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There's been a lot of speculation about Messina and his surf days. I
think it has all been blown out of proportion. The guy
doesn't 'disavow' his surf music past, but it just isn't really
relevant to him. April '98 issue of Vintage Guitar magazine had an
long interview with him, and this is what he said about surf music
(along with some gear talk):
"VG: What kind of instruments did you start with?
JM: My father made me an electric guitar, and I had a Kay, and I also
played on something for years that didn't even have a name. The
first opportunity I had to buy an electric guitar happened when I was
about 13. My father took me to downtown LA to Musician's Exchange.
There was a Stratocaster there that I wanted BAD, because Dick Dale
played one. It was probably about $250, but my father said we
couldn't afford it; he told me to buy something for about $125, so I
ended up buying a cherry-finish, one-pickup Gretsch solidbody that
looked sort of like a double-cutaway Les Paul. I didn't like it, so
one day I went to a music store in Riverside, and they had a beat up
Stratocaster there. They wanted $125 for it, so I tried for an even
tade, but they said no. I ended up giving them my guitar and 50
bucks. The Strat looked so bad that I took it to Earl Scheib (a
chain of automotive painting businesses) and asked them to paint it
for me (laughs). I took it apart and they painted it with white
lacquer. I hadn't told my parents what I'd done, and when my mom
wanted to know about the new guitar, I told her that I'd traded, and
that the guitar would have run $250 in LA. She said I'd probably
never be satisfied with anything (chuckles). But that was the first
guitar I really loved, and I played on it all through high school.
VG: Is that the Strat you were seen holding when you were in the
Jesters, an instrumental band?
JM: Yep. I moved to Hollywood in '65, and soon afterwards my house
was broken into; they stole my Showman amp, my Stratocaster, and some
other things.
VG: How much recording did the Jesters do?
JM: I was about 14 or 15, and a guy named Larry Goldberg approached
me about doing an album; I don't know how he got hold of us. They
took us to Audio Arts on Melrose; we thought it was going to be an
album, but they decided to release something with sound effects and
other crap; it had something to do with hot rods and dragsters. It
screwed it all up. We'd had to sign a contract, and my mom had to
sign for me, but neither one of us knew what was on it. When the
album came out, I noticed that all the songs I had written now had a
co-writer listed. I'd signed away the publishing interests and half
the songwriting interests. So that was my first introduction to what
composers can go through (chuckles).
-----------------
That was all he had to say about his surf music days, but it should
be clear that he has no problem talking about it. I think how the
whole story about Messina got blown out of proportion is like this:
the other name on the songwriting credits (that Messina mentioned in
the interview) was Frey, and some people started speculating that it
was Glenn Frey, later of Eagles, since both Messina and him were a
big part of that seventies California 'cocaine' sound. When some
people asked Glenn Frey about this album, he said that he had no idea
what they were talking about, and people took that as him being
ashamed of his surf music past. Well, it turns out that it indeed
had NOTHING to do with Glenn Frey! The Frey on the songwriting
credits, I heard, was the nephew of the label owner. Anyway, people
somehow screwed up the story and started saying that MESSINA, not
Frey, wouldn't talk about his surf music past. Well, it's not true.
Finally, I think it's easy to understand why he doesn't have much
appreciation of that album and his surf music playing. First of all,
he was 15 when he did it - how many of us have any patience for
things we did when we were 15? We generally think it was shit, and
we've moved on and become much more capable and wiser since then.
Second, he has done a LOT of things since then, had many huge hits,
and made a lot of money. I can imagine that when he looks back on
his career, the surf music stuff seems completely insignificant.
Finally, as you can see from the interview, the album was a bit of a
bitter experience for him - not only did they 'screw-up' the songs by
putting the sound-effects on there without even asking him, but they
stole half of his songwriting credits and all of his publishing.
This would spoil the whole experience for anybody!
So, let's give old Jim a break. He's quite forthcoming about his
surf music days. Though, it would be nice if he'd be willing to give
a more in-depth account of those days. I know that John Blair was
working on a longer interview with him some six years ago. I wonder
what happened? Well, maybe one day....
Ivan
PS Incidentally, it's interesting that Messina had his Strat pained
white, and he must have also added the tortoishell pickguard himself -
just like his then-idol, Dick Dale! If you look at old pictures of
Dick, his Strat was originally white with a shell pickguard, until he
painted it gold sparkle (probably around '64, which is probably right
around or even after Messina acquired his Strat).
--- In , "Jeff" <bigtikidude@y...> wrote:
> Brian, all,
> After the Stingrays were done, I was walking towards the gate to
> leave, when I saw someone with a Jim Messina Back Stage personel
> sticker on their shirt. It was someone involved with his Management.
> I asked if he ever did any of his surf stuff, or ever talked about
it.
> The guy said no, and no. He hadn't even heard that Jim had done
surf,
> until recently before that when someone else asked the same
question.
> Sad story to say, but it just goes to show ya, It's all about
Vocals
> if ya want to make money. $$$
> Jeff(bigtikidude)
>
>
>
> > I'd like to hear what Glenn has to say about 60's surf music. Him
> and Jim
> > Messina. I know everyone says Messina disavows that period in his
> life, but
> > is that urban legend or what? It's not on his website, but that
> doesn't say
> > a lot.
> >
> > BN
