Surf Music : Most detrimental/criminal events

[mrski]

Some of the most detrimental/'criminal'   events occurring within the ‘surf music’ genre:

The string over-dubs on ‘Surfer’s Choice’.
Dick Dale signing with Capitol.
Gary Usher producing The Surfaris.
Eddie & The Showmen never releasing an album.
The Beach Boys hitting the charts.
The photo shoot for the sleeve of Annette’s Muscle Beach Party Lp.
Vern Acree Jr & The Blazers only releasing 2 singles….

I'm sure there must be more...

[Aegir]

You don't like Misirlou Twist?

[mrski]

Well it's not bad, BUT it'd be alot better sans ensemble... The track was recorded live and would be better presented as such IMO. I had hoped that we'd get the undubed version as a bonus track on the Sundazed CD but no...

When Dick signed on with Capitol I just feel that his career/musical vision was possibly compromised being steered (in some small part) away from what he did best, (ie. instrumentals, and rock and roll with a touch of R&B). Sure the Capitol albums gave us some great tracks but on the other hand also some considerably average material.... (Glory Wave, Surfin et el.)

I just think that once the BBoys hit, the corporate suits making the decisions decided that surf music was a vocal phenomenon and likewise Dick had to fit into that mould despite the fact that (let's be honest) his voice certainly was not his main strength...

[Then again, I wonder about the instrumental 'Dick Dale Stomp' which despite what we would think considering the title, features no characteristic guitar playing...?]

Plus, when Usher got involved, just like he did with The Surfaris, at times the music lost some individuality and became one of a sea of countless other records all with similar arrangements and sound. (Probably because they were all, generally, played by the same set of musicians...?) Usher stamped his mark all over them BUT, (at least in terms of already pre-established groups), many times this was to the detriment of the original group 'sound', a sound which had made the group successful in the initial term...

[brianc]

The greatest crime in surf music, to me, has to be the contunued lack of a released "Strictly Hot" soundtrack album by the Dragons. I love that stuff more than anything.

[Alex]

The greatest crime in surf music, to me, has to be the contunued lack of a released "Strictly Hot" soundtrack album by the Dragons. I love that stuff more than anything.

The Dragons' BFI album is out now, though, after sitting unreleased (with the exception of "Food for My Soul") for almost 40 years.

[brianc]

BFI was recorded in 1969-70, and I have that. But the Strictly Hot soundtrack was recorded in 1964, and is a different animal altogether. I like them both, but something about Strictly Hot... it's both scorching and placcid, like a sunset that beckons the nightowls to party like they never have before.

The SH soundtrack did have one single released on Capitol... the Dragons' "Elephant Stomp" b/w "The Troll." Unreal sh*t. The whole SH soundtrack was nearly released by Del-Fi Records in 1964. They had an ad for it in Surfer magazine, and even had an album jacket mockup that looked sorta like the cover of Getz/Gilberto on Verve. Alas, surf music sank like a stone in the spring of '64, not due to Beach Boys oversaturation, but moreover, the British Invasion.

[brianc]

The Beach Boys hitting the charts.

The Beach Boys hit the charts at the same time that Dick Dale's "Let's Go Trippin'," the Belairs' "Mr. Moto" and the Markets' "Surfer's Stomp" all hit the KFWB charts. The four singles rose and fell during the same four weeks in the latter part of 1961. It's a common misnomer that vocals were not a part of surf music.

