Artist | Title | Peak position | Peak date |
---|---|---|---|---|
White Whale WWS-7111 | Turtles, The | It Ain't Me Babe | 98 | 10/23/1965 |
White Whale WWS-7114 | Turtles, The | Happy Together | 25 | 4/29/1967 |
White Whale WWS-7115 | Turtles, The | Golden Hits | 7 | 11/18/1967 |
White Whale WWS-7118 | Turtles, The | The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands | 128 | 11/16/1968 |
White Whale WWS-7119 | Rene and Rene | Lo Mucho Que Te Quiero | 129 | 1/11/1969 |
White Whale WWS-7124 | Turtles, The | Turtle Soup | 117 | 11/1/1969 |
White Whale WWS-7126 | Clique, The | Clique, The | 177 | 1/17/1970 |
White Whale WWS-7127 | Turtles, The | More Golden Hits | 146 | 4/11/1970 |
White Whale/Makaha MS-5003 | Liz Damon's Orient Express | Liz Damon's Orient Express | 190 | 3/6/1971 |
Catalog # | Artist | Title | Peak position | Peak date |
---|---|---|---|---|
White Whale 222 | Turtles, The | "It Ain't Me Babe" | 8 | 9/18/1965 |
White Whale 224 | Turtles, The | "Let Me Be" | 29 | 11/27/1965 |
White Whale 227 | Turtles, The | "You Baby" | 20 | 3/26/1966 |
White Whale 228 | Lyme and Cybelle | "Follow Me" | 65 | 4/16/1966 |
White Whale 231 | Turtles, The | "Grim Reaper of Love" | 81 | 6/25/1966 |
White Whale 236 | Nino Tempo and April Stevens | "All Strung Out" | 26 | 10/22/1966 |
White Whale 238 | Turtles, The | "Can I Get to Know You Better" | 89 | 11/26/1966 |
White Whale 239 | John's Children | "Smashed! Blocked!" | 102 | 12/31/1966 |
White Whale 241 | Tempo, Nino, & April Stevens | "You'll Be Needing Me Baby" | 133 | 1/28/1967 |
White Whale 244 | Turtles, The | "Happy Together" | 1 | 3/25/1967 |
White Whale 246 | Tempo, Nino, & April Stevens | "My Old Flame" | 101 | 4/29/1967 |
White Whale 249 | Turtles, The | "She'd Rather Be with Me" | 3 | 6/17/1967 |
White Whale 252 | Nino Tempo and April Stevens | "I Can't Go On Livin' Baby Without You" | 86 | 7/29/1967 |
White Whale 254 | Turtles, The | "You Know What I Mean" | 12 | 9/30/1967 |
White Whale 257 | Committee, The | "California My Way" | 110 | 10/28/1967 |
White Whale 260 | Turtles, The | "She's My Girl" | 14 | 12/23/1967 |
White Whale 264 | Turtles, The | "Sound Asleep" | 57 | 3/30/1968 |
White Whale 268 | Tempo, Nino, & April Stevens | "Let It Be Me" | 127 | 5/25/1968 |
White Whale 273 | Turtles, The | "The Story of Rock and Roll" | 48 | 7/13/1968 |
White Whale 275 | Professor Morrison's Lollipop | "You Got the Love" | 88 | 10/5/1968 |
White Whale 276 | Turtles, The | "Elenore" | 6 | 11/2/1968 |
White Whale 287 | Rene & Rene | "Lo Mucho Que Te Quiero (The More I Love You)" | 14 | 1/4/1969 |
White Whale 289 | Malibu's, The | "A Broken Man" | 121 | 2/8/1969 |
White Whale 292 | Turtles, The | "You Showed Me" | 6 | 3/1/1969 |
White Whale 298 | Rene & Rene | "Las Costas" | 128 | 3/22/1969 |
White Whale 300 | Gray, Dobie | "Rose Garden" | 119 | 5/31/1969 |
White Whale 308 | Turtles, The | "You Don't Have to Walk in the Rain" | 51 | 7/12/1969 |
White Whale 323 | Clique, The | "Sugar on Sunday" | 22 | 10/18/1969 |
White Whale 326 | Turtles, The | "Love in the City" | 91 | 10/18/1969 |
White Whale 333 | Clique, The | "I'll Hold Out My Hand" | 45 | 12/13/1969 |
White Whale 334 | Turtles, The | "Lady-O" | 78 | 12/20/1969 |
White Whale 338 | Clique, The | "Sparkle and Shine" | 100 | 2/28/1970 |
White Whale 353 | Feather | "Friends" | 79 | 6/20/1970 |
White Whale 355 | Turtles, The | "Eve of Destruction" | 100 | 6/27/1970 |
White Whale 360 | Reivers, The | "Revolution in My Soul" | 112 | 9/19/1970 |
White Whale 364 | Turtles, The | "Me About You" | 105 | 11/14/1970 |
White Whale 368 | Liz Damon's Orient Express | "1900 Yesterday" | 33 | 2/13/1971 |
The Turtles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The band achieved several Top 40 hits throughout the latter half of the 1960s, including "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "You Baby" (1966), "Happy Together" (1967), "She'd Rather Be with Me" (1967), "Elenore" (1968), and "You Showed Me" (1969).
