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I've grown to appreciate the self-contained garage quality Beach Boys material from '62 has, but as a major debut of a band known as one of the best in the world, Surfin' Safari is a little lacklustre. To the people who like to check out bands by listening to things chronologically, I can't imagine Surfin' Safari being anything but anti-climatic given the degree of hype the Beach Boys receive for production and songwriting strength.

With 20/20 hindsight, I'll say the stuff on Surfin' Safari was strong enough to deserve release at the time, just perhaps not under "The Beach Boys" monicker. I recognise this might have been near impossible with label pressures etc. etc. but it would've been cool if the boys + Gary Usher cobbled a release together as "The Pendletones" in late '62 as a sort of practice run before Brian tried his hand at a solid "Beach Boys" debut for the summer of '63.

What do you guys think?

I know, it's inexcusable, what with that "hindsight" machine Capitol records had in their studio.

I love the singles long time (Surfin Safari, 409), but I don't listen to anything else on the album much really. But for the time, I think it was a good release, even if it doesn't hold up so well today.

Surfin USA, on the other hand, would have made a great first LP under the Beach Boys name. I love all the tracks on it. Stoked is my jam.

I bought Surfin USA on vinyl a month ago...and Surfin' Safari was inside. The store I bought it from was too far for me to return it. Godamnit.

Standard record company procedure was (is) to get ANYTHING out as quickly as possible to extract hot cash from willing wallets/purses before the willingness wilted.

Hence Surfin' Safari is what it is.

I do wonder why Brian wasn't inspired to finish off Surfer Girl on this album (rather glad he let it wait, tho').

Could've you made a more grammatically incorrect thread title?  :p

;D

Well, with hindsight, I think something like the following would've been cool for late '62 permitting Usher was on board with contributing Four Speeds stuff.

The Pendletones
Side A
"R.P.M."
"Cuckoo Clock"
"Land Ahoy"
"Karate"
"Lonely Sea"
"Heads You Win - Tails I Lose"

Side B
"My Sting Ray"
"The Surfer Moon"
"Chug-a-Lug"
"Gonna Hustle You"
"The Shift"
"Visions"

Additional notes I'll deliver through my time machine:
* Leave "Surfin'" credited to "The Pendletones", let "Surfin' Safari" be The Beach Boys' first official single.
* Use covers like "Cindy" and "Little Girl" as B-sides. Offer those with the album something new.
* Earmark "Surfer Girl" and "County Fair/I Do" for later use.
* Under no circumstance should the existence of "Ten Little Indians" be admitted to.

I'll ensure that when I pull out my next "wouldn't've" or "shouldn't've" that you're not around  :lol

Ten Little Indians is 91 seconds of cuteness. And it was a single. No way they were going to omit that.

Their Hearts were Full of Spring should have been included though.

i disagree.... sorry lol

you have to remember in 1962, who was Brian Wilson or The Beach Boys?.....

they were not established at all! they had one single out on an independent label.......and here the boys were in a real studio,

the legendary Capitol studios, they would have been no doubt a little nervous, unsure of protocol, and naturally a little undeveloped....

and also, as if Capitol would have let an unknown 20 year old kid, take over engineering, producing and directing in the studio...

obviously, Brian and Murry and the boys, took to it all quickly, and shaped up the way to do things...

also, in terms of material used for 'surfin safari', who knows who was pulling the strings as to what was to go on the first album....

at the time, rock n roll bands weren't really considered 'serious' music..... a singles driven era, not LP's....

give the fella's a break...... its a good record....  :)

Cheers, RickB

It isn't a GREAT album but OK considering the period. Surfin USA is when some depth really became apparent.

good topic by the way....

but also remember, the oldest Mike, was about 21..... and the youngest Dave, was about 14......

not bad for a bunch of unprofessional young adults i would say.

RickB

Agreed.

A bit off topic, but I was just thinking how it's a little silly how the internet often evaluates Surfin' Safari against Please, Please Me. If you have to do the tired "Beach Boys vs Beatles" comparison Surfin' U.S.A. seems to be the fairer matchup. Them damn Beatles lucked out since their arguably less-good 1961-1962 material didn't get to reach their official catalogue. Stuff like the Decca audition, recordings with Tony Sheridan etc. etc. seem like the fairer matchup against Surfin' Safari.

