Surfin' Safari (song)
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"Surfin' Safari" is a song by American rock band
the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
, written by
Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...
and
Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who is one of the vocalists of the Beach Boys, of which he was an original member alongside his cousins Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson and their frien ...
. Released as a single with " 409" on June 4, 1962, it peaked at No. 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song also appeared on the 1962 album of the same name.


Background

The song was inspired by Chuck Berry's method of combining simple chord progressions with lyrical references to place names (for example, in " Back in the U.S.A." and " Sweet Little Sixteen"). "Surfin' Safari" includes several references to Southern California surfing locations ( Malibu, Rincon, the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
, Huntington, and Sunset Beach). The sites and surfing-related terms featured in the song were provided to Brian and Mike by surfer Jimmy Bowles, brother of Brian's then-new flame Judy Bowles, who he had met one afternoon while helping a buddy coach little league. Wilson referred to "Surfin' Safari" as "a silly song with a simple-but-cool C-F-G chord pattern that I came up with one day while trying to play the piano the way Chuck Berry played his guitar." "Surfin' Safari" was the first recording to display the distinctive counterpoint harmonies for which the group became famous.


Recording

The Beach Boys first recorded the song at World Pacific Studios on February 8, 1962, in what was the band's second ever recording session. However, the recordings from that session, engineered by Hite Morgan, would ultimately remain unreleased until the late Sixties. The only difference instrumentally on this early version as opposed to the officially released version was the presence of Al Jardine on guitar instead of
David Marks David Lee Marks (born August 22, 1948) is an American guitarist who was an early member of the Beach Boys. While growing up in Hawthorne, California, Marks was a neighborhood friend of the original band members and was a frequent participant at t ...
. The instrumental track as well as the vocals for the officially released version were recorded at Western Recorders on April 19, 1962. The session, produced by Brian, featured David Marks and Carl Wilson on guitar; Brian Wilson on bass guitar and Dennis Wilson on drums. The song features Mike Love on lead vocals with backing vocals by Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson. Also recorded during that session were " 409", "Lonely Sea" and " Their Hearts Were Full of Spring". This session was recorded and given to Capitol Records as a demo tape. The label was impressed and immediately signed the band to their first major label contract. "Surfin' Safari" and "409" would be the band's first single to be issued under Capitol Records.


Release and reception

The "Surfin' Safari" single backed with "409" was the band's second single and the first single to be released on the band's new label Capitol Records in the United States in June 1962. Originally Capitol Records felt "409" should be the 'A' Side, and first promoted the car song (according to Beach Boys biographers Badman, Gaines and Carlin) instead of "Surfin' Safari". However, as noted in the booklet to the 1993 CD box set '' Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys'', radio station airplay in Phoenix, Arizona jump-started the B-side into a major nationwide hit (to date no copy of the first Capitol single with "409" as the A side has been discovered). The ''Billboard'' issue of July 14, 1962 cited Detroit as the major market of its national "break out". The single peaked at the No. 14 position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, with "409" also charting at No. 76, making it the band's first double-sided hit single. It placed at No. 10 on the ''Cash Box'' sales chart, and No. 5 on UPI's national weekly survey used by newspapers. According to English pop music statistician Joseph Murrells in ''The Book of Golden Discs'', 1978 edition, it placed number 3 on one of the four major national charts then recognised, probably ''Variety''. Certainly its regional sales backed up these higher placings (than ''Billboard''). As well as its Capitol-record sales in New York, it was No. 1 in Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas, Minneapolis, Buffalo and Hartford; and top five in Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, Tucson, Nashville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Springfield MA. Capitol A&R executive Nick Venet, who signed the group and is listed as producer on their first two albums, is quoted in the Steven Gaines book as saying regarding the release that "The biggest order Capitol had from a single market all year 962was from New York City - where there was no surfing. It sold approximately nine hundred thousand records, but not enough for a gold." In October 1962, the "Surfin' Safari" single was the first to be released by the band in the UK. However, given mediocre reviews at best, the single failed to make any impact on the charts. It did qualify as the Beach Boys' first international chart-topper, however. By the end of September it had peaked at number seven in Australia's ''Music Maker'' chart — only reaching the Billboard top 20 the following week — then in November spent three weeks at number one in Sweden (both charts cited by contemporary issues of ''Billboard''). In Germany, the World Pacific Studios recording of the song was used as the single release instead of the more well-known version. The single failed to chart. In January 1970, the World Pacific Studios sessions recording of the song was issued on Trip Records as the B-side of a "Surfin'" single re-issue. The single however failed to make any impact on the charts.


