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"Surfer Girl" is the title of a song written and sung by Brian Wilson for The Beach Boys. It was released as a single and it then appeared on the 1963 album of the same name, Surfer Girl. The B-side of the single was "Little Deuce Coupe". The single was the first Beach Boys record to have Brian Wilson officially credited as the producer.
Written solely by Brian Wilson, the song is his very first composition. Although the song is sometimes referred to as a tribute to his then girlfriend Judy Bowles, this is untrue as the song wasn't written with anyone particular in mind.
Brian explained the genesis of the song: "Back in 1961, I'd never written a song in my life. I was nineteen years old. And I put myself to the test in my car one day. I was actually driving to a hot dog stand, and I actually created a melody in my head without being able to hear it on a piano. I sang it to myself; I didn't even sing it out loud in the car. When I got home that day, I finished the song, wrote the bridge, put the harmonies together and called it 'Surfer Girl'."
Brian Wilson later stated that the song was inspired by the Dion and the Belmonts version of "When You Wish Upon a Star," which has the same AABA form. Wilson later covered that song on his album In the Key of Disney, which was released on October 25, 2011.
The band first recorded the song at World Pacific Studios on February 8, 1962 which was one of the band's first ever recording sessions. However, the recordings from that session, engineered by Hite Morgan, would ultimately remain unreleased until later archival releases.
The instrumental track as well as the vocals for the officially released version were recorded at Western Recorders on June 12, 1963. The session was produced by Brian; the first song, along with "Little Deuce Coupe", to be credited as a Brian production. The musicians on the track are David Marks and Carl Wilson on guitar; Brian Wilson on bass guitar and Dennis Wilson on drums. The finished instrumental track can be heard on the 1968 release Stack-O-Tracks. The song is sung by the group - Mike Love, Carl & Dennis Wilson - with a prominent vocal by Brian. Also recorded during that session was "Little Deuce Coupe".
The "Surfer Girl" single backed with "Little Deuce Coupe" was released under Capitol Records in the United States on July 22, 1963. The single entered the Billboard chart on August 3 and it would then hit the Top 40 on August 17 at the number 28 position. After the single had been on the charts for six weeks it peaked at number 7 on September 14, 1963. It placed at number 5, for three weeks, in Cash Box and number 3 in the UPI weekly survey used by newspapers. Its regional performances belie even these higher national peaks, having risen to #1 in playlists in Los Angeles (four weeks), San Francisco (six weeks), Philadelphia, Boston and Dallas—all major markets where it was among the very biggest hits that year; and runner-up or top three in Washington DC, Toronto, Montreal, Sacramento, Minneapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh. The single also peaked in the U.S. Billboard R & B chart at number 18 in September 1963. Internationally, it was number 1 on New Zealand's Teen Scene chart and number 8 in Australia (2UE).
In 1969 the World Pacific Studios sessions recording of the song was issued on Era Records as a single with another artist on the B-side, thus seeing the first official release of the early Surfer Girl recording. The single however failed to make any impact on the charts. Years later, in May 2003, the song was released on an EP under Capitol Records along with "Surfin' USA", "Don't Worry Baby" and "The Beach Boys Medley". However the record failed to chart.
In Australia the single peaked at number 8 on the charts in October 1963 and thus became the band's second top 10 hit in Australia.
The song was first released on an album in 1963 on the band's Surfer Girl album.
The early World Pacific Studios recordings of the song were eventually released on CD in 1991 on the archival release Lost & Found (1961-62) as well as subsequent re-issues of that album which featured alternate album titles. A binaural mix of the song was released on the 1998 compilation Endless Harmony Soundtrack. This mix featured the instrumental recording on one channel and the vocal recording on the other channel.