The truth is, Surfer's Stomps, prior to those four singles, were largely made of up surfers going to beachside venues, like the Lighthouse Jazz Cafe, the Rendezvous Ballroom or the Hermosa Biltmore Hotel. They would see acts like Howard Rumsey & the Lighthouse Jazz All-Stars, the Stan Kenton Orchestra (at the Rendezvous) or any number of jazz/R&B/doo-wop singers that played the Hermosa Biltmore. Surf instrumental drumming was very much influenced by jazz, and the sax players in those combos often wore sunglasses and sported gotees. Laurindo Almeida might be the real first surf guitarist, as he brought much of the exotic flair of the guitar to the beach and to surf audiences. Guys like Earl Bostic played "Stompin' at the Savoy" in Hollywood and beachside venues. Michael Z. Gordon and Joe Saraceno, who wrote "Surfer's Stomp," based it on the beat that they heard jazz, R&B and rock guys playing at these clubs, including, but not limited to, Dick Dale. But the Surfer's Stomp album, by the Markets, was really based on the Twist exploitation LPs that were popular in 1960-61. Just a similar beat all the way through for the "new" dance craze. "Let's Go Trippin'" and "Mr. Moto" were more rock instrumentals, albeit quite "wet" sounding. But they were not titled anything having to do with surf. The aquiesence of them into the surf pantheon was by virtue of their time and place.

I say all that to say, the first two surf songs by title were "Surfer's Stomp" by the Markets and "Surfin'" by the Beach Boys. And the BBs doing a doo-wop style vocal was very much in the mode of R&B groups already playing beachside gigs in the late '50s/early '60s.

I think the reason why surfers themselves don't like the Beach Boys is because it made the sport immensely popular, and over-populated the beaches they once enjoyed in relative solitary. That being said, sour-pusses like Greg Noll and John Severson made a lifetime living off of the popularity that the Beach Boys afforded the sport. Purists like Dick Dale and the Belairs claim it was an all-instrumental genre from the start, but Dale recorded vocal tracks himself. And again, I tend to just think the Belairs are incorrect to challenge the Beach Boys' worth within the genre. Particularly because the Balairs had no problem playing zillions of gigs with the BBs in the early '60s.

That being said, I DO think "Moon Dawg" (1959) by the Gamblers and "Underwater" (1960) by the Frogmen were proto-surf instrumentals, and joined the jazz/R&B vibe with the hard-rockin' instrumental vibe of Link Wray and Duane Eddy. It's cool that "Moon Dawg" was on World Pacific Records and "Underwater" was on Candix. The Beach Boys recorded early demos at World Pacific Studios, and were signed to Candix by Joe Saraceno (who produced "Underwater" and "Surfer's Stomp"). In other words, the Beach Boys were in the pocket, as far as the surf genre goes. They also recorded a bunch of instrumentals on their earliest LPs. But their popularity spawned a lot of imitators that were less than stellar and probably made the genre more hokey than it would have otherwise been. Such is life. Can't blame them. Dennis was a surfer, Brian was a songwriter.

[mrski]

"The Beach Boys hit the charts at the same time that Dick Dale's "Let's Go Trippin'," the Belairs' "Mr. Moto" and the Markets' "Surfer's Stomp" all hit the KFWB charts. The four singles rose and fell during the same four weeks in the latter part of 1961. It's a common misnomer that vocals were not a part of surf music."

Would it be fair to say that perhaps we can use the dates of record releases and chart positions to provide evidence of 'the birth of surf', but in doing so isn't there a tendency to blur who was actually there at the actual conception? Couldn't this music have been played in a live setting by certain artists for months prior to any vinyl being pressed...?

"Surf instrumental drumming was very much influenced by jazz, and the sax players in those combos often wore sunglasses and sported gotees. Laurindo Almeida might be the real first surf guitarist, as he brought much of the exotic flair of the guitar to the beach and to surf audiences. "

"That being said, I DO think "Moon Dawg" (1959) by the Gamblers and "Underwater" (1960) by the Frogmen were proto-surf instrumentals, and joined the jazz/R&B vibe with the hard-rockin' instrumental vibe of Link Wray and Duane Eddy."

Brian, do you have any opinion on whether certain mannerisms of instrumental surf music actually distilled down from country or rockabilly...

I'm thinking along the lines of people like Joe Maphis and/or Larry Collins... 'Surf' style pickin' does crop up on their records. Without going through the record collection, one example which immediately comes to mind would be Collins' "Whistle Bait" (Why didn't The Trashmen cover this?!!)

""Let's Go Trippin'" and "Mr. Moto" were more rock instrumentals, albeit quite "wet" sounding. But they were not titled anything having to do with surf. The aquiesence of them into the surf pantheon was by virtue of their time and place."

