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The Beach Boys Surfer Girl Release Date: 1963 09 23 Label: Capitol Capitol pushed the Beach Boys for too much material in too short a time for the group to maintain as much quality control as would have been desirable. Consequently, most of their pre-1965 albums contain a high degree of filler, and thus stack up poorly next to those of such contemporaries as the Beatles, who were able to maintain high standards on almost all of their tracks. Surfer Girl does have some great tunes, including the title song, the hot rod ditty "Little Deuce Coupe," and "Catch a Wave" (which could have been a substantial hit single on its own merits). Most significant of all is the gorgeous ballad "In My Room," which anticipated future Beach Boys releases both in its sophisticated production (strings, organ, dense harmonies) and its personal, solipsistic lyrics. The rest is surprisingly mediocre filler, especially as at this point they were restricting their lyrical themes to beach culture almost exclusively; "Your Summer Dream," with its unusual harmonies, is about the most interesting of the obscure tracks. If you're not a dedicated Beach Boys fan, though, you should pass, as you can find the first-rate tracks on best-of anthologies. [Surfer Girl/Shut Down, Vol. 2, a Capitol two-fer CD, combines this and Shut Down, Vol. 2 onto one disc, adding the 45 version of "Fun, Fun, Fun," a German version of "In My Room," and the previously unreleased Brian Wilson composition "I Do."] Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide Tracks: Title Composer Time 1 Surfer Girl Wilson 2 Catch a Wave Wilson 3 Surfer Moon Wilson 4 South Bay Surfer Foster, Wilson, Jardine, Wilson 5 Rocking Surfer Wilson, Traditional 6 Little Deuce Coupe Wilson, Christian 7 In My Room Wilson, Usher 8 Hawaii Wilson 9 Surfer's Rule Wilson, Love 10 Our Car Club Wilson, Love 11 Your Summer Dream Wilson, Norberg 12 Boogie Woodie Rimsky-Korsakov, Wilson Releases: Year Type Label 1994 CD Capitol 1998 CD Import 2007 CD Toshiba EMI 2007 CD Toshiba EMI CS Capitol 1994 CS Capitol LP Capitol 1994 LP Capitol 1976 LP Pickwick

Group Members: Ricky Fataar David Marks Blondie Chaplin Bruce Johnston Dennis Wilson More >> Similar Artists: The Turtles The Beatles The Four Seasons The Mamas & the Papas The Hollies More >>

Influenced By: Phil Spector Chuck Berry The Four Freshmen The Everly Brothers The Hi-Lo's More >> Followers: Huey Lewis The Heavy Blinkers Veronica Lake The High Llamas Henry Gross More >>

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