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Genre: Surf Music, Surf Rock
Country: United States of America (Orange County, South California)Info: Surf music,About: Surf Music
Sometimes music is composed to tell a story, other times, to express an idea. Some other times, music tries to catch a feeling and convey it to whoever listens to it. Surf music is one of these kinds of music. Surf artists tried to transport the listener to the inside of a wave, riding it on top a surf board in South California.
In order to reach this goal, the surf music usually consists of electric guitars with a lot of spring reverb on them, as well as a heavy use of the tremolo bar and slide technique. All these effects and techniques are used to imitate the sound of waving water, or flowing water. The most popular choice of guitars are Fender guitars, commonly the Stratocaster or the Jazzmaster models.
Apart from the electric guitar, surf bands are commonly formed by an electric bass guitar (Surf music was one of the first genres to make the use of an electric bass instead of a double bass popular), a drum kit, and sometimes trumpets and/or a saxophone.
Surf music evolved from the work of some earlier Instrumental Rock bands during the late 1959 and the early 1960's, like The Storms, The Fireballs, The Gamblers and The Ventures. Their music was already approaching the sound that later would be known as the Surf sound. Examples of these are songs like "Thunder" by The Storms, "Bulldog" by The Fireballs, "Moon Dawg" by The Gamblers and "Walk, Don't Run", a rendition of the 1954 Johnny Smith jazz composition by The Ventures.
Influenced by these works, there were two bands in the first years of the 1960 decade that defined Surf music. These bands were The Bel-Airs and Dick Dale & The Del-Tones. They created the characteristic sound that Dick Dale, dubbed The King of the Surf Guitar, coined as Surf. These two contemporary acts created pieces of work like "Mr. Moto" by The Bel-Airs or "Let's Go Trippin' " by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones.
The Bel-Airs, shortly after the mentioned hit, disbanded due to discrepances regarding the use of reverb in their guitar sound. Approximately a year after, some of the members of The Bel-Airs formed The Challengers and released another hit opus, "Surf Beat". This album consists of several covers of songs mentioned before and some original works.
One song that needs to be mentioned apart is "Misirlou", or "Miserlou", by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones. This song is considered to be Dick Dale's signature single and a Surf standard. This song is a rendition of a traditional Greek song, with the Surf music elements added to it. It is perhaps the most popular Surf song, having been covered many times during the following years.
The Bel-Airs, shortly after the mentioned hit, disbanded due to discrepances regarding the use of reverb in their guitar sound. Approximately a year after, some of the members of The Bel-Airs formed The Challengers and released another hit opus, "Surf Beat". This album consists of several covers of songs mentioned before and some original works.
One song that needs to be mentioned apart is "Misirlou", or "Miserlou", by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones. This song is considered to be Dick Dale's signature single and a Surf standard. This song is a rendition of a traditional Greek song, with the Surf music elements added to it. It is perhaps the most popular Surf song, having been covered many times during the following years.
Around the same time Instrumental Surf music was being developed and defined, Vocal Surf music was created. Bands like The Beach Boys and Jan & Dean were behind this pop-infused variation of Surf music. Bands like these enjoyed more mainstream success than the Instrumental bands. This made The Beach Boys and similar bands the mainstream face of Surf music, despite not being seen as true surf music by some.
This post discusses mainly Instrumental Surf music, but despite this, two Vocal Surf music songs have been included in the Spotify playlist, "Surf City" by Jan & Dean and "Surfin' U.S.A." by The Beach Boys.
This post discusses mainly Instrumental Surf music, but despite this, two Vocal Surf music songs have been included in the Spotify playlist, "Surf City" by Jan & Dean and "Surfin' U.S.A." by The Beach Boys.
Right after The Bel-Airs and Dick Dale started releasing and popularizing Surf music, other bands came out that brought out some ground-breaking records and singles, like "Pipeline" by The Chantays, "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris or some eerier-sounding works like "Out Of Limits" by the Marketts.
