Left to right: Al Jardine, Mike Love,
Dennis Wilson, Brian Wilson, and Carl Wilson.
The album also includes 2 instrumentals that had been made famous the year before by lefthanded guitarist Dick Dale, considered the true father of surf rock: "Misirlou" and "Let's Go Trippin'." At the time, "trippin'" meant just that, going on a roadtrip, not feeling the effects of a mind-altering drug, or simply being crazy -- subjects with which the Beach Boys would, eventually, become sadly familiar.
In a further irony, Dennis died by drowning in 1983, although that was because he was drunk and fell off a boat, not because of a surfing accident. Carl Wilson died of cancer in 1998. As of March 25, 2022, Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine are still alive. So is Bruce Johnston, who took over from Brian as the touring bass guitarist in late 1965. (UPDATE: Brian Wilson died in 2025.)
Beach Boys bass guitarist and main songwriter Brian Wilson was then dating a woman named Judy Bowles, whose brother Jim was a surfer, and knew all the surfing spots in the southern half of California. Brian thought of how Chuck Berry had listed a bunch of cities in his 1958 song "Sweet Little Sixteen," and decided to try the same thing.
Brian's brother, Carl Wilson, was one of the few guitarists who has ever been able to play Chuck Berry riffs as well as Chuck himself. But this song was so close to "Sweet Little Sixteen" that Chuck sued. A settlement was reached, and Chuck has been listed as the sole author of "Surfin' U.S.A." ever since. Chuck later told them that he loved the song, he just wanted to be properly credited and paid for his role in writing it.
Brian's brother, Carl Wilson, was one of the few guitarists who has ever been able to play Chuck Berry riffs as well as Chuck himself. But this song was so close to "Sweet Little Sixteen" that Chuck sued. A settlement was reached, and Chuck has been listed as the sole author of "Surfin' U.S.A." ever since. Chuck later told them that he loved the song, he just wanted to be properly credited and paid for his role in writing it.
The Beach Boys' 1st song, titled simply "Surfin'," was released in 1961, and was a regional hit. The next year, they released "Surfin' Safari," and it became a national Top 20 hit. "Surf rock" became a big deal, especially with instrumentals like "Misirlou," The Chantays' "Pipeline," and The Surfaris' "Wipe Out," with its epic drumming by Ron Wilson (no relation to the Beach Boys).
And yet, the only song about surfing that ever hit Number 1 on Billboard magazine's "Hot 100" chart was "Surf City," by Jan & Dean (Jan Berry and Dean Torrence), in the magazine's July 20, 1963 edition. As the skateboarding craze followed, Jan & Dean had a Top 20 hit with "Sidewalk Surfin'" in 1964.
The Beach Boys also specialized in songs about cars, and the racing thereof, like "Shut Down," "409," "Little Deuce Coupe," "Fun, Fun, Fun" (about a teenage girl and her Ford Thunderbird), and their 1st Number 1 hit, "I Get Around," which topped the chart in Summer 1964. They even recorded a Christmas album, which included "Little Saint Nick," which invoked Santa Claus working on his sleigh as if it were a hot rod.
The Beach Boys' car songs inspired others: "G.T.O." by Ronnie & the Daytonas, "Hey Little Cobra" by The Rip Chords, and "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan & Dean. The last of these, partly written by Brian Wilson, proved tragic and prophetic: In 1966, Jan Berry was badly hurt in a crash on North Whittier Drive, not far from the real-life curve mentioned in the song, at 9900 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Ironically, the only member of the Beach Boys who was a regular surfer was the other Wilson brother, Dennis, the drummer. Brian, Carl, their cousin and lead singer Mike Love, and rhythm guitarist Al Jardine, who had been Hawthorne High School quarterback Brian's best friend and star receiver, weren't surfers, though they all acted out the part, especially with their onstage clothes. Brian never went surfing until 1976.
In a further irony, Dennis died by drowning in 1983, although that was because he was drunk and fell off a boat, not because of a surfing accident. Carl Wilson died of cancer in 1998. As of March 25, 2022, Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine are still alive. So is Bruce Johnston, who took over from Brian as the touring bass guitarist in late 1965. (UPDATE: Brian Wilson died in 2025.)
"Surfin' U.S.A." is one of those songs with a notorious misheard lyric: The opening line, "If everybody had an ocean" often gets heard as "If everybody had a notion." "Baggies" are loose-fitting, or "baggy," swimming trunks.
As for the locations mentioned in the song: Waimea Bay is in Hawaii, and Narrabeen is in Australia. The rest, as you might guess, are in California: Manhattan Beach, Haggerty's, Pacific Palisades and Redondo Beach are in Los Angeles County; Doheny and Sunset are in Orange County; Ventura County Line is in, you guessed it, Ventura County; Santa Cruz is in, of course, Santa Cruz County; and Del Mar, San Onofre, Trestles, Swami's Beach and La Jolla are in San Diego County.
Newport, Rhode Island is considered the top surfing location on the East Coast. The Trade Winds were a band from Providence, Rhode Island, and in 1965, they had a hit with "New York's a Lonely Town," about a boy who claims he's "the only surfer boy around." "Woodies," the wood-paneled cars of the 1930s, were popular among surfers, and Jan & Dean mentioned them in "Surf City." The Trade Winds sang, "My Woodie's outside, covered with snow."
Even Bo Diddley, best known for one of the founding records of rock and roll, the 1955 hit "Bo Diddley," got into the act: In 1963, he released Surfin' with Bo Diddley. Bo was black, and the vast majority of surfers -- at least, outside of Hawaii, where the natives taught the tourists -- have been white. As rock and roll historian Dave Marsh pointed out, it wasn't Bo's race that was the outlier, it was the location. The title of his 1960 album Bo Diddley is a Gunslinger made sense, especially given that he recorded on the South Side of Chicago; but where was he going to surf, Lake Michigan?
For the record, I have never surfed. Or skied. I'm not that crazy.
The Beach Boys hit Number 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 Singles charts 4 times: With "I Get Around" in 1964, "Help Me, Rhonda" in 1965, "Good Vibrations" in 1966, and then, long after their initial run of success, "Kokomo" in 1988.
So who was Rhonda? Brian Wilson insisted that the song wasn't based on a real person, and that "Rhonda" just sounded like a good name to use. Can't argue with that, even if there would be car commercials 20 years later singing, "Help me, Honda."
*
March 25, 1963 was a Monday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were no NBA games scheduled. And the NHL was between the regular season and the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. So there were no scores on this historic day.
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