Hey Surfalbumcovers,
Great topic! I'll give it a try.
I think the "Out of Limits" song and album is a good starting point since it had so much French Horn and then go backwards from there. The "producer" was Joe Saraceno, but he didn't do any engineering or have any musical suggestions, he was simply the guy who put up the money and made a big return on his investment if The Marketts got a hit (side note: you all probably know that they were a Wrecking Crew band in the studio, much like the other ones that Surfalbumcovers mentioned-this was a studio thing-most teen surf bands weren't using instruments like this, unless they started getting produced by Gary Usher or something later). Since Saraceno wasn't musically producing, doing arrangements or anything like that, that uncredited job went to Jack Nitzsche, who was also playing some piano or organ.
I think Nitzsche is the key to the French Horns in this type of music.
"Out of Limits" was released in Oct 0f 63 and The Lonely Surfer had been released in Aug of 63, so it was still hot on the charts when "Out of Limits" was possibly recorded. A formula was born with "The Lonely Surfer" and cemented with :"Out of Limits". By the time it was to record the rest of the "Out of Limits" record, the French Horn thing was a proven success, so that is why it is on so many of the songs. Saraceno wanted more return on his investment.
So, where did Jack Nitzsche get the idea? That would be Phil Spector, when Jack and Sonny Bono were understudy/gophers for Spector in the preceding years. In fact, you will notice that Gary Usher, Jan Berry and Brian Wilson, who you mention, all use percussion instruments championed by Spector before them (castanets, triangle, wood blocks, tympani) and other Spector recording techniques like multiple drummers (Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer playing together in sync on "Surf City" by Jan and Dean), electric bass paired with one or more acoustic basses, sometimes playing the same thing, but in fifths, multiple compressed pianos, harpsichords, and organs playing in unison. All of this stuff can be found to be cautiously used by Usher, Berry and Wilson, and then it would spread to Terry Melcher and others. They were using what Spector had shown them was possible, but with more restraint.
But while Spector had used French Horns as part of his kitchen sink of classical instruments brought in to the Wall of Sound, Nitzche was the one to spotlight the French Horn, in my opinion, and then everyone else followed... Or they were all getting hip to it at the same time?...I don't know, I wasn't there, but, Nitzsche had the first record with it, with, "The Lonely Surfer" and it was a hit, so I'm going to go with that.
As far as why? I think he liked the Wagnerian battle blasts of a French Horn. They invoked the challenge of a lone surfer vs the big wave or any other high drama these songs could present. It also has that "off in the distance" sound and even though they have nothing to do with the ocean, the French Horn kind of has that ship horn or even the sound of blowing a conch shell quality...
Interestingly, the French Horns usually come in the second to last or last chorus and stay through the end and fade with the ending. It reminds me of Spector hits like "Be My Baby" or "Da Doo Ron Ron" where you can tell the song is wrapping up because the drums are doing fills more and more often and ramping up in intensity as the song is heading toward its end and fade. Supposedly, since there was usually not a scripted number of measures to indicate an ending (since it was usually a fade out), Phil Spector used to give the signal to Hal Blaine on the drums from the control booth that he could start doing fills around the kit as they were on their way towards the end of the record (the verses had all been sung and they were now repeating the choruses). I find the French Horn blasts to be a similar method in the stuff Nitzsche wes involved with. It adds something to the now familiar and repeating lines of the song as it heads towards the end that adds a dramatic effect and keeps the listener engaged (hopefully) instead of getting bored.
I don't see too much a French Horn trend, except for some songs by The Who a few years later...
In a similar vein, though, Burt Bacharach used the oboe on some of his early hits and if you listen to mid-60s pop hits, there are oboes everywhere! Or the sitar/electric fake sitar guitar in 67...

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Last edited: May 16, 2024 00:21:02

Great post Ted!

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I love french horns in surf music!

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Love this thread! And I love French horn with surf. Sounds rad!

Awesome response, Ted!

I believe there’s some French horns on this instro classic (unless my ears deceive me):

Last edited: May 16, 2024 21:18:04

synchro wrote:

Great track, Klas, and an abundant explanation by SPSkins. I learned a lot.

The Lonely Surfer is a favorite album. Not the classic sound of a Surf band, but a great treatment. It has a Bass VI playing lead on several tracks, and that, in itself, is enough to make me love it, but the French Horns really add.

French Horns have this incredible timbre which, as SP mentions, has an off in the distance sound. It fits Surf to a T. Over the years, I’ve had unusual ideas for bands, such as a guitar bands with French Horn, Flugelhorn, Cello, or ContraBass Trombone.

This is along the lines of what is sometimes called Chamber Jazz, which uses some classical instruments in a small Jazz ensemble. To the best of my knowledge, this started as a West Coast phenomenon, so perhaps that was another source of inspiration, but I tend to think it was more of a phenomenon of the times. It worked for one artist, so others gave it a try.

Synchro, there's a Jan and Dean Book that details all of the instruments used on their songs, with a lot of the accompanying AFM sheets. Even though J&D weren't surf instrumental, though they did have a few good ones, Jan Berry used those same instruments and on quite a few tracks.

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Here’s my typical plug for my old band when people ask about French horn in surf. I usually use a euphonium now since I think it’s prettier and cleaner sounding, but on this old ‘verb recording I played a French horn (and flugelhorn? It was soooo long ago when it was actually recorded). The brass comes in half way through or so. It’s very old movie soundtrack sounding.

I think The Desolate Coast stuff with euphonium is nicer, but I have to feel that way, right?

-Eric

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