Surf Rock ‘Garage Bands’

and

The Beach Boys

•  Surfing comes to SoCal from Hawaii c. 1900

•  Early ‘60s: Hollywood beach party movies make surfing trendy

•  Clean-cut, no parental supervision • Watered down surf music given nation-wide

exposure

California Love

•  Driving, High Energy •  Raw, not overly-produced •  Mainly instrumental •  *****Electric Guitar*****

The Real Surf Sound

•  First; “King of Surf Guitar” •  Lebanese - guitar technique •  Fender: amp, reverb/distortion •  Didn’t leave Cali •  1962 hit “Miserlou” becomes

cult classic in 1994 with Pulp Fiction (Miserlou)

Dick Dale and the Del-Tones

•  “Let’s Go Trippin’” - Dick Dale, 1961 (1st) •  “Rebel Rouser” - Duane Eddy, 1958 •  “Pipeline” - the Chantays, 1963 •  “Wipe Out” - the Sufaris, 1963

Other Important Surf Tunes

The Beach Boys

•  From Huntington Beach, CA •  Vocal Harmonies influenced by

“The Four Freshmen” combined with Chuck Berry’s guitar style •  Lyrics about surfing, cars, romance

A Family Affair

•  Murray: abusive father, a songwriter, supported music,was manager at first

•  Joined by cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine

Brothers: Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson

1961-1965 •  Seven albums •  17 Top Forty Singles

o  “Surfin’ Safari” (1962) o  “I Get Around” (1964) o  “Help Me Rhonda” (1965)

•  Brian was primary songwriter - •  Stress of writing, producing, arranging, singing and touring- stopped touring with them, 1964

Pet Sounds - May, 1966

Important Songs: •  “God Only Knows” •  “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” •  “Sloop John B”

•  Inspired by the Beatles’ Rubber Soul- “no filler” •  “the greatest rock and roll album ever” •  Unconventional instruments, intricate melodies; “Wall of Sound” •  Coming-of-age - Brian’s personal experiences •  Includes instrumental tracks - session musicians •  Hailed by critics, Inspired the Beatles in turn -Sgt. Pepper •  NOT surf music - public disappointed

Good Vibrations •  “mini-symphony” •  6 months to complete -

released Oct. 1966 •  $50,000! -expensive for an album •  Length, exotic instruments - Tannerin! (theremin) •  Commercial success

The End

•  Brian Wilson - mental breakdown •  BB’s image too clean-cut for psychedelic late ‘60s •  Too much partying, drugs ‘70s and ‘80s •  Dennis dies ‘83 (drowned), Carl in ‘98 (cancer)

Brian is back touring again! (now age 71)

Bonus Info! •  “Surfin’ U.S.A”: ripped directly from Chuck

Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” •  Brian rewrote the lyrics to list popular surf spots •  Under pressure from Berry’s publisher, they gave up the copyright