Posted on 10/13/2014 9:03:15 AM PDT by rktman
It is commonly understood that the period of the mid-1950s was a time of enormous change in American music. Even one of the mildest of Elvis Presley’s early hits — 1956’s “Hound Dog” — is obviously a very different thing than Patti Page’s 1953 hit “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window.” It is also commonly understood that the mid-to-late sixties was also a time of change, with almost as large a difference between the Beatles’ 1964 hit “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and Hendrix’s 1967 recording of “Purple Haze.”
But to many the in-between period appears to be rather bland and blank. In fact it was anything but. In the very early sixties, for instance, several musical styles were vying for attention and some of them were very inventive and exciting. One of these styles was called “surf music,” and arguments about it — which recordings, artists and styles are “best” — still continue to this day.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
FOUND IT! Didn’t look close enough!
Would THE OUTER LIMITS, later renamed Out Of Limits, due to the TV show of the same name be considered surf music?
Interestingly, Brian Wilson gave ‘Surf City’ to Jan Berry who made minor changes along with changing the title. If you listen to the song it’s pretty much a straight Beach Boys tune. Pretty nice gift as it reached #1 on the record charts.
Great Thread!
Loved the trip down memory lane!
Appreciate the post rktman. Would suggest the article’s writer look into The Delmore Brothers— the original two part male harmony country/blues artists who were original WSM Grand Ole Opry members in the ‘20s and survived to the 50’s thru WWII (with classic boogie woogie music titles) by writing classics that were copied blatantly and attributed to later players (such as Bill Haley). They also pioneered incredible country string music gospel with The Brown’s Ferry Four (the Delmores, Merle Travis and Grandpa Jones). Guitar players reveled in these innovative brothers.
This year’s Intl. Bluegrass Music Assn finally awarded the Delmore Brothers their Distinguished Lifetime Achievement awards.
Just a slice of their great writing/playing—Enjoy!:
“Blues Stay Away From Me” (1949) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUk9UDoVyKk
“Let the Freight Train Carry Me On: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL9HeFvfWQY
“Freight Train Boogie” : http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=freight+train+boogie+delmore+brothers
ping. This was such a better country then....
M4L
the theme song of Hawaii 5-0, too.
Yes. That's a nice little piece of Surf Music history.
There are stories of collaboration on other Jan and Dean songs between Jan Berry and Brian Wilson.
I've also read tales of members of both groups sitting in on recording sessions with each other.
So glad Pipeline and Wipeout made the list. Pipeline was made by a local garage band and all the boys in jr. high wanted to be the drummer on Wipeout.
AOL at one time had a station dedicated solely to surf music. Don't know if they still do.
When I listen to classic surf music, which I still do, it continues sounds fresh, not dated and timeless.
My kids love it.
Chuck Berry threatened to sue the Beach Boys when he heard "Surfin USA"
According to Songfacts:
The Beach Boys agreed to give him most of the royalties and list him as the song's composer. The song also helped build Berry's legend while he served his time.
Although I understand he is listed as the song's co-writer, not composer.
Danced to dick dale riverside armory circa 1963. Good times. Don’t know how we danced t o his fast riffs.
Surf music was pretty much a west coast thing in the early 60’s..I was a freshman at NYU in 1964, and the Beach Boys made their first appearance on the east coast that Oct.....I caught all three shows at the old Academy of Music on 14th st...they were awesome...but they ran smack dab into the British invasion..a few months later..just about every song in the juke box at my fraternity was British..
(J. Hendrix, 3rd Stone from the Sun)
It’s hard to define what the genre is, to me “Tequila” and “Sleep Walker” would seem to come close to being Surf Music.
I came of age in 50s-60s. My radio was on most of the time. Even in the far-flung Philippines and in southern Italy, we had radio access to the latest US music. I don’t think I’ve heard of 3% of the music on that list.
I finally got to see the Beach Boys in 1974 when I was in college - and they were considered an oldies revival act at that time.
Yes, too bad for Brian Wilson about the British Invasion, even though Paul McCartney said he was influenced by Brian Wilson’s music.
I often see “Smile” listed as one of the top albums of all time, directly after St. Peppers.
A unique American creation that some surf historian's who have a movie on tap denote was surpassed by the arrival of "The Beatles".
I also have read that the late Surf Guitar Legend Eddie Bertrand lived down the street from Brian Wilson and was a big influence on him.
Any other surf music FR-er fans want to opine about my data whether it is spot on or not?
Check out "The Eliminators" and "Los Straightjackets" if you like the music type...
BFLR
I also had the great good luck to get to the Beatles’ concert at Shea...really the first great outdoor rock concert. The girl I was dating at the time, her father was a Deputy Inspector for the NYPD, and he was coordinating security and crowd control at Shea. He got us in..we were about 100 feet from the stage, near one of the huge speaker towers, and the sound was so deafening..it took a week for my hearing to return to normal. You could literally see the air moving..
Surf song? Do you require lyrics or will music suffice, because there were so many outstanding artists and groups that played non vocals it’s hard to pick, personally I got burned out on The Beach Boys a long time ago. Dick Dale,Los Straightjackets, The Chantays, The Penetrators, The Shadows, The Belairs, The Ventures, The Trashmen, Link Wray, The Eliminators, The Tandems, Duane Eddy. There is so much great instrumentals out there I have trouble getting worked up over the harmonizing falsettos.
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