They played surf-rock, acoustic folk, whatever was big at the time, and in addition to their own bands, played backup for The Coasters, Sonny And Cher and The Righteous Brothers. They were saxophone players who did whatever was trendy in order to make a living as musicians. The Turtles were formed by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan. The Bonner/Gordon vocal arrangement sounded a lot like the hit record also." In fact the Turtles' recording sounds as though they used the basic demo track and overdubbed horns. I later told everybody, 'I just heard a hit record.' As Aunt Flo put it, the original demo was phenomenal. Regent Sound was an excellent studio so the demo sounded like a finished product. The vocal arrangements fell into place very nicely. I created the figure and all the other musicians including Bonner and Gordon immediately understood the direction. I came up with what I considered and called a Lovin' Spoonful feel. He told us: "A chord sheet was placed in front of the musicians and we immediately proceeded to put this song together. It was Casale who came up with the main figure which set the groove for the song. When Gary Klein at the Koppleman/Rubin office heard the result, he immediately knew the song would be perfect for the new and upbeat image being created for The Turtles, and it was his continued enthusiasm that convinced the group to record it."Īfter the song was turned down by a number of groups, Bonner and Gordon recorded a demo at Regent Sound Studio with some session musicians, including guitarist Ralph Casale and bassist Dick Romoff. I excitedly and in fairness asked Jake to complete the song with me as co-writer, but he refused, saying it was all 'too simple' for him to be involved, so my regular partner Gary then helped me with the finishing touches. Suddenly, some words began to fit and literally minutes later music and lyrics started to take shape. About the only melody that was throbbing in my tired, fried brain at that hour was the time-immemorial repeated open string pattern that Allen (Jake) Jacobs, the Magician's lead guitarist, would use as he incessantly tuned and retuned after, before, and frequently during each piece we played.
I had stopped to have breakfast at the Park Street Diner in the town and was miserable with no sleep, the endless dumb gigs we were playing and having a songwriter's block. The Magicians were in the middle of a week-long engagement at the Unicorn Club in Boston, and one early morning I was visiting my divorced father in nearby Ayer, Massachusetts after being up all night.
Talking about how the song came together, Alan Gordon said: "I had nearly half a song already written, mostly lyric ideas, but couldn't find the right melodic concept. Gordon, who died in 2008 at the age of 64, had songs recorded by Alice Cooper, Frank Zappa and The Lovin' Spoonful. Bonner became a regular member of Kenny Vance and the Planotones. The song's composers Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon were the bass player and drummer of the Boston area group The Magicians.
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