BB at Pandora's Box

[Andrew G. Doe]

Ian & I have been chewing the fat over this, and using his researches and David Marks' memories, we've come up with the following scenario which is somewhere between a best-guess and informed deduction. Actually, it's a new footnote in the gigs section of 10452: posting it here to see if y'all think it flies. Any credible new info will be greeted like a prodigal son. 

  The subject of the bands residency at Pandora's Box is a vexed one: the only documented
  dates are those from 10/28 to 11/11 inclusive (there are adverts in the local press).
  However, other press items and interviews of the time strongly indicate that their first show
  was late August or, at worst, early September: in an interview in the Centinela Sunday
  Press on 9/2/62 the band state that they're "now appearing nightly (!)" at the Box. The
  interview had to be done the previous day if not earlier, thus the first date of August 25th is
  established with reasonably certainty. David Marks recalls them playing there "every
  weekend for a while", and that ties in nicely with the last three dates being Sundays only.
  David also recalls playing "sometimes on a week night", which might explain the otherwise
  confusing "nightly" comment. Finally, he recalls they payed three sets a night. According to
  the bands then-manager, they played every Sunday for three or four months, which fits
  (fairly) neatly with a residency from late August to mid-November. An interview with Brian
  & Dennis in mid-September establishes that they were still playing at the Box then, thus
  the dates listed prior to that are tacitly confirmed. The last known ad for them playing is
  dated 11/11/62. It's possible they took a break somewhere down the line but the manager's
  comment tends to counter such an assumption. Finally, the first meeting  between Brian &
  Marilyn now almost certainly took place in early September, not October has been long
  assumed.

[c-man]

It flies with me. Certainly, based just on the fact that it stems from you and Ian is enough for me.
Question: is Shane Wilder the "then-manager" referred to?

[Andrew G. Doe]

That would be the name I'd forgotten, and before you say it, yes, the term "manager" could well be somewhat charitable. 

[c-man]

That would be the name I'd forgotten, and before you say it, yes, the term "manager" could well be somewhat charitable. 

Especially since David had absolutely no memory of the guy when I brought up his name in a conversation a few years ago!  Yet, Mr. Wilder obviously had SOME business connection to the early Beach Boys, as his name appears as signatory on the AFM contract for the January 18, 1963 "Ride Away" session at Radio Recorders.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Isn't it odd how you start researching Thing A, and it leads you to wonder about Thing B, in the process throwing up further questions about Things C, D & Q ?

Someone (think it was Brad Elliot, might have been Stephen McParland, no matter) theorised back in the day that the odd catalog number for the Rachel & The Revolvers single - 422 - possibly indicated that said disc was released on April 22nd. Neat theory, with one slight snag: April 22nd 1962 was a Sunday. Oh well...

Now, such is my basic nature that I decided to have a look at the band's gigs for 1962 and, perhaps unsurprisingly given that 60% of them were still in school, the vast majority of the shows took place on a Saturday, a Sunday or Friday (night, one assumes). Slightly more surprising was that the stint at Pandora's Box wasn't the first "residency" they had, though it was of course the longest: from mid-February to late March The Beach Boys played The Rainbow Gardens in Pomona four out of a possible seven Fridays (and also one Saturday). They also played a goodly few gigs in March & April with The Bel-Airs and The Vibrants, both individually and both bands.

Well, I find it interesting, anyway. 

[The Shift]

Especially since David had absolutely no memory of the guy when I brought up his name in a conversation a few years ago!  Yet, Mr. Wilder obviously had SOME business connection to the early Beach Boys, as his name appears as signatory on the AFM contract for the January 18, 1963 "Ride Away" session at Radio Recorders.

Ride Away… I don't think I've heard that. Has anyone?

Read that Runaway With You, on one of the later SoT boots, is same as Ride Away but doesn't tell whether lyrics (would-be lyrics?) are almost the same as the unrecorded vox for Ride Away would have been.

Oooh there must be enough out there for a smashing new box set! 

