Menu
Anyone got the scoop on "Bali Ha'i" by the Irredescents and "Pintor"
by the Pharos? No real reason to group these together other than they
have this incredible authentic sounding vibe to them.
I mean, Bali Ha'i...what the hell? What a quirky, weird song...totally
cool. And Pintor is very suave with a latin feel.
Info on the bands and songs are appreciated. Were they "real" bands or
studio groups? Thanks.
BN
A fair amount of information is known about The Irridescents (they also
recorded an LP called "The Silver Sounds of The Surf" as by The Stompers).
I'll post more tomorrow. The song "Bali Ha'i" was written by Rodgers and
Hammerstein, and is from the musical "South Pacific."
"Pintor" by The Pharos is a superb castenet-driven, Spanish-flavored tune
released on Del-Fi in early '63. Bob Keene recalls nothing about this
band, which means it was likely a leased master. At this point, The Pharos
remain an unknown band. I doubt they were a studio group.
john blair
"Brian Neal"
<
> To
Sent by:
SurfGuitar101@yah cc
oogroups.com
Subject
[SurfGuitar101] Bali Ha'i and
10/02/2005 06:05 Pintor
PM
Please respond to
SurfGuitar101@yah
oogroups.com
Anyone got the scoop on "Bali Ha'i" by the Irredescents and "Pintor"
by the Pharos? No real reason to group these together other than they
have this incredible authentic sounding vibe to them.
I mean, Bali Ha'i...what the hell? What a quirky, weird song...totally
cool. And Pintor is very suave with a latin feel.
Info on the bands and songs are appreciated. Were they "real" bands or
studio groups? Thanks.
BN
.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
Yahoo! Groups Links
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Wow . . . thanks for the info, John! IMHO, Pintor is a very cool tune - the
vibe is awesome. I've listened to it so much that it's hard to imagine that
an "unknown band" put it together! I can't even imagine trying to play the
castenets, but they add such great atmosphere to the song. Listening to
this one takes me back to '63, when I was, uh, well, about one year old . .
. well, you know what I mean ;) I can just about smell the 6L6's cook when
I hear this one!
And John, pardon my ignorance, but what is (and what are the implications)
of a "leased master"? Thanks!
-Dick
> "Pintor" by The Pharos is a superb castenet-driven, Spanish-flavored tune
> released on Del-Fi in early '63. Bob Keene recalls nothing about this
> band, which means it was likely a leased master. At this point, The
> Pharos
> remain an unknown band. I doubt they were a studio group.
>
> john blair
>
Here's some info on these recordings for anyone interested apart from
Brian.....
The Irridescents were from L.A. (the info in my book related to this band
is incorrect -- reason #1,279 to publish an updated, 4th edition
eventually) and "Bali Ha'i/Swamp Surfer" (1963) was their only single (it
does have the distinction of having been reissued twice after the original
Hawk pressing...on the Infinity and Oldies 45 labels). The band was
subsequently "hired" by producer Jonathan Young to record the tracks for a
"concept" surf album called "Silver Sounds of The Surf" by The Stompers (a
fictitious band). This album included very garagy versions of "Surf
Rider," "Hava Nagila," and "Soul Surfer" as well as even cruder instro
versions of "La Bamba" and "King of The Surf Guitar." If you were familiar
with the better recorded and performed "Bali Ha'i," you wouldn't have a
clue The Stompers were actually The Irridescents.
Jonathan Young also recorded as The Moongooners and The Surfside Four, and
worked with Scott Engel (Walker Bros) on various recordings as well. The
"Silver Sounds..." LP continues to provide one little mystery. Besides the
Irridescents' instro tracks, this LP also contains the two Dick Dale vocals
"We'll Never Hear The End of It" and "Fairest of Them All" (another story
here). An annotation on the back of the LP jacket notes "Dick Dale masters
courtesy of Saturn Records." Huh? Dick never recorded for Saturn Records
(and those two vocal tracks, as far as I know, were never released on the
Saturn label), so that reference is still a bit of a mystery.
As for the Pharos ("Pintor/Rhythm Surfer"), as I said yesterday, they
remain a mystery. Both sides of their only single were on the Del-Fi CD
comp, "Wild Surf." The liner notes of the CD point out that this band's
name was, apparently, The Pharaohs but was changed to avoid confusion with
the earlier Pharaohs who recorded R&B vocal sides for Del-Fi. Could be a
studio group, but I kind of doubt it. Whoever they were, and whoever wrote
the two tunes, were inspired. "Pintor" is a classic.
john blair
"Brian Neal"
<
> To
Sent by:
SurfGuitar101@yah cc
oogroups.com
Subject
[SurfGuitar101] Bali Ha'i and
10/02/2005 06:05 Pintor
PM
Please respond to
SurfGuitar101@yah
oogroups.com
Anyone got the scoop on "Bali Ha'i" by the Irredescents and "Pintor"
by the Pharos? No real reason to group these together other than they
have this incredible authentic sounding vibe to them.
I mean, Bali Ha'i...what the hell? What a quirky, weird song...totally
cool. And Pintor is very suave with a latin feel.
Info on the bands and songs are appreciated. Were they "real" bands or
studio groups? Thanks.
BN
.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
Yahoo! Groups Links
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> Here's some info on these recordings for anyone interested apart from
> Brian.....
I am :) ! Thanks for the great info, John.
> Whoever they were, and whoever wrote
> the two tunes, were inspired. "Pintor" is a classic.
