The Turtles (as the Fabulous Dawgs) – Buzz Saw
The Turtles/Fabulous Dawgs
Listen/Download The Turtles – Buzz Saw
Greetings all
Welcome to another waxy week here at the intersection of sixteen funky corners.
The 45 I bring you today is an old. OLD favorite of mine, banging around in my ears since I was a teenager.
The day I grabbed myself a copy of ‘The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands’ at the old Englishtown Auction Sales (the needlessly fancy name for a dirthole full of dented, previously ownd merch) was a momentous one indeed.
If memory serves, I grabbed the record because it included ‘You Showed Me’ and ‘Elenore’, but when I got it home and gave it a spin, I arched an eyebrow and started dropping and re-dropping the needle all over the record.
The conceit of the record was that the Turtles had taken on the guises of several different groups, performing in several different styles, one of which was the Fabulous Dawgs.
The song they did was the brain bending ‘Buzz Saw’.
Years later, when the old Hammond organ monkey had climbed up and taken residence on my back, ‘Buzz Saw’ found a place of honor in my crates.
To say that ‘Buzz Saw’ is an anomaly in the Turtles oeuvre would be an understatement.
A band best known for jangly folk rock and pure pop, the Turtles made some of the finest sounds along those lines in 1960s LA.
‘Buzz Saw’, a deadly cross between Hammond grease and stripper pole grind is the kind of record you whip out when you want to blow somebody’s mind (like some of the garage stuff on the first Grateful Dead album).
That they released it as the B-side to the exceedingly placid ‘You Showed Me’ illustrates a twisted sense of humor that Flo and Eddie would display going forward.
One can only imagine how many synapses were fried trying to reconcile ‘Buzz Saw’ with ‘Happy Together’, some happily, some maybe not so much.
I have always wondered who played the organ on this track.
The references I’ve been able to locate with session details seem to indicate that the only people listed playing keyboards on the album were members of the Turtles, i.e. Howard Kaylan, Al Nichol and replacement drummer John Seiter (who had come from Spanky and Our Gang). I’d be pleasantly surprised to discover that it was one of those guys playing the organ on ‘Buzz Saw’, since it sounds to me like someone with more than a casual proficiency with the instrument (like someone outside the band).
If any of you know for sure who’s playing, please let me know.
Until then, I suggest that you get good and hammered and put ‘Buzz Saw’ on repeat until you pass out.
See you on Wednesday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).
Themocracy
I have the LP filed, keep meaning to grab this on 45, never get around to it though ha ha.
Lee Michaels on organ. He was previously in the Sentinals with John Barbata of the Turtles, so there’s a connection. Listen to his song “Would You Be Happy” for proof.