[Jim Murphy]

Andrew, and I know you know this, just a momentary lapse of reason, the sometime danger of writing off the cuff, I believe you meant "Barbie" b/w "What Is A Young Girl Made Of?" on Randy 422, as "The Revo-Lution" was released on Dot 16392. As to the record number used on "Barbie" . . . Some indie record companies used random and often high numbers in a rather feeble attempt to trick radio station program directors into thinking the label was successful with many previous releases and therefore the record they were holding in their hands was a worthy contender for airplay. They seldom used any semblance of chronological order, condemning future discographers to a lifetime of consternation. Hite Morgan did this all the time with his labels Deck, Dice, Cal-West, and Randy. Of course, "Barbie" was the sole release on Randy and the "422" had nothing to do with its release date. And the name "Randy" was a good-natured nod to Hite's good friend, Randy Wood, owner of Dot Records, on which Hite had placed many of Dorinda's songs in the mid to late 1950s, including her BMI award-winning "Confidential" and several other follow-up singles by Sonny Knight. After a nearly two-year search, I finally convinced Jimmy O'Neill, former number one disc jockey on KRLA in 1962, to grant me an interview. We spoke for five hours and he allowed me to tape it. It is often erroneously reported that O'Neill owned or purchased Pandora's Box in summer 1962.  He did not. He was the number one disc jockey in LA and while riding down Sunset Strip he saw Pandora's Box and thought to himself, "Gee, wouldn't it be cool to have my name on the side of that building." He stopped and hammered out a financial arrangement with the club's owner to go 50:50 on the gate for every act O'Neill, with his impressive connections through KRLA, booked at the club. And, fortunately for us, O'Neill enjoyed playing "Surfin' Safari" and "409" on his radio show and his Television show. Sadly, Jimmy passed away suddenly just a few months after I spoke with him. But he still had that great, warm radio voice and his memory was right on the money. There's a lot more, of course, some great anecdotes, some sadly foreshadowing, but I would not want to spoil Chris's summer 2014.

[Andrew G. Doe]

You are entirely right, and I am entirely wrong. That's what happens with insufficient tea of a morning. 

[The Shift]

Threads like this make this the best place to hang out on Planet Beach Boy, despite!

[Andrew G. Doe]

Threads like this make me wonder if I shouldn't, y'know, get a life ?  

[bgas]

Threads make me wonder if I shouldn't, y'know, get a life ? 

Nahhh.....   why worry about it now?

[Phoenix]

Threads like this make me wonder if I shouldn't, y'know, get a life ?  

But if you got a life, it might force the rest of us to get one too.  And we can't have that.

[Andrew G. Doe]

OK, this is one of the longest shots I've taken, but anyway... anyone here have any idea about how the high school year was structured in SoCal in 1962 ? Cheers in advance. 

[Jim Murphy]

In Southern California in the early 1960s, the high school academic year ran September to the following June.

Hence, September 1961 through June 1962, and September 1962 through June 1963. 

The fall semester which began in September was peppered with days off for Christopher Columbus (October), Veterans Day (November), and Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday). There was an approximate two week vacation for the Christmas and New Years holidays that ran from a few days before Christmas to early January. Kids returned from the Christmas vacation and soon faced a week of final exams to bring the fall semester to an end. The spring semester followed immediately and included a week vacation preceding Easter Sunday (the so-called "Bal-Week" during which thousands of local teens descended upon the Balboa peninsula in Newport Beach where they contemplated the mystery of the Trinity, among other things. The Boys played three Bal-Week shows in 1962 and a few in 1963. Back to school . . . The spring semester ran through the first week of June, followed by a week of final exams, and then commencement exercises for the graduating seniors.

Are you looking for something more specific?

But the real question is, have you had your tea?  Oh, should you ever get a life, please let me know where you found it so that I may look there, too.

[Custom Machine]

In Southern California in the early 1960s, the high school academic year ran September to the following June.

Hence, September 1961 through June 1962, and September 1962 through June 1963. 

The fall semester which began in September was peppered with days off for Christopher Columbus (October), Veterans Day (November), and Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday). There was an approximate two week vacation for the Christmas and New Years holidays that ran from a few days before Christmas to early January. Kids returned from the Christmas vacation and soon faced a week of final exams to bring the fall semester to an end. The spring semester followed immediately and included a week vacation preceding Easter Sunday (the so-called "Bal-Week" during which thousands of local teens descended upon the Balboa peninsula in Newport Beach where they contemplated the mystery of the Trinity, among other things. The Boys played three Bal-Week shows in 1962 and a few in 1963. Back to school . . . The spring semester ran through the first week of June, followed by a week of final exams, and then commencement exercises for the graduating seniors.

