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For the song by Kid Cudi, see Surfin' (Kid Cudi song).
"Surfin'"
Beach boys X label 301.jpg
Single by the Beach Boys
from the album Surfin' Safari
B-side"Luau"
ReleasedNovember 27, 1961[1]
RecordedOctober 3, 1961 at World Pacific Studio
GenreCalifornia Sound[2][3]
Length2:10
LabelCandix
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Dorinda Morgan
  • Hite Morgan
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Surfin'"
(1961)		"Surfin' Safari"
(1962)

"Surfin'" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. It was released as the first Beach Boys single (with Luau on the B-side) in November 1961 on Candix Records and it later appeared on the 1962 album Surfin' Safari.

The single effectively began the Beach Boys' music career, establishing them at the vanguard of what would later be regarded the "California Sound".[4] Initially, the group were trying to think of something original and creative that they could write a song about. Songwriter Brian Wilson remembers the time his brother Dennis came home from the beach and said "Hey, surfing's getting really big. You guys ought to write a song about it."[5]

The song features Mike Love on lead vocals with Carl Wilson on backing vocals and acoustic guitar, Al Jardine on backing vocals and stand-up bass, Brian Wilson on backing vocals and snare drum and Dennis Wilson on backing vocals. The single peaked at number 75 in the US; it was never released in the UK.

The Beach Boys later re-recorded the song for their 1992 album Summer in Paradise. Love re-recorded it for his 2019 album 12 Sides of Summer.

Origins[edit]

Brian Wilson recalls he began writing that the song after he came up with an idea on the piano. The idea came to mind when he began to sing the chorus, though Wilson was not initially convinced.[6] According to him, it was following Mike Love's lyrics "ba-ba-dippity-dippity-ba-ba"' that Brian had the opening for the song that would become the Beach Boys' first hit single.[5] After only couple of hours later, he finished the song and decided to call it Surfin.[5] The "ba-ba-dippity-dippity-ba-ba" were influenced by the early Jan and Dean records.[7]

Audree Wilson, the Wilson brothers' mother, remembers that they had guests visiting from England. Allegedly, the family took the guests to Mexico City for three days, leaving the refrigerator stocked and money if they chose to eat out.[5] Carl Wilson continues that the day after they left, they all went down to a music store and got instruments with the band's food money.[5] Wilson recalls that he would play guitar, Alan would play stand up bass, (Brian could play keyboards already) and that Dennis had chosen the drums.[5] Brian claimed that in order to make a rock and roll sound, he would play bass whilst Carl played guitar and Mike Love played the saxophone, despite not having any prior experience.[5]

Audree Wilson continues that she and her husband, Murry Wilson, had barely entered the room when the band said they had something to play for the Wilson parents. She recalls, "We saw all this stuff...and they had an act...and that's when Surfin' was born"[5]

Recording[edit]

According to Brian Wilson, the five members of the Beach Boys, then known as the Pendletones, first brought up the song in a studio setting at the Morgans' office at Melrose Avenue. After singing a cover of the song 'Sloop John B', producer Hite Morgan told the group to record an original song. Dennis Wilson then mentioned Surfin.[5] Hite Morgan asked them to play the song then, but the band responded that it was not yet finished.[5]

The Pendletones, excluding Dennis Wilson, later returned to the studio to record a separate demo. While there, the four present members played the demo of Surfin to Dorinda and Hite Morgan. As Audree Wilson recalls, "He [Hite] wasn't so much in favour of it, but she [Dorinda] heard something she thought would click."[5] The song then took as many as twelve takes before the band could agree on a final version, partly due to Brian Wilson's insistence on a perfect song. Wilson's father, who was present during the recording, took over as producer after his criticisms of the band's methods.[5]

Release[edit]

After finalisation of the song Surfin, producer Hite Morgan announced that he was going to transform the song into a record and release it on local radio.[5] When the group unpacked the first box of singles from Candix, they found that their band name had been changed from The Pendletones to The Beach Boys. Label promotion man Russ Regan explained to Murry Wilson that he had taken the liberty of giving the group a new name to associate them more directly with the popular surf-music genre.[6]

By the final weeks of 1961 Surfin had sold more than 40,000 copies.[8]

Personnel[edit]

Per James Murphy.[1]

  • Brian Wilson – vocals, snare drum
  • Dennis Wilson – vocals
  • Carl Wilson – vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Mike Love – lead vocals
  • Al Jardine – vocals, stand-up bass

Alternative versions[edit]

The first recorded demo version of the song is available on CD on the 2001 Hawthorne, CA two-CD set, featuring a portion of Surfin recorded on Brian's home Wollensak tape recorder.[9] According to Peter Ames Carlin's 2006 book Catch a Wave, the first demo took place at some point between Labor Day and the first recording session in early September with the Morgans.[9] A later demo version of Surfin was recorded at the aforementioned session at Hite and Dorinda Morgan's home studio September 15.[9] This version is available on the Lost & Found (1961–62) CD released in 1991. (Both these versions are in a different key and differ to the tracks recorded October 3, 1961). This archival CD also features an alternate take of Surfin recorded the same day as the eventual master take released on three different labels (X-301, Candix-301 and Capitol LP T-1081, the Surfin' Safari album.) The master take was subsequently sped up for release in the 60's, but is restored to the original speed on Lost and Found as well as the 1993 Good Vibrations box set. A newly recorded version of Surfin was included on the Beach Boys 1992 album Summer in Paradise.[10] The lineup at the time consisted of Mike Love, Al Jardine, Carl Wilson and Bruce Johnston.

Other versions[edit]

See also: List of cover versions of Beach Boys songs
  • 1963 – Jan & Dean, Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfin' (recorded with the Beach Boys)
  • 1965 – Annette Funicello, Annette Sings Golden Surfin' Hits
  • 1993 – The Surf Rats Muppet Beach Party

Charts[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Murphy, James B. (2015). Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7365-6.
  2. ^ Starr, Kevin (2009). Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515377-4.
  3. ^ Howard, David N. (2004). Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-634-05560-7.
  4. ^ Schinder, Scott (2007). Icons of Rock - An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever. Greenwood Press. pp. 101–103. ISBN 9780313338458, 0313338450 Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help).
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Leaf, David (1978). The Beach Boys and the California Myth. Grosset & Dunlap. ISBN 0-448-14626-6.
  6. ^ a b author., Murphy, James B., 1956-. Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963. ISBN 978-0-7864-7365-6. OCLC 883647450.
  7. ^ https://bobsegarini.wordpress.com/2017/04/24/gary-pig-gold-is-riding-the-wild-surf-jan-berry-and-the-birth-of-west-coast-rock/
  8. ^ Taylor, Derek (October 5, 1966). "The Beach Boy Empire" (JPG). Hit Parader: 13.
  9. ^ a b c Carlin, Peter Ames (July 25, 2006). Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Rodale Books. p. 342. ISBN 1594863202.
  10. ^ Dellar, F. (August 1, 1993). Beach boys special 3:: BEACH PARTY. Vox (Archive: 1990-1999), , a8, a9.