"Happy Together" is a song written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon and recorded by American rock band the Turtles. It was released as a single, backed with (b/w) "Like the Seasons", in January 1967, and peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's first and only chart-topper there. It also reached the top 20 in various countries, including number 2 in Canada and number 12 in the UK. It was later included on the Turtles' third studio album Happy Together (1967).
Flo & Eddie is a comedy rock duo consisting of Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (Eddie).
Manifesto Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California that has released records by Dead Kennedys, Tim Buckley, Cinerama, Concrete Blonde, Cranes, The Czars, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Lilys, The Rugburns, Sing-Sing, Ken Stringfellow, Tom Waits, and The Wedding Present.
Howard Kaylan is an American retired musician and songwriter, who was a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, with bandmate and friend Mark Volman, a member of the 1970s rock duo Flo & Eddie, where he used the pseudonym Eddie. He also was a member of Frank Zappa's band, The Mothers of Invention.
Mark Randall Volman is an American vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with his bandmate and friend Howard Kaylan, a member of the 1970s rock duo Flo & Eddie, where he used the pseudonym Flo. Volman also became a stand-out figure upon joining Frank Zappa's band, The Mothers of Invention.
Douglas Farthing Hatlelid, better known as Chip Douglas, is an American songwriter, musician, and record producer, whose most famous work was during the 1960s. He was the bassist of the Turtles for a short period of time and the producer of some of the Monkees biggest hits, including "Daydream Believer" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday".
Buckingham Nicks is the only studio album by the duo of American rock guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks, both of whom later joined Fleetwood Mac. Produced by Keith Olsen, the album was released in September 1973 by Polydor Records.
Moving Targets is a 1976 album by Flo & Eddie. Illegal, Immoral and Fattening and Moving Targets were reissued on a single compact disc in 2007 by Acadia Records.
Rock Steady with Flo & Eddie, also known as Prince Flo & Jah Edward I, is the fifth studio album by Flo & Eddie. Released in 1981, the album consists of rocksteady and reggae music. The album was recorded at Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, Jamaica under the production of Errol Brown, frontman for the British soul band Hot Chocolate.
Happy Together is the third studio album by the American rock band the Turtles. It was released in April 1967 on White Whale Records.
You Baby is the second studio album by the American rock band the Turtles. It was released in 1966 on the White Whale Records label. For the album, the group composed much more original material.
Liz Damon's Orient Express was an American soft rock band from Hawaii, featuring lead singer Liz Damon, two female backup singers and a rotating backup band. The name apparently derived from the original backup band being entirely Asian. Their only song to make the Top 40 was "1900 Yesterday", which made it to No. 33 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and No. 15 on the Canadian charts in early 1971. Most impressively, it peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Easy Listening survey.
Turtle Soup is the fifth and final studio album by the American rock band the Turtles. It was released in 1969 on the White Whale Records label. The album was produced by Ray Davies of the Kinks – the first time he produced another act's record. A 1993 Repertoire Records CD-issue included 8 bonus tracks. A 1996 Sundazed Records reissue included two bonus tracks.
The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands is the fourth studio album released by the American rock band the Turtles. Produced by Chip Douglas, it was released in November 1968 by White Whale Records. It includes John Barbata's final recorded performances with the band; he left shortly after its release to join Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Barbata's eventual replacement, former Spanky and Our Gang drummer John Seiter, also contributed to the album. Some issues of the album were retitled Elenore.
"Elenore" is a 1968 song by the Turtles, originally included on The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands. Although written by Howard Kaylan, its writing was co-credited to all five members of the band: Kaylan, Mark Volman, Al Nichol, Jim Pons, and John Barbata. The song was written as a satire of their biggest pop hit "Happy Together."
More Golden Hits is a 1970 greatest hits album by American rock band the Turtles. It was released on White Whale Records.
The Turtles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965, whose original lineup consisted of Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, Al Nichol, Chuck Portz, Jim Tucker and Don Murray. Originating from an earlier surf band called the Crossfires, the Turtles first achieved success with a sound that fused folk music with rock and roll, but would achieve greater success with pop music, scoring their biggest and best-known hit in 1967 with the song "Happy Together". They charted several other top 40 hits, including "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "You Baby" (1966), "She'd Rather Be With Me" (1967), "Elenore" (1968) and "You Showed Me" (1969). Worldwide, The Turtles released 5 studio albums, 20 compilation albums, 7 extended plays and 26 singles.
"She's My Girl" is a 1967 song and single from the Turtles. It was released on the White Whale record label and reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the same year. It was later released as a bonus track on the album, Happy Together by Sundazed Records in 1994.
"Christmas Is My Time of Year" is a Christmas single written by Howard Kaylan and Chip Douglas, both members of the Turtles.