The 1960s pop band The Turtles had a single No. 1 hit in its short-lived initial run from 1965-70.
But what a song: “Happy Together” bumped the Beatles’ “Penny Lane” off Billboard’s No. 1 spot and stayed there three weeks. The song’s enduring legacy for the band, however, extended beyond The Turtles’ rock-’n-roll lifetime, becoming the band’s biggest hit and signature song.
A baker’s dozen year’s ago, “Happy Together” also became the title of a 1960s-’70s rock revival show headlined by The Turtles and featuring several bands of that generation whose careers were built on family-friendly, mostly “happy” songs. All told, the acts on the lineup racked up 61 Top 40 hits from the 1960s through ’70s.
The tour, which had been set to play Tucson in summer 2020 before the pandemic closed live entertainment for more than a year, pulls into the Linda Ronstadt Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. on July 14, one of about 50 stops the tour will make this summer.
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In addition to The Turtles, whose hits also include “Elenore,” “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “It Ain’t Me Babe” and “You Showed Me,” the lineup features:
Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, featuring frontman Puckett’s distinctive tenor on the band’s signature hits “Young Girl,” “Over You,” “Woman, Woman,” “This Girl Is A Woman Now,” “Lady Willpower” and “Don’t Give In To Him.”
The Association, which was a radio staple in the 1960s with No. 1 hits “Cherish,” “Windy,” “Never My Love” and “Along Comes Mary.”
It took The Buckinghams just a few short years to become one of the biggest-selling acts of the 1960s with such songs as the No. 1 hit “Kind of a Drag” and popular songs “Don’t You Care,” ”Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” and “Hey Baby, They’re Playing Our Song.” Fun fact: In 1967, with a trio of simultaneous chart hits on two labels, Billboard Magazine named The Association “The Most Listened to Band in America” in 1967.
With a harmony-driven soaring pop sound, The Vogues’ many No. 1 hits included “Five O’Clock World”, “You’re The One,” “My Special Angel” and “Turn Around Look At Me.”
The family band The Cowsills (two brothers and a sister) were the inspiration behind the 1960s TV show “The Partridge Family.” Their best-known songs include “Hair,” “Indian Lake” and “The Rain The Park & Other Things (I Love The Flower Girl).”
Since The Turtles launched “Happy Together” 13 years ago, the tour has played more than 50-plus shows each year throughout the country.
The Tucson show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $30 to $95 through ticketmaster.com.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch