The great Beach Boys weren’t always great. Their sound had to develop. Here we’ll look at their earliest, completed songs. Murry Wilson, the group’s manager, convinced his publisher, Hite Morgan, to meet the band. Morgan’s wife wanted to record the band. This led to them cutting a few songs over a session. This session from October 3rd, 1961 brought to life three songs…
“Surfin'”
While a student at Hawthorne High School in 1960, Brian Wilson submitted “Surfin'” to his music class as an assignment and received an “F” from his teacher. In 2018, the school changed the grade to an “A.”
On the recording of the band’s first song, “Surfin’”, Brian plays the drums and Dennis Wilson, the band’s proper drummer, only contributes vocally. After listening to the band’s first album for the first time, this was one of two songs that were at least decent. The single version and the studio album version are similar, but the single one has a very raw sound. The studio version seems better rehearsed and refined, though the song as a whole is very bland. It is trying so hard to pander to teenagers. There’s a line, “We’ll do the Surfer’s Stomp. It’s the latest dance craze!”, which isn’t about surfing, but it’s probably here to appeal to teenagers that like dancing. The lead singer, Mike Love, didn’t actually surf and you can tell. He doesn’t come off as invested in surfing. The lyrics, however, treat surfing very well. It’s “the only life the only way for me”. The protagonist of the song surfs “From the early morning to the middle of the night”. It’s almost obsessive. The Beach Boys have always been good at harmonized vocals and it’s good here, but underused.
It makes sense that this song would be given an “F”, I’d have to agree.
“Lavender”
An improvement
The “main” version of this song probably isn’t complete. The version I’ve listened to is the fourth and final take. It makes sense why this never made it to a studio album. There’s little use of the instruments and the lyrics are more somber than typically. The whole song is sung by the whole band harmonizing. That tone doesn’t seem to compliment the lyrics. I sang these lyrics to myself in a more stylized and high-mood tone, like the one used on the band’s 70’s song, “Deirdre” and that works better. “Lavender”’s last few seconds feature a little instrumentation solo and it sounds pretty good. This is the sort of song best shown, not described. By using instruments more and having more development in the vocal’s tone, you’d be showing us the song. Here, it’s just being described in a very surface-level manner.
“Luau”
This song is basically just “Surfin’” but worse. The plot is similar to it. “Let’s get together and have a fun day.” Now, it’s not about surfing, but instead about a luau. The vocals are stale. It sounds like no one cared and/or they were very tired. The instruments sound like the vocals. The pace is matched and they make such a small impression, they may as well not be there. “Surfin’” has the fun, young energy of kids that wrote a song and they want you to know it, this piece lacks that.
OVERVIEW
These three songs are an interesting footnote and precursor to the typical types of songs this band did for the first few years. They did ballads, like “Lavender” and party songs, like “Luau”. Ultimately, a single was released. “Surfin’” was the A-side and “Luau” its B-side. It was moderately successful, but not a game changer. It’s a surprise it made a dent at all. Now for the other Hite Morgan songs! The next few were recorded on February 8th, 1962.
“Beach Boys Stomp”
This one’s fun and catchy. It’s pretty reflexive of the early Beach Boys stuff. It’s a super simple instrumental. Simplicity is a good way of describing the early tunes in one word. They also like bad lyrics about 60’s life, so this song is already ahead of the curb. The piece isn’t unlike beach and pop songs of the time, but it’s a fun listen with a prominent guitar and drum. This is probably in part due to the band’s lead guitarist, Carl Wilson, writing “Beach Boys Stomp”.
“Judy”
Judy is a mixed bad. You can tell that the guitarists, Carl, Al Jardine, and later David Marks, are trying their hardest on the early songs. Their energy gives the poor songs a little boost. Brian is doing a fair job on backing vocals and Dennis is alright on the drums. Any of the effort given by these four is ruined by Mike’s vocals on “Judy”. This is a love song. The lyrics contain lines like “I can’t let you [go]” and “Judy, I smell love’s perfume in the air”, but based on the lifelessness, you’d think the singer was just lying to Judy. There’s no passion in the incredibly dry way the song’s sung. It’s interesting hearing this song as it’s the first direct love song by the group (One could count “Lavender”, but I don’t). Sadly, really passionate and loving songs with some character to them will take a while to come around. This song is once again a good way of summarizing what’s to come.
“Barbie” and “What Is a Young Girl Made Of?” could be considered not Beach Boy songs. Hite Morgan asked the group to record vocals to instrumentals he had of other musicians. The vocals were performed on March 8th, 1962. For whatever reason, Brian used the name “Kenny & the Cadets” with him under the pseudonym “Kenny”. The line-up was a little different than typically. Dennis and Mike were absent and the Wilson’s mother, Audree, was present. So how’s the songs?
“Barbie”
This is quite an interesting contrast from “Judy”. Brian has boat loads of love and passion for Barbie, unlike Mike for Judy. The lyrics are alright, but even the lame ones are given a kick by how hard Brian’s trying on them. There are likeable, amusing lines like, “Bell of the parties, a tom boy in jeans”. This song is benefitted by a more mature quality to it. Audree Wilson is obviously an adult woman who gives some maturity to the piece with her voice. The instrumentalists are very good. It makes sense as they’re probably session musicians way more familiar with their instruments than the Beach Boys. One big complaint is that the instruments are way louder than Brian. I couldn’t make out every line. This tune is classy and better than what’s come from the Hite Morgan sessions.
“What Is a Young Girl Made Of?”
Some sources have stated that Brian was the only Cadet or Beach Boy to appear on this song. If anyone else is featured, they’re very well hidden. There’s a female backing vocalist, who clearly sounds like they’re in their late 10’s or their 20’s. Maybe the lack of the rest of the group got Brian down because he’s not trying nearly as hard. So many of these silly songs could do so well with a vocalist that really cares. We can tell when you’re not really trying! The lyrics are also way less interesting than in “Barbie”. The instrumentalists are the best part but still… not as good. The ending is good. Brian sings “What is a young girl made of” followed by “Mostly a young man’s dreams”. The latter was repeated as it fades out. That line intrigues. It suggests that the desires seen from a person come more from the person observing. These little nuggets of intrigue will continue to pop up.
OVERVIEW
There’s some ground work being laid in these songs. We’re getting glimpses of how various members operate with their abilities; Mike and Brian singing, Carl playing guitar, etc. While the songs aren’t very good, they’re getting the group used to what’s to come. These songs aren’t so bad they can’t be finished or enjoyed at least on the level of “Well, they’re kids.” Overall, they’re only good or interesting enough to be enjoyed by Beach Boy super fans like myself.
The Filme Diary 