Surfin' Safari

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The group is mainly comprised of people from Hawthorne, California, named Wilson … there’s Brian, Dennis, Carl, and their Dad, Murry Wilson, a long-time songwriter who acts as manager for the outfit. Then there's the boys' talented cousin, Mike Love … who sings both the lead tenor and deep bass parts in their unusual vocal arrangements. … [and] young David Marks, a neighbor of the Wilsons who plays a driving rhythm guitar. Brian, the oldest of the Wilson boys, is the group's leader and vocal arranger. Carl is the very accomplished lead guitarist, while brother Dennis sings and plays the drums. None of them, incidentally, had any formal training, but they all grew up in an atmosphere where music was a regular part of their lives

— excerpt taken from the album's original liner notes [3]

Production

Recording sessions for Surfin' Safari took place in Capitol's basement studios in the famous tower building in August. [4] During the sessions, Brian Wilson fought for, and won, the right to helm the production – though this fact was not acknowledged with an album liner notes production credit. [4] David Marks remembered, "Brian did everything. Played, did the arrangements, screwed up the lead sheets himself. He didn't need any help to do that. You listen to those first albums and they sound campy and corny but Brian was dead serious." [5]

Songs

Side one

"County Fair" was inspired by Gary Usher and Brian Wilson visiting a county fair in San Bernardino. The song was written in about ten minutes. "Ten Little Indians" saw the group trying to emulate the style of the song "Running Bear". [3] "Little Miss America" features a doo-wop style, [6] and according to biographer David Leaf, is about "the ideal southern California dream girl". [3]

In "Chug-a-Lug", written by Brian and Usher, the lyrics refer to Usher, Marks, Carl, and Dennis, as well as a Larry. The latter was possibly Larry Lennear, a saxophonist who played and recorded with Brian at the time. [7] [8] "409" was written about Usher's obsession over hot-rods. [9] The car sound effects were recorded by Usher driving his car past the home of the Wilsons, who had set up a tape recorder outside using a 100-foot extension cord. [3]

Side two

Brian stated that the song "Surfin'" was composed after Dennis told him "surfing’s getting really big. You guys ought to write a song about it." [3] "Heads You Win, Tails I Lose" was written because of Usher and Brian Wilson's frequent use of coin flipping to decide things. The group wanted to make contemporary expressions into songs. [3]

The instrumental "Moon Dawg", originally performed by the Gamblers, was considered the first surf record. [3] The Beach Boys became the first group to cover the song, exposing it to a much wider audience. [10] "The Shift" was presented as a "fashion statement" from Brian and Love. [3]

Release and reception

Surfin' Safari
Surfin'SafariCover.jpg
Studio album by
the Beach Boys
ReleasedOctober 1, 1962 [1]
RecordedNovember 1961; [1] April 19, August 8, September 5–6, 1962 [1]
Studio
Genre Garage surf [2]
Length24:49
Label Capitol
Producer Nick Venet
The Beach Boys chronology
Surfin' Safari
(1962)		 Surfin' U.S.A.
(1963)
The Beach Boys UK chronology
Surfin' Safari
(1963)		 Shut Down Volume 2
(1964)
Retrospective professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]

The album was released through Capitol on October 1, 1962, and peaked at No. 32. [3] Lead single, "Surfin'", was later credited with creating the genre of California Sound, a music aesthetic primarily revolving around surfing, hot rod culture, and youthful innocence. [14] [15] "409" was similarly credited with starting the hot rod music craze of the 1960s, [16] According to Usher, Capitol chose "Ten Little Indians" as the second single due to thinking that surf music was a fad. [3]

Richie Unterberger, in a retrospective review for AllMusic, felt that most of the songs on Surfin' Safari are substandard, but that as the album was recorded by the Beach Boys themselves rather than session musicians, it offered an opportunity to hear what the band sounded like in the studio. [11]

Track listing

All lead vocals by Mike Love, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Surfin' Safari"
 2:06
2."County Fair"
 2:16
3."Ten Little Indians"
  • Wilson
  • Usher
 1:29
4."Chug-A-Lug"
  • Wilson
  • Usher
  • Love
 2:00
5."Little Girl (You're My Miss America)"
 Dennis Wilson 2:06
6."409"
  • Wilson
  • Usher
  • Love
 2:00
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Surfin'"
  • Wilson
  • Love
 2:12
2."Heads You Win–Tails I Lose"
  • Wilson
  • Usher
 2:19
3."Summertime Blues"
2:11
4."Cuckoo Clock"
  • Wilson
  • Usher
Brian Wilson2:11
5."Moon Dawg" Derry Weaver instrumental2:03
6."The Shift"
  • Wilson
  • Love
 1:56
Total length:24:49
Surfin' Safari / Surfin' U.S.A. 1990/2001 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
13."Cindy, Oh Cindy"
B. Wilson2:10
14."The Baker Man"WilsonB. Wilson2:37
15."Land Ahoy"Wilson 1:38
Total length:31:14

Notes

Personnel

Partial credits compiled from the original album liner notes plus additional information from David Leaf, [3] Jon Stebbins, [18] and James Murphy. [19]

The Beach Boys

Additional musicians and production staff

Charts

YearChartPosition
1963US Billboard 200 [21] 32

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Doe, Andrew G. "Gigs & Sessions 1961-1962". Bellagio10452. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Wolk, Douglas (October 2004). "The Beach Boys Surfin Safari/Surfin U.S.A.". Blender . Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Leaf, David (1990). Surfin Safari / Surfin U.S.A. (CD Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records.
  4. 1 2 Badman 2004, p. 26.
  5. ↑ Badman 2004, p. 25.
  6. ↑ "Surfin' Safari/Surfin' U.S.A. - The Beach Boys" – via www.allmusic.com.
  7. ↑ Murphy, James B. (June 8, 2015). Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963. McFarland. ISBN   9780786473656 – via Google Books.
  8. ↑ Badman, Keith (August 15, 2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN   9780879308186 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "The Beach Boys: 409". allmusic. Rovi Corporation . Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  10. ↑ Murphy, James B. (2015). Becoming The Beach Boys, 1961-1963. McFarland Publishing. p. 230. ISBN   9780786473656.
  11. 1 2 Surfin' Safari at AllMusic Allmusic review
  12. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  13. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; with Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York, NY: Fireside/Simon & Schuster. p.  46. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
  14. ↑ Starr, Kevin (2009). Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-515377-4.
  15. ↑ Howard, David N. (2004). Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 57. ISBN   978-0-634-05560-7.
  16. ↑ Breitenstein, Jeff. Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary: A-Bombs to Zoomies. MotorBooks International. p. 107. ISBN   978-1-61059-235-2.
  17. 1 2 Doe, Andrew G. "Album Archive". Bellagio 10452. Endless Summer Quarterly.
  18. ↑ Stebbins, Jon (September 1, 2011). The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   978-1-4584-2918-6.
  19. ↑ Murphy 2015, p. 5.
  20. ↑ Doe, Andrew G. & Tobler, John: "Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys: The Complete Guide to their Music", page 10. Omnibus Press, 2004.
  21. ↑ "Surfin' Safari - The Beach Boys: Awards". AllMusic.
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