The Fender IV were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

surf rock Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a Music genre, 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 in ...

band of the 1960s. The Fender IV were started up in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, by guitarist

Randy Holden Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...

. Although almost prevented by a

bumble bee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

, he successfully moved the band to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

in 1963, in order to play for a more receptive audience. Their music was strongly influenced by

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...

, and

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

. When the popularity for surf music decreased their style changed to a vocal based sound, and they changed name to

The Sons of Adam The Sons of Adam (earlier the Fender IV) were an United States, American garage rock band. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, they relocated to Los Angeles and became a regular fixture on the Sunset Strip music scene during the mid-1960s. The ...

, bestowed upon them by the

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Kim Fowley Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...

. In 2016, Randy Holden was contacted by Matt Quilter to play at the "Surf 101 Convention", Alpine Village, Torrence CA. The result was Randy reforming the Fender IV group with original rhythm guitarist, Joe Kooken (aka: Jac Ttanna). The additional musicians for the show were Matt Quilter on bass and

Dusty Watson Dustin "Dusty" Watson is an American drummer who has played in a number of notable bands, as well as backed up famous solo artists. Earning a scholarship to Stan Kenton Band Clinics and joining the Musicians Union at age 17 allowed Dusty to beco ...

(who has played for

) on drums. Subsequently, a DVD of the concert was released. Additionally, as a result of the "Surf 101 Convention" show, Randy was invited to play the

Surfer Joe Summer Festival The Surfer Joe Summer Festival, also known as SJSF, is an annual music festival dedicated to surf music organized by Surfer Joe Music that is held in Livorno, Italy. The multi-day event features live performances from surf and instrumental ban ...

in Livorno, Italy, June 22 through June 25 2017.

Band members

- guitar, vocals *Joe Kooken (d.2022) - guitar *Mike Port (d.2014) - bass *Bruce Miller - drums

Singles

*"Mar Gaya" / "You Better Tell Me Now" (

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

66061, 1964) *"Malibu Run" / "Everybody Up" (Imperial 66098, 1965)

CDs

*''Randy Holden: Early Works 64-66'' (including 'Fender IV' and '

' material) *''Saturday's Sons: The Complete Recordings 1964–1966'' (2022 compilation of all known 'Fender IV' and 'The Sons of Adam' studio recordings, plus a live 1966 'TSOA' show.)

DVDs

*''Fender IV: Surf 101 - Live'' (2016)

References

External links

Randy Holden website
Surf music groups Rock music groups from Maryland Imperial Records artists {{US-rock-band-stub