You need to go modern. Satan's Pilgrims, Bambi Molesters, Space Cossacks, The Penetrators, The 'Verb..., Man or Astro-Man?, and many others. Nebulas as well.

Rockabillyking, you're in the same place I was a couple years ago. I started out learning a bunch of classics, (which I've probably forgotten half of them) so as to get a foundation for the surf style. While I was doing this, with the help of SG101, I began critically listening to more modern surf bands and discerning for myself what I liked. All the while practicing my doublepicking technique. Once I started purchasing CD's I slowly learned the songs that I liked on those (by ear, it's mandatory). This also gave me a sense of what I felt the boundaries of the 'surf' style is. Now, after a couple years I feel like it's all beginning to gel.

Another tip: subscribe to Live365 show Devlar Surf Sessions, an excellent resource.

Good luck

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

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

RockabillyKing
As some of you know, I'm new to this site and have developed quite an interest in Surf Music. I'd like to share with you what I have learned in terms of tunes so you can understand my taste, and then have you add to my list of tunes (to possibly learn).

Here's what I know and consider "Surf" (for the most part cut me some slack now fellas).

Wipeout - The Surfaris
Mr. Moto - The Belaires
Apache - The Shadows
Walk, Don't Run - The Ventures
Pipeline - The Chantay's
Surf Rider - The Lively Ones
Diamond Head - The Ventures
Longboard Legato - Slacktone
Surf Beat - Dick Dale

<u>I'd like to learn:</u>
Penetration - The Pyramids
Spanish Blue - The Aqua Velvets
Bustin' Surfboards - The Tornadoes
Forty Miles of Bad Surf - The Lively Ones
Baja - The Astronauts (mostly, still workin on it)

Where would you go from here.......?

I think a lot of your songs lean more towards 60s instro than actual surf but there's nothing wrong with that.
Try to get a copy of the Eddie and the Showman CD and then burn yourself an extra copy of it. Sit down with that copy and try to learn stuff by ear. The Jim Messina and the Jesters album is a good one for that as well. If you spend an hour a day playing along with those CDs it's like taking a lesson in surfguitar101.
When I really got into surf I think I tried to learn as many Ventures songs as possible through TAB, but those are often wrong, and you don't really improve much that way. I think it's actually EASIER to figure out a song like Squad Car by ear than figure out something like the Ventures Caravan with TAB.

For the modern stuff check out Satans Pilgrims, the Bomboras, or the Treblemakers. All three of those bands had atleast two feet firmly planted on the traditional side of surf. These bands would get aggressive but there's something to be said about the simplicity of the more traditional aggresive surf. All that old Eddie and the Showman stuff is about as aggressive as it gets.

"as he stepped into the stealthy night air... little did he know the fire escape was not there"

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Rockabilly - I'd take Danny and Bills advice - It looks to me that you are more interested right now in the more traditional surf - don't feel that you HAVE to learn modern surf songs. Listen to lots of surf music, and learn what you like, and what you feel you can learn. If you try to learn songs that are too complicated for your comfort level, it can take all the fun out of learning new songs.

Eddie and the Showmen, Jim Messina and the Jesters are both great places to start, and I add the Astronauts The Surfaris and the Original Surfaris, the Lively Ones, The Pyramids, and The Ventures.

Chris

"You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"

learn "latin soul" by the original surfaris and the theme to exodus by the lively ones

Sometimes "old" is good! Lately, my surf band has been booking gigs in conjunction with a British invasion band ( http://www.boonescuttle5.com/ ) and marketing the shows as a Complete 60's Experience". We've found, that while some newer things can be worked in, generally the people we are playing to like to hear things that they're familiar with. We go to great pains to do the classic surf songs as close to the originals as possible as does the other band with their material, and the concept seems to be working well......it seems each gig we do leads us to several more. We're now working on a finale set with both bands participating and having enough vocal talent to do accurate Beach Boys/Jan and Dean tunes. It's tough to find good venues for straight "surf", but when combined with the other band we're finding ourselves actually turning down work. Please understand that we're all in this to have fun, and still be able to make it reasonbly worthwhile, but it's not a "money" thing that we're after....more of an accurate reproduction of a lot of the music we grew up with.

For modern that doesnt' get too "agressive" try Los Straightjackets. They tear it up during solos, but the songs themselves are kind of in the vein of Chet Atkins. He never lost sight of the fact that you had to give Cletus and Martha something they could hum while you also had to give the other nashville cats something to fear. Los Straightjackets always remember that a great song is one you can hum...