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"Grim Reaper of Love"
Cover of the 1966 US single
Single by the Turtles
B-side	"Come Back"
Released	May 1966 (1966-05)
Recorded	April 12–13 & 16, 1966
Studio	Western Recorders, Hollywood
Genre	Psychedelic rock raga rock jazz fusion
Length	2:20
Label	White Whale
Songwriter(s)	Chuck Portz Al Nichol
Producer(s)	Bones Howe
The Turtles singles chronology
"You Baby" (1966) "Grim Reaper of Love" (1966) "Outside Chance" (1966)
Audio
"Grim Reaper of Love" on YouTube

"Grim Reaper of Love" is a single by the American rock band the Turtles, released in May 1966. It was written by Turtles members Chuck Portz and Al Nichol, and includes sections in quintuple meter (3-2 on the opening verse). It is an early example of psychedelic raga rock, using an electric sitar.

Background

Between mid-1965 and early 1966, American pop band the Turtles had released three singles that reached the Billboard Hot 100's top-40; "It Ain't Me, Babe", "Let Me Be" (both 1965) and "You Baby" (1966), of which "It Ain't Me Babe" had reached the top-ten. According to band lead vocalist Howard Kaylan, the success of these singles "legitimized the Turtles" as they had become a "three-hit wonder" which had given them "credibility", headlining shows together with acts such as the Yardbirds, the Animals and the Lovin' Spoonful. However, with exceptions of a few B-sides, none of the three singles had been written by any of the group's six members; "It Ain't Me, Babe" had been written by Bob Dylan, and both "Let Me Be" and "You Baby" were composed by P. F Sloan. This, according to Kaylan, posed a problem as they wanted to "badly be the Beatles".

At the time, the Turtles were signed to the independent record label White Whale Records, ran by Ted Feigin and Lee Lasseff who also owned the band's publishing rights, and, despite doubts over the band's' writing abilities, encouraged them to write original material. This initially manifested itself in the release of the band's second studio album You Baby (1966), which saw an increase in group compositions, with half of the album's content being self-composed. Although Kaylan was their primary composer, almost all band members contributed to the material in some capacity, including guitarists Al Nichol, Jim Tucker and bassist Chuck Portz who would go on to write "Grim Reaper of Love".

Composition and recording

"Grim Reaper of Love" was written collectively by the Turtles' guitarist Al Nichol and bassist Chuck Portz at night following a band gig in Oregon. According to Nichol, the lyrics were primarily written by Portz, who had been "writing a story poem" that was a "little bit on the dark side". Coincidentally, Nichol was experimenting, playing with a newly purchased electric sitar when the duo realized they wanted to come up with something "really off the wall", and "by the next day we more or less had the song written" after finding a proper modal tuning for the song. According to Harold Bronson, "Grim Reaper of Love" was written as an "excercise of the group's new-found interest in psychedelia". Kaylan states that it was written with the Beatles' in mind.

Structurally, "Grim Reaper of Love" was written in the key of D major and has a BPM of 98. It is notable for drummer Don Murray's quintuple meter (
₄) drum beat which prevails throughout the composition, which Nichol wrote as an experiment, since "something in a 5/4 time hadn't really been done in rock'n'roll". The song's sound clearly draws inspirations from Eastern Music, being a "droning, Indian-styled paean to pessimism". Other music critics note the song's clear raga rock style, with Bronson stating that it was a "drone infested with an aura of doom" Writer Michael Uslan insteads classifies "Grim Reaper of Love" as a "morbid psychedelic rock raga". The song's relatively unique time signature has led it to have been classified as an early example of jazz fusion.

"Al and Chuck , cashing in on the Beatles' new interest in Indian music, had written an Eastern-sounding jazz raga in 5/4 time called "Grim Reaper of Love." It wasn't commercial. It wasn't melodic. Shit, it was barely a song."

— Howard Kaylan, Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.

In the spring of 1966, the Turtles recorded an album's worth of material together with producer Bones Howe to give White Whale records a backlog of recordings to pick and choose from. "Grim Reaper of Love" was recorded during these sessions at United Western Recorders in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Work on the song commenced on April 12, 1966, during a nightly session which spanned until April 13. The song's recording was finalized during a later session, on April 16. As with most of their early recording sessions, "Grim Reaper of Love" was produced by Howe. Unlike many other artists in Los Angeles at the time, the Turtles were never substituted by the Wrecking Crew on their recordings due to White Whale Records' lower budget. As a result, all of the Turtles' members perform of the song, including Nichol, who in addition to his lead guitar duties also plays electric sitar. During the mixing for the song's single release, it was decided to cut roughly 20 seconds from the song's instrumental break, bringing the runtime down from 2:42 minutes down to 2:20 minutes. As such, a spoken-word section by drummer Murray saying "close your eyes when your clap" was removed.

