Beachboys?

[MBE]

Were the Beach Boys ever billed this way? I know they were billed as "Beach Boys" without the the on the first single.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

They were on a couple of those old compilation cassettes you used to be able to buy from the bargain bill for $1.99, one of these cheap rip-off jobs. Hell, I think I *have* one of those still, and if I do i'll upload the cover.

[brianc]

I think they were billed that way on some early 1962 flyers, and off course, on the Candix single.

Also, there's a fall 1961 flyer with the Belairs as the headlining act, and a supporting act for that night's Surfer Stomp is a group called the Pendletones. I didn't think it was possible that something like this would pop up, but it exists. Now, Pendleton shirts WERE the fashionwear that surfers took to the beach, because morning winds were cold, especially after getting out of 60 to 70 degree water. Is it possible that there was another group named the Pendletones? No doubt about it. But how likely is it that two groups called the Pendletones were operating in the South Bay clubs at the same exact time? I have no idea.

Could it have been an early Beachboys shows, before they were re-named the Beachboys? I leave that to the greater Hawthorne scholars than I.

[Jon Stebbins]

Brian I would not be surprised if this is the same Pendletones that became the Beachboys and then The Beach Boys. The chronology fits, and its not a stretch to imagine they gigged a time or two under that name, even though the history books and legend/myths might disagree(I've learned that gigantic chunks of BB's 1961 -1963 history written prior to 2005 were very wrong)...and the Belairs were one of the first groups they played on bills with. What would be interesting is to know what the personnel lineup might have been at a fall '61 gig...it could easily be Brian and two other guys standing around a microphone. we always hear that New Years eve '61/62 was the first BB's gig, but it wasn't...they played a gig on Dec. 23rd for sure...and i bet some perhaps mutant form of the Pendletones/BB's lineup played prior to that. Its obvious in early 1964 when their fame really solidified Murry/BB's/management looked back and came up with a streamlined version of their early history that became ingrained in their minds and with journalists from that point on...but so much of it is full of holes...the labor day weekend myth/legend(the band did not suddenly appear on that day)...the new years eve first gig myth(they played before that)...the Al goes to Dental School myth(no not really)...the Brian quit the road in late '64 myth(he really quit the road in spring '63)...The Dave Marks was Al's temporary"fill-in"(not even close)...some of those myths have some basis in truth but the actual story is far more nuanced and a lot of the actual facts got tossed overboard when they started churning out this "folky" version of their early days.

Maybe you've found another remnant that was tossed into the sea.

[brianc]

I'm glad you did the book on Dave Marks. I always had it in mind to do soemthing bigger with David's story and the Hawthorne stuff, on a more scholarly level, but myself got bogged down trying to complete other projects. I'ts nice to see it was in such good hands... I mean that. The Dave Marks book is excellent.

I'm not making any suggestions as to what the poster connotates, at this point. I showed it to Domenic Priore and he just about flipped. He came to the same conclusions that you did. Given the Belairs association, the South Bay venue and the time period, it's absolutely hard to believe it could be anyone else.

That being said...

That they are associated with the surf "uniform" in their name suggests to me that Dennis was already involved. There was no "surf music" quite yet, at that point. remember, "let's Go Trippin'" and "Mr. Moto" are surf instrumentals by proxy. Nothing in those titles spells out the notion of surf culture. However, the formula for surf became abundantly clear when those records were tied in with "Surfin'" by the Beachboys and "Surfer's Stomp" by the Marketts. Dick Dale's 1962 album Surfer's Choice was really the gue that binded it all together.

[Pretty Funky]

A comment from the EH doco by Al has always confused me. He mentions before the bands formation, he had seen Brian and Carl 'in concert' and was impressed. What concert/ show/ family and friends sing-a-long may he be referring to?

[brianc]

I always thought that that was a high school talent show. I could be wrong.

