Surfer Girl by The Beach Boys Song Info
A Ballad and the first slow song ever recorded by The Beach Boys. "Surfer Girl" is the title of a song written and sung by Brian Wilson for The Beach Boys. It was released as a single and it then appeared on the 1963 album of the same name, Surfer Girl. The B-side of the single was Little Deuce Coupe. The single was the first Beach Boys record to have Brian Wilson officially credited as the producer. Written solely by Brian Wilson, the song is one of his very first compositions. Although the song is sometimes referred to as a tribute to his then girlfriend Judy Bowles, this is untrue as the song wasn't written with anyone particular in mind. The meter of the song is identical to "When You Wish upon a Star". Brian explained the genesis of the song: "Back in 1961, I'd never written a song in my life. I was nineteen years old. And I put myself to the test in my car one day. I was actually driving to a hot dog stand, and I actually created a melody in my head without being able to hear it on a piano. I sang it to myself; I didn't even sing it out loud in the car. When I got home that day, I finished the song, wrote the bridge, put the harmonies together and called it 'Surfer Girl'." The band first recorded the song at World Pacific Studios on February 8, 1962 which was one of the band's first ever recording sessions. However, the recordings from that session, engineered by Hite Morgan, would ultimately remain unreleased until later archival releases. The instrumental track as well as the vocals for the officially released version were recorded at Western Recorders on June 12, 1963. The session was produced by Brian; the first song, along with "Little Deuce Coupe", to be credited as a Brian production. The musicians on the track are David Marks and Carl Wilson on guitar; Brian Wilson on bass guitar and Dennis Wilson on drums. The finished instrumental track can be heard on the 1968 release Stack-O-Tracks. The song is sung by the group - Mike Love, Carl & Dennis Wilson - with a prominent vocal by Brian. Also recorded during that session was "Little Deuce Coupe". * The Sentinals on their 1964 album Surfer Girl * Hollyridge Strings covered the song instrumentally on their 1966 album The Beach Boys Song Book, Volume 2 * The Fantastic Baggys on their 1966 album Ride The Wild Surf * Little Joe Shaver & Devil Dog on their 1976 album Sing the Hits of the Beach Boys * Papa Doo Run Run on their 1985 album California Project * Phranc on her 1991 album Positively Phranc * Cathedral City Project in 1994 * Pere Ubu on the 1995 album Ray Gun Suitcase * Don Grusin on the 1997 tribute album Wouldn't It Be Nice: A Jazz Portrait Of Brian Wilson * Philip Aaberg & Scott Mathews on the 1997 various artists compilation Summer Solstice: A Windham Hill Collection * Fred Simon on his 1998 album Fred Simon's Interpretation of The Beach Boys * John B. & The Surfin´ Safaris on their 2002 album A Tribute to the Beach Boys * Scott Cain on his 2004 album Roller Coaster Paul Simon sang a cover version of the song at An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson in 2001, which was later released on DVD. OC Times caused consternation at the 2007 International convention of the Barbershop Harmony Society by singing a barbershop arrangement of this song. The song featured the film Surf's Up.