Personnel

Personnel according to the credits of Save The Turtles: The Turtles Greatest Hits, unless otherwise noted.

• Howard Kaylan – lead vocals
• Mark Volman – vocals
• Al Nichol – lead guitar, electric sitar
• Jim Tucker – rhythm guitar
• Chuck Portz – bass guitar
• Don Murray – drums, spoken word

Charts

References

Notes

Citations

1. Liner notes for the CD "Save the Turtles: The Turtles Greatest Hits", Flo and Eddie Inc. (Manifesto Records), 2009.
2. Everett, Walter. 2008. The Foundations of Rock : From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (p 308). Oxford University Press.
3. Michael Uslan; Dick Clark; Bruce Solomon (1981). Dick Clark's the First 25 Years of Rock & Roll. Dell Publishing Company. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-440-51763-4. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
4. Sandoval 2016, p. 7.
5. Sandoval 2016, p. 8.
6. "Chart History - The Turtles". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
7. Kaylan & Tamarkin 2013, p. 58.
8. Sandoval 2002, p. 5.
9. Kaylan & Tamarkin 2013, p. 255.
10. Kaylan & Tamarkin 2013, pp. 59, 255.
11. Bronson 1984, p. 2.
12. Unterberger, Richie. "You Baby / Let Me Be - Album review by Richie Unterberger". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
13. Sandoval 2016, pp. 7–8.
14. ^ Sandoval 2016, p. 9.
15. ^ Sandoval 2002, p. 14.
16. ^ Bronson 1984, p. 3.
17. ^ Kaylan & Tamarkin 2013, p. 59.
18. "BPM and key of "Grim Reaper of Love" by the Turtles". SongBPM. Retrieved January 13, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
19. ^ Inglot 2009, p. 10.
20. Barnes 1995, p. 5.
21. ^ Uslan 1981, p. 212.
22. Stanley 2013, p. 184.
23. Segretto 2022, p. 110.
24. ^ Palao 2009, p. 16.
25. Kaylan 2013, p. 34. sfn error: no target: CITEREFKaylan2013 (help)
26. Barnes 1995, p. 1.
27. Sandoval 2016, Back cover.
28. "RPM 100" (PDF). RPM: 13. July 18, 1966. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 2, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2025 – via WorldRadioHistory.
29. "Hot 100" (PDF). Billboard: 26. June 25, 1966. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 10, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2025 – via WorldRadioHistory.
30. "Cash Box Top 100" (PDF). Cashbox: 6. July 2, 1966. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2025 – via WorldRadioHistory.
31. "100 Top Pops" (PDF). Record World: 99. July 9, 1966. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 28, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2025 – via WorldRadioHistory.

Sources

• Barnes, Ken (1995). Eve Of Destruction (CD). US: LaserLight Digital. 12 599. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
• Bronson, Harold (1984). 20 Greatest Hits (CD). US: Rhino. R2 5160. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
• Inglot, Bill (2009). Save The Turtles: The Turtles Greatest Hits (CD). US: FloEdCo. MFO 48002.
• Kaylan, Howard; Tamarkin, Jeff (2013). Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc (1st ed.). US: Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-14-803-429-34.
• Palao, Alec (2009). Where The Action Is! (Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965-1968) (CD). US: Rhino. R2 519759.
• Sandoval, Andrew (2016). All The Singles (CD). US: Manifesto. MFO 48040. Retrieved January 13, 2025.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
• Sandoval, Andrew (2002). Solid Zinc: The Turtles Anthology (CD). US: Rhino. R2 78304. Retrieved January 13, 2025.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
• Segretto, Mike (2022). 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute: A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999 (1st ed.). UK: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-14-930-646-01.
• Stanley, Bob (2013). Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop (1st ed.). UK: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-05-712-819-85.
• Uslan, Michael (1981). Dick Clark's The First 25 Years of Rock and Roll (1st ed.). US: Dell Publishing. ISBN 978-05-174-159-79.

v t e The Turtles
Howard Kaylan Mark Volman Al Nichol Jim Tucker Don Murray Chuck Portz Chip Douglas Joel Larson John Barbata Jim Pons John Seiter
Studio albums	It Ain't Me Babe You Baby Happy Together The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands Turtle Soup
Compilations	Golden Hits More Golden Hits Wooden Head
Singles	"It Ain't Me Babe" "Let Me Be" "You Baby" "Happy Together" "She'd Rather Be with Me" "You Know What I Mean" "She's My Girl" "Elenore" "You Showed Me" "Grim Reaper of Love" "Eve of Destruction"
Related articles	Discography Flo & Eddie My Dinner with Jimi "Christmas Is My Time of Year"
Category

• 1966 singles
• Raga rock songs
• The Turtles songs
• 1966 songs