Heartbreaking tales of these fleeting stars
In the early 1960s, Orange County and the South Bay region of California formed the epicenter of what became known as the surf music genre. Los Angeles, meanwhile, was—and remains—the entertainment capital of the world.
Non-vocal surf music emerged in the late 1950s as instrumental rock and roll music, distinguished by reverb-heavy electric guitars played to evoke the sound of crashing waves. Its genre was largely pioneered by DickDale.
DickDale and the Del-Tones are featured in the 1964 movie 'Muscle Beach Party,' one of several so-called "beach party films" made during the height of the surf music craze. More of a surprise, as he's seen here making his feature film debut in the same picture and aged just 13 years old, was Stevie Wonder.
DickDale quickly became known as "The King of the Surf Guitar," and with his band, the Del-Tones, he effectively launched the surf music craze in 1961 with the hit 'Let's Go Trippin,'' taken from his debut studio album, 'Surfer's Choice.'
Dale was, quite literally, responsible for adding the unique musical texture that defined the sound of the genre, incorporating complex Middle Eastern and Mexican influences and adding his own alternate picking characteristics. In 1962, he released his version of 'Misirlou,' a traditional folk song from the Eastern Mediterranean. It remains a surf song anthem and is considered Dale's signature single.
William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence, better known as Jan and Dean, were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music. Their 1963 hit 'Surf City' was the first surf song ever to reach the number one spot nationwide. Berry co-wrote the track with Beach Boy Brian Wilson.
Another single, 1964's 'Dead Man's Curve,' expanded upon the racing theme, describing as it does a duel between a Corvette Sting Ray and a Jaguar XKE on California's Sunset Boulevard just past North Whittier Drive near a notorious 90° right turn known as "Dead Man's Curve." The track proved ominous. On April 12, 1966, Berry was severely injured in an automobile accident on Whittier Drive, just a short distance from the same dangerous hairpin bend.
Subsequent top 10 singles followed, including 'Drag City' (1963), a song describing the action at a drag racing strip, released in late 1963.
More bands appeared in the wake of Dale, the Beach Boys, and Jan and Dean. This performance flyer promoting surf musicians appearing at the legendary Retail Clerks Auditorium in Buena Park, Los Angeles, lists The Lively Ones, whose 1963 song 'Surf Rider' became a standard and was featured in the final sequence as well as the end credits of Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film 'Pulp Fiction.' Also gigging that night was Manuel & The Renegades out of San Bernardino, and southern California outfit Eddie & The Showmen, known for their hits 'Mr. Rebel' and 'Squad Car.' Showmen's guitarist Eddie Bertrand was part of an earlier influential surf rock band called The Bel-Airs, best known for their 1961 hit 'Mr. Moto,' an instrumental surf rock song that featured a flamenco-inspired intro.
Further popularizing the genre were The Challengers. Their 1963 debut album 'Surfbeat' was the biggest-selling surf album of all time and helped bring surf music from California to the rest of the world. Pictured is the band's bass player Randy Nauert standing next to a photo of the group before his presentation "Surf Beat: The Origins of Surf Music" at the San Clemente State Beach visitor center in San Clemente, California, on August 16, 2017.
The Surfaris—Ron Wilson (drums, vocals), Jim Fuller (lead guitar), Bob Berryhill (rhythm guitar), Pat Connolly (bass), and Jim Pash (saxophone)—are known for 'Wipe Out,' their 1963 hit that memorably begins with a cracking sound, imitating a breaking surfboard, followed by a manic voice babbling, "ha ha ha ha ha, wipe out."
Bucking the homegrown California trend were The Trashmen, who hailed from faraway Minnesota. Their biggest hit was 'Surfin' Bird,' which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1963.
The album's release had been preceded by two singles, 'Surfin',' the band's debut single recorded in November 1961, and 'Surfin' Safari,' released in June 1962. The B-side, '409,' a reference to a Chevy 409 V engine, is credited with initiating the hot-rod music craze of the 1960s that ran parallel to all things surfing. Indeed, cars and surf became the defining themes of the early California Sound.
The debut album of the Beach Boys, released on October 1, 1962, introduced the American public to the California Sound and, specifically, the surf music vocal craze.
By 1965, the surf craze had been swamped by the British invasion, headed by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Beach party movies, however, still proved popular, and 'The Girls on the Beach' was given extra weight by an appearance by the Beach Boys (themselves in the process of forging a new musical direction). In the film, the band perform 'Girls on the Beach,' 'Lonely Sea,' and 'Little Honda.'
