Album Review:

Sandy Nelson's contribution to the surf music genre was minimal though identifiable. He attended high school with Jan Berry and Dean Torrence and had a few percussion-driven hits, which had an influence on many surf instrumental groups. While he never recorded any strict surf material, a few surf covers ended up on a string of albums from 1964-1966. On Teen Beat '65, Sandy includes two surf tunes - 'Wipe Out' and the arguably less relevant, 'Bongo Rock,' which is surf music by proxy at best. 

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'Teen Beat '65' is an updated rendition of Sandy's 1959 hit. 'Raunchy '65' is another updated song and probably the surfy-est thing on side A. Named for the single's catalog number (Hi 2075), '20-75' was originally released by trumpeter William Mitchell on Hi Records. Sandy's cover is about uninspiring as the title. 'Come On, Do the Jerk' is a brassy dance tune. 'Scratchy' sounds a great deal like ''Comin' Home Baby.' 'Bongo Rock' was originally recorded by Preston Epps and had previously been linked to the surfing crowd when it was featured on the Surfin' Bongos album in 1963. Sandy's version is basically a note-for-note remake. Another often-covered song by surf bands, 'Honky Tonk '65' doesn't sound too surfy here and remains closer to Bill Doggett's original 1956 version. The album's main attraction for surf enthusiasts is 'Wipe Out' doesn't offer much in terms of originality, though to be fair, the song had been widely played out at this point. 'The Jerk' fits solidly in with other albums of this time and is honestly played at an excitedly merry pace. 'Beat from Another World' is a truly weird, spacy drum solo with random sound effects and atmospheric textures thrown in for good measure.

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Teen Beat '65 isn't much worth seeking out. Copies are plentiful though ... you can usually find them beat-up and in the $1 - $2 Ventures section.