Mike Love - the REAL lyricist on Surfin' USA?

[mikeyj]

In that Goldmine article (September 18, 1992) Mike Love says:

Then I wrote 90 percent of "Surfin'" and "Surfin' Safari" and "Surfin' U.S.A.," which I wasn't credited on either.

So what's the deal here? Obviously this was just before he sued Brian for co-authorship of those 30 odd songs but why then if he claims that he co-wrote Surfin' U.S.A. he wasn't given credit?

And of course there was also that interview in more recent times where he claimed he co-wrote "Don't Worry Baby" yet he never sued for that one either. So I'm just curious, does Mike REALLY know what he wrote and what he didn't?

[lance]

My guess is the demo version of USA made it easy for Brian to prove that he wrote the lyrics. I imagine that Mike helped him with a line or two in that one, though. But I dont believe that he wrote 90 percent of the lyrics. Ninety percent of the lyrics are just place names, anyway.

[Andrew G. Doe]

The place names were supplied by Jimmy Bowlles, at Brian's express request. Therefore there is no way that Mike could have written 90% of the lyric as those names total more than 10%.

[c-man]

My guess is Mike didn't sue for credit & royalties on "Surfin' U.S.A." because the copyright is actually owned, at least in part, by Chuck Berry & his publishers.  It probably would've been too much to take them on.  Same reason Mike doesn't sue for "Back In The U.S.S.R."...he, or his lawyers, don't want to go up against McCartney/Ono, or Michael Jackson, or whoever owns those rights these days.

[Chris Brown]

He actually claimed that he co-wrote "Don't Worry Baby"?  What interview was this?

[oldsurferdude]

Didn't Mike also write lyrics and a good part of the melody for "Till I Die" ? I mean his stamp is all over that piece.

[mtaber]

Amazing that Mike hasn't sued Bruce over "I Write the Songs"...

[mikeyj]

Chris, here is the interview I was referring to:

He [Christian] was a great lyricist. I really liked what he did, especially with 'Don't Worry, Baby.' He wrote a lot of the words to 'Don't Worry, Baby' and I wrote some of it with my cousin, Brian.

Source: http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/112_0805_mike_love_celebrity_drive/favorite_road_trip_worst_ticket.html

This interview was discussed a while ago, and someone mentioned the fact that Mike claimed credit for it, but people seemed to ignore that response.

Also, on that Mike, Bruce+Dave Marks NASCAR album, the credit is given to Brian Wilson/Roger Christian/Mike Love... not 100% sure of the exact order as I can't be bothered to go look it up, but Love is credited on there.

[mikeyj]

My guess is Mike didn't sue for credit & royalties on "Surfin' U.S.A." because the copyright is actually owned, at least in part, by Chuck Berry & his publishers.  It probably would've been too much to take them on.  Same reason Mike doesn't sue for "Back In The U.S.S.R."...he, or his lawyers, don't want to go up against McCartney/Ono, or Michael Jackson, or whoever owns those rights these days.

Yeah good point c-man, I never thought of that. I still am a bit suspicious of whether he wrote anything in Surfin' USA but IF he did, then I suppose that could be one reason why he wouldn't sue. Not too sure about Back In The USSR though as it seems that Mike just suggested the idea to write about the girls from Russia etc. And of course suggesting an idea doesn't necessarily mean that you co-wrote a song, otherwise Dennis should get credit on "Surfin'". But of course IF he did happen to write anything in Back In The USSR, you would probably be right with that too c-man, as I doubt he would want to fight McCartney etc..

Anyway who REALLY knows who wrote what? It seems Mike gets confused at times, and obviously Brian isn't reliable anymore.

[Chris Brown]

Chris, here is the interview I was referring to:

He [Christian] was a great lyricist. I really liked what he did, especially with 'Don't Worry, Baby.' He wrote a lot of the words to 'Don't Worry, Baby' and I wrote some of it with my cousin, Brian.

