The Smiley Smile Message Board

Discuss, review and rate Surfin' USA, released March 1963.

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4, nearly perfect. Great tunes, ragin' instrumentals.

I'm less a fan of the earlier things. A few good songs, but not something I listen to.

One of the best albums of 1963 and one of the best American rock 'n roll albums. 4.

Their best album to listen to at the beach house (yep, moreso than All Summer Long)...  My uncle (big Surf Instros fan) was staggered that the BB's could rock that much ;)  "Lonely Sea" is Brians best ballad... perhaps ever.  Fantastic track sequencing.

4 stars.

Not a bad album. I like all the songs on it. I like Noble Surfer. Lana and The Lonely Sea are very nice. The instrumentals are also cool. Not bad for a second album.

4 stars

Dig SOT 2 for this album. Awesome stereo mixes. Oh yeah, but SOT 2 has Pink Champagne aka Side Two on it. Yuck.

4 Big Stars!

 ;D

FARMERS DAUGHTER is one of the most underrated songs of all-time,
but the whole album is a good listen!
i gave it 4 stars

I'd give it 3.5 stars if there were that option.

Great album, just got it 2day with surfin safari,

Farmers daughter is amazing, and im lovin misirlou.

4 stars

I love Misirlou, but it was a cover song, so I don't give them too much credit for it. Lonely Sea is one of the prettiest songs Brian wrote.

I gave it a 3. Surfin USA is a great song, as is Lonely Sea.  As for the covers they dont really do anything for me. Brians instrumental Stoked and Carls Surf Jam are decent efforts at writing a surf instrumental. I also like a lot of the other songs (eg: Shut Down, Finders Keepers, Farmers Daughter, Lana) even though some of them sound incomplete (mainly Finders Keepers).

A huge improvement over their twee debut, there's a few real classics on here (the title track, Lonely Sea, Farmer's Daughter (anyone heard Fleetwood Mac's cover version? Great stuff!) I'm also a big fan of 'Noble Surfer', insanely catchy and i love that musical interlude, and although their's a few too many, the instrumentals are mainly pretty good. A solid 3 out of 5.

Well it's considerably better than Surfin' Safari, but there was still a ways to go.  I'll just let my voting petty much sum up where I place compared to the albums I commented on here.

Surfin' USA - 4/5
Farmer's Daughter - 4/5
Misirlou - 3.5/5
Stoked - 2.5/5
Lonely Sea - 5/5
Shut Down - 3.5/5
Noble Surfer - 4/5
Honky Tonk - 2.5/5
Lana - 4/5
Surf Jam - 2.5/5
Let's Go Trippin' - 3/5
Finders Keepers - 4/5

This rounds to a 4 but I think a 3 is much more accurate, but I'll vote 4 anyways.  Lonely Sea comes out as the big song to me, though the numerous instrumentals don't do too much for me.

An improvement over the debut. The originals are great, the instrumentals kick ass, although...there are a lot of them. 7/10

Better than Surfin' Safari.  But still a lot of filler.

Track picks:  Lonely Sea (+++), Farmer's Daughter (++), Surfin' USA (+)

Exactly how I feel. It's rock and roll in a very pure form. It's so much better then the first one, and I put in in my top ten.

A 4 for me. A little too many instrumentals for me, but the ones on there are pretty good.

I love Lonely Sea (amazing vocals), Shut Down (great drumming), and Surfin' USA (The Boys' vocals on top over a true Chuck Berry sound).

4/5 Surfin' USA
4/5 Farmer's Daughter
3/5 Misirlou
3.5/5 Stoked
5/5 Lonely Sea
5/5 Shut Down
3/5 Noble Surfer
3/5 Honky Tonk
4/5 Lana
3.5/5 Surf Jam
3/5 Let's Go Trippin
3/5 Finders Keepers

Also giving this a 3, but a bit higher 3 than Safari.

Again, this album is lots of fun. The instrumentals are cool but the blues progressions get a little old fast. Brian's voice on this record gleams. Farmer's Daughter is incredible.
This music is great, original, and totally underrated in the annals of time.


Afterthought...