File Hashes
HASH1: 914FEE00A5707141
HASH2: 2F09C5A14EDF799F (FLAC)
HASH1: 4E29757D9BB16BE6 HASH2: 02EE6BFAD1F2BDF7 (FLAC)
Available in:
"Surfer Girl" is the title of a song written and sung by Brian Wilson for The Beach Boys. It was released as a single and it then appeared on the 1963 album of the same name, Surfer Girl. The B-side of the single was "Little Deuce Coupe". The single was the first Beach Boys record to have Brian Wilson officially credited as the producer.
Written solely by Brian Wilson, the song is his very first composition. Although the song is sometimes referred to as a tribute to his then girlfriend Judy Bowles, this is untrue as the song wasn't written with anyone particular in mind.
Brian explained the genesis of the song: "Back in 1961, I'd never written a song in my life. I was nineteen years old. And I put myself to the test in my car one day. I was actually driving to a hot dog stand, and I actually created a melody in my head without being able to hear it on a piano. I sang it to myself; I didn't even sing it out loud in the car. When I got home that day, I finished the song, wrote the bridge, put the harmonies together and called it 'Surfer Girl'."
Brian Wilson later stated that the song was inspired by the Dion and the Belmonts version of "When You Wish Upon a Star," which has the same AABA form. Wilson later covered that song on his album In the Key of Disney, which was released on October 25, 2011.
The band first recorded the song at World Pacific Studios on February 8, 1962 which was one of the band's first ever recording sessions. However, the recordings from that session, engineered by Hite Morgan, would ultimately remain unreleased until later archival releases.
The instrumental track as well as the vocals for the officially released version were recorded at Western Recorders on June 12, 1963. The session was produced by Brian; the first song, along with "Little Deuce Coupe", to be credited as a Brian production. The musicians on the track are David Marks and Carl Wilson on guitar; Brian Wilson on bass guitar and Dennis Wilson on drums. The finished instrumental track can be heard on the 1968 release Stack-O-Tracks. The song is sung by the group - Mike Love, Carl & Dennis Wilson - with a prominent vocal by Brian. Also recorded during that session was "Little Deuce Coupe".
The "Surfer Girl" single backed with "Little Deuce Coupe" was released under Capitol Records in the United States on July 22, 1963. The single entered the Billboard chart on August 3 and it would then hit the Top 40 on August 17 at the number 28 position. After the single had been on the charts for six weeks it peaked at number 7 on September 14, 1963. It placed at number 5, for three weeks, in Cash Box and number 3 in the UPI weekly survey used by newspapers. Its regional performances belie even these higher national peaks, having risen to #1 in playlists in Los Angeles (four weeks), San Francisco (six weeks), Philadelphia, Boston and Dallas—all major markets where it was among the very biggest hits that year; and runner-up or top three in Washington DC, Toronto, Montreal, Sacramento, Minneapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh. The single also peaked in the U.S. Billboard R & B chart at number 18 in September 1963. Internationally, it was number 1 on New Zealand's Teen Scene chart and number 8 in Australia (2UE).
In 1969 the World Pacific Studios sessions recording of the song was issued on Era Records as a single with another artist on the B-side, thus seeing the first official release of the early Surfer Girl recording. The single however failed to make any impact on the charts. Years later, in May 2003, the song was released on an EP under Capitol Records along with "Surfin' USA", "Don't Worry Baby" and "The Beach Boys Medley". However the record failed to chart.
In Australia the single peaked at number 8 on the charts in October 1963 and thus became the band's second top 10 hit in Australia.
The song was first released on an album in 1963 on the band's Surfer Girl album.
The early World Pacific Studios recordings of the song were eventually released on CD in 1991 on the archival release Lost & Found (1961-62) as well as subsequent re-issues of that album which featured alternate album titles. A binaural mix of the song was released on the 1998 compilation Endless Harmony Soundtrack. This mix featured the instrumental recording on one channel and the vocal recording on the other channel.
File Hashes
HASH1: 914FEE00A5707141 HASH2: 2F09C5A14EDF799F (FLAC) HASH1: 4E29757D9BB16BE6 HASH2: 02EE6BFAD1F2BDF7 (FLAC) Genre
Rock
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