Surf's Up

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Surf's Up is the twenty-second official album by The Beach Boys, released in 1971. The title track was originally recorded for the abandoned Smile album, recorded in late 1966.

Contents

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History

In the fall of 1970, after the commercial failure of the stellar Sunflower album, The Beach Boys hired Jack Rieley as their manager. Riley was a Californian DJ who had impressed the band with his ideas on how to regain US respect from the music fans and critics. His first initiative was to have The Beach Boys record songs with more socially aware lyrics.

Rieley convinced the band to include a finished version of "Surf's Up", and it became the title track. Carl Wilson overdubbed a new vocal in the song's first part. Brian Wilson reportedly objected to the song's inclusion. A deal made between Brian and the band allowed the group to release "Surf's Up" on the album in exchange for Brian being allowed to also put "'Til I Die" on the album. Other sources say Wilson was persuaded to include this song by coauthor Van Dyke Parks, at that time a Warner executive. Statements by Wilson seem to suggest he wanted the song out (though they are from 1968) and that the Beach Boys in fact had broken up because it was not released. Statements by Jack Rieley suggest that Brian Wilson worked on this song to the best of his ability and voluntarily.

Surf's Up was released that August to more public anticipation than The Beach Boys had had for several years. It outperformed Sunflower commercially, reaching #29 in the US (their first Top 40 album since Wild Honey) and #15 in the UK. Like "Sunflower", the "Surf's Up" album was released oin EMI's Stateside label internationally.

The Dennis Wilson song "4th of July" (and possibly "Fallin' In Love") was left off the album. According to the group's then-manager Jack Rieley, there were two reasons that no Dennis Wilson songs were included on "Surf's Up". First, there was some political infighting going on within the group at the time, and Dennis' songs were sacrificed to maintain harmony and prevent the album from being an almost completely Wilson brothers album. Second, the reason Dennis's songs were left off "Surf's Up" is because he was working seriously on a solo album at the time and thought he would use the songs on it.

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Track listing

  1. "Don't Go Near The Water" (Mike Love/Al Jardine) - 2:39
    • Features Mike Love and Al Jardine on lead vocals
  2. "Long Promised Road" (Carl Wilson/Jack Rieley) - 3:30
    • Features Carl Wilson on lead vocals
  3. "Take A Load Off Your Feet" (Al Jardine/Brian Wilson/Gary Winfrey) - 2:29
    • Features Al Jardine and Brian Wilson on lead vocals
  4. "Disney Girls (1957)" (Bruce Johnston) - 4:07
    • Features Bruce Johnston on lead vocals
  5. "Student Demonstration Time" (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller/Mike Love) - 3:58
    • Features Mike Love on lead vocals
  6. "Feel Flows" (Carl Wilson/Jack Rieley) - 4:44
    • Features Carl Wilson on lead vocals
  7. "Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)" (Al Jardine/Gary Winfrey) - 1:55
    • Features Al Jardine on lead vocals
  8. "A Day In The Life of A Tree" (Brian Wilson/Jack Rieley) - 3:07
    • Features Jack Rieley on lead vocal, with Van Dyke Parks joining in at the end, just before Brian Wilson takes over the lead during the fade out
  9. "'Til I Die" (Brian Wilson) - 2:41
    • Features Brian Wilson and Mike Love on lead vocals
  10. "Surf's Up" (Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks) - 4:12
    • Features Carl Wilson and Brian Wilson on lead vocals
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Singles

  • "Long Promised Road" b/w "Deidre" (from Sunflower (Brother 1015), 24 May 1971
  • "Long Promised Road" b/w "'Til I Die" (Brother 1047), 11 October 1971 US #89
  • "Surf's Up" b/w "Don’t Go Near The Water" (Brother 1058), 8 November 1971

Surf's Up is now paired on CD with Sunflower.

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Landlocked

Heavily bootlegged, it is commonly thought that the following songs were for an album entitled "Landlocked." It has since been discovered that the songs were apart of a compliation reel of songs considered for the "Surf's Up" album. Part of the reason this is not spectacularly likely is the presence of "Susie Cincinnati" which actually had seen release and was intended for Sunflower, but was rejected for not being good enough. The same fate befell "When Girls Get Together" and Jardine seems to have not been happy with "Loop De Loop"-this version still has not seen the light of day. Good Time also seems to have been a demo for Brian Wilson's wife to record and not intended for the Beach Boys. Also, the version of "'Til I Die" featured here appears on Endless Harmony Soundtrack and the liner notes say it was definitely not intended for release but the engineer's own personal pleasure.

  1. "Loop De Loop"
  2. "Susie Cincinnati"
  3. "San Miguel"
  4. "H.E.L.P. Is On The Way"
  5. "Take A Load Off Your Feet"
  6. "Carnival" (aka "Over The Waves")
  7. "I Just Got My Pay"
  8. "Good Time"
  9. "Big Sur"
  10. "Lady" (aka "Fallin' In Love")
  11. "When Girls Get Together"
  12. "Lookin' At Tomorrow"
  13. "'Til I Die"
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Sources

  • Sunflower/Surf's Up CD booklet notes, Timothy White, c.2000.
  • "The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience", Timothy White, c. 1994.
  • "Wouldn't It Be Nice - My Own Story", Brian Wilson and Todd Gold, c. 1991.
  • "Top Pop Singles 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
  • "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
  • All Music Guide.com
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External links

Template:The Beach Boysde:Surf's Up ja:サーフズ・アップ

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