Surfer Girl
Surfer Girl is the third studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released on September 16, 1963 by Capitol Records. Surfer Girl reached number 7 in the US during a chart stay of 56 weeks. In the UK, the album was released in spring 1967 and reached number 13. This was the first album by the Beach Boys for which Brian Wilson was given sole production credit.
In 2017, Surfer Girl was ranked the 193rd greatest album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.
Album details
Surfer Girl is the first album on which Brian Wilson is given full production credit. The songs were co-written between Wilson, Mike Love, Gary Usher and Roger Christian. The title track, the ballad "Surfer Girl", was the first song Brian composed, written at the age of 19 using "When You Wish Upon a Star" as his inspiration. The b-side, "Little Deuce Coupe", continued the band's trend of putting a surf-related song on the A-side of singles, and car songs on the B-side. "Catch a Wave" featured Mike Love's sister, Maureen, on harp, while "The Surfer Moon" was the first Beach Boys song to have a string arrangement. The instrumental track for "The Surfer Moon" was recorded in early May for an extra-BB act he was recording, Bob & Vikki. Bob was Bob Norberg, Brian's roommate in 1962. The Vicki that recorded with Bob Norberg was future actress Victoria Hale who at the time was also known as Vicki Hale or Vicki Kocher."South Bay Surfer" is co-credited to Al Jardine, who had rejoined the Beach Boys in the summer of 1963 in a limited capacity and does not appear on the album cover.
Front cover artwork
The front cover of Surfer Girl features Dennis Wilson, David Marks, Carl Wilson, Mike Love and Brian Wilson holding a surfboard from the same 1962 photo shoot that produced the cover of their album debut Surfin' Safari. The picture was taken by Capitol photographer Kenneth Veeder at Paradise Cove, north of Malibu. Beach Boys sport matching blue plaid Pendleton Woolen Mills shirts on the cover of their "Surfer Girl" album. Now called the "board shirt," the style is still a bestseller.Reception
Surfer Girl hit number seven in the US and, later number thirteen in the UK.Live performances
Half the album's tracks have been performed live by either the Beach Boys or Brian Wilson as a solo artist with varying frequency.Track listing
's writing credits for "Catch a Wave" and "Hawaii" were only awarded after a 1994 court case.Some reissues of the album omit "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Our Car Club".
Personnel
;The Beach Boys- Al Jardine – backing and harmony vocals; bass guitar; hand claps
- Mike Love – lead, backing and harmony vocals; hand claps
- David Marks – rhythm guitar; hand claps
- Brian Wilson – lead, backing and harmony vocals; bass guitar; piano, organ; hand claps
- Carl Wilson – backing and harmony vocals; lead guitar; hand claps
- Dennis Wilson – lead, backing and harmony vocals; drums, hand claps
- Hal Blaine – drums, percussion, timbales on "Hawaii"
- Steve Douglas – tenor saxophone
- Jay Migliori – saxophone
- Ray Pohlman – additional bass on "Fun, Fun, Fun"
- Maureen Love – harp on "Catch a Wave" and "In My Room"
Sales chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1963 | US Billboard 200 Albums Chart | 7 |
| 1967 | UK Top 40 Album Chart | 13 |
;Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1963 | "Surfer Girl" | US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart | 7 |
| 1963 | "Little Deuce Coupe" | US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart | 15 |
| 1963 | "In My Room" | US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart | 23 |