Are you looking for something more specific?

Excellent info, and to be a little more specific, that would have typically been mid-September to mid-June.

[guitarfool2002]

I second Custom Machine on this one, excellent info all around and very much appreciated! Thanks to all.

I wanted to take a sidestep here and bring up the influence of radio DJ's in general around this time, and ask a related question at the end.

The radio DJ in the 60's was I'd argue far more influential and powerful than anything we know today, even on the strength of personality alone.

Here in Philly, we still have Jerry Blavat, "The Geator With The Heater", staging dance parties at various venues and especially around the Jersey Shore in the summer. He draws good crowds even to this day to come dance to the records he spins and parties as he does his schtick. It's a successful throwback to what he did back in the day.

So the cache and power that came with that gig in 1962 led to a financial deal where a KRLA jock could book local shows at a local club and get a financial reward for doing so, as Jimmy O'Neill did with Pandora's Box. A few years later found KRLA jock Dave Hull buying into the building that was formerly the Earl Carroll Theater then later "Moulin Rouge" on Sunset and making it into the "Hullabaloo" club where they'd book both local and national acts, tied into his fame as DJ and host.

I'm guessing DJ's across the country did similar things, again as a way to cash in on their own fame as well as industry connections, as The Geator did and still does around Philly. And look at what Dick Clark built around the same principle: A syndicated TV record hop show and national tours of the acts he featured, among many others.

But my question is, Clark himself got mentioned in the whole "Payola" mess, but got away relatively unscathed compared to someone like Freed. Was there any hint of Payola-like collusion or conspiracy to promote and play for pay when there was a DJ making money by booking acts into local clubs and splitting the profits at the door? The element missing would be the record pluggers slipping the DJ a payment for greater promotion, but after that the vehicle for "selling" certain acts by not only playing their records but also booking and promoting shows...then taking a cut of the profit from that show...

Was there ever any negativity surrounding that practice from DJ's in the wake of Payola? Or was it just a wink-and-a-nod situation which has really never gone away in the music biz?

[Mikie]

Andrew, and I know you know this, just a momentary lapse of reason, the sometime danger of writing off the cuff, I believe you meant "Barbie" b/w "What Is A Young Girl Made Of?" on Randy 422, as "The Revo-Lution" was released on Dot 16392. As to the record number used on "Barbie" . . . Some indie record companies used random and often high numbers in a rather feeble attempt to trick radio station program directors into thinking the label was successful with many previous releases and therefore the record they were holding in their hands was a worthy contender for airplay. They seldom used any semblance of chronological order, condemning future discographers to a lifetime of consternation. Hite Morgan did this all the time with his labels Deck, Dice, Cal-West, and Randy. Of course, "Barbie" was the sole release on Randy and the "422" had nothing to do with its release date. And the name "Randy" was a good-natured nod to Hite's good friend, Randy Wood, owner of Dot Records, on which Hite had placed many of Dorinda's songs in the mid to late 1950s, including her BMI award-winning "Confidential" and several other follow-up singles by Sonny Knight. After a nearly two-year search, I finally convinced Jimmy O'Neill, former number one disc jockey on KRLA in 1962, to grant me an interview. We spoke for five hours and he allowed me to tape it. It is often erroneously reported that O'Neill owned or purchased Pandora's Box in summer 1962.  He did not. He was the number one disc jockey in LA and while riding down Sunset Strip he saw Pandora's Box and thought to himself, "Gee, wouldn't it be cool to have my name on the side of that building." He stopped and hammered out a financial arrangement with the club's owner to go 50:50 on the gate for every act O'Neill, with his impressive connections through KRLA, booked at the club. And, fortunately for us, O'Neill enjoyed playing "Surfin' Safari" and "409" on his radio show and his Television show. Sadly, Jimmy passed away suddenly just a few months after I spoke with him. But he still had that great, warm radio voice and his memory was right on the money. There's a lot more, of course, some great anecdotes, some sadly foreshadowing, but I would not want to spoil Chris's summer 2014.

Great stuff, Jim.  Especially the background info on the Randy label.  Care to delve into the history of the Safari label (Bob & Sheri)? 

