Posted on 02/03/2020 8:08:22 PM PST by 4Runner
Great riffs.
No, Glen only played in their tour band, substituting for Brian Wilson on bass and harmonies. Brian didn’t like touring and preferred to stay home and write. Glen didn’t either and that’s what turned him to studio work.
The Beach Boys sang the vocals but the Wrecking Crew performed all their hits, and while Glen could play anything with strings, the premiere guitarist was Tommy Tedesco, who was responsible for countless flamenco riffs that the original band members never could duplicate, but which added to the producton. Guitar Magazine determined he was the most recorded guitarist in history, having played on thousands of recording, many of which were top 20 hits. As an example, as great as The Ventures were, they hired Tommy to play the theme to the TV show “Hawaii 50”. The band then covered their own tune under their own name.
Nick Rivers was awesome in that song.
Very cool!
“Surfin’ U.S.A.,” by the Beach Boys (1963) vs. “Sweet Little Sixteen,” by Chuck Berry (1958)
The Case: The California boys often incorporated rock & roll pioneer Chuck Berry’s songs into their early concerts. But 1958’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” set Beach Boys’ composer Brian Wilson into overdrive. Inspired by Berry’s rapid-fire references to various American cities, he recast the song as a paean to a fun-in-the-sun sport. Wilson penned a new set of lyrics listing off the hot surfing locales across the Pacific coast. Wilson said he intended the song as a tribute to the rock guitarist, but Berry’s lawyers used another term: plagiarism.
The Verdict: With the threat of lawsuits looming, Beach Boys manager – and Brian Wilson’s father – Murry Wilson agreed to give the publishing rights to Arc Music, Berry’s publisher. However, Berry’s name wouldn’t appear on the songwriting credits until 1966.
Why It Matters: Although the genre was built on a handful of standard three-chord progressions and blues licks, the “Surfin’ U.S.A.” incident was one of the first major plagiarism scuffles in rock history.
Clarence Garlow's Route 90, from 1954, which I referenced in post #7, not only uses the same melody but includes rapid-fire references to the following cities: El Paso, Comstock, San Antonio, Katy, Houston and Beaumont in Texas and Welsh, Jennings, Crowley, Lake Charles, Rayne, Morgan City and New Orleans in Louisiana.
Incidentally, I've driven on Rte. 90, but not as far as Clarence drove. I only went from Houston to San Antonio.
Here are all the beaches mentioned in “Surfin’ USA.” All are in California except for Narrabeen (New South Wales, Australia) and Waimea Bay (Haleiwa, Hawaii):
Delmar
Ventura County Line (Carpinteria, Calif.)
Santa Cruz
Trestles (San Clemente, Calif.)
Narrabeen
Manhattan Beach
Doheny (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Haggerty’s (Palos Verdes, Calif.)
Swami’s (Encinitas, Calif.)
Pacific Palasades
San Onofre
Sunset Beach (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Redondo Beach
La Jolla
Waimea Bay
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