Surfer Girl

Surfer Girl is the third studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released on September 16, 1963 by Capitol Records. Surfer Girl reached number 7 in the US during a chart stay of 56 weeks. In the UK, the album was released in spring 1967 and reached number 13. This was the first album by the Beach Boys for which Brian Wilson was given sole production credit. (Starting in 1967, album credit was generally attributed to "the Beach Boys" as a group, or to one or more individual members of the group.)

For the title track, see Surfer Girl (song).
Surfer Girl
Studio album by
the Beach Boys
ReleasedSeptember 16, 1963
RecordedMay–July 1963
StudioUnited Western Recorders, Hollywood
GenreSurf rock, rock and roll[1]
Length25:30
LabelCapitol
ProducerBrian Wilson
The Beach Boys chronology
Surfin' U.S.A.
(1963)		 Surfer Girl
(1963)		 Little Deuce Coupe
(1963)
The Beach Boys UK chronology
Best of The Beach Boys
(1966)		 Surfer Girl
(1967)		 Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 2
(1967)
Singles from Surfer Girl
  1. "Surfer Girl" / "Little Deuce Coupe"
    Released: July 22, 1963

In 2017, Surfer Girl was ranked the 193rd greatest album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.[2]

Album details

Surfer Girl is the first album on which Brian Wilson is given full production credit. The songs were co-written between Wilson, Mike Love, Gary Usher and Roger Christian. The title track, the ballad "Surfer Girl", was the first song Brian composed, written at the age of 19 using "When You Wish Upon a Star" as his inspiration. The b-side, "Little Deuce Coupe", continued the band's trend of putting a surf-related song on the A-side of singles, and car songs on the B-side. "Catch a Wave" featured Mike Love's sister, Maureen, on harp, while "The Surfer Moon" was the first Beach Boys song to have a string arrangement. The (unreleased) instrumental track for "The Surfer Moon" was recorded (as "The Summer Moon") in early May for an extra-BB act he was recording, Bob & Vikki.()[3][4] Bob was Bob Norberg, Brian's roommate in 1962.[5] The Vicki that recorded with Bob Norberg was future actress Victoria Hale who at the time was also known as Vicki Hale or Vicki Kocher.[6][7][8]

"South Bay Surfer" is co-credited to Al Jardine, who had rejoined the Beach Boys in the summer of 1963 in a limited capacity and does not appear on the album cover.

Front cover artwork

The front cover of Surfer Girl features (from left to right) Dennis Wilson, David Marks, Carl Wilson, Mike Love and Brian Wilson holding a surfboard [9] from the same 1962 photo shoot that produced the cover of their album debut Surfin' Safari. The picture was taken by Capitol photographer Kenneth Veeder at Paradise Cove, north of Malibu. Beach Boys sport matching blue plaid Pendleton Woolen Mills shirts on the cover of their "Surfer Girl" album. Now called the "board shirt," the style is still a bestseller.[10]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Blender[12]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[15]

Surfer Girl hit number seven in the US (where it went gold) and, later (in 1967) number thirteen in the UK.

Live performances

Half the album's tracks have been performed live by either the Beach Boys or Brian Wilson as a solo artist with varying frequency.[16]

Track listing

Mike Love's writing credits for "Catch a Wave" and "Hawaii" were only awarded after a 1994 court case.[17]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Surfer Girl"Brian WilsonB. Wilson2:26
2."Catch a Wave"
  • Love
  • B. Wilson
2:07
3."The Surfer Moon"B. WilsonB. Wilson2:11
4."South Bay Surfer (The Old Folks at Home)"
  • Love
  • B. Wilson
1:45
5."The Rocking Surfer"traditional, arranged by B. Wilsoninstrumental2:00
6."Little Deuce Coupe"
Love1:38
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead VocalsLength
1."In My Room"
B. Wilson2:11
2."Hawaii"
  • B. Wilson
  • Love
  • Love
  • B. Wilson
1:59
3."Surfer′s Rule"
  • B. Wilson
  • Love
  • D. Wilson
  • B. Wilson
1:54
4."Our Car Club"
  • B. Wilson
  • Love
  • Love
  • B. Wilson
2:22
5."Your Summer Dream"
  • B. Wilson
  • Bob Norberg
B. Wilson2:27
6."Boogie Woodie"traditional, arranged by B. Wilsoninstrumental1:56
1990/2001 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
13."Fun, Fun, Fun (Single Version)"
  • B. Wilson
  • Love
Love2:21
14."In My Room (German Version)"
  • B. Wilson
  • Usher
B. Wilson2:20
15."I Do"
  • B. Wilson
  • Christian
Love with B. Wilson3:06

Some reissues of the album omit "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Our Car Club".[17]

Personnel
The Beach Boys
  • Al Jardine – backing and harmony vocals; bass guitar; hand claps
  • Mike Love – lead, backing and harmony vocals; hand claps
  • David Marks – rhythm guitar; hand claps
  • Brian Wilson – lead, backing and harmony vocals; bass guitar; piano, organ; hand claps
  • Carl Wilson – backing and harmony vocals; lead guitar; hand claps
  • Dennis Wilson – lead, backing and harmony vocals; drums, hand claps
Additional musicians and production staff

Sales chart positions
Albums
Year Chart Position
1963 US Billboard 200 Albums Chart 7[19]
1967 UK Top 40 Album Chart 13[20]
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1963 "Surfer Girl" US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart 7
1963 "Little Deuce Coupe" US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart 15
1963 "In My Room" US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart 23

References
  1. "Surfer Girl/Shut Down, Vol. 2 album review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  2. "The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s". Pitchfork. August 22, 2017.
  3. The Second Disc, December 17, 2013 – The Beatles and The Beach Boys Beat The Boots On “The Big Beat 1963” and “Bootleg Recordings” By Joe Marchese
  4. Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius, By Philip Lambert – Page 57 Other Projects
  5. The Words and Music of Brian Wilson, By Christian Matijas-Mecca – Page 6 Wind Up
  6. Casting Networks Inc. – VICTORIA HALE
  7. The Words and Music of Brian Wilson, By Christian Matijas-Mecca – ISBN 1440838984 – Page 7 WIND UP
  8. Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius, By Philip Lambert – Page 57 First Album
  9. "THE ORIGINAL BEACH BOYS SURFBOARD". www.rockaway.com. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  10. "THE ORIGINAL BEACH BOYS SURFBOARD". www.rockaway.com. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  11. Allmusic review
  12. Wolk, Douglas (October 2004). "The Beach Boys Surfer Girl/Shut Down, Volume 2". Blender. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  13. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). London: Oxford University Press. p. 479. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  14. "The Beach Boys: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
  15. Brackett, Nathan; with Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York, NY: Fireside/Simon & Schuster. p. 46. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  16. "The Beach Boys Tour Statistics". setlist.fm. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  17. Doe, Andrew G. "Album Archive". Bellagio 10452. Endless Summer Quarterly.
  18. Stebbins, Jon (2011). The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 95. ISBN 9781458429186.
  19. "Surfer Girl – The Beach Boys: Awards". AllMusic.
  20. "UK Top 40 Hit Database". EveryHit.
Sources
  • Surfer Girl / Shut Down Volume 2 CD booklet notes, David Leaf, c.1990.
  • The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience, Timothy White, c. 1994.
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