[donald]

Threads like this make me wonder if I shouldn't, y'know, get a life ?  
[/

do passionate historians not qualify as having a life?     

[Andrew G. Doe]

In Southern California in the early 1960s, the high school academic year ran September to the following June.

Hence, September 1961 through June 1962, and September 1962 through June 1963. 

The fall semester which began in September was peppered with days off for Christopher Columbus (October), Veterans Day (November), and Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday). There was an approximate two week vacation for the Christmas and New Years holidays that ran from a few days before Christmas to early January. Kids returned from the Christmas vacation and soon faced a week of final exams to bring the fall semester to an end. The spring semester followed immediately and included a week vacation preceding Easter Sunday (the so-called "Bal-Week" during which thousands of local teens descended upon the Balboa peninsula in Newport Beach where they contemplated the mystery of the Trinity, among other things. The Boys played three Bal-Week shows in 1962 and a few in 1963. Back to school . . . The spring semester ran through the first week of June, followed by a week of final exams, and then commencement exercises for the graduating seniors.

Are you looking for something more specific?

No, this is exactly what I wanted: many, many thanks.

But the real question is, have you had your tea?  Oh, should you ever get a life, please let me know where you found it so that I may look there, too.

Yes, I have... and should I be so blessed, I most certainly will. They're all out at the corner store, mind. 

[Jim Murphy]

Thanks for the kind words, Mikie and Andrew. For the record, I've always enjoyed your posts so I'm glad to have a chance to finally reciprocate!

I imagine you probably know most, if not all, of what is known about Safari.

My understanding is that after Russ Regan helped Brian and Gary Usher get "The Revo-Lution" released on Dot Records in very late August 1962, Murry sought Regan's advice about starting a record label specifically for Brian's productions outside the band.  Pretty cool stuff when you think about it, considering the band was still struggling to select a follow-up single to "Surfin' Safari" b/w "409." Regan was still working as a record promoter at Buckeye Record Distributors at 2583 West Pico Boulevard, and had handled the Candix account back in fall 1961 when "Surfin'" was released. There probably wasn't much back then to starting a record label.  There are no documents in the California Department of State for "Safari" as a corporation or other business entity.  I imagine Murry simply said, "Hey, let's start our own label. Russ, what do we need?"  And, basically, all he needed was two masters, the A side and requisite B side, and a hundred bucks or so to pay the pressing plant, depending on how many copies he wanted.

There is solid evidence that Brian produced "The Surfer Moon" with Bob Norberg and Cheryl Pomeroy (Bob and Sheri) in August 1962. Again, it kills me that he's working on this at the same time he's rehearsing the guys with songs for the Surfin' Safari album. The delay in "The Surfer Moon" release may have been due to Dot passing on it, having just taken a chance on "The Revo-Lution," which was clearly inspired by "The Loco-Motion," and Murry then deciding on creating his own label.  "The Surfer Moon" was pressed at Alco Research and Engineering at 6201 Santa Monica Boulevard at North El Centro, and the record labels printed at Record Labels, Incorporated, at the same address. As you know, the Wilson's home address of "3701 W. 119th St., Hawthorne, Calif." is printed in smaller point size beneath SAFARI at the twelve o'clock position on the record label. The music publishing for "The Surfer Moon" is credited to Sea of Tunes, BMI (but is now credited to Screen Gems-EMI because when Brian revised it to "The Summer Moon" in early 1963 (eventually demoed by Bob Norberg and Vickie Kocher in May 1963) he published it with Al Nevins's and Don Kirshner's Aldon Music Publishing after being introduced by Jan & Dean to Lou Adler during the Surfin' USA album sessions (Jan - Feb 1963). Kirshner sold Aldon to Columbia Pictures-Screen Gems in March 1963 and "The Surfer/Summer Moon" went with the sale. "Humpty Dumpty," the flip side of the "The Surfer Moon," was published by Algrace Publishing, Regan's music publishing firm with BMI, named in honor of his parents Al and Grace Rustigian (Regan's birth surname).  Granting the music publishing for the B side to Regan, as had been done with "The Revo-Lution," was a form of "restitution" for all his help. Regan also volunteered to handle the distribution of "The Surfer Moon," for what it was, through Buckeye. The delta number on "The Surfer Moon" is hand-etched into the dead wax on the run-out grooves and is Triangle (the Greek letter delta) 45097.  That corresponds very approximately to November 7, 1962, but I believe it was released in early October 1962. Of course, here was one of Brian's earliest and sweetest ballads being released in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War's closest brush with nuclear annihilation.  Needless to say, missile crisis or no missile crisis, it did not sell. And that was the first, and last, release on Safari. 