The point is that while listening to the twofer I feel like I'm taking a summer vacation from reality. Once the music starts it's 85 degrees, sunny, the air is salty, the beach is right here, and I'm 19 years old all over again. Did I mention it's currently about 12 degrees in NY as I write this on the second day of winter? The timing couldn't have been better to buy this CD.

I gave it a 2. I listened to it just the other day. Not bad but I would say (being a musician myself) below par music-wise. I do like their cover of "Miserlou" for instance. And the album mostly rocks but if I had a choice between this one and any album released between 1965-1973 this one would lose.

It's a fun album for sure.  Miles ahead of their debut.  I toggled between 3 and 4, but ultimately went with 3.  It's a solid album, but it is nearly impossible to not compare it with what was to come.

Everything the debut wasn't. Leaps and bounds ahead production wise compared to Safari. Dennis has learned to keep time. Much fuller sounding vocal harmonies  and Brian is now starting to falsetto all over the place - notice he sings virtually no high notes on the first LP. Perhaps one instrumental too many but they are all fun.  I'm a big fan of surf music and this is one of the best.  Definitely a four star effort!

Surfin' USA peaked at #2 on the charts and had a 78 week run on the charts. I like the raw sound the best. This album would sound great back in '63 if the Beach Boys were playing in a garage party!

 Side one
# Title Writer(s) Lead Vocals Length
1. "Surfin' USA"   Brian Wilson/Chuck Berry Mike Love 2:27
2. "Farmer's Daughter"   B. Wilson/Love B. Wilson 1:49
3. "Misirlou"   Roubanis/Wise/Leeds/Russell instrumental 2:03
4. "Stoked"   B. Wilson instrumental 1:59
5. "Lonely Sea"   B. Wilson/Gary Usher B. Wilson 2:21
6. "Shut Down"   B. Wilson/Roger Christian Love 1:49

Side two
# Title Writer(s) Lead Vocals Length
1. "Noble Surfer"   B. Wilson/Love Love 1:51
2. "Honky Tonk"   Doggett/Scott/Butler/Sheper/Glover instrumental 2:01
3. "Lana"   B. Wilson B. Wilson 1:39
4. "Surf Jam"   Carl Wilson instrumental 2:10
5. "Let's Go Trippin'"   Dick Dale instrumental 1:57
6. "Finders Keepers"   B. Wilson/Love Love 1:38

Very guitar driven sound with Carl Wilson lead and David Marks rhythm. It's a classic!

Certainly an improvement on their debut album in terms of production and songwriting but doesn't really hang together as an album at all.

Side one has a couple of fine hits, the lovely Lonely Sea (credit to Gary Usher if he did write the majority of it) and Farmer's Daughter which is underrated by many.

Side two however, has 3 instrumentals and the underproduced Lana which really kill the album a little. The blend of Mike's bass vocal and the group harmonies on Finders Keepers is a good way to finish things though.

2 1/2 out of 5 for me.

Ever since I've read The Lost Beach Boy, I've come to appreciate this album more. The guitar playing, the early production value, the naive lyrics and vocals. The pop tunes are really good, : Lana, Shut Down, Finders Keepers, and Farmer's Daugther being the highlights. The instrumentals should not be overlooked, being that I could see most of this material being performed live, I'm surprised most of the songs haven't turned up as being performed as a whole in concert, perhaps in a different order with Surfin Safari songs. Shame that Lonely Sea is kind of the lonely ballad on Surfin USA; just think if Thank Him made it onto this album, it might be right up there with Lonely Sea....perhaps with a Beach Boy harmony added or just Brian stacking his own voice with it.

Simple album full of nice ditties and instrumentals. Track picks for me would be Farmer's Daughter - classic Brian falsetto, Stoked - a nice instrumental, Lonely Sea - another great Brian vocal,  and Shut Down - nice sax solo by Mike

Still not great, but definitely an improvement over Surfin' Safari.

A step up from the debut. Still, the Beach Boys are going to get a LOT better.
By far the best track is "Lonely Sea". "Farmer's Daughter" is another gem worth mentioning.
But "Surfin' USA" is plagiarism, "Shut Down" like most of their car songs is overrated, and the instrumentals could be a lot better.
It is still an enjoyable album, however. Gotta love the cover!
3 out of 5

'Surfin' USA' may be plagiarism, but it's a fantastic song and better than 'Sweet Little Sixteen' anyway.

