Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes instrumental performance and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental music in rock can be found in practically every subgenre of the style. Instrumental rock was most popular from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, with artists such as Bill Doggett Combo, The Fireballs, The Shadows, The Ventures, Johnny and the Hurricanes and The Spotnicks. Surf music had many instrumental songs. Many instrumental hits had roots from the R&B genre. The Allman Brothers Band feature several instrumentals. Jeff Beck also recorded two instrumental albums in the 1970s. Progressive rock and art rock performers of the late 1960s and early 1970s did many virtuosic instrumental performances.
The Surfaris are an American surf music band formed in Glendora, California, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and "Wipe Out", which were the A-side and B-side of the same 45 rpm single.
Surf music is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental surf, distinguished by reverb-heavy electric guitars played to evoke the sound of crashing waves, largely pioneered by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones. The second is vocal surf, which took elements of the original surf sound and added vocal harmonies, a movement led by the Beach Boys.
Joseph Fidler Walsh is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Best known as a member of the rock band Eagles, his five-decade career includes solo work and stints in other bands: James Gang, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, and New Zealand's Herbs. He was part of the supergroup The Best and had success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, appearing on other artists' recordings. In 2011, Rolling Stone ranked him No. 54 on its list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Surfin' Safari is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released October 1, 1962 on Capitol Records. The official production credit went to Nick Venet, though it was Brian Wilson with his father Murry who contributed substantially to the album's production; Brian also wrote or co-wrote nine of its 12 tracks. The album reached number 32 in the US during a chart stay of 37 weeks.
The Beach Boys' Christmas Album is the seventh studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released November 9, 1964 on Capitol Records. It contains five original songs and seven standards on a Christmas theme. The album proved to be a long-running success during subsequent Christmas seasons, initially reaching No. 6 on Billboard's Christmas LP's chart in its initial release and eventually going gold. Music historian James Perone wrote that it is "regarded as one of the finest holiday albums of the rock era".
The Champs are an American rock and roll band, most famous for their Latin-tinged 1958 instrumental single "Tequila". The group took their name from that of Gene Autry's horse, Champion, and was formed by studio executives at Autry's Challenge Records to record a B-side for the Dave Burgess single, "Train to Nowhere". The intended throwaway track became more famous than its A-side, as "Tequila" went to No. 1 in just three weeks, and the band became the first group to go to the top spot with an instrumental that was their first release. The song was recorded at Gold Star Studios in fall 1957, and in 1959 won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
Keepin' the Summer Alive is the 24th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released March 24, 1980, on Brother, Caribou and CBS Records. Produced by Bruce Johnston, the album peaked at number 75 in the US, during a chart stay of 6 weeks, and number 54 in the UK. It is the group's last album recorded with Dennis Wilson, who drowned in 1983, although he only appears on one song.
The Hondells were an American surf rock band. Their cover of the Beach Boys' "Little Honda" went to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964.
Gary Lee Usher was an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer, who worked with numerous California acts in the 1960s, including the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and Dick Dale. Usher also produced fictitious surf groups or hot rod groups, mixing studio session musicians with his own troops. These bands included the Super Stocks ; the Kickstands; the Hondells with their No. 9 US pop single "Little Honda"; and others.
Chuck Girard is an American musician, considered a pioneer of Contemporary Christian music. He moved to Santa Rosa, California in his early teens, becoming a band member of the Castells and later the surf-rock band The Hondells.
The Routers were an American instrumental group in the early 1960s.
The Royale Monarchs were a Southern California surf band of the late 1960s, signed by radio personality Bob Eubanks as house band at his Cinnamon Cinder night clubs, regulars on his Hollywood Dance Time and The Cinnamon Cinder television shows.
Ernie Earnshaw is a musician and recording artist. He began playing drums with the Royale Monarchs. The Monarchs were a popular surf-band of the 1960s, at the Bob Eubanks Cinnamon Cinder night clubs, in Los Angeles and performed on Sam Riddell's Ninth St. West Dance Program. Producer Gary Usher signed the new reformed group The Forte' Four to a recording contract at Decca Records. Two singles were released without much fanfare, and when The Forte IV broke up, Ernie met and auditioned for Six the Hard Way, a group of three singers and three pieces which went on the road and stayed there through 1967. When Six the Hard Way broke up, Ernie and Chuck Girard went back to Pasadena where Chuck started writing, and eventually Chuck Girard, Jack Schaeffer, Ernie and a couple of Chuck's friends recorded two demos, "Feel the Love" and "Enchanted Forest." These were the beginnings of what many consider the first Christian Rock group. Earnshaw left this band in the spring of 1968, joining BigFoot, which became Bill Medley's band in the summer of 1970.
David Gordon LaFlamme was an American singer and violinist best known for co-founding the San Francisco band It's a Beautiful Day.
The Ducks were a short-lived American rock group formed in the summer of 1977 by singer-songwriter Jeff Blackburn. The band included Bob Mosley, Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young, and Johnny Craviotto. The band played a series of impromptu bar gigs around the Santa Cruz area in 1977.
The Sons of Adam were an American garage rock band. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, they relocated to Los Angeles and became a regular fixture on the Sunset Strip music scene during the mid-1960s. The band released several singles for the Decca and Alamo labels, which included the songs "Saturday's Son", "Feathered Fish" and "Baby Show the World". They included guitarist Randy Holden, later of The Other Half and Blue Cheer, and drummer Michael Stuart, later of Love. Although the band, with Randy Holden, played "Feathered Fish" in clubs before it was recorded, Craig Tarwater played the guitar on the studio recording since Holden had left by then.
Jon & The Nightriders was an American instrumental surf music band known formed in Southern California in 1979. Fundamentally consisting of guitarist/songwriter John Blair, the band is credited for ushering in a renewed interest in the instrumental surf music genre, which had fallen out of popular favor since the popularity of The Beatles. The band name comes from a combination of the name of the Dick Dale song "Night Rider" and an alternate spelling of Blair's first name.
The Gamblers were an American surf rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1959. Distinguished by their vocal harmonies and early instrumental surf songs, the Gamblers are one of the first influential musical acts that recorded surf music, a genre popularized initially in Southern California. The group, led by primary songwriter Derry Weaver, recorded the "Moon Dawg!" single in late 1959, acknowledged as one of the earliest known surf records, and covered by West Coast groups such as the Beach Boys. In 1961, the group disbanded but its members, including Elliot Ingber, Larry Taylor, Bruce Johnston, and Sandy Nelson, went on to have successful music careers of their own.
"Surfin' U.S.A." is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys, credited to Chuck Berry and Brian Wilson. It is a rewritten version of Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" set to new lyrics written by Wilson and an uncredited Mike Love. The song was released as a single on March 4, 1963, backed with "Shut Down". It was then placed as the opening track on their album of the same name.
