Turtle Soup

"Beautiful Soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not
stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!

Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
Beautiful, beautiful Soup!

"Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish,
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
pennyworth only of Beautiful Soup?
Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?

Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
Beautiful, beauti--FUL SOUP!

As sung, tearfully, by the Mock Turtle to the Gryphon, and Alice....

Inspired by The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, the band invited Ray Davies of The Kinks to produce the album - the only album outside his own band he's ever produced - and it paid off. The resulting album combines the best elements of the Turtles' own pop cheesiness with the lyrical, pastoral beauty of the Kinks at their best. Unusually for a Turtles album, several tracks have members other than Howard Kaylan singing lead, and it provides proof of Frank Zappa's later claim that 'Howard is one of the best singers in the world, and Mark is an excellent tambourine player and fat person'. Jim Pons on the other hand does a shockingly good impression of Davies on Dance This Dance With Me

Shortly after this album was released, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan went on to join the Mothers Of Invention, and Jim Pons later also joined them. Volman and Kaylan went on to cult status as 'Flo & Eddie'.

Track listing:

1. You Don't Have To Walk In The Rain
2. House on The Hill
3. Somewhere Friday Nite
4. John & Julie
5. She Always Leaves Me Laughing
6. Torn Between Temptations
7. Love In The City
8. Bachelor Mother
9. Dance This Dance With Me
10. Come Over
11. Hot Little Hands
12. How You Love Me

The band line-up was Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (vocals), Al Nichols (guitar), Jim Pons (bass), and John Seiter (drums).

Turtle soup is a traditional Cajun dish. To be honest I'm not sure where you purchase turtles, but if you go canoeing you can find hundreds on logs in the river. You can also catch them just like you'd catch a fish--string a line with chunks of meat on bulky hooks near the banks of the river. I'll discuss how to remove the shell and all.

Ingredients

• a yellowbellied adult cooter
• 1/3 lb butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup minced onion
• 2 Tbsp oregano
• 1 tsp mace
• hot sauce to taste
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup sherry
• 1/3 cup brandy

First you need to get the shell off the turtle and get it soft enough to chop. Be humane and kill it first. Then boil the turtle for about a half hour. Take it out and you should easily be able to pry off the shell. Remove the organs and chop the meat into bite-sized pieces. Saute them and the onion for about 15 minutes, until the turtle is good and brown. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients and maybe 2 liters of water. Bring this mix to a boil, and simmer for an hour. Stir in the remaining ingredients, heat for a minute or so, and serve. Enjoy!