Surfin'
USA
1963
The
Beach Boys
If you asked a hundred people who grew up on the music
of the Sixties and Seventies what song they think of immediately when
they think 'Beach Boys', 'Surfin' USA' would be way up there in the
numbers in the songs they named. Thing is, it really wasn't The Beach Boys'
song...not completely anyway.
Brian Wilson wrote the lyrics...but Chuck Berry
originally wrote the music, when he wrote a early Rock and Roll
classic called Sweet Little Sixteen. The Beach Boy's Brian Wilson was
hanging out with his girlfriend Judy Bowles and her brother, and they
were talking about the best places to surf, when 'Sweet Little
Sixteen' played on the radio. Brian started humming along with it,
and realized that names of surf spots would fit perfectly where the
names of the cities were in the lyrics for Sweet Little Sixteen. He
and Judy's brother came up with a list of surfing spots, Brian added
other lyrics, and set them to Sweet Little Sixteen's music, the Beach
Boys recorded it, it was released as a single (With 'Shut Down' as
the B side) on March 4th, 1963, and all but immediately
became a hit, climbing to #3 on The Billbaord Hot 100...everyone was
happy and all was well with the world...well almost everyone.
See Brian Wilson was listed as the sole and only
composer. Arc Music, which was Chuck Berry's publisher, was not
amused. Lawsuits were threatened, negotiations were held (As Kids
bopped to the music while they crooned 'Ev'rybody's Gone
Suuuuurrrrrfin'...Surfin' USA!!!!') and agreements were made...and
Chuck Berry was listed as one of the composers on every single and
album from 1966 on. In fact, Arc Music actually holds the Copyright
to the song...Brian Wilson's lyrics and all.
Surfin' USA was the group's follow-up to Surfin' Safari,
and their first Top 10 hit. It wouldn't be the last...it started a
string of top 10 hits...interrupted occasionally by one that only
cracked the top 20...that would span three years, and include 13 top
10 hits...three of 'em making it all the way to #1
The song just clicked with everyone...it was high
energy, catchy, and just made for summer and the beach...so much so
that it was re-released in July 1974 and made it to #36 on The Hot
100. I remember it constantly being on the radio that summer, (Q-94
in Richmond...then and to this day Richmond. Va’s Premiere Top 40
station) and we liked it then just as much as the kids had ten years
earlier, in 1963
Surfin' USA is another one that will probably be around
long after all of us are gone...it's just one of those songs that
just screams 'SUMMER. When you're listening to an Oldies station,
and you hear that distinctive guitar riff kicking' it off, and your
head starts bobbing, you KNOW you're going to end up belting out the
lyrics right along with Mike Love...and that it'll be stuck in your
head for the rest of the day.
If you're gonna have a video for Surfin USA it's just
got to include surfing footage or pictures...I truly think
that's mandated by Federal Law...or if it isn't it should be,
because it actually took me forever to find one. When I did, though,
I managed to find a good one!
So enjoy! Fifty years, hard as it is to believe, after
it hit #3 on the Hot 100...Surfin' USA By The Beach Boys.
Surfin' USA wasn't finished with the charts yet! It's
been covered by more than a dozen artists, but Leif Garret had the
most successful cover of Surfin' USA when he took it to #20 on the
Hot 100 in 1977. He didn't do a bad job with it all...but The Beach
Boys still own it!
So, as a bonus...The original music video of Leif
Garrett's cover of 'Surfin' USA'
And finally...Chuck Berry's 'Sweet Little Sixteen...the
song that birthed Surfin' USA. Take a listen and see how close the
two really are musically.
A couple of quick Surfin' USA Fun Facts.
Even though their first four singles...three of 'em Top
20, and two of those Top 10...were about surfing, Dennis Wilson was
the only Beach boy who actually surfed.
Like the song itself, the recording session for Surfin'
USA was very upbeat and happy, according to David Marks...he said
that the energy and good vibes during the session were a one of a
kind thing, and it really comes through when you listen to the song.
The surfing spots mentioned in the song, in the order
that they're mentioned:
Del Mar" - Del Mar, San Diego County, California
"Ventura County Line" - Ventura County,
California
"Santa Cruz" - Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County,
California
"Trestles" - San Onofre State Park, San Diego
County, California
"Australia's Narrabeen" - Narrabeen, New South
Wales
"Manhattan" - Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles
County, California
"Doheny" - Doheny Beach, Dana Point, Orange
County, California
"Haggerty's" - Palos Verdes Estates, Los
Angeles County, California
"Swami's" - Swami's Beach, Encinitas, San
Diego County, California
"Pacific Palisades" - Pacific Palisades, Los
Angeles County, California
"San Onofre" - San Onofre State Park, San
Diego County, California
"Sunset" - Sunset Beach, Oahu, Hawaii - or -
Sunset Beach, Orange County, California
"Redondo Beach" - Redondo Beach, Los Angeles
County, California
"L.A." - Los Angeles, Los Angeles County,
California
"La Jolla" - La Jolla, San Diego County,
California
"Waimea Bay" - Waimea Bay, Hawaii
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