Source: http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/112_0805_mike_love_celebrity_drive/favorite_road_trip_worst_ticket.html

This interview was discussed a while ago, and someone mentioned the fact that Mike claimed credit for it, but people seemed to ignore that response.

Also, on that Mike, Bruce+Dave Marks NASCAR album, the credit is given to Brian Wilson/Roger Christian/Mike Love... not 100% sure of the exact order as I can't be bothered to go look it up, but Love is credited on there.

Thanks mikey, I hadn't heard about that.  Maybe its like with "Wouldn't It Be Nice" where he just (allegedly) threw in a few lines?  I don't know, but I'm surprised he didnt' include it in the '92 suit.

[Alex]

The place names were supplied by Jimmy Bowlles, at Brian's express request. Therefore there is no way that Mike could have written 90% of the lyric as those names total more than 10%.

Then shouldn't the credits for Surfin' USA ideally read: C. Berry/B. Wilson/J. Bowles/M. Love?

[The Heartical Don]

Amazing that Mike hasn't sued Bruce over "I Write the Songs"...

I hear that he's planning to sue the U.S. Army and Tim Berners-Lee because he claims to have invented the internet too.

No, seriously... I have this theory that Mike was predestined to win that court case against Brian. Mike sang all those early hits almost on a nightly basis, so it should have been a doddle for him to recite them in front of a judge too. Whereas a seriously drugged Brian (by Landy), with probable memory loss, and at any rate dependent on teleprompters, would never be able to do that. So his claims, perhaps not truthful, could have sounded credible still.

(Somehow, don't know why, I am reminded of Saus Saentz sueing John Fogerty for 'imitating himself'. Hilarious stuff.)

[Sheriff John Stone]

No, seriously... I have this theory that Mike was predestined to win that court case against Brian. Mike sang all those early hits almost on a nightly basis, so it should have been a doddle for him to recite them in front of a judge too. Whereas a seriously drugged Brian (by Landy), with probable memory loss, and at any rate dependent on teleprompters, would never be able to do that. So his claims, perhaps not truthful, could have sounded credible still.

I saw a list of the songs that Mike testified that he wrote the lyrics to. I don't remember all of the songs, but almost every one of them seemed logical. I mean, they sounded like Mike wrote the lyrics. If Mike didn't write those lyrics, who did? Brian?

[lance]

I believe he wrote them too, or at least contributed a line or two to some--I dont believe he wrote all the lyrics. But I dont think hes a crook, I think Murray was a crook.

[mikeyj]

Don't get me wrong, I think there is a good chance (or at least some chance) that Mike wrote some/a lot/all of the lyrics to some of those songs. My point being though is I think it's kinda stupid that he waited 30 years to point that out. Someone once mentioned that it was probably because Mike didn't want to say to Brian back in the 60's "hey you screwed me over" due to the fear that if he did he may never work with him again. And I can relate to that, when someone you know is doing something wrong to you, but you don't want to tell them because you think that it could potentially end the friendship.

Anyway, my point is 30 years is a long time and all of the guys in the band (except maybe Al + Bruce) went through a lot of crap (eg: divorce, drugs etc..) so it amazes me how 30 years afterwards Mike can claim that. I mean how do you prove that? Surely I can't just claim that 30 years ago "Person A" stole an apple from me or something, without sufficient proof. I mean I'm probably wrong, but didn't Mike and Brian have to recite the lyrics in the court case? Well how does that prove ANYTHING? Brian at that stage probably couldn't even remember what he did 5 minutes ago. I mean like those stories in The Wilson Project where Gary Usher recounts how Brian would just insert random things (like "I farted") in conversations as if he didn't even realise he was saying it. Brian has mental problems, he was on drugs, he was confused... I mean I bet you he couldn't recite all of Surfer Girl at that stage either, but so what? He still wrote the damn thing.

And I mean the fact that Mike claims he co-wrote "Don't Worry, Baby" and "Surfin' USA" yet didn't sue for those in the lawsuit it also makes me question - Does Mike REALLY remember what he wrote? Add to all of that, the fact that Gary Usher died two years before the lawsuit and Tony Asher claims that he wrote the lyrics to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" all by himself and denies that Mike Love had anything to do with it. And of course, we all know that in the following years Mike went on a lawsuit spree even over the stupidest of things.

