James Evans Fuller (June 27, 1947 – March 3, 2017) was the

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

and main songwriter for a 1960s

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

The Surfaris The Surfaris are an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California, United States, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and " Wipe Out", which ...

.The Surfaris.com: History
Fuller was known as the "Godfather" of

surf music Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental s ...

, a

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

n instrumental music. He was also a studio musician, and performed on many other artists' such as “The Seeds”, rock, folk, and blues songs throughout his career, performing vocals, lead and bass guitar. Fuller, with his Fender Stratocaster guitar in photographs and its sound on The Surfaris albums, contributed to the popularity of

Leo Fender Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991) was an American inventor known for designing the Fender Stratocaster. He also founded the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In January 1965, he sold Fender to CBS, and later foun ...

's instruments. He is featured on "Hollywood's Rock Walk of Fame". he continued to perform with The Surfaris and his other band, “Jim Fuller & The Beatnik” with a fan base in United States, Europe, and Japan. He died on March 3, 2017 in

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

, at the age of 69. Along with the rest of the Surfaris, Fuller was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.

Best known hits

* " Wipe Out" * "Point Panic" * "Surfer Joe" * "Waikiki Run...."

References

External links

Discogs: Jim Fuller DiscographyThe Surfaris featuring Jim Fuller — official MySpace site
1947 births 2017 deaths The Surfaris members Surf musicians American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock singers American rock songwriters American male singer-songwriters Musicians from Los Angeles County, California Singer-songwriters from California People from Monrovia, California People from the San Gabriel Valley Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians {{US-guitarist-stub