Surfin'
Safari
1963
The
Beach Boys
There are certain songs that just remind you of
'Summer', no matter when you hear them,,,especially if those songs
are about, oh, I don't know...surfing! This was probably one of the
many thoughts being discussed back in 1961 when a trio of
brothers...Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson...got hold of a cousin
named Mike Love, and a friend of theirs named Al Jardine, asked their
dad to manage them, formed a band, named it 'The Beach Boys', and
started recording hit records about the Early '60s Southern
California lifestyle...Surfing, Cars, and Girls. And on this post,
I'm going to feature three of 'em...their first three Top 20 hits,
two of which cracked the top 10
Ok, the Beach Boy Fanatics among you are screaming “WHOA
ROB!!!!. That's not exactly the way it happened, and besides...David
Marks replaced Al Jardine before their first big hit.
Ahhh, true that. But he was in the band when they
recorded their first hit...well minor hit in the rest of the US, but
a HUGE hit in Cali. It was called 'Surfin', was recorded under the
'small 'Candix Records'' label, and sold about 40, 000 copies,
reaching # 75 in the US, but going all the way to #3 in Southern
California. Oh...and they recorded it as 'The Pendletons, not
The Beach Boys. The ultimately very fortuitous name change was
courtesy of a promotions worker who made the change to better tie
them in with the Surf Music scene.
To make a long story short, they wrote and recorded a
couple more songs, made demos, auditioned and were turned down by Dot
and Liberty Records (How'd you like to be known as 'The Guy Who
Turned Down The Beach Boys'???), then signed a seven year contract
with Capitol Records...and started churning out hits.
Their first Top 20 hit was 'Surfin' Safari', and when it
was originally recorded Al Jardine actually was on
guitar...but that version, recorded on Feb 8, 1962, wasn't released
until the late '60s. The version that hit #14 on The Hot 100 was
recorded on April 19th, 1962, after Dave Marks joined the
group. He played guitar along with Carl Wilson, Brian Wilson was on
Bass Guitar, Dennis Wilson on drums, and Mike Love sang Lead
Vocals...the basic recipe for that legendary Beach Boys sound that
everyone grew to know and love.
They added it to the demo tape along with '409' and a
couple of other songs...you don't become a major record label like
Capitol without having people who can recognize talent when they hear
it...Capitol listened to it, went 'WOW!', and signed them to the
aforementioned contract before someone else got smart and beat them
to it.
The 'B' side of 'Surfin' Safari' was another Beach Boy's
tune that everyone's heard...'409',...and supposedly That's the
one that Capitol actually wanted to be the 'A' side of the record
when it was released on June 4th, 1962. DJs liked 'Surfin'
Safari better though...so they flipped the record and played it
rather than '409'. (By the way, if you find an original single with
'409' as the 'A' side, hang on to it for dear life...there are none
known to be in existence, so I have a feeling it'd be worth a few
bucks).
'Surfin' Safari' made it to #14 on The Hot 100 and
almost...but not quite...earned them their first Gold Record, with
sales of a bit over 900,000. Interestingly enough, the biggest order
for copies of the single came from New York City...about as far from
the world of surfing as you can get.
Beach boys songs will never disappear from ''Oldies'
stations...if they did it'd have to be a sign of The Apocalypse! This
one (Along with both of the other Beach Boy's classics I'm featuring
this week)have been staples on the radio since they were released,
you still hear 'em now (especially in the summer) and our kids and
grand kids 'll hearing them long after we're gone.
If you're gonna blog post a video of 'Surfin' Safari, ya
gotta find one with surfing footage on it...and I managed to find one
with some awesome footage! So enjoy! 'Surfin' Safari' by The Beach
Boys! (And don't even try to tell me that you weren't at least
lip-syncin' to it! ;) )
As a bonus...remember the original recording of Surfin'
Safari...recorded in February '62 back when Al Jardine was still part
of 'The Beach Boys? Here it is! There are some subtle differences in
the lyrics...see if you can catch 'em
And as a second bonus...with more awesome surfing pics...The first ever Beach boys song,
recorded when they were still The Pendletons' (But released as
The Beach Boys) 'Surfin', by The Pendletons/The Beach Boys
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