Now, the really interesting question is . . . How many copies of "The Surfer Moon" were pressed?  It is arguably the rarest Beach Boys related record out there.  Rarer than the black vinyl "Barbie" and rarer than the red and yellow splash wax "Barbie." And all the Candix and X manifestations put together. It very seldom comes up for sale, indicating that very few were made and even fewer survived. Of course, now that I've said that, Melinda will soon reveal that she has a 100 count box of mint copies that Brian stashed away in fall 1962! [Hey Chris, it could happen  ]  There is reliable evidence to believe that at a bare minimum at least 200 copies were pressed.  There were economies of scale in record manufacturing.  Most of the cost was up front in manufacturing the mothers, fathers, and stampers (the so-called metal works). Once you paid for the metal works and the time at the pressing plant, the actual cost of the records was relatively minimal. If you were going to press 200 records, well then, why not press 500 for just a little more money. Of course, that reasoning could be carried out indefinitely. 1,000 records weren't that much more than 500, and so on. So Murry had to pick a number and stick to it.

One of the tenants of veterinary medicine, what I do when, like many of you here, I'm not tracking down arcane bits of early Beach Boys' history, is that common things happen commonly. In other words, if you hear hoof beats in the distance, think horses, not gazelles. The same concept can be applied to record collecting.  Common records appear commonly.  And "The Surfer Moon" is anything but common. So my best guess, and it is just that, a guess, is that perhaps only 100 to 200 copies were made. Interestingly, in addition to the blue stock records, Murry also pressed some white label promotional copies marked "PROMOTIONAL COPY" at the nine o'clock position on the record label and "NOT FOR SALE" at the three o'clock position.  It had been thought that these white label promo copies were counterfeits, but that has been disproven. The three etchings in the dead wax on the run-out grooves [matrix number (45-926 A), delta number (Triangle 45097), and machine stamped Alco logo] align perfectly with the stock copy, as they should since there is no physical difference in the actual vinyl of a stock copy versus a promo copy.  The only difference is the label that is machine applied after the black vinyl biscuit is pressed into the familiar disc shape we all know and love, and is still warm and gooey, thus allowing the label to adhere as the vinyl cools.     

Collectors are a funny lot (said lovingly) -- I wish there was some sort of data base on these ridiculously rare Beach Boys' records. It'd be cool to know how many survived. I've heard that Brian doesn't care much about collecting memorabilia, so he may not even have a copy of "The Surfer Moon." I find that sort of amazing.  But I suppose it is his strength and ability to look forward, rather than dwell on the past, that has allowed him to enter his sixth decade of creating some of the world's most wondrous music.

And, should Brian call me on Christmas Eve, I'll ask him about that 100 count box of "The Surfer Moon." And if he could send me one.

[bgas]

Thanks for the kind words, Mikie and Andrew. For the record, I've always enjoyed your posts so I'm glad to have a chance to finally reciprocate!

I imagine you probably know most, if not all, of what is known about Safari.

My understanding is that after Russ Regan helped Brian and Gary Usher get "The Revo-Lution" released on Dot Records in very late August 1962, Murry sought Regan's advice about starting a record label specifically for Brian's productions outside the band.  Pretty cool stuff when you think about it, considering the band was still struggling to select a follow-up single to "Surfin' Safari" b/w "409." Regan was still working as a record promoter at Buckeye Record Distributors at 2583 West Pico Boulevard, and had handled the Candix account back in fall 1961 when "Surfin'" was released. There probably wasn't much back then to starting a record label.  There are no documents in the California Department of State for "Safari" as a corporation or other business entity.  I imagine Murry simply said, "Hey, let's start our own label. Russ, what do we need?"  And, basically, all he needed was two masters, the A side and requisite B side, and a hundred bucks or so to pay the pressing plant, depending on how many copies he wanted.