Indeed! One of my favorites . . .
-Dick
--- In , john.blair@s... wrote:
>
> Here's some info on these recordings for anyone interested apart from
> Brian.....
>
[...]
Wow...thanks a lot John! I look forward to the next edition of your
book(s)!
You said Bali Ha'i was written for a musical...has anyone heard the
original musical version? Or know where to find it?
It sure would be cool to contact any surviving "Pharo"...
BN
Brian,
The musical was South Pacific. It was one of the most popular Broadway
musicals ever, and made into an award-winning film in the 50s (I'm Gonna
Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair.....). The soundtrack should be readily
available anywhere. Google the title and see what comes up......
jb
"Brian Neal"
<
> To
Sent by:
SurfGuitar101@yah cc
oogroups.com
Subject
[SurfGuitar101] Re: Bali Ha'i and
10/04/2005 05:28 Pintor
PM
Please respond to
SurfGuitar101@yah
oogroups.com
--- In , john.blair@s... wrote:
>
> Here's some info on these recordings for anyone interested apart from
> Brian.....
>
[...]
Wow...thanks a lot John! I look forward to the next edition of your
book(s)!
You said Bali Ha'i was written for a musical...has anyone heard the
original musical version? Or know where to find it?
It sure would be cool to contact any surviving "Pharo"...
BN
.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
Yahoo! Groups Links
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
John, do you have any idea how rare the "Silver Sounds of The Surf"
album is and what one would have to pay for a nice copy?
As for new editions of your books, is it only up to you to put it
together or do you also have to convince the publisher to print new
editions?
Thanks,
Klas
--- In , john.blair@s... wrote:
>
> Here's some info on these recordings for anyone interested apart
from
> Brian.....
>
> The Irridescents were from L.A. (the info in my book related to
this band
> is incorrect -- reason #1,279 to publish an updated, 4th edition
> eventually) and "Bali Ha'i/Swamp Surfer" (1963) was their only
single (it
> does have the distinction of having been reissued twice after the
original
> Hawk pressing...on the Infinity and Oldies 45 labels). The band was
> subsequently "hired" by producer Jonathan Young to record the
tracks for a
> "concept" surf album called "Silver Sounds of The Surf" by The
Stompers (a
> fictitious band). This album included very garagy versions of "Surf
> Rider," "Hava Nagila," and "Soul Surfer" as well as even cruder
instro
> versions of "La Bamba" and "King of The Surf Guitar." If you were
familiar
> with the better recorded and performed "Bali Ha'i," you wouldn't
have a
> clue The Stompers were actually The Irridescents.
>
> Jonathan Young also recorded as The Moongooners and The Surfside
Four, and
> worked with Scott Engel (Walker Bros) on various recordings as
well. The
> "Silver Sounds..." LP continues to provide one little mystery.
Besides the
> Irridescents' instro tracks, this LP also contains the two Dick
Dale vocals
> "We'll Never Hear The End of It" and "Fairest of Them All" (another
story
> here). An annotation on the back of the LP jacket notes "Dick Dale
masters
> courtesy of Saturn Records." Huh? Dick never recorded for Saturn
Records
> (and those two vocal tracks, as far as I know, were never released
on the
> Saturn label), so that reference is still a bit of a mystery.
>
> As for the Pharos ("Pintor/Rhythm Surfer"), as I said yesterday,
they
> remain a mystery. Both sides of their only single were on the Del-
Fi CD
> comp, "Wild Surf." The liner notes of the CD point out that this
band's
> name was, apparently, The Pharaohs but was changed to avoid
confusion with
> the earlier Pharaohs who recorded R&B vocal sides for Del-Fi.
Could be a
> studio group, but I kind of doubt it. Whoever they were, and
whoever wrote
> the two tunes, were inspired. "Pintor" is a classic.
>
> john blair
>
>
>
>
>
> "Brian
Neal"
>
<bgneal@g...
>
> To
> Sent by:
>
SurfGuitar101@yah cc
>
oogroups.com
>
Subject
> [SurfGuitar101] Bali Ha'i
and
> 10/02/2005 06:05
Pintor
>
PM
>
>
> Please respond
to
>
SurfGuitar101@yah
>
oogroups.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Anyone got the scoop on "Bali Ha'i" by the Irredescents and "Pintor"
> by the Pharos? No real reason to group these together other than
they
> have this incredible authentic sounding vibe to them.
>
> I mean, Bali Ha'i...what the hell? What a quirky, weird
song...totally
> cool. And Pintor is very suave with a latin feel.
>
> Info on the bands and songs are appreciated. Were they "real" bands
or
> studio groups? Thanks.
>
> BN
>
>
>
>
>
> .
> Visit for archived
messages,
> bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Brian,
you are joking right???
I'm no musical afficianado, but I thought that anyone over 30
would have recognized Bali' ha'i from South Pacific.
Hell I haven't even seen the movie, and I knew that.
Not tryign to be mean here, just amazed you didn't know it. :)
Jeff(bigtikidude)
--- In , "Brian Neal" <bgneal@g...> wrote:
> --- In , john.blair@s... wrote:
> >
> > Here's some info on these recordings for anyone interested apart
from
> > Brian.....
> >
> [...]
>
> Wow...thanks a lot John! I look forward to the next edition of your
> book(s)!
>
> You said Bali Ha'i was written for a musical...has anyone heard the
> original musical version? Or know where to find it?
>
> It sure would be cool to contact any surviving "Pharo"...
>
> BN