That is true, and they did eventually credit Chuck Berry. But still...

It's a shame this record didn't have one or two more solid ballads on it...

You walk in a store + you recently discovered BB.. And you look behind the counter and see this lp sittin there with a a cool surfer cover..OMG.. !! And you take it home and you are aware of Dick Dale  Surfaris  Challengers  Ventures  etc.. You put this on and the music comes on and you suddenly get hit with the music like a ton of bricks. !!  OMG I wanna play the guitar.! Next day I wanna play the drums..! NIRVANA .. Did I mention I went into a private booth to listen to it.. ?/ In spring 1963 this was it for a California boy.. 4/5

This album is light years ahead of Surfin Sufari production wise.  It sounds more like a focused group and less like a novelty record. 

There's the classic title track that I never tire of despite the over exposure. 

This album is significant in that it has the first Brian Wilson ballad that was released in Lonely Sea, a sadly overlooked gem. 

It's a little odd that a group whose main strength was their vocal arrangement would release an album with so many instrumentals, but its a product of the time.  And while Dick Dale's version is essential, The Beach Boys version of "Miserlou" is worth checking out.  Personally, I love the liner notes that mention that TBB version is more well known.  The innocent days before Pulp Fiction. 

I'd rate it either a very high 3, or a low 4. 

Surfin' USA - 5/5
Farmer's Daughter - 5/5
Misirlou - 3/5
Stoked - 2/5
Lonely Sea - 5/5
Shut Down - 5/5
Noble Surfer - 4/5
Honky Tonk - 2/5
Lana - 3/5
Surf Jam - 2/5
Let's Go Trippin' - 3/5
Finders Keepers - 4/5

A quantum leap forward from the debut, some real classics on here but at least one instrumental too many.
4/5 overall.

Some early classics here----"SUSA", "FD", "LS", "SD", "Lana" (not a fragment at all), "FK"...

And unlike some I just love the sea of instrumentals----the Carl--Dave guitar machine in full flight. "Honky Tonk" is way better than Bill Doggett's original dirge and the Dick tracks are just as listenable as Mr Dale's. Love it.

5/5   

Reading through the run-down of concerts in Ian and Jon's splendid book, I noticed to my great delight (on page 27) that the Boys' set list for the two August 17, 1963 shows at Wayne County Fair, Homedale, PA, which David Marks had saved, contains the 1958 Duane Eddy instrumental "Moovin' 'N' Groovin'". That intro sure sounds familiar: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lqFlxMiMfE 

I put this on tonight for the first time in a long time, it really is a good album for the era. Instrumentals were big in the early 60's, so it does make sense that they do a few - although I remember, upon first hearing this album in the early 90's, being surprised at how many they did! "Misirlou" is a great, this might be the best album to put on for those who doubt what great guitarists Carl and Dave were.

Surfin USA (Mono, 2015 AP release)

Side 1:

1. Surfin' USA - *****
Awesome song. First time we hear the classic Beach Boys sound (double-tracked lead, Brian on high notes, thick harmonies) I think.

2. Farmer's Daughter - ****
Great lead from Brian, lovely second song on the album.

3. Misirlou - **

4. Stoked - **

5. Lonely Sea - ****
Another great Brian lead. According to setlist.fm this was performed live I remember? Would be interesting to hear.

6. Shut Down - ****
Like in the previous album, another solid car song that was in rotations for a long time.

Side 2:

7. Noble Surfer - ***
Not the song I would have chosen to open up the second side, but the instrumental break is fun.

8. Honkey Tonk - **

9. Lana - ****
Love the lead here. Really nice to have more Brian leads here.

10. Surf Jam - **

11. Let's Go Trippin - **

12. Finders Keepers - ***
This is okay. Some Beach Boys albums have a tendency to finish weak, so this is not a bad closer.

Overall Rating: ***
A lot of the instrumentals here don't really do it for me. The title track is an amazing song, and there a few other standouts.