Please Please Me is another 'good' album from a new band.....

actually, it's one of my favourite beatle albums....... maybe its the 'rawness' before the 'genius' period that I like.....

and 'sonically' its great listening.......... I even like the stereo mixes.......

maybe I just like music whether its good or bad..... hehe       :smoking


maybe its the drugs hehe

Yeah, I totally get that. I doubt Capitol would've granted the band a green light to give them more time to cobble together an album when the opportunity was present to make money on the success of "Surfin' Safari" with a Beach Boys LP.

That said, they could have potentially capitalised through a Surfin' Safari compilation. They weren't necessarily a second rate option for a label in that time, Shut Down peaked at seven and stayed on the chart for 44 weeks.

Sorry to all those who hate these "what if" alternate reality timelines. Can you tell I'm desperate to find new ways to procrastinate? ;D

Well that's fair in that the Beatles had more years together playing seriously before their first LP. Though perhaps the Hite Morgan tapes do have to be considered as the equivalent to Aint She Sweet.

For what it is, it's pretty decent. It's not Today or Pet Sounds or Sunflower, but it's just as important as the Surfin' single. Sure, it's mostly filler but at least it's somewhat fun filler.

What's this song?

It has 3 great, iconic songs on it (Surfin', Surfin' Safari and 409). It has 2 good songs (Ten Little Indians, Moon Dawg). The rest is hurried pap.

Brian seemed a little unsure to use the BBs to promote his more ballad based songs at this early stage. Surfari could have had on it Surfer Girl, The Lonely Sea, The Surfer Moon and a decent studio rendition of Their Heart's Were Full of Spring. There was also stuff available like Thank Him, Visions/Number 1 and Barbie, which although hardly top shelf material was still miles better than the likes of Heads You Win.... and County Fair.

The songwriting issue is only half the problem though, the production/playing is lousy. Was Nik Venet just a crap producer or did having Murry in his ear giving his insights on how the record should sound effect his judgment?

Why other than making those stupid bird noises did Brian sing NO falsetto on the record? In his mid range tone his voice is often buried under Carl and esp Dennis in the stack.

Speaking of Dennis, his drumming is strictly amateur hour here, he plays everything too fast (a classic error for anyone still learning how to play). He would soon improve rapidly but at this point Venet should have pushed for a session pro to record the parts.

So, yeah they could have started better.  ;D

It's a song by "The Four Speeds" (a studio only Gary Usher outfit) from late 1962. Dennis plays drums. A serviceable enough Beach Boys pastiche that suits its era. Would've been cool if Brian got involved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8YN1HoMwtc


As for the lack of "Surfer Girl" on Surfin' Safari and Surfin' U.S.A., my wild guess is Brian wanted to ensure he had a solid single to fall back on just in case the well of creativity was running a little dry.

It's all about opinions obviously.  I don't think Thank Him is any better, or even as good as most of the songs on the LP.  As far as a first album by a group of young guys, who were still learning to play goes, it's a good start to their career.  Even at that stage you could see the signs that they were going to stand out.  The chord progressions, with minor chords and stuff, the vocal harmonies, the lyrics that which seemed on the face of it simple but had a little more about them (Chug-A-Lug for example is an early sign of Brian looking at and observing personalities within the band) all add up to a nice introduction to the band who would go on and change the face of popular music.

Also if they had taken some of the songs from the Surfin' USA album what would they have put on the second album?

I doubt Brian wrote those lyrics.

Sorry I meant Brian, Gary and Mike.  :). Still it's a fun early look at the different things the guys were interested in.

Yeah, totally agree. All you can hear of the drums is high hat, which is  just about the least flattering sound - and totally not what a relatively new drummer like Denny needed at the time. Loads of the vocals sound like they just needed another few takes, or a bit more time spent on the balance, or maybe a bit of double tracking...there are a million things.

I'd go as far as to say, it's more 'recorded' than produced.

No, alternate realities are cool. ;D

What if the Beach Boys started with a double LP? Harry Belafonte had a double LP back then

It is was it is, their debut. On the strength of it I'd give them half a century, little more.

So you're a young, new band, you already had two hit singles and your next move is of course... To do a one-off side project before you release an album of your own. Nope, doesn't sound like a realistic (or smart) thing to do.

But since Surfer Girl, Lonely Sea and THWFOS were already recorded at the time, Surfin' Safari could and should have been a better LP.

This is all so horrible. Criticizing Surfin' Safari is like making fun of the runt of the litter, or laughing at the learning difficulties kid at school.

Sure, it's far more perfect, it sounds sloppy and frequently child-ish/-like, but hey... they were pretty damn young you know! Wasn't Dave like 12? How old was Carl, 14? 15? They were kids.