'Surfin' USA' remains one of the definitive surf songs of the era. The only single released from the Beach Boy's second album of the same name, 'Surfin' USA' encapsulates the California beach culture of the early 1960s.
Formed in the early 1960 in South Bend, Indiana, the Rivieras made their own contribution to the California Sound with the appropriately named 'California Sun' in 1964. It became the group's biggest hit in their short career. The track featured in the 1987 film 'Good Morning Vietnam.'
In late 1961, the Beach Boys had their first chart hit, 'Surfin,'' which peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100. Pictured is the band performing at a local high school in late 1962.
The third album released by the Beach Boys, 1963's 'Surfer Girl,' included the tracks 'Surfer Girl,' 'Catch a Wave,' The Surfer Moon,' and 'Little Deuce Coupe'—another example of how surf music was re-imagined as so-called hot-rod music, created in a move to appeal to a wider audience.
One of the most influential American surf documentary films from the era is 'The Endless Summer,' directed, produced, edited, and narrated by Bruce Brown. An early pioneer of the surf film, Brown was also responsible for 'Surf Crazy,' made in 1959. The soundtrack to 'The Endless Summer' was provided by the Sandals.
The Tornadoes—who also went by the name Hollywood Tornadoes because of a British band known by the same name who'd had a huge 1962 hit with 'Telstar'—achieved national fame with 1963's 'Bustin' Surfboards,' unique in that the instrumental featured the sound of an ocean swell throughout.
By the mid-1960s, the emergence in the United States of garage rock, folk rock, blues rock, and ultimately psychedelic rock genres all but sunk the surf music sound. The sport itself, however, remained hugely popular, with California's Laguna Beach a favorite surfing hangout.
'Pipeline' was a top 10 instrumental hit for The Chantays in early 1963. While it was the band's only single of note, 'Pipeline' is considered one of the landmarks of the surf music genre.
Formed in Tacoma in 1958, the Ventures released a version of Chet Atkins' 'Walk, Don't Run' in 1960, and then updated their own version four years later as 'Walk, Don't Run '64' to cash in on the surf craze. The B-side, 'The Cruel Sea,' was a version of the Dakotas' 1963 single.
Besides the musical legacy left by the surf music craze, California's 1960's beach scene was admirably captured by LeRoy Grannis, whom The New York Times dubbed "the godfather of surf photography."
Sources: (Musiqology) (Rolling Stone) (Closer Weekly)
See also: The scintillating history of surfing
In September 1965, ABC began broadcasting 'Gidget,' a sitcom about a surfing, boy-crazy teenager called Gidget, played by Sally Field. It was among the first regularly scheduled color programs on the network. The series helped launch Field's movie career.
Besides its status as entertainment capital of the world, Los Angeles in the mid-1960s was also heavily promoted as one of the nation's top surf spots, this despite the decline of the surf song craze and competition from distant Hawaii.
Mention surf songs, and the Beach Boys immediately hang ten in the minds of many. But the surf music genre owes its creation to several innovative musicians, individuals like the great guitarist DickDale and the harmonious duo known as Jan and Dean. Originating in California in the early 1960s, the surf sound developed from instrumental rock and evolved into vocal surf music, collectively known as the California Sound. Along the way, a part of this genre was reimagined as hot-rod music. But it all testified to the joys of California youth and the brief window between 1962 and 1964 when the world was all about boards, cars, and girls. And all these years later, the sound waves still reverberate.
Click through and revisit the California surf scene of the early 1960s and the memorable music that provided its optimistic, sun-soaked soundtrack.
Sound waves: the origins of the surf music craze
Tracing the roots of a genre that defined a generation’s coastal vibe
MUSIC Culture
Mention surf songs, and the Beach Boys immediately hang ten in the minds of many. But the surf music genre owes its creation to several innovative musicians, individuals like the great guitarist DickDale and the harmonious duo known as Jan and Dean. Originating in California in the early 1960s, the surf sound developed from instrumental rock and evolved into vocal surf music, collectively known as the California Sound. Along the way, a part of this genre was reimagined as hot-rod music. But it all testified to the joys of California youth and the brief window between 1962 and 1964 when the world was all about boards, cars, and girls. And all these years later, the sound waves still reverberate.
Click through and revisit the California surf scene of the early 1960s and the memorable music that provided its optimistic, sun-soaked soundtrack.