Album and alternate releases

The song was first released on a single 45 RPM record and then later, it was released on the band's debut ''Surfin' Safari'' album, and on a number of later 'greatest hits' compilations. The song's appearance on the 1993 ''Good Vibrations'' box set is sourced from the original demo tape master, lacking the fade-out added before its release as a single. Three takes of the early World Pacific Studios recordings of the song were eventually released on CD in 1991 on the archival release '' Lost & Found (1961-62)'' as well as subsequent re-issues of that album which featured alternate album titles. A live concert performance of the tune "Surfin' Safari" is featured in the short documentary "One Man's Challenge", written and directed by Dale Smallin. Filmed July 28, 1962 (with the same lineup as the official Capitol single) at the Azuza Teen Club, this particular visual version of the song is, according to author Jon Stebbins in ''The Lost Beach Boy'', "The only known performance footage of the Pendleton-shirt era Beach Boys."


Personnel

*
Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who is one of the vocalists of the Beach Boys, of which he was an original member alongside his cousins Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson and their frien ...
– lead and backing vocals *
Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...
– backing vocals; bass guitar * Dennis Wilson – backing vocals; drums *
Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian Wilson, Brian and Dennis Wilson, ...
– backing vocals; lead guitar *
David Marks David Lee Marks (born August 22, 1948) is an American guitarist who was an early member of the Beach Boys. While growing up in Hawthorne, California, Marks was a neighborhood friend of the original band members and was a frequent participant at t ...
– backing vocals; rhythm guitar


Other versions

Jan & Dean, with uncredited instrumental and vocal support from the Beach Boys, recorded the song for their 1963 album ''Jan and Dean Take Linda Surfin. The song was also recorded by the Hot Doggers (a studio-only group headed by future Beach Boy
Bruce Johnston Bruce Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is a member of the Beach Boys. He also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bruce & Terry, the Rip Chords, and ...
along with
Terry Melcher Terrence Paul Melcher (; February 8, 1942 – November 19, 2004) was an American record producer, singer, and songwriter who was instrumental in shaping the mid-to-late 1960s California Sound and folk rock movements. His best-known contribution ...
) on their 1963 album ''Surfin' U.S.A.'', by the Challengers on their 1963 album '' Surfbeat'', and by the Lively Ones on their 1963 album ''The Great Surf Hits!''. More recently it has been recorded by
the Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...
on their 1993 album '' Acid Eaters'' and by Rockapella on their 2002 album '' Smilin'''. Mike Love re-recorded the song for his 2019 album '' 12 Sides of Summer''.


Charts


In popular culture

* The Beach Boys' recording of "Surfin' Safari" was featured in the
soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
of the 1973 film ''
American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat ...
''. * The Beach Boys' recording of "Surfin' Safari" was featured in season 2 episode 11, "‘Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas", of ''
The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...
''. * The Beach Boys' recording of "Surfin' Safari" was featured in the 1987 teen romantic comedy, '' Can't Buy Me Love''. * The song was covered by
Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...
for their 1990 TV special '' Rockin' Through the Decades'' and its soundtrack. * This song was sung in the 1995 Disney's Sing Along Songs home video, ''Mickey's Fun Songs: Beach Party at Walt Disney World''.


References

{{Authority control 1962 singles The Beach Boys songs Jan and Dean songs Ramones songs Songs written by Brian Wilson Songs written by Mike Love Song recordings produced by Murry Wilson Capitol Records singles 1962 songs Sequel songs California Sound