Surfin' U.S.A. (album)

Last updated

By the time I got to the album, Surfin’ USA, I was more experienced at producing. The album Surfin' Safari was practice for me. ... This album showcased our voices. We were just kids, but we were serious about our craft. The point being that when you are given the chance, you do your best. ... I think that I was a good coach for the boys. I didn’t like second-rate vocals. It was either the best or nothin’, in my opinion. The boys picked up. We had a good understanding between us and I was their leader. We got it done relatively fast in the studio. ... On this album, we had gotten into a fast pace: almost athletic in nature. It was because "Surfin’ USA" was such a smash hit on the radio. It was the big time for us. ... Production-wise, this album was an early Brian Wilson production. [3]

Reception

Surfin' U.S.A.
Surfin'USACover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 25, 1963
RecordedJune 13, 1962; January 5 – February 12, 1963
Studio
Genre Surf rock [1]
Length24:15
Label Capitol
Producer Nick Venet
The Beach Boys chronology
Surfin' Safari
(1962)
Surfin' U.S.A.
(1963)
Surfer Girl
(1963)
The Beach Boys UK chronology
All Summer Long
(1965)
Surfin' U.S.A.
(1965)
Little Deuce Coupe
(1965)
Professional ratings
Retrospective reviews
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Record Mirror Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]

In a retrospective review, Richie Unterberger wrote: "The album as a whole is the best they would make, prior to the late '60s, as a band that played most of their instruments, rather than as a vehicle for Brian Wilson's ideas. The LP was a huge hit, vital to launching surf music as a national craze, and one of the few truly strong records to be recorded by a self-contained American rock band prior to the British Invasion." [1] Author Luis Sanchez summarized the album's impact on culture and the image it established for the Beach Boys:

If Surfin' U.S.A. didn't literally transform America into an endless beach, it added vivid dimension to California mythos and took it further than anyone would have thought. You could call The Beach Boys’ version of Southern California cutesy or callow or whatever, but what matters is that it captured a lack of self-consciousness—a genuineness—that set them apart from their peers. And it was this quality that came to define Brian’s oeuvre as he moved beyond and into bigger pop productions that would culminate in Smile . [8]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalLength
1."Surfin' U.S.A." Mike Love 2:29
2."Farmer's Daughter"
  • B. Wilson
  • Love
B. Wilson1:49
3."Misirlou"
instrumental2:03
4."Stoked"B. Wilsoninstrumental1:59
5."Lonely Sea"
B. Wilson2:21
6."Shut Down"
Love1:49
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalLength
1."Noble Surfer"
  • B. Wilson
  • Love
Love1:51
2."Honky Tonk"
instrumental2:01
3."Lana"B. WilsonB. Wilson1:39
4."Surf Jam" Carl Wilson instrumental2:10
5."Let's Go Trippin'" Dick Dale instrumental1:57
6."Finders Keepers"
  • B. Wilson
  • Love
Love1:38
Total length:24:15
Surfin' Safari / Surfin' U.S.A. 1990/2001 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalLength
13."Cindy, Oh Cindy"
B. Wilson2:10
14."The Baker Man"B. WilsonB. Wilson2:37
15."Land Ahoy"B. WilsonLove1:38
Total length:30:40

Notes

Personnel

Partial credits compiled from the original album liner notes plus additional information from David Leaf, Jon Stebbins, and James Murphy. [10] [11]

The Beach Boys

Additional musicians and production staff

Charts

YearChartPosition
1963US Billboard 200 [12] 2
1965UK Top 40 Albums [13] 17

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Allmusic review
  2. Trynka & Bacon 1996, p. 126.
  3. Leaf, David (1990). Surfin Safari / Surfin U.S.A. (CD Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records.
  4. 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.
  5. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). London: Oxford University Press. p. 479. ISBN   978-0-19-531373-4.
  6. Jones, Peter; Jopling, Norman (September 4, 1965). "The Beach Boys: Surfin' U.S.A." (PDF). Record Mirror . No. 234. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 1, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  7. 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.
  8. Sanchez 2014, p. 32.
  9. 1 2 Doe, Andrew G. "Album Archive". Bellagio 10452. Endless Summer Quarterly.
  10. "Surfin Safari/Surfin USA". albumlinernotes. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  11. Stebbins, Jon (September 1, 2011). The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band. Backbeat Books. ISBN   978-1-4584-2914-8.
  12. "Surfin' U.S.A. - The Beach Boys: Awards". AllMusic.
  13. "UK Top 40 Hit Database". EveryHit.

Sources