Although Surf music is considered by some, South California's Folk music, its first wave did not last long. Come 1964, the British Invasion took place, and new genres of rock, such as Garage Rock, Psychedelic Rock emerged, making Surf rock face its demise.
Another factor that helped the Surf music craze end was the apparition of Hot Rod Rock. Some Surf bands shifted away from its scene and started singing about fast cars and girls, instead of beaches and waves. Some later singles by The Beach Boys, like "Don't Worry Baby" and "Little Deuce Coupe" show this change. This evolved style kept the instrumental Surf sound, but incorporating car and engine sounds, as in The Duals' single "Stick Shift".
Some years later the Second Wave took place, during the 1970's and 1980's, when Surf music was rediscovered by some music enthusiasts. This revived the Surf scene by releasing some compilations, along the creation of new Surf bands, like Jon & the Nightriders or Los Straitjackets. Also, Dick Dale returned to the music scene, after overcoming a rectal cancer.
Years later, in 1994, the film "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino sparked off the Third Wave of Surf music. This movie soundtrack contains many Surf songs, like "Misirlou", "Bullwinkle Part II" by the short-lived band The Centurions, or "Bustin' Surfboards" by The Tornadoes. This inspired many new bands, such as The Fathoms and popularized some established ones, like the already mentioned Los Straitjackets.
Surf music has gone through a lot, some changes, some difficult times, but it has been kept. Its dedicated musicians and listeners have never given it up, and have given it some twists over the years. Nowadays there are many new bands while some older, established ones keep playing and touring, like Dick Dale or The Beach Boys.
In conclusion, Surf music is an interesting genre, as it evokes images and sensations just with its sound. Also, the fact that nowadays new bands appear is a good sign of its healthy status and following.
References:
Surf Music - Wikipedia
Dick Dale - Wikipedia
A Brief History of Instrumental Surf Music - NESMA
History of Surf Music - About.com
Catch A Wave: A Surf Music History Lesson In 12 Songs - WCBS-FM 101.1
Surf Music - The History of Rock and Roll
Although Surf music is considered by some, South California's Folk music, its first wave did not last long. Come 1964, the British Invasion took place, and new genres of rock, such as Garage Rock, Psychedelic Rock emerged, making Surf rock face its demise.
Another factor that helped the Surf music craze end was the apparition of Hot Rod Rock. Some Surf bands shifted away from its scene and started singing about fast cars and girls, instead of beaches and waves. Some later singles by The Beach Boys, like "Don't Worry Baby" and "Little Deuce Coupe" show this change. This evolved style kept the instrumental Surf sound, but incorporating car and engine sounds, as in The Duals' single "Stick Shift".
Some years later the Second Wave took place, during the 1970's and 1980's, when Surf music was rediscovered by some music enthusiasts. This revived the Surf scene by releasing some compilations, along the creation of new Surf bands, like Jon & the Nightriders or Los Straitjackets. Also, Dick Dale returned to the music scene, after overcoming a rectal cancer.
Years later, in 1994, the film "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino sparked off the Third Wave of Surf music. This movie soundtrack contains many Surf songs, like "Misirlou", "Bullwinkle Part II" by the short-lived band The Centurions, or "Bustin' Surfboards" by The Tornadoes. This inspired many new bands, such as The Fathoms and popularized some established ones, like the already mentioned Los Straitjackets.
Surf music has gone through a lot, some changes, some difficult times, but it has been kept. Its dedicated musicians and listeners have never given it up, and have given it some twists over the years. Nowadays there are many new bands while some older, established ones keep playing and touring, like Dick Dale or The Beach Boys.
In conclusion, Surf music is an interesting genre, as it evokes images and sensations just with its sound. Also, the fact that nowadays new bands appear is a good sign of its healthy status and following.
References:
Surf Music - Wikipedia
Dick Dale - Wikipedia
A Brief History of Instrumental Surf Music - NESMA
History of Surf Music - About.com
Catch A Wave: A Surf Music History Lesson In 12 Songs - WCBS-FM 101.1
Surf Music - The History of Rock and Roll
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