And if you can drop any expectations and just listen with the volume cranked up and a beer or two in hand, it's great fun!

There's the three classics (Surfin', Surfin' Safari, 409); some fun songs with occasional great moments (such as Chug-a-lug with it's self-referential lyrics and terrific organ solo); two covers: one admittedly mundane [Summertime Blues], but one absolutely lovely [Miss America]; and a nice, laid-back instrumental.

Sod re-writing history, I'm happy with it! And while we're at it, I love loads of the songs on Studio Sessions '61-'62 as well... Great stuff, sloppy playing or no sloppy playing. This early stuff is raw and rough around the edges and it's all the better for it.

 

Right on Disney Boy, agree with you 100 percent....

even the early 'barbie', 'what is a young girl made of' is all really good stuff.....

actually, I think its better than the surfin usa LP...... I think surfin usa has too many instrumentals. I like instrumentals, but I think
the those tunes are 'weak'.....of course it has a couple of great tracks on it just the same..

RickB

EDIT:

Reasons why it could have been a potentially realistic/smart scenario:

a) Release timing.
I recognise there was pressure to Capitolise™ on the "Surfin' Safari" single with an LP. But Capitol could have accomplished their goal in an alternate, potentially more effective way.

At release "Surfin' Safari" got a positive writeup and as early as July 14, 1962, Billboard reported that it was starting to break out in areas of America. We know Capitol liked "409" as they initially wanted to push it as an A-side, but these positive signs would have likely made them happy with "Surfin' Safari" too. By then, they probably recognised they had a solid single in their possession and if they hadn't already had ideas of an LP to make more money off the songs, by now it would've likely been under consideration.

I get there are a host of factors that influence this, but from what I gather, it took LPs around one to two months to generate momentum, three to four to peak. Keeping in mind these songs are suited to the warmer seasons and it's mid-July, it'd make sense to get that product out as early as possible to avoid it having its momentum peaking in the heart of Winter, right? The thing is, the boys haven't entered the recording studio since April.

Solution? Mid-August compilation release. Like I pointed out earlier, these themed compilations could be successful. That said, I don't know too much about Capitol's 1962 roster and whether or not they had appropriate material to draw on. For a compilation to be a compilation you need songs to... err... compile. I know "Beach Party" by King Curtis was a minor Capitol hit at the time and could've potentially made the cut. That said, it's more fitting in name than content, but it does have a little surf flavour.


b) Quality control.
The guys were just kids, studio virgins, ideally they needed a little time to hone their studio chops before making a solid debut as "The Beach Boys".

Solution? Late '62 album released under "The Pendletones" (or another pseudonym, whatever) as a runthrough so they become familiar with the studio.

Why Capitol might have allowed it:

i) The record could still make the label money.

ii) A summer "Beach Boys" debut just makes more sense.

iii) If Capitol feared the group would blow their songwriting load here and choke on delivering a "Beach Boys" album, Brian could have buttered them up as:


* "Surfer Girl" had been demoed.

*  There were quite a few Wilson/Usher songs laying around.

*  A future LP release could include "Surfin' Safari" and "409".

* "Surfin' U.S.A." was presumably demoed around this time.


iv) It would be in Capitol's interests to let the boys become that touch more experienced. Debut albums are quite impressionable on a band's identity. Solid debut = boost to perceived brand quality = higher demand = more sales = happier Capitol.

Also, I'm not trashing Surfin' Safari, I honestly really like it for what it is. I'm just contemplating other paths that could have been taken. And yes, I'm fully aware that if history had panned out this way... I don't know, ignite some crazy King Curtis fan to stab Brian to death with a toothpick, but I enjoy evaluating the different options that could have been transpired y'know.

In light of your proposed "Pendletones" album, Quzi, I'd like to see your custom tracklists for the first couple BB albums (Surfin' USA--Little Deuce Coupe).

Because of that choice the band was never heard of again.

Hahaha, that playlist up there isn't part of a larger alternate construction of mine - just an example of what could have gone down at that period.

That said, I do have a set of custom tracklists but they are much looser when it comes to recording dates and whatnot so I'll PM you. Wouldn't want to burst anyone's blood vessels with my sacrilege. ^_^

Looking forward to that PM!

