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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Music General Discussion »

Permalink The Beach Boys...Surf or No?

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shivers13

synchro
Like every marketer in history, the record companies jumped upon the opportunity and made the most of the advantage this image lent to their product.

Precisely. And does it matter?... Heck no. All that matters is that I can enjoy music that I would never had heard otherwise because I wasn't a teenager in California in the early 60's.

If it had come along at a different time it might have been known by some other name.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

shivers13
Whorehay, you and me... some Vegas Casino shows opening for Shecky Green, what'd ya think?

He still alive? Maybe we could open for Shecky Sheckles?

Radio Free Bakersfield--60 Minutes of TWANG, CRUNCH, OOMPH.
http://radiofreebakersfield.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Radio-Free-Bakersfield/172410279636
http://www.sandiegojoe.com/rfb.htm

Tuck

WhorehayRFB
Gotcha. Where the hell is Torrance Beach?

You got me. I can barely find LA. I think I copied it correctly, but I'll look. Sometimes I think there must be a special name for every linear mile of beach between the Mexican frontier and the Canadian. At least there's no shortage of song names.

Okey doke:

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22torrance+beach%22&rls=com.microsoft:*&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

There's a picture or two. It's sandy and it's near some other places that I need a map to find.

Aha!

"Torrance Beach is a beautiful, soft sand beach framed by the hills of Palos Verdes south of Redondo Beach."

Radio Free Bakersfield--60 Minutes of TWANG, CRUNCH, OOMPH.
http://radiofreebakersfield.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Radio-Free-Bakersfield/172410279636
http://www.sandiegojoe.com/rfb.htm

If it was me doing it, I apologize for thinking too hard about weird things. It started when I was a teen ager. I thought it was fun.

The West. The West is the best. Get here and surf music will do the rest.

That may not be misquoted exactly right. Apologies to ... never mind. I think we went there collectively two years ago.

An exchange from "Love and Mercy"

Brian: [pounding on recording console] We're not surfers, we never have been, and real surfers don't dig our music anyway!

Dennis Wilson: [inhales cigarette] They don't.

I'm tired of exchanges with cl 'community' that place BBs as the surfiest referent, after which come things like Best Coast, Beach House & other bands that don't feature guitar but are simply vocal pop.

Squink Out!

Richard Feynman on names (recalling a discussion with his father during a walk in the woods.)

"He ... taught me: "See that bird? Its a Spencer's warbler." (I knew he didn't know the real name.) "Well, in Italian it's Chutto Lapittitda. In Portuguese, it is Bom Da Peida. ... You can know the name of the bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know nothing whatsoever about the world. You'll know about the humans in different places, and what they call the bird. So let's look at the bird and see what it is doing -- that's what counts." I learned very early from my father the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."

Casey,
So you mean those of us who play surf music know it for what it is but those who don't will never have any real knowledge of what we mean by that term?

Squink Out!

JObeast wrote:

Brian: [pounding on recording console] We're not surfers, we never have been, and real surfers don't dig our music anyway!

I can easily say 99.99% of players in surf bands today are not surfers and surfers don't listen to surf music today either.

BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com

Jo, I guess I was trying to downplay the importance of what term we use. Richard Feynman's point was that knowing the name of something doesn't really tell you anything about that thing - it just tells you something about a group of people - in this instance that some people call the Beach Boy's music "Surf". That said, my guess is that most members of this forum have a narrower definition that would not include them. Dictionaries define words by how they are used, not the other way around. So a dictionary definition would probably include several possible meanings, one might be the narrow definition most of us use, another might be broader to include the Beach Boys.

The thing is, the Beach Boys covered some instro surf back in the day, thus muddying the waters.

I read/heard someone say (maybe on Reverb Junkies?) that the Beach Boys was 'beach' music, not 'surf' music. Not a perfect delineation but it works for me!

Lorne
The Surf Shakers: https://www.facebook.com/TheSurfShakers
Vancouver BC Canada

Ahem,

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Beach Music is covered earlier in this thread. It's a type od soul and not at all like surf music. I suggest people go back and read earlier posts. This debate is so tired. l don’t understand the fuss over it.

No one debates whether the Surfaris played surf even though half of their albums were surf vocals and they were inspired by the Beach Boys. Dick Dale’s albums had surf vocals. So did The Pyramids. The Astronauts did two surf albums with about half surf vocals and they were non-surfers. The same goes for The Trashmen. Many other popular surf bands were non-surfers and not from California.

