The Smiley Smile Message Board

this was supposedly BW's first song. Previous to the song "Surfin'", the first one with surfing lyrics, right? Thus the question: how come? Does anyone know if the song we now know as "Surfer Girl" had originally a different title / lyric?

"When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are..."

Brian's said many times it was the first song he ever wrote. There's good reason for believing that's not the case. Check out a bio or two.

David Marks has stated(in his bio, Virgin Books 2007) that Surfer Girl's "chord progression" was taught to he and Carl by Brian around 1959 or 1960. I think its perfectly plausible this song (musically) is older than Surfin' because its more of a '50's style format, while Surfin' retains some of the '50's overtone with Mike's bass vocal etc...but is more typical in feel of something current, something early '60's. Surfer Girl has that mid '50's ballad feel for sure. Since both Brian and David have said it was first, and Carl's gone, and...I'm pretty sure Mike and Al would say Surfin' was first because they were there for that one...I guess it would depend on who's version of the truth you want to buy.

Brian was writing songs back in the early 50s. May 3rd 1952, to be precise.

I almost said that Brian would've been too young, til I remembered I was only a year older when I started writing music. 

Out of curiosity, what song was that?

"Song of the Gold Diggers", to the tune of "Oh Susannah !".

Robin Hood, Brian's best friend from his teen years, hotly disputes that Surfer Girl was the first.

Ahh...got it.

I'm sorry, I know it's juvenile in the extreme... but every time I see that guy's name...  ;D  What were his parents thinking ?

I doubt it was the absolute "first"...I do think Dave's memory that the music or chord progression preceded that of Surfin' is likely true.

Now I don't feel so bad lol

Songs are sometimes partially  written or conceived before the are fully realized.  The only way to legally determine which or who was first is to look at the copyright.  Right?

It seems very unlikely to me that they already had any songs officially registered before they started working with the Morgans.

there is no such thing as a song.. it's just words and chords and melody..  he could have whistled a song in the bath when he was 6 and you could define that as his 'first song'

I think I can top it. My firm once had an applicant named Mari Juana. What amazed me was that she wrote both those, her first and middle, names! Why not just go with your middle initial!?

Is the question, "what's the first song BW wrote?," or, "what's the first song he wrote/released as the bboys?"

My original point was that if Surfer Girl was ealier that Surfin', then it had to have a different name / lyrics. Or no name / lyrics at all.

By the ay,  he must have been writing songs for years before his first release, and I like to think that a lot of ideas that appeared in BBs albums were conceived by BDW back in the 50s. Had BB scholars existed in the 60s, and had they scrutinized his life as a teen, they would have probably pointed that only three songs on Shut Down vol 2 were actually new  8)

Ten years old? wow. Does it count as a 'real' song, seeing as it was to the tune of something else? Whilst technically his first song, he might not consider it his first 'original' song. That said, lifting 'When You Wish...' is hardly earth-shattering innovation itself, but it goes somewhere else from that, so he probably thinks it counts.

That is exactly what Mr. Hood said . "Brian wrote those songs long before the Beach Boys."  Can you imagine if an AGD-type bitching about how little of those albums was new?  ;D

I once began to work out which was the last Beach Boys album that was was 100% new material - no melodies or indeed recordings recycled from earlier sessions (covers don't count, adaptations a la "Surfin' USA" do) - and I do believe I got back to Friends... and that was discounting the "CIFTTM" riff in "Little Bird".  :o ;D

Holy crap...I never realized that. I was thinking BB85, as the songs not written by them were at least new, but then I  realized that wasn't it.

Nice! Is there one before that that has all original material? WH, SS, PS, and Summer Days all, from the top of my head, have recycled material. What about Today?

I'd be willing to bet this 'recycling' thing is not unique to the BBoys.  I think that's how artists tend to work.

Yep...

Beatles:

Rubber Soul: "Wait" was left over from Help, "Michelle" had been around and Lennon encouraged McCartney to finish it.

Revolver: Presumably all new.

Pepper: "When I'm 64" was supposedly an early Paul song.

White Album: "Don't Pass Me By" had been around for years.

Let It Be: "Across The Universe" had been around, "I've Got A Feeling" was left over- Lennon's part- from earlier.

Abbey Road: "Mean Mr. Mustard" had been around, as had "Her Majesty" and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "Octopus' Garden".

Then George's first album and  Paul's first two were loaded with Beatles era stuff, and John went back to "Child Of Nature" from India for his second album, Imagine.

Don't forget "One after 909" which was one of the earliest things the Beatles did

Wow- how did I miss that?

Most of the 'Long Medley' from Abbey Road is stuff from Rishikesh - mostly the Lennon numbers.

There's also, from my rather mild forays into lennon bootlegs, a large amount of recycling - Hey Bulldog's chorus was originally something called 'She Can Talk To Me' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWqW39eGSd0&feature=PlayList&p=E389B5A656ACC04B&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=5

and the bridge of 'Real Love' originated here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPoLDiGeLoY

Also, What Goes On from Rubber Soul apparently dated back from 1963.

I would also be willing to bet that rather a lot of Plastic Ono Band/Imagine had been written during his Beatles days, judging by the lack of material he had on the last two records. 'Look At Me' was another Rishikish one, so he says.

Could be... could very well be.

I remember when Start Me Up was considered proof that the Stones stilll had "it".  But I later read that it was around for quite some time before they finished it.