The Smiley Smile Message Board

Not sure if this has been posted before. The iconic surfboard is up for sale. Via David Beard:

http://bit.ly/1dv3eoS (http://bit.ly/1dv3eoS)

Talking about his board, do we know if Dennis surfed up until his final years? Or was there a time in his life when he eventually quit?

Wasn't the surfboard on the cover pics someone else's surfboard that they borrowed for the shoot? I thought it wasn't Dennis' own surfboard.

The provenience on the site holds up... but yes, I distinctly recall they borrowed some one else's board for a photo shoot. Jon might have better recall than I.

ESQ touched upon this in its Hawthorne 1960 issue from fall 2005. Lois Marotta (Louis's sister) could not verify the iconic Surfin' Safari and Surfer Girl album covers board was one of two boards she owned at the time. The board that was borrowed was the one used for the photographs taken at the Capitol tower in late May 1962. Perhaps, Capitol had pre-arranged for that board as a prop for the photo shoot. You get the sense the Boys did not have a lot of time to prepare for that session based on the scribbled note Brian left on David's door as seen in the Good Vibrations box. From this photo session, Capitol used a horizontal and a vertical image for the band's first two promotional photographs, and the "Surfin' Safari" b/w "409" picture sleeve.  The group had more time to prepare for the album cover session at Paradise Cove, so Dennis brought along his board. When Murry moved from Hawthorne to Whittier in early 1964, he told the Boys to clear their stuff out of the house.  Dennis carried the board across the street and stashed in the rafters of Louis's garage where it remained for the next two decades. I've had the pleasure of speaking with Bob and Brian Stafford about the history of the board. Louis gifted the board to Bob because of their great friendship and Bob's unwavering affection for the Beach Boys. Over the years, as Louis lived his entire life in the Hawthorne neighborhood, he met more than his share of Beach Boys' fans making Hawthorne pilgrimages and fended off at least one guy with a low ball offer for the board. When Louis gifted the board to Bob, he knew it would be in safe hands. Beach Boys' fans have Louis and Bob to thank for preserving this one-of-a-kind item that, as Wayne Johnson of Rockaway so rightly points out, may be responsible for the very existence of the band ("Hey, you guys should write a song about surfing!").  Personally, I think the board belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on permanent display, but the museum does not generally purchase items, preferring donations. Per its charter, the Museum cannot sell items once they have been donated. That would be the death knell to future donations. So, the board could wind up in the hands of a deep-pocketed private collector who had "saved his pennies and saved his dimes."     

How much? HHhhhmmm. I think I'll have to stick with collecting Beach Boys trading cards.  ::)

Cool, though. I guess if I were a multi-millionaire....but not.  :o

Jim's account above is well researched and reliable. As he says the borrowed board was definitely the one used on the photo shoot that resulted in the 45 picture sleeve for Surfing Safari/409...that is obviously a different board than the one on the LP covers.

The Grammy Museum had a board in their BB's display that was similar to the one on the LP covers and was said to be DW's board, but Dave told me (in his opinion) it was not DW's orig. board, but a similar model (the Fender guitars in their display also were BB's style models but not THE guitars). I'm not sure if there are multiple DW boards in existence, and/or if the one the Grammy Museum had is the same one Rockaway is offering. It's very likely Dennis had multiple boards.

You can see Dennis waxing his board circa 1962 here at 6:47, and in fact a second board can be seen near the one he's waxing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClBfaGPD0mI

well Rockaway's description for this board, states that the one in the Grammy display is Denny's baord: 
>>This surfboard was recently the focal point of the year-long exhibit "Good Vibrations: 50 Years Of The Beach Boys" (September 2012 - September 2013) at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where it was insured for $200,000. << 

So that would seem to mean it's the same board that was in Louis' rafters.

OK good to know that it's the same one that the Grammy Museum had on display. Dave mentioned something about the pin-striping being slightly different than the board he recalled Dennis having, but his memory could be of a different Dennis board. It seems Jim's chain of possession description above is pretty solid.

The board should go to Cleveland and be parked next to the Pendleton shirt.

YEP; HAve to agree on Jim's chain. Know he's done alot of research!  Rumor has it he has a BBs book ready for publishing; any confirmation here? 

Ha, thanks guys, I learned something! :)

Ah... that's what I was (mis-)remembering. Thanks for the info.

Wow, I wish a I had a spare $150K, then I'd donate it to the R&R Hall of Fame! Maybe we could collectively round up that money ourselves. :D

Nifty item!

So NO confirmation means there's no book, I guess. Must have been just a rumor started by the author to try and drum up interest

The surfboard made an appearance on Pawn Stars last night (June 22, 2016):

http://www.history.com/shows/pawn-stars/season-12/episode-39

Not available to view in the UK, lol! Anyone got another link?