And so, gentle readers, we travel to the very beginning of The Beach Boys\u2019 saga. The Beach Boys were formed in 1961 when Dennis Wilson, the only Beach Boy to regularly visit the beach, asked his brother Brian to write a song about surfing. The resultant song, \u201cSurfin\u2019,\u201d was released on the small Candix label and reached number 75 on the national pop charts. The group was signed to the major Capital label and quickly went into the studio to record their first full-length album. <\/p>\n
Surfin\u2019 Safari <\/i>is now 47 years old. Historically, John Kennedy was President of the United States, The Beatles had not yet landed in America, Al Jardine was in medical school, David Marks was the rhythm guitarist for the group, and Coors beer could not be sold east of the Mississippi River. <\/p>\n
It is always interesting to reflect upon an album years after its release, or in the case of Surfin\u2019 Safari, <\/i>almost a half century later.\u00a0 The technology involved in its recording was cutting-edge in 1962 but pales today in light of what artists are able to do in the studio and what Brian Wilson would accomplish during the course of his career. <\/p>\n
The double hit single \u201cSurfin\u2019 Safari\u201d \/ \u201c409\u201d would deliver the Beach Boys\u2019 first nationally recognized songs and set the tone for what would follow during the first part of their career. They presented an idyllic California lifestyle through their music. This lifestyle included a love of surfing, girls, and cars. While \u201cSurfin\u2019 Safari\u201d was catchier, it was \u201c409\u201d that provided the first vehicle for Brian to begin layering the group\u2019s vocals, which quickly morphed into their traditional soaring harmonies. <\/p>\n
The second single, \u201cTen Little Indians,\u201d initiated the first argument of Brian Wilson\u2019s career. He wanted \u201cChug-A-Lug\u201d as the A-side, while his manager, his father, and the Capital label representatives voted in favor of \u201cTen Little Indians.\u201d Brian lost this first battle but ultimately won the war. Murray Wilson was fired and Brian gained complete control in the studio when \u201cTen Little Indians\u201d did not become a hit.<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle Girl (You\u2019re My Miss America)\u201d is notable as the first Dennis Wilson lead vocal. He was underappreciated and under-utilized by the group. He would sing a song or two every once in awhile, but never gained the spotlight. This first effort shows what a wonderful tone he possessed early in his career. <\/p>\n
Their first single, \u201cSurfin\u2019,\u201d is included here and is interesting as it shows how far Brian Wilson had progressed in just a few months. The Beach Boys sound had taken on a sophistication that was missing on their first release. <\/p>\n
It was common in the early \u201860s to build albums around a few hit songs, and the early Beach Boys albums followed this trend. Thus, Surfin\u2019 Safari <\/i>contains a lot of what can be termed filler material. They could not quite pull off the Eddie Cochran hit \u201cSummertime Blues,\u201d and such throwaway songs as \u201cCoo Coo Clock,\u201d \u201cMoon Dawg\u201d and \u201cThe Shift\u201d have mercifully disappeared into the mists of time. <\/p>\n
Surfin\u2019 Safari <\/i>remains historically important as the first release by one of the great American rock \u2018n\u2019 roll bands. While its sound would be quickly replaced by the brilliance of future Beach Boys recordings, in 1962 it was a significant first step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":29912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7136],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-41534","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-beach-boys","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41534"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}