Surfer Girl (song)
| "Surfer Girl" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by the Beach Boys | ||||
| from the album Surfer Girl | ||||
| B-side | "Little Deuce Coupe" | |||
| Released | July 22, 1963[1] | |||
| Recorded | June 12, 1963[2] | |||
| Studio | Western, Hollywood[2] | |||
| Genre | Sunshine pop[3] | |||
| Length | 2:26 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Brian Wilson | |||
| Producer(s) | Brian Wilson | |||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
"Surfer Girl" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1963 album Surfer Girl. Written and sung by Brian Wilson, it was released as a single, backed with "Little Deuce Coupe", on July 22, 1963. The single was the first Beach Boys record to have Brian Wilson officially credited as the producer.
Background
[edit]Wilson frequently referred to "Surfer Girl" as his first original composition. However, his closest high school friends disputed this, recalling that Wilson had written numerous songs prior to "Surfer Girl".[4] The lyrics were inspired by Judy Bowles, Wilson's first serious girlfriend, whom he had dated for three and a half years.[5] He explained the genesis of the song:
Back in 1961, I'd never written a song in my life. I was 19 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'."[citation needed]
The song was based on a Dion and the Belmonts version of "When You Wish Upon a Star",[5] which has the same AABA form.[6][7] As a solo artist, Wilson later covered it for the tribute album In the Key of Disney (2011), saying, "We're doin' "When You Wish Upon a Star" for the new album. It kinda inspired "Surfer Girl.".[8]
Recording
[edit]The band first recorded the song at World Pacific Studios on February 8, 1962,[9] at an early recording session. However, the recordings from that session, engineered by Hite Morgan, would not be released until 1969.
The song is written in the key of D major, with a key change to E-flat major after the B section.
Single release
[edit]The "Surfer Girl" single backed with "Little Deuce Coupe" was released on Capitol Records in the United States on July 22, 1963.[2] Cash Box described it as "a lilting soft beat-ballad charmer."[10]
Charts
[edit]| Chart (1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (CHUM Chart)[11] | 3 |
| New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[12] | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[13] | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles[14] | 18 |
References
[edit]- ^ Badman 2004, p. 39.
- ^ a b c "Shows and Sessions 1963". bellagio10452.com. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2022). "The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. pp. 86–87.
- ^ Murphy 2015, p. 135.
- ^ a b Murphy 2015, pp. 135–136.
- ^ Lambert 2007, p. 28.
- ^ Covach, John (2005), "Form in Rock Music: A Primer", in Stein, Deborah, Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis, New York: Oxford University Press, p.70, ISBN 0-19-517010-5 .
- ^ Brian Wilson, in @BrianWilsonLive, February 16, 2011: "We're doin' "When You Wish Upon a Star" for the new album. It kinda inspired "Surfer Girl." - Brian".
- ^ "Sessions 1961-62". bellagio10452.com. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. July 27, 1963. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
- ^ "CHUM Hit Parade - September 16, 1963".
- ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 17 October 1963
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 65.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 49.
Bibliography
- Badman, Keith (2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-818-6.
- Lambert, Philip (2007). Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: the Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius. Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-1876-0.
- Murphy, James B. (2015). Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7365-6.