In the early '60s, the entire pop/rock n' roll music industry was geared for singles.  The radios played the singles.  The jukeboxes played the singles.  Kids could afford to buy the singles.  As pop/rock music and it's audience started to mature, listening to whole albums became more commonplace, but in 1962 it was all about the hit songs on the radio.  So, no, I don't think they could've started any better than they did with Surfin' Safari.  It contained two top 40 singles, and another that made the top 100.  The album itself reached #32 on the Billboard albums chart.  Most importantly, it got enough people interested in this 'surfing music' thing, that their next album, which also contained two top 40 singles, went to #2 on the albums chart.  Did the albums get better as they went along?  Of course.   

  No doubt SURFIN' SAFARI would have been dramatically improved by the inclusion of "Lonely Sea." That track alone would give the album much more depth. Conversely, it would be greatly missed on SURFIN' USA. I guess you could say "Sea" is one of my all-time favorites.

 That is a pisser for sure. Once bought a cassette of STICKY FINGERS and despite the labels and track listings, the tape contained SOME GIRLS.

 :thud

That's even worse. May god be kind to you in return for his cruelty

C'mon! They were all still teenagers! Give 'em a break!

I love every album pre-15 Big Ones, Surfin' Safari included. Call yourselves fans...?  :-D

But I do give them a break :'( Like I said, I like it's raw kitsch and I understand it's historical importance. I wasn't expecting them to deliver Pet Sounds in 1962. :lol

Also, while Surfin' U.S.A. does one up Surfin' Safari in performance, production and improvements to the vocal stack, in some ways, I prefer Surfin' Safari to it. Notably, I like the conscious effort to be more thematically diverse. While I like the bulk of surfing and car songs Surfin' U.S.A. to Little Deuce Coupe produced, it would've been nice to have a bit more variation akin to what's found on Surfin' Safari.

Anyway, I agree Surfin' Safari could have been improved with a different tracklist and I'm with those who say "The Surfer Moon", "Lonely Sea", and "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring" should have been on the album. I'm confused/saddened that no one suggested "Land Ahoy"deserved this honour though. It's the bomb :'( (has a mono mix ever been released?!)

Just came across this amazing Surfin' Safari "review" on the Hoffman board. Not strictly on this topic, but a decent enough place to share a great part of internet history. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-beach-boys-surfin-safari-album-really-that-bad.230193/#post-5873466

I don't believe this album caused any harm to the BB's career. As noted above, albums were secondary in the early 60's, singles - 45's - was where it was at. It's unfair to compare this debut to the Beatles', the Fab Four had been playing together as a band much longer. Gee, maybe we should jump into the time machine and send the early 60's BB's to Hamburg for some seasoning! And then let them sweat it out in the Southern California equivalent of the Cavern Club for a year or two.

Tongue in cheek, but there are truths here. I love their first album.

Most albums from pop/rock groups in 62-63 were crap, they were two singles with a bunch of filler.  Surfin' Safari is a perfectly respectable first album from a new band.  Singles were considered important, albums were afterthoughts.  In fact Brian was one of the first to up the game and start making albums with all great tracks (Certainly with All Summer Long, probably before that).  The Beatles were doing the same, wanting their albums to give the fans good value.

Respectively for each sentence, 3x agree & don't. Sure, "Their Hearts..." could bring the melodic quality to the garage & surf, thus, adding effect of diversity, as Quzi mentioned before but much as I like variety, I don't see how this exact song would fit the rest.

Great post overall, Mr. Summer. The underlined text is similar to what I formulated in my mind when read the topic. I mean, Beatles gained a lot of experience practicing their instrumental & vocal skills everywhere & only then they decided to officially record themselves. Must say, a very clever & thorough move. Meanwhile, our Boys went off-base with no thinking behind their dealings. In other words, it's indeed unfair to A/B SS with PPM - the former would still be weaker in comparison. Although for a band who played their instruments on a basic level, had inferior producer(s) etc., The BBs made a pretty good debut album. Not bad for a bunch of youngsters.
In a nutshell, I like Surfin' Safari as is, won't change or add anything in it.

Yes, no need to change a thing - look at what they followed it up with. The Beach Boys need not be embarrassed by Surfin' Safari.

I beg to differ. I've often wondered why no-one (to my knowledge) has ever mentioned "The Shift" as a pointer to the future. Most reviews quickly dismiss it as "a fashion statement by Brian and Mike" or words to that effect. On the face of it, the main tune is a 12-bar blues (I I I I IV IV I I V IV I V). However, Brian "shifts" the key up a whole tone in bar 3 and back down again in bar 12 (in Carl's solo too). As far as I know this is unique----no-one else has ever done this.