For the title track, see Surfer Girl (song).

Surfer Girl is the third studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released September 16, 1963 on Capitol Records. It is largely a collection of surf songs. The LP reached number 7 in the U.S. and number 13 in the UK. Lead single "Surfer Girl", backed with "Little Deuce Coupe", was also a top 10 hit.

This was the first album that officially credited Brian Wilson with production. It was also the first in which he used a string section (on "The Surfer Moon") and employed Wrecking Crew session musicians (on "Hawaii" and "Our Car Club"). Original member Al Jardine, who had been replaced by David Marks in February 1962, contributed to the album and would soon re-join the band full-time when Marks departed in October 1963.

Surfer Girl was certified gold by the RIAA in November 1965, indicating over 1,000,000 copies sold. In 2017, it was ranked the 193rd greatest album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.

Background

The Beach Boys at a 1962 photoshoot. Here, they abandoned their former Pendleton image in favor of matching black suits.[1] From top: Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, David Marks, Mike Love.

The massive success of the Beach Boys` March 1963 album, Surfin` U.S.A., granted Brian Wilson the leverage to convince Capitol to allow him full control over the band`s productions,[2][3] an unprecedented move in the music industry.[4] Thanks to the band`s hit single, "Surfin` U.S.A.", they had become the preeminent vocal and instrumental group in America.[5] Capitol signed his new girl group, the Honeys, which signaled the label`s commitment to surf music.[6]

In addition to the Honeys, Wilson was focused on writing or production work with Jan and Dean and Bob Norberg.[7] Still resistant to touring, he had ex-member Al Jardine rejoin the group as his replacement at the band`s concerts, starting in April.[8] Meanwhile, Jan and Dean released Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfing, which featured the Wilson brothers and David Marks as guests on the tracks "Surfin`" and "Surfin` Safari".[9]

Production

Wilson produced Surfer Girl at Western Studio in Hollywood from approximately May 9 to July 16, 1963.[10] He recalled some of the sessions lasting up to "nine and ten hours, unheard-of periods of time."[11] The 1990 CD liner notes state that the album`s ten songs were recorded in one day, but this is unlikely, and since the American Federation of Musicians contracts have been lost, the exact dates and studios are not definitely known.[12]

"The Surfer Moon" was the first Beach Boys recording with a string section.[13][14] Having recruited members of the Wrecking Crew to help realize his productions with the Honeys, this album also marked the first occasion that those musicians were enlisted for certain Beach Boys tracks – specifically, on two songs, "Hawaii" and "Our Car Club".[15] Mike Love`s sister Maureen played harp on "Hawaii" and "Catch a Wave".[16] Wilson considered the latter to feature his "first big Beach Boy vocal arrangement".[16]

Other songs recorded in the middle of these sessions included the originals "Back Home", which was later remade for their 1976 album 15 Big Ones, and "Black Wednesday", which was later reworked as "Run-Around Lover" and recorded by the singer Sharon Marie.[10] These were Wilson`s first recordings at Gold Star Studios.[17]

Songs

Three of the tracks are based on pre-existing compositions.[18] "South Bay Surfer" is a rewrite of the Stephen Foster standard "Swanee River", which Wilson had recorded with the Honeys, as "Surfin` Down the Swanee River", and later rerecorded with the Beach Boys in 1968, as "Old Folks at Home".[19] "Boogie Woodie" is ostensibly based on Rimsky Korsakov`s Flight of the Bumblebee.[20] "The Rocking Surfer" is a reworking of the Tri-Fives` 1963 record "Come and Get It", an arrangement of the Czechoslovakian folk song Stodola Pumpa (more popularly known in Southern California as the Good Humor ice cream truck jingle).[20][21]

First verse of "Surfer Girl"

"Surfer Girl", a ballad, demonstrated that the band was more versatile than the Chuck Berry-inspired hits they had risen to fame with.[22]

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Wilson is credited with writing the remaining nine songs on Surfer Girl: two by himself ("Surfer Girl" and "The Surfer Moon"), four in conjunction with Mike Love ("Catch a Wave", "Hawaii", "Surfers Rule", and "Our Car Club"), and three individually co-authored with collaborators Gary Usher ("In My Room"), Roger Christian ("Little Deuce Coupe"), and Bob Norberg ("Your Summer Dream").[23]

"Your Summer Dream" and "In My Room" are the only songs that do not relate to themes of cars or surfing.[24] The two car songs, "Our Car Club" and "Little Deuce Coupe", were planned to be omitted by Wilson, but this never happened due to Murry Wilson wanting more hits on the album, and so the tracks appeared on both Surfer Girl and their next album, Little Deuce Coupe.[25]

Cover photo

The front cover of the album depicts the five members of the band carrying surfboards at Paradise Cove in Malibu, California.[22] It was taken at the same session that produced the cover photo for their first album, Surfin` Safari (1962).[26]

Release

Lead single "Surfer Girl", backed with "Little Deuce Coupe", was issued in the U.S. on July 22, 1963 and reached number 7 on the Billboard charts.[27] After returning from a six-week tour at the end of August, they completed their next album, Little Deuce Coupe, in short time.[28] The Surfer Girl album followed on September 16 and peaked at number 7 on December 23.[29] Little Deuce Coupe was released on October 7, just three weeks after Surfer Girl.[30]

Surfer Girl was certified gold by the RIAA in November 1965.[31] In the UK, the album was released by EMI Records in April 1967 and reached number 13.[32] It had been held back from release due to the group`s lesser popularity in Europe, and was then issued to satisfy increased demand for new Beach Boys product.[33]

In 1990, Capitol reissued the album on CD as a single-disc pairing with Shut Down Volume 2 (1964).[16]

Retrospective assessments

Surfer Girl was ranked number 193 on Pitchfork`s list of the greatest album of the 1960s. Highlighting tracks such as "In My Room" and "Surfer Girl", contributor Quin Moreland wrote in the entry that "Wilson began to probe the wistfulness at his core, hinting at further genius to come."[39]

Reviewing Surfer Girl in AllMusic, Richie Unterberger highlighted "In My Room" as the most significant track and disregarded the remainder of the album as "surprisingly mediocre filler".[34]

Music historian Scott Schinder identified Surfer Girl as an advancement in "Brian`s continuing growth as a composer and producer." He cited "Catch a Wave" as Wilson`s "most ambitious surf number to date" and "In My Room" as "a startling demonstration of Brian`s willingness to confront his fears in song."[40]

Track listing

Notes

• Mike Love was not originally credited for "Catch a Wave" and "Hawaii". His credits were awarded after a 1994 court case.[41]
• Some reissues of the album omit "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Our Car Club".[41]

Charts