I sometimes think some people think they’re “not supposed to like” the Beach Boys if they like instro surf, which if it’s true, is pretty silly.

BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com

The Beach Boys are one of the finest bands to ever grace our planet, that is all we need to know!

Agree

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I am now playing trumpet with Prince Buster tribute band 'Balzac'

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

Here Here, well said Norm. It's called pigeonholing and there is no need for it. Just listen to the music and try not to place it in a tidy category. All of the other surf bands mentioned that attempted vocals were simply terrible at it so it's good that they stuck to instrumentals. Only the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean were good at it.

shivers13 wrote:

Beach Music is covered earlier in this thread. It's a type od soul and not at all like surf music. I suggest people go back and read earlier posts. This debate is so tired. l don’t understand the fuss over it.

No one debates whether the Surfaris played surf even though half of their albums were surf vocals and they were inspired by the Beach Boys. Dick Dale’s albums had surf vocals. So did The Pyramids. The Astronauts did two surf albums with about half surf vocals and they were non-surfers. The same goes for The Trashmen. Many other popular surf bands were non-surfers and not from California.

I sometimes think some people think they’re “not supposed to like” the Beach Boys if they like instro surf, which if it’s true, is pretty silly.

JakeDobner wrote:

The Beach Boys are one of the finest bands to ever grace our planet, that is all we need to know!

I definitely agree with that!

Stormtiger wrote:

Here Here, well said Norm. It's called pigeonholing and there is no need for it. Just listen to the music and try not to place it in a tidy category. All of the other surf bands mentioned that attempted vocals were simply terrible at it so it's good that they stuck to instrumentals. Only the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean were good at it.

Haha! I actually thoroughly enjoy Surfaris, Pyramids, Trashmen, Astronauts and even a few Dick Dale vocal surf tunes! I'm by no means hard line, but you guys already knew that! Smile

The Beach Boys success on the Billboard national charts without a doubt helped spread the gospel of surfing and hot rods to the rest of the country and the world. What was happening in SoCal musically in the early 60's was at first barely blip on the radar. Had they not come along and put surf instrumentals on their records and painted such a romantic picture of SoCal with their lyrics to the landlocked world, its possible we wouldn't even be talking about or playing surf music today.

BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com

I don't own a board but whenever I'm in Los Angeles no matter what season, I body surf enthusiastically.

Also, I totally love the Beach Boys, probably 1000% more than the hipsters who cite them as their surf influence, right after Best Coast.

I feel that Brian Wilson is up there with Aaron Copland as a poet of the American musical experience. Plus I listen to him a lot more than I do Copland.

shivers13 wrote:

JObeast wrote:

Brian: [pounding on recording console] We're not surfers, we never have been, and real surfers don't dig our music anyway!

I can easily say 99.99% of players in surf bands today are not surfers and surfers don't listen to surf music today either.

Squink Out!

Not broader, but altogether different, with the only commonly recognized element being the Beach Boys, whom we do not put in the category of guitar-driven surf instro that so obsesses us.

Th epoint of my post was the frustration I experience trying to connect with musicians via cl using the term 'surf'. Around here, they think it means Best Coast. I'm really hung up wondering why the hell they think that way, and no one I ask will tell me, because they are unhelpful, lazy-minded hipsters.

casey wrote:

Jo, I guess I was trying to downplay the importance of what term we use. Richard Feynman's point was that knowing the name of something doesn't really tell you anything about that thing - it just tells you something about a group of people - in this instance that some people call the Beach Boy's music "Surf". That said, my guess is that most members of this forum have a narrower definition that would not include them. Dictionaries define words by how they are used, not the other way around. So a dictionary definition would probably include several possible meanings, one might be the narrow definition most of us use, another might be broader to include the Beach Boys.

Squink Out!

Last edited: Oct 15, 2015 22:55:03

Jo Beast, you should really avoid getting so worked up about what "hipsters" do. Let them grow their beards and play what they want. It's up to them to break the rules if you are lucky. Hipsters in the 90's played a big part in bringing surf back to the mainstream via College Radio and Tarantino obsession. So be it. Whatever.

BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com

Last edited: Oct 15, 2015 23:08:54

I played a beach boys song on my show For this coming Sunday,
Shock

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Last edited: Oct 16, 2015 00:45:23

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