But a fall show might have been slightly AFTER the Labor Day writing of "Surfin'." Without the poster in front of me, I don't know the exact date. I'm typing at my work desk (looking over my shoulder)...

[Jay]

I think they were billed that way on some early 1962 flyers, and off course, on the Candix single.

Also, there's a fall 1961 flyer with the Belairs as the headlining act, and a supporting act for that night's Surfer Stomp is a group called the Pendletones. I didn't think it was possible that something like this would pop up, but it exists. Now, Pendleton shirts WERE the fashionwear that surfers took to the beach, because morning winds were cold, especially after getting out of 60 to 70 degree water. Is it possible that there was another group named the Pendletones? No doubt about it. But how likely is it that two groups called the Pendletones were operating in the South Bay clubs at the same exact time? I have no idea.

Could it have been an early Beachboys shows, before they were re-named the Beachboys? I leave that to the greater Hawthorne scholars than I.

Is that flyer in your personal collection? I'd LOVE to see a scanned image of it.

[MBE]

The different variations of Surfin' are shown about halfway down this page but all say "Beach Boys" with a space. That's why I was confused.
http://www.colorradio.com/onetwo.htm

[brianc]

Is that flyer in your personal collection? I'd LOVE to see a scanned image of it.

It's in a book. But the focus is not on the Pendletones, so no one is really noticing it. Or, at least, it hasn't stood out yet.

[Beach Head]

It's in a book. But the focus is not on the Pendletones, so no one is really noticing it. Or, at least, it hasn't stood out yet.

Page 28 of Robert Dalley's Surfin' Guitars: Instrumental Surf Bands of the Sixties (Popular Culture Ink, 1996).  But it's not from the fall of 1961.  It's for a show on Friday, May 18 (no year given).  The headline act is The Belairs, with the rest of the bill being The Journeymen, The Vibrants and The Pendletons (NOT The Pendletones).

May 18 fell on a Friday in 1962, so that pins down the year.  Furthermore, the same book depicts posters for shows March 16-18 and April 18, 1962, with The Belairs headlining and The Beach Boys second on the bill.  So it would seem VERY unlikely that The Pendletons on the poster would be an early version of The Beach Boys, as they were already being billed under the latter name by that time!

[DJF]

There as another surf group called "the Pendeltons" around at that time.  It was probably that group on the billing and not the BB as the "Pendeltones" misspelled.  I found an excellent chronology and history of the Pendeltons on the web here:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=195891807

Dave

[DJF]

This entry is particularly interesting:

Nov '63: Opened for the Beach Boys, Dick & Deede, plus several others at San Diego Stadium. Audience was between 8,000 to 12,000 people.

[brianc]

The Hawthorne scholars emerge. Great job, guys!

[brianc]

From their awesome MySpace page:

"Nov '62: The "Pendeltons" formed from the 3 Shillings, Rick Anglin, Cliff Adams & Leon Aldridge"

Maybe they have fuzzy memory.

[brianc]

Thanks for the reminder, also, of where that poster was located. For some reason, I thought it might have been in a Stephen McParland book. It had been a long while since I'd looked at Dalley's book... probably last year, when I was writing my own book on surf pop culture. Domenic and I ran across the poster and thought it could be, but we never followed up on it and didn't want to make the leap without knowing for sure. You can always count on someone from this board or the Spectropop mailing list to come through with scholarly answers. It's amazing what is out there on the internet.

Thanks again!

[DJF]

From garyusher.com:

Barefoot Adventure*
b/w
Board Party The Pendeltons Dot 16511 *Co-writer with
Mike Borchetta
Co-producer with
Tom Ayers 8/63

[brianc]

I can't believe this band has never come to my attention before. None of the surf music scholars ever seems to write about them. It's one of those deceptive things, because it's an easy moniker to take for granted, and that's why it surprised me when I saw the poster. I'd looked at Dalley's book, both Jon Blair books and a handful of McParland books hundreds of times... and something new stands out each time I open them up.