MIKE LOVE describes 'surf' music as, 'beat music with surfing words' (you can barely hear him amidst the girls' screams)

the host, when the clip opens, credits THE BEACH BOYS AS 'the boys who invented' the 'surfing sound'

really???

anyway, thought some people here would enjoy this clip

it's the BEACH BOYS very first U.K. TV appearance -- it is LIVE, too

songs performed, I GET AROUND and WHEN I GROW UP (TO BE A MAN)

this is classic stuff!!

http://tinyurl.com/dy448k

DIG IT!

Unsteady Freddie

http://www.facebook.com/unsteady.freddie

With the rhythm of the sharp Rickenbacker chords standing out, with the mighty Fender bass through a closed cabinet (Showman?) you can tell that it’s the South Bay sound with added vocals. The Gamblers Moondawg and Mr Moto by the Bel-Airs were early surf-sounding records, but they didn’t call them that. Like Woodsurfer says, it was all just instrumentals. Adding Surf to the name of the music I can’t tell if the BBs were first or DD.

The Exotic Guitar of Kahuna Kawentzmann

You can get the boy out of the Keynes era, but you can’t get the Keynes era out of the boy.

Really cool clip.
I'd say I agree with Mike Love in the sense that if you listen to "I Get Around," it's primarily Dennis' big drum sound and 4/4 beat propelling the song with the gorgeous vocals about surf culture. "Beat music?"--yes. "Surf vocals?"--yes.

I wouldn't sum up the whole of surf music that way, but for a US band cracking the UK market, it's a good way to describe your hit song.

(defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks

Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq
Enjoy every minute

This was from "Ready Steady Go!" a truly great weekly pop show although the co-host Keith Fordyce wouldn't know what beat music was if it slapped him in the face! How on earth he got the job i'll never understand, much better left to Cathy McGowan (she was utterly gorgeous yummy) or Dusty Springfield. The theme tune for the show was... Wipe Out! (Sufaris) from early days then changed to 54321 by Manfred Mann.

In those days Great Britain had a population of 50 million, these days nearer 70 million. 99.99% of Britains today would give the answer "Beachboys" when asked what surf music is. That in turn means hardly any TRUE surf bands visit our country.. That means you hard working surf bands don't get much of a percentage cd sales from our 70 million population. The Beachboys are freeloading B* and i fart in their general direction!

Last edited: Mar 10, 2009 15:34:31

Brian

Louie7
I guess the typical gripe about the BB's is that they weren't Dick Dale.

No, it is that they were the 60's equivalent of The New Kids on the Block. I.e. the "pop version" of a sacred underground sound. I'm not saying I'm agreeing with this, I'm just repeating what I've heard several 1st wave musicians say.

Sounds like jealousy to me. It was the Beach Boys who have lasted all these years, they didn't go away when they matured like a boy band. I'd say their body of work is more vast, diverse, artistic and culturally relevant than any other "surf band". Most surf bands were basically one hit oneders.

surferXmatt
The Beach Boys were the first introduction to anything remotely close to what we all call "surf" music.

As with any sucessful product, it was not the product itself (the actual music) that was being bought. What people bought and continue to buy today is the chance to feel a part of 60's LA culture. What does a Canadian kid (or most anybody outside of LA) know about "feet full of tar and hair full of sand"? The lyrics don't speak to my lifestyle or experience but I dig them. Why? Because 60's LA has a vibe (albeit a media influenced vibe) that is inherently romantic. Hot rods, babes, bonfire parties on the beach, drag racing, fun in the sun stuff. It's why fads in LA like skateboarding get picked up and become more than fads worldwide. LA has "IT". If it's popular in LA it MUST be cool.

So tell me, what do people say to you when you tell them you're into surf music? Do they know it's instrumental, or do you have to explain it to them starting with, "it's not the Beach Boys"?

https://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=9353f9155b5ff32e14c998495fd00da4&#!/rich.derksen.7

I don't see much wrong with the Beachboys musically or fashion wise but surf music is instrumental end of story. If you want to add vocals and call it Hot rod then great i can avoid if i wish. The fact is they and the greedy record companys used the words "surf music" to express a vocal form of music dishonestly. The Beachboys continue mislead the world and make money on this while the true surf bands who fully deserve the recognition get a few peanuts and a pat on the back. The world really needs educating about this BAD.

tonybologna
Pet Sounds is amazing.

Agreed!

Ryan
The Secret Samurai Website
The Secret Samurai on Facebook

There's certainly no comparison to be drawn between the Beach Boys and New Kids on the Block. They played their own instruments and Brian was a fantastic songwriter. Pet Sounds is a work of enormous musical depth. Try sitting down with a guitar and playing along with God Only Knows sometime - amazingly complex yet easy to sing along to. Thats where the mark of genius (not a word I use lightly) is: something that functions so well on so many levels.

They were certainly my introduction to Surf - the first time I heard Miserlou was on a Beach Boys album. I do understand the point about them masking the identity of what WE call Surf music - and I also get fed up with answering that: 'So is what you play like the Beach Boys?' question. I don't think that's their fault though.

Sure, they jumped on the bandwagon (or should that be caught a wave?) of a craze but they were seventeen or something and Dennis WAS a surfer - I don't see it anything wrong in that - anyone would have done it. The fact is they had the substance and the talent to move beyond that opportunism and create some amazing music over the following years - not something that could ever be levelled at NKOTB.....

As you might have guessed, Pet Sounds is one of my favourite albums too. They might not have been a 'real' surf band and what I love about guitar-based Surf music has certainly been done better than it was by them in their early stuff. But they became something else and hit a different spot with a brilliance that was only hinted at in their early 'surf' days.

http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns

Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery.

crumb
I don't see much wrong with the Beachboys musically or fashion wise but surf music is instrumental end of story. If you want to add vocals and call it Hot rod then great i can avoid if i wish. The fact is they and the greedy record companys used the words "surf music" to express a vocal form of music dishonestly. The Beachboys continue mislead the world and make money on this while the true surf bands who fully deserve the recognition get a few peanuts and a pat on the back. The world really needs educating about this BAD.

As was mentioned before, they played instrumentals too, and a lot of their vocals had very "surfy" guitar parts. The King of the Surf Guitar, Dick Dale, sang plenty of vocal numbers. Dishonest? To try and separate the Beach Boys from surf music is a futile game. To me, it's like saying Opera is not really classical music.