"Andrea" is a song by the American surf band

The Sunrays The Sunrays (previously known as the Renegades, the Renegade 5, Larry Tremaine & the Renegades, the Rangers and the Dirt Riders) were an American band from Pacific Palisades, California. The group was led by singer/songwriter/drummer Rick Henn, ...

. Composed by the band's singer/songwriter/drummer Rick Henn, it was the band's most successful single, peaking at #41 on the ''Billboard'' charts on March 5, 1966.

Background

It was the title track, but the second single released from the band's only original album, ''

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ref ...

''. The first single, " I Live for the Sun", had peaked at #51 on October 23, 1965, and reached #20 in Australia, and a cover by

Vanity Fare Vanity Fare (often misspelled ''Vanity Fair'', due to the similarity of the novel and magazine title) are an English pop/rock group formed in 1966. They had the million-selling song, " Hitchin' a Ride", which became a worldwide hit in 1970. C ...

reached the same position in the UK. The band had previously released a single, "Outta Gas", that was not on the album. The song features a five-part harmony, produced by

Murry Wilson Murry Gage Wilson (July 2, 1917 – June 4, 1973) was an American songwriter, talent manager, record producer, and music publisher, best known as the father of the Beach Boys' Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. After the band's formation in 1 ...

, who was also the father and producer of the

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

. The Sunrays spent 1964 as the opening act for the Beach Boys on tour. After Wilson was dismissed as manager for his sons' band, he suggested that the Sunrays get some songs together to put out an album of their own. While on an airplane, guitarist Eddy Medora met "this beautiful stewardess, just lovely." He promised he would write a song about her when he returned home. He mentioned the conversation to Henn. By the time of the band's first rehearsal after returning home, Henn had completed writing the song. While the girl on the album cover was named Samantha, the band launched a nationwide contest, advertised in ''

Tiger Beat ''Tiger Beat'' is an American internet teen fan magazine originally published by The Laufer Company, and marketed primarily to adolescent girls. The magazine had a paper edition that was sold at stores until December 2018. History and profile ' ...

'', to find Andrea.

References

{{authority control 1966 singles 1966 songs Song recordings produced by Murry Wilson