You can call me a Mike basher or whatever you want, but I'm just saying I find the whole thing just a little strange. I appreciate Mike's contributions to the band - I love his lead vocals, I love his bass vocals, I love his lyrics and I love some of his songs ("Let The Wind Blow" for example) and I think it's unfair that he is always portrayed as the "Villain"; but surely other people can at least see that there are SOME things that are at least a little suspicious about the lawsuit? I do think Mike is misunderstood and he has no doubt gone through a lot of tough times but that doesn't mean he's incapable of lying or forgetting about something like this.

[Aegir]

The songwriting credits lawsuit was shortly after the one where Brian got a lot of money that had been owed to him from the whole Murry selling the Sea of Tunes thing. So basically, Brian got money because he had the copyright on a bunch of songs. Mike then realized that those were his songs, too, and so he decided to sue Brian to get his share of the money. Makes sense to me. There was no point in suing Brian any earlier, because A&M or whatever still owned the copyrights.

[Cam Mott]

Mike could have written 80+% of the lyrics, theoretically [the non-beach name words].

[Sheriff John Stone]

Does Mike REALLY remember what he wrote?

If you wrote lyrics to some of the greatest songs in the history of popular music, would you remember it?

[Carrie Marks]

I mean how do you prove that?

Very easily when David , Bruce and even Brian himself, all testified they witnessed Mike write the words to songs he didn't get writer's credit.

[mikeyj]

Does Mike REALLY remember what he wrote?

If you wrote lyrics to some of the greatest songs in the history of popular music, would you remember it?

Well I guess...but then again Farmer's Daughter, Noble Surfer, Finders Keepers and the like aren't exactly some of the greatest songs in pop music Seriously though, I guess I just meant that would Mike be able to remember EVERYTHING he wrote? Of course he would remember writing Good Vibrations etc.. but considering for example Al Jardine can't even remember if Honkin' Down The Highway was released surely everyone is prone to forget things in their past? And that's why I brought up the interviews where Mike claimed credit on Surfin' USA and Don't Worry Baby. I wasn't suggesting that Mike didn't write the songs, just suggesting that it's possible that Mike had forgotten exact details after 30 odd years.

[mikeyj]

I mean how do you prove that?

Very easily when David , Bruce and even Brian himself, all testified they witnessed Mike write the words to songs he didn't get writer's credit.

Thanks Carrie, as I say I wasn't really familiar with the case and all the details hence why I was a little suspicious about the whole thing. But I suppose that IS pretty good evidence... I suppose I just find it hard to admit that Brian would do something like that... I know people like to blame Murry, but surely it is Brian who is largely at fault if he didn't credit Mike? Murry's shameful act was to sell the publishing to Irving Almo - unless I'm wrong and Murry did have something to do with not crediting Mike on those songs? Anyway, I just think that is such a low thing from Brian to do - disgraceful even. I mean to do that to anyone is bad enough but to do it to someone so close to you (well, maybe not? ) is just a disgrace and Mike has every right to be pissed off at Brian.

[absinthe_boy]

The place names were supplied by Jimmy Bowlles, at Brian's express request. Therefore there is no way that Mike could have written 90% of the lyric as those names total more than 10%.

There was a documentary on the Beach Boys on BBC TV a few years ago (2004 or 2005) where they interviewed all the surviving BB's.

If memory serves, Mike said he wrote the lyrics but couldn't remember how he came up with them.
Bruce said that both Mike & Brian claim to have written them...and the interviewer should ask them HOW they wrote them...and then gave a huge grin.

Brian....now Brian explained that he wasn't a surfer so he talked to Dennis about places people might surf because he wanted all these cool surfing place names in the lyric...etc...and Dennis Jimmy provided lots of place names.

So....Mike can't remember how he supposedly wrote the lyrics, but Brian can...