Album Review:

The Beach Boys were formed in the summer of 1961 and made their first record in a small, homebuilt recording studio with no more than their voices, an acoustic guitar, a snare drum, and upright bass. Yet, from these humble beginnings came one of the most iconic and well-loved American bands of all time. Admittedly, after listening to their first album, it’s hard to believe that the five teenagers represented are the same group that, in just five short years, would release such masterpieces as “Pet Sounds” or their 1966 hit “Good Vibrations.” As the boys sing about the simple pleasures of girls, cars, and root beer, Surfin’ Safari is as simple and straight to the point as it gets. A rather unassuming album, the Beach Boys’ first release features the guys singing about root beer, county fairs, cuckoo clocks, and girl’s fashion items in addition to the two surfing songs. Nevertheless, this album kicked off one of the most prolific and influential bands of all time.

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‘Surfin Safari’ charted at #75 nationally and #2 in L.A. in the summer of 1962 and must’ve sounded like heavy metal to those fans who dug the mellow rhythms of ‘Surfin.’’ The often-overlooked ‘Country Fair’ is an innocuous number, featuring producer Nick Venet as the carnival barker ( in two years later the tune would be rewritten as ‘I Do’ for the Castells). The novel ‘Ten Little Indians,’ had been a minor hit for the group while their ode to root beer; ‘Chug-A-Lug’, mentions many friends of the group at the time. The innocuous, ‘Little Girl (You’re My Miss America)’ is a throwback to the ballads of the late 1950s and features a young Dennis Wilson on lead. One of the most-covered car songs of all time, ‘409,’ makes its first appearance here, while ‘Surfin,’’ recorded a year earlier, already sounds primitive among the more developed tracks. ‘Heads You Win, Tails I Lose,’ has an interesting premise while the music harkens back to popular music’s doo-wop days. The youngest members, Dave Marks and Dennis Wilson, share a duet on a cover of Eddie Cochran’s ‘Summertime Blues.’ Brian and Gary Usher show off their weird sense of humor in ‘Cuckoo Clock,’ a story about an unruly clock that keeps interrupting a date at home. The album’s only instrumental, ‘Moon Dawg’, a cover of the Gamblers’ minor 1959 hit (which had coincidentally featured future band member Bruce Johnston) showcases Carl Wilson’s developing guitar skills as the group the boys harmonize on “ahhs” behind him. ‘The Shift’ flies through a plethora of key changes and is an ode to the popular dress style of the day.

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In their first album, the Beach Boys seem to be pulled in two directions: songs about surfing and songs about other teenage malt-shop interests. That said, Surfin’ Safari bridges the gap between late ‘50s rock and the new rock revolution that was just beginning. Though innocently understated, the Beach Boys' first album does give a small glimpse of the greatness that was down the road. It’s interesting to listen to this again in 2023 - it has been a while for me. Interesting how many doo-wop and 1950s sensibilities influence the tracks on this. This is now 60 years old this year! Also, I might add, this was the only Beach Boys record I was missing in my collection for about 15 years of collecting surf music - I was holding out for a stellar copy, and I finally found one last year.