Agreed, although I always thought that these two records sounded quite 'dry', given as (from what I've read) neither feature a reverberation unit, the device often cited as a major characteristic of the recorded surf music genre and a contributing factor to the 'wet sound'.

[brianc]

Would it be fair to say that perhaps we can use the dates of record releases and chart positions to provide evidence of 'the birth of surf', but in doing so isn't there a tendency to blur who was actually there at the actual conception? Couldn't this music have been played in a live setting by certain artists for months prior to any vinyl being pressed...?

Well, that's exactly what I'm saying. I think the Surfer's Stomp, as a dance craze, probably originated long before the beat was honed on "Let's Go Trippin'" and "Surfer's Stomp." In fact, Steve Douglas recorded two Twist albums in late 1960, and one of them has a surf-themed "stomp" song on it. Again, "Stompin' at the Savoy" was played quite a lot by R&B and jazz instrumentalists at beachside venues, and was the inspiration for "Surfer's Stomp," as well as being covered on that first Markets LP. Dick Dale started playing the Rendezvous Ballroom in July of 1961. The Balboa Beacon just did a story on his opening night, and the license he had to get to independently book the Rendezvous out for the first time. So the Surfer's Stomp, as a sound and dance craze, was in the air probably more than a year before it hit wax.

Brian, do you have any opinion on whether certain mannerisms of instrumental surf music actually distilled down from country or rockabilly... I'm thinking along the lines of people like Joe Maphis and/or Larry Collins... 'Surf' style pickin' does crop up on their records. Without going through the record collection, one example which immediately comes to mind would be Collins' "Whistle Bait" (Why didn't The Trashmen cover this?!!)

Absolutely. Duane Eddy would have to be considered instrumental rockabilly, as well as the Fireballs, who were produced by the same guy that produced Buddy Holly & the Crickets. Dick Dale recorded half a dozen sides before playing the Rendezvous, and all of them were country-swing and rockabilly. Bill Black's instrumental records covered all of the hottest rock instros and dance-crazes. The influence of rockabilly on surf cannot be overstated.

Agreed, although I always thought that these two records sounded quite 'dry', given as (from what I've read) neither feature a reverberation unit, the device often cited as a major characteristic of the recorded surf music genre and a contributing factor to the 'wet sound'.

Well, I happen to disagree with John Blair, who says that without reverb, a surf record doesn't exist. If that were the case, you'd have little from the South Bay, really. As Paul Johnson of the Belairs told me, reverb was more the province of the Orange County bands. Now, that being said, many South Bay groups did cross over and play OC clubs, as well as used the reverb unit from time to time. But much of the South Bay surf imput to the genre does not include reverb. What "Let's Go Trippin'" and "Mr. Moto" do have is a true exotic flair, which is key to surf music. They were also both bands from Southern California, who helped to launch the genre locally, and "Let's Go Trippin'" was on the Markets' Surfer Stomp album, which indicates, to me, that it was already considered a part of the Stomp. I believe it is the only cut on that album without the word "stomp" in it (besides "Balboa Blue," which was a Saraceno original for that album). So I think "Trippin'" was considered surf music by the locals from the start. "Mr. Moto" is a more interesting one. I consider it surf, because it's REALLY exotic, and the drumming is very jazzy, as well, Chaz Stuart (sax) looks like he came out of a beatnik combo that would play a local coffeehouse. The Belairs very much LOOK and sound the part of the bohemian surf boom (which turned into the pop surf culture). Those are my terms, but I made them up to tell a story of something completely bohemian hitting the pop culture in L.A. in 1962 and the world by 1963. I'm of the mindset that the earliest surf music and movies were almost like getting documentaries of the times, including the early Beach Boys releases. I think that's the way things actually were, captured to wax.

[The Heartical Don]

Of course it has be the Surfsiders' album. Or no, wait... it's the greatest event in all of surf music... no, wait, from a strictly teleological viewpoint, it has to be... or no, from a theological/cult viewpoint, it surely is the greatest release in all of...

*is slowly pulling out his hairs one by one*