There is solid evidence that Brian produced "The Surfer Moon" with Bob Norberg and Cheryl Pomeroy (Bob and Sheri) in August 1962. Again, it kills me that he's working on this at the same time he's rehearsing the guys with songs for the Surfin' Safari album. The delay in "The Surfer Moon" release may have been due to Dot passing on it, having just taken a chance on "The Revo-Lution," which was clearly inspired by "The Loco-Motion," and Murry then deciding on creating his own label.  "The Surfer Moon" was pressed at Alco Research and Engineering at 6201 Santa Monica Boulevard at North El Centro, and the record labels printed at Record Labels, Incorporated, at the same address. As you know, the Wilson's home address of "3701 W. 119th St., Hawthorne, Calif." is printed in smaller point size beneath SAFARI at the twelve o'clock position on the record label. The music publishing for "The Surfer Moon" is credited to Sea of Tunes, BMI (but is now credited to Screen Gems-EMI because when Brian revised it to "The Summer Moon" in early 1963 (eventually demoed by Bob Norberg and Vickie Kocher in May 1963) he published it with Al Nevins's and Don Kirshner's Aldon Music Publishing after being introduced by Jan & Dean to Lou Adler during the Surfin' USA album sessions (Jan - Feb 1963). Kirshner sold Aldon to Columbia Pictures-Screen Gems in March 1963 and "The Surfer/Summer Moon" went with the sale. "Humpty Dumpty," the flip side of the "The Surfer Moon," was published by Algrace Publishing, Regan's music publishing firm with BMI, named in honor of his parents Al and Grace Rustigian (Regan's birth surname).  Granting the music publishing for the B side to Regan, as had been done with "The Revo-Lution," was a form of "restitution" for all his help. Regan also volunteered to handle the distribution of "The Surfer Moon," for what it was, through Buckeye. The delta number on "The Surfer Moon" is hand-etched into the dead wax on the run-out grooves and is Triangle (the Greek letter delta) 45097.  That corresponds very approximately to November 7, 1962, but I believe it was released in early October 1962. Of course, here was one of Brian's earliest and sweetest ballads being released in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War's closest brush with nuclear annihilation.  Needless to say, missile crisis or no missile crisis, it did not sell. And that was the first, and last, release on Safari. 

Now, the really interesting question is . . . How many copies of "The Surfer Moon" were pressed?  It is arguably the rarest Beach Boys related record out there.  Rarer than the black vinyl "Barbie" and rarer than the red and yellow splash wax "Barbie." And all the Candix and X manifestations put together. It very seldom comes up for sale, indicating that very few were made and even fewer survived. Of course, now that I've said that, Melinda will soon reveal that she has a 100 count box of mint copies that Brian stashed away in fall 1962! [Hey Chris, it could happen  ]  There is reliable evidence to believe that at a bare minimum at least 200 copies were pressed.  There were economies of scale in record manufacturing.  Most of the cost was up front in manufacturing the mothers, fathers, and stampers (the so-called metal works). Once you paid for the metal works and the time at the pressing plant, the actual cost of the records was relatively minimal. If you were going to press 200 records, well then, why not press 500 for just a little more money. Of course, that reasoning could be carried out indefinitely. 1,000 records weren't that much more than 500, and so on. So Murry had to pick a number and stick to it.

One of the tenants of veterinary medicine, what I do when, like many of you here, I'm not tracking down arcane bits of early Beach Boys' history, is that common things happen commonly. In other words, if you hear hoof beats in the distance, think horses, not gazelles. The same concept can be applied to record collecting.  Common records appear commonly.  And "The Surfer Moon" is anything but common. So my best guess, and it is just that, a guess, is that perhaps only 100 to 200 copies were made. Interestingly, in addition to the blue stock records, Murry also pressed some white label promotional copies marked "PROMOTIONAL COPY" at the nine o'clock position on the record label and "NOT FOR SALE" at the three o'clock position.  It had been thought that these white label promo copies were counterfeits, but that has been disproven. The three etchings in the dead wax on the run-out grooves [matrix number (45-926 A), delta number (Triangle 45097), and machine stamped Alco logo] align perfectly with the stock copy, as they should since there is no physical difference in the actual vinyl of a stock copy versus a promo copy.  The only difference is the label that is machine applied after the black vinyl biscuit is pressed into the familiar disc shape we all know and love, and is still warm and gooey, thus allowing the label to adhere as the vinyl cools.     

