Surf Rock

This post is dedicated to my favorite surfer, my dad, who introduced all this music to me as a kid.

Surf Music: Part 1
Associated with the surf culture of Southern California and particularly Orange County (my stomping grounds), surf music was another wonderful genre of the 1960's, most popular from 1961 to 1965. It has two major forms: one is instrumental surf rock with an electric guitar or saxophone playing the melody, and the other is vocal surf pop with strong vocal harmonies, including ballads and dance music. For now, we'll take a closer look at instrumental surf rock and will save the vocal tunes for the next post.
So a characteristic of the electric guitar surf rock sound was the extensive use of the "wet" spring reverb of Fender amplifiers, as it seemed to reproduce the sound of waves. Guitarists also used the whammy bar to bend the notes downward, as well as rapid tremolo picking. By the late 1950's, instrumental rock 'n' roll had been pioneered by successful groups like Duane Eddy with "Rebel Rouser" and Link Wray with "The Rumble", the first song to use distortion guitar, not to mention it was banned by the government in 1958 (click on the links to hear these great tunes)!

Continuing the trend of this instrumental rock 'n' roll in the early 1960's was American guitarist Dick Dale, 'The King of Surf Guitar" (in this Fender poster, and yes, he is wearing shorts!) and his group The Del-Tones. It was Dale who added the distinctive reverb and the rapid picking style to this genre, as well as incorporating Middle Eastern and Mexican influences. Dale was a left-handed guitarist who initially learned to play a right-handed model, and his outrageous styling on stage was an influence as another young, left-handed guitarist, Jimi Hendrix. From 1961, "Let's Go Trippin'" is often considered the first surf rock song, but it was "Misirlou" that became his signature song in 1962, originally a Greek folk song (a fact I learned from my Greek husband) that he learned from his Lebanese-American uncle. I actually had the opportunity to see Dick Dale perform live in 1997 (though I've lost his autograph!), and boy, he still has it, playing with so much energy! This clip was taken from a 1963 film called "A Swinging Affair," and the swaying Del-Tones crack me up.


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A group that actually predates surf rock, yet was a major building block of surf music, was the Seattle-based instrumental rock group, The Ventures. They served as the proto-type for all guitar-based groups to follow, and are known as "The Band that Launched a Thousand Bands," as many famous guitarists of the 1960's and 70's were heavily influenced by their style and technique. From 1960, The Ventures' version of the instrumental song "Walk, Don't Run" is considered one of the first surfing songs to make the Billboard Chart, peaking at #2.

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In 1961, a group of high school friends from Santa Ana, California, formed the band, The Chantays, and by late 1962, they had a huge hit with "Pipeline." Originally called "Liberty's Whip," the band renamed the surf rock tune to "Pipeline" after hearing the term from Bruce Brown's groundbreaking, surfing documentary called "The Endless Summer." Considered a landmark of the surf genre, The Chantays are seen here performing this song on The Lawrence Welk Show, and were the only rock 'n' roll band to ever perform on this show.


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Speaking of Bruce Brown's "The Endless Summer," next up is the music from this classic documentary film about two surfers traveling the world in search of the perfect wave. Based out of San Clemente, California (my hometown!), The Sandals (pronounced Sandells) were an influential surf rock band that scored the music for this film, and their opening theme has become the best known theme in the surf movie genre. Although many Southern California surfers and non-surfers were inspired after seeing the film in the early 1960's, it wasn't until 1966 that the film received its nationwide theatrical release and grossed over $20 million. Even if you have no interest in the sport of surfing, this movie is a must-see: the footage is impressive, the narration is so entertaining and fun, and the music by The Sandals is perfect! This clip is a trailer for the digitally re-mastered re-release that includes the wonderful, mellow "Theme to the Endless Summer."


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And finally, I'll finish off with one of the premier, land-locked Midwestern surf rock group of the 1960's, The Astronauts from Boulder, Colorado. Released in early 1963, the group had a minor hit with "Baja," a typical, instrumental surf rock song reverberation-heavy twangy guitar and driving drumbeat. The Astronauts appeared in several episodes of the Hullabaloo TV show, as well as number of teen movies (see a clip from "Surf Party" here), and toured Japan where they outsold The Beach Boys. This tune, "Baja," is definitely one of my favorites and I still have my dad's vinyl LP!


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Alright, so I know I didn't even talk about The Surfaris' "Wipe Out" and other groups like The Challengers and The Bel-Airs, but you get the idea. Later this week, check out my post about vocal surf pop of the 1960's!