Surf Rock - Moss Music News

Surf Rock
‘Garage Bands’
and
The Beach Boys
California Love
•  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
The Real Surf
Sound
•  Driving, High Energy
•  Raw, not overly-produced
•  Mainly instrumental
•  *****Electric Guitar*****
Dick Dale and the Del-Tones
•  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)
Other Important Surf
Tunes
•  “Let’s Go Trippin’” - Dick Dale, 1961 (1st)
•  “Rebel Rouser” - Duane Eddy, 1958
•  “Pipeline” - the Chantays, 1963
•  “Wipe Out” - the Sufaris, 1963
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
Affair
Brothers: Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson
•  Murray: abusive father, a
songwriter, supported
music,was manager at first
•  Joined by cousin Mike Love
and friend Al Jardine
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 touringstopped touring with
them, 1964
Pet Sounds - May,
1966
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Important Songs:
“God Only Knows”
“Wouldn’t It Be Nice”
“Sloop John B”
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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