Collectors are a funny lot (said lovingly) -- I wish there was some sort of data base on these ridiculously rare Beach Boys' records. It'd be cool to know how many survived. I've heard that Brian doesn't care much about collecting memorabilia, so he may not even have a copy of "The Surfer Moon." I find that sort of amazing.  But I suppose it is his strength and ability to look forward, rather than dwell on the past, that has allowed him to enter his sixth decade of creating some of the world's most wondrous music.

And, should Brian call me on Christmas Eve, I'll ask him about that 100 count box of "The Surfer Moon." And if he could send me one.

Mucho glad to see you posting, what with all the research I KNOW you've done!!  Way more info than I'm going to remember; may have to start filing your posts for posterity.
 So along the lines of above: 
1: How on earth will I be able to wait another 6-7 months?
2: Glad I have my auto'd Surfer Moon! 
3: In all your searches, did you happen to find and buy the metal stampers for the Safari? 
4: I might quibble with the "rarest" as there's one I think ismuch more scarce( at least in my searches) 
5: YEAH!!  Wish there was some way to get everyone that has a copy to fess up, so we can count em. 
6: Got an extra promo? 

[Mr. Wilson]

AWESOME research ..!

[Jim Murphy]

Chris,

In a word  . . .

1. It will go by before you know it.
2. Pretty cool to have an autographed copy of "The Surfer Moon" . . . by both Bob and Sheri, if I recall correctly, but the vinyl has been around the block a few times?
3. Nah, they're long gone. Unfortunately, no one thought to save those things.  They were probably on a shelf at Alco and eventually got tossed. Oh the humanity! Metal stampers for "Surfin',"  now we're talkin' . . .
4. Well, in my defense, I did say arguably.  Do you mean the Surfin Safari promo EP and hardcover picture sleeve? Or the "I Was There KFWB Day!" sleeve?
5. Well, we now know of two.  I know of a third one safe and sound.  And a fourth one that a friend of mine was persuaded to trade for a rare R&B group record under the premise the other guy would find him a replacement.  That was 25 years ago!  Big mistake. He's still kicking himself over it. Occasionally, he lets me kick him, too.
6. Sadly . . . yes.  Sadly, because it could have been a considerable down payment on a car.

[bgas]

Chris,

In a word  . . .

1. It will go by before you know it.
2. Pretty cool to have an autographed copy of "The Surfer Moon" . . . by both Bob and Sheri, if I recall correctly, but the vinyl has been around the block a few times?
3. Nah, they're long gone. Unfortunately, no one thought to save those things.  They were probably on a shelf at Alco and eventually got tossed. Oh the humanity! Metal stampers for "Surfin',"  now we're talkin' . . .
4. Well, in my defense, I did say arguably.  Do you mean the Surfin Safari promo EP and hardcover picture sleeve? Or the "I Was There KFWB Day!" sleeve?
5. Well, we now know of two.  I know of a third one safe and sound.  And a fourth one that a friend of mine was persuaded to trade for a rare R&B group record under the premise the other guy would find him a replacement.  That was 25 years ago!  Big mistake. He's still kicking himself over it. Occasionally, he lets me kick him, too.
6. Sadly . . . yes.  Sadly, because it could have been a considerable down payment on a car.

2; Way around the block, back again, then around the monument a few times. I hesitate to check it again.    I wonder if there are any other signed ones ( EDHHD)
4; Stretching the definition of "BBs" record, maybe,  I'm going with the January 1967 Capitol Salesman Promo LP with the "we'll sell a Million Copies".  I know of one copy. How about you?  
BUT, I can see both the Safari Promo EP ( with cover) and the I was There sleeve being low counters, also. Anyone have an idea how many I Was There sleeves still exist?

[Andrew G. Doe]

A version of "Surfer Moon" was recorded at Western September 13th 1962 (a week after the final Surfin' Safari session at Capitol), along with "Cindy, Oh Cindy", and to judge from the crickets FX on the master, it's the Bob & Sheri version. Confirmation is that the BB version recycles the Bob & Vicki "Summer Moon" track recorded at United (note, United, not Western) May 9th 1963. That Brian cut this in LA is also reasonable proof that he'd ducked out of the summer midwest tour that was in progress at the time.