Album Review:

Terry Melcher and Bruce Johnston were one of the most productive songwriting and production duos in the early ’60s. Together they amassed a number of charting singles for such artists as Rip-Chords, Wayne Newton, Pat Boone, and even under their own moniker, Bruce and Terry. In this, their second venture together, the duo teamed up with Bobby Darin's TM Productions to cover a number of established surfing songs, as well as introduce a few of their own.

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Side A kicks off with an energized cover of the Beach Boy’s classic, ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.' The rambunctious, ‘Beach Ball', was written by future Byrds member Roger McGuinn. ‘Surfer Boy’ is charming enough, but a poor mix mars the final result. The three subsequent instrumentals are played with much expertise by some of L.A.s' best session musicians of the period. Tommy Tedesco's guitar shreds on ‘Banzai Washout’ while Hal Blaine’s rolling toms are featured on the quintessential surf tune ‘Wipe Out.’ Bruce Johnston handles keys on ‘Beach Walkin’’, which winds up being a dreamy rewrite of ‘Balboa Blue.' Making its first appearance on an LP is Bobby Darin’s ‘Hot Rod U.S.A.' followed by an early version of the Melcher-Johnston number, 'Queen of the Hot Rods.' The song which would later reappear as simply 'The Queen' on the Rip-Chords debut album, Hey Little Cobra (and Other Hot Rod Hits), just a few months later. Following a fine cover of the Beach Boy's first chart-topper; ‘I Get Around,' the Catalinas perform two Darin originals - ‘Boss Barracuda’ and ‘Run Little Rabbit.’ Both of these are strong tunes and among the best on the album. The earlist recording of Steve Barri and P. F. Sloan’s ‘Summer Means Fun’ closes out the album.

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A very rare but significant album in the Surf and Hot Rod genre, the Catalinas Fun Fun Fun is an enjoyable listen - especially considering the magnitude of the personnel who were involved in its creation. Sundazed reissued it in 2010 in Stereo but if you want to hear it in Mono, the 1964 press is the only option.