Search - Beach Boys :: Surfin Safari

"Last year, when a group of sun-tanned youngsters recorded a song about their favorite sport, they had no idea that the tune was destined to ride a wave of popularity that would rival that of the sport itself." So says the liner notes to this unassuming 1963 debut album from a group of Hawthorne, California, teens (only one them was a surfer, as it turned out). Another trendy music fad destined to shine bright and die a quick commercial death, right? But this was one novelty group, led by the precocious producer-arranger Brian Wilson, destined for greater things--and more cohesive LPs. Surfin' Safari is a baby photograph cut on the quick in Capitol Records' studios (and chaperoned by staff producer Nik Venet, with Wilson actually calling the shots), a typical hits-plus-filler '60s disc, noteworthy for the out-of-the-box sonic sheen and some spot-on vocalizing. In hindsight, the goofy filler tunes ("Ten Little Indians," "Cuckoo Clock," one of five songs cowritten by fellow surf-rock pioneer Gary Usher) and throwaway covers ("Summertime Blues") have an unpretentious charm. --Don Harrison