My father-in-law gave me his vinyl collection a couple years back — the boxes that weren’t ruined when the Susquehanna River flooded and filled their basement when my wife was a kid. He gave me lots of really great stuff, so I’m still making my way through it all. I put sticky notes on the albums I wasn’t familiar with so I’d have a visual reminder to check them out at some point, and one I recently pulled the sticky off of is The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands.
Steady Sounds posted a picture of a patron holding it a little while back, and when I went in shortly thereafter, I saw the album in the used section and asked Marty what he thought of it. He said that it really was made to sound like a battle of the bands, with varied tracks and styles. I gave my father-in-law’s copy a spin this week and enjoyed the whole thing, but it was the last track, “Earth Anthem,” that stopped me. Literally — I stopped what I was doing (I think I was folding laundry), went over to the turntable and played it again. Then I played it again. It didn’t just feel like a different group — it felt like it was from a different time. Like something recent that was supposed to sound like something old, if that makes any sense.
Check it out below. It’s simple, but it packs quite a punch, I think.
The Turtles — “Earth Anthem” [Spotify/iTunes]
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Nice song. I was a pretty big Turtles fan back in the day. Never heard this one before. Thanks.
Much better to my ears all these years later than the typical 60’s pop stuff The Turtles are known for. In fact, I may seek out some Turtles stuff now thanks to your post, so thanks.