The Turtles' top 10 songs, ranked

10 February 2026, 11:00

By Mayer Nissim

The best songs by the California psychedelic rockers.

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The Turtles only had a trio of charting singles over here, but they were an absolutely massive prospect in their native US.

The Los Angeles band scored over a dozen hits Stateside and developed from a folk group into a shining light of the psychedelic pop movement.

The Turtles split in 1970, and while original members Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman reformed the group in 1983, they declined the opportunity to release any new material in their later incarnations

So our top ten of The Turtles comes from their original half-decade at the top.

Read on to relive the best of the California rockers.

Grim Reaper Of Love

"Grim Reaper Of Love" - The Turtles, 1966

After a few hits written by outside parties, The Turtles proved they could do it all themselves with their fourth single 'Grim Reaper of Love', written by lead guitarist Al Nichol and bassist Chuck Portz
A heavy slice of psyche, it only got to 81 in the charts but over the years has become one of the group's best known songs.
Let Me Be

Let Me Be Turtles RESTORED Video FULL SONG ReEdit TRUE 1965 STEREO HiQ Hybrid JARichardsFilm

After coming out the tracks with a Bob Dylan cover, their follow up was written by PF Sloan.
Apparently they turned down future Barry McGuire number one 'Eve of Destruction' ("You just couldn't make a statement like that and ever work again," said Howard Kaylan) but teenage angst-hem 'Let Me Be' did the business.
The anti-conformity number got the group to number 29 and proved their debut hit was no fluke.
You Baby

You Baby The Turtles TRUE 1966 Stereo HiQ Hybrid JARichardsFilm

Another PF Sloan number, this one written with Steve Barri and actually recorded first by The Vogues, but their version didn't emerge until the mid-1990s.
Instead it was The Turtles who took the chirpy love song all the way to number 20 as part of 12 weeks on the charts.
It Ain't Me Babe

The Turtles - It Ain't Me Babe (Shindig - Sep 30, 1965)

Bob Dylan was writing so much incredible music in the 1960s that plenty of other artists were happy to build up their careers with quick covers of his songs (The Byrds were the ultimate example).
After The Crossfires graduated from high school, they were snaffled by White Whale Records who renamed them The Turtles and urged them to dabble in Dylan's folk rock world, and they took on the influence of to score a debut top ten hit.
You Know What I Mean

Turtles - You Know What I Mean (1967)

Nothing to do with Oasis's smash 'D'You Know What I Mean' 30 years later, of course.
Written by the prolific Alan Gordon with his regular partner Garry Bonner, this twangy, Byrdsy/Kinksy romp was a number 12 hit on the main Billboard charts.
You Showed Me

The Turtles, You Showed Me Live

Talking of The Byrds, 'You Showed Me' was actually written by Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn and recorded by their band in 1964.
However, their version didn't get released until 1969's Preflyte compilation, and it was The Turtles who released it as a single first, in 1968, with the group taking their string-heavy version to number six in the charts.
She's My Girl

The Turtles "She's My Girl" on The Ed Sullivan Show

The Turtles had a reputation for pretty straightforward happy clappy folk and psychedelic rock, but this Gordon/Bonner number was a little weirder.
But it was no less catchy for its jazzy vibes and odd time signature, and despite some radio stations apparently banning the song for its perceived druggy references, it soared to number 14 and got performed on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Elenore

NEW * Elenore - The Turtles {Stereo}

Not just a number six hit in the US, 'Elenore' earned the band a number 7 in the UK, too, and it's a remarkable song for more than that reason.
Most of the band's hits were written for them by others, but 'Elenore' was credited to the whole band (Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, Al Nichol, Jim Pons and John Barbata), though was apparently written by Kaylan himself.
''Elenore' was a parody of 'Happy Together'," Kaylan explained, as their record label kept on badgering them for a carbon copy of their smash.
"I gave them a very skewed version," he added. "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."
He admitted that despite the mickey-taking lyrics, the sound of the song was so giddy and positive that it still worked on its own terms.
She'd Rather Be With Me

The Turtles "She'd Rather Be With Me" on The Ed Sullivan Show

This Gordon/Bonner follow-up to 'Happy Together' was almost as massive, and we're not just talking about the full on orchestra on the backing.
It got to number four in the UK, number three in the US and this giddy love song has endured as one of the band's best known songs.
Happy Together

The Turtles - Happy Together [HD]

It couldn't be anything else, could it?
'Happy Together' actually predated The Turtles, and was written by (of course) Alan Gordon and Garry Bonner, when the duo were in short lived garage rock band The Magicians.
They shopped the song around a few artists, but no-one was interested in performing it till The Turtles – then floundering and poised to break up – happened across the demo.
There are varying stories of what state the demo was in.
"It only included a singer and a guitar, but we could hear the melody and chorus," Turtle Mark Volman said,.
"We were very careful because we had had those records that had been done poorly and we needed something to be great. It could have easily been our last recording."
Instead they turned that demo into a massive success, with the tale of unrequited love set to an off-beat quirky, chirpy backing.
It reached number 12 in the UK and knocked The Beatles 'Penny Lane' off the top to earn the band their sole Billboard Hot 100 number 1.