Surf's Up

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Surf's Up
Studio album by The Beach Boys
Released	30 August 1971
Recorded	January - June 1971, Except "Take a Load Off Your Feet: Late 1969, "Til I Die": begun in Mid-1970, "Surf's Up": music track recorded November 1966, Brian's piano/vocal December 1966. All the above were finished during 1971
Genre	Rock
Length	33:56
Label	Brother Records/Reprise
Producer(s)	The Beach Boys
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (B-) link
The Beach Boys chronology
Sunflower (1970)	Surf's Up (1971)	Carl and the Passions - "So Tough" (1972)

For the upcoming 2007 film, see Surf's Up (film).

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 1 History 2 Artwork 3 Track listing 3.1 Singles 4 Landlocked 4.1 Sources 5 External links

[edit] History

In the fall of 1970, after the commercial failure of the Sunflower album, The Beach Boys hired Jack Rieley as their manager. Rieley 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, voluntarily, on this song to the best of his ability. Carlin writes in Catch a Wave that the tape was dug up by Carl Wilson, and it was suggested that none of the other Beach Boys aside from Brian Wilson had heard the song in any form before and the only reason it survived was due to the finding of the tape. Furthermore, Carlin also states that Brian Wilson indeed refused to work on it initially (He refused to put down a new lead vocal when asked), but during the finishing sessions the Beach Boys were uncertain how to finish the song; Brian Wilson came into the studio, listened back to the tape, put on the headphones and sung the chorus at the end: In fact, it is a Brian Wilson lead vocal, not an Al Jardine vocal, that was laid to the track in 1971 for the third part.

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 on EMI's Stateside label internationally.

The Dennis Wilson song "4th of July" (and possibly "Fallin' In Love" and/or "Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again") 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.

[edit] Artwork

The painting on the cover of this album is based on the sculpture 'The End of The Trail' by James Earle Fraser (1876 - 1953)

This lone figure on his weary horse is one of the most recognized symbols of the American West. By many it is viewed as a reverent memorial to a great and valiant people. To some Native Americans, however, it is viewed as a reminder of defeat and subjugation a century ago. The monumental, 18' plaster sculpture was created for San Francisco's 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition and received the exposition's Gold Medal for sculpture. The subject of immediate popular acclaim, the image was widely reproduced in postcard, print, curio and miniature form.

Although Fraser hoped his masterpiece would be cast in bronze and placed on Presidio Point overlooking San Francisco Bay, material restrictions during the First World War made the project impossible. Instead, in 1920, the city of Visalia, California, obtained the discarded statue and placed it in Mooney Park, where it remained, in a gradually deteriorating condition, for 48 years. In 1968, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum acquired this original plaster statue, restored it to its original magnificence, and made it a focal point of the museum.

[edit] 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 and Al Jardine or Brian Wilson on the tag
9. "'Til I Die" (Brian Wilson) – 2:41
   • Features Brian Wilson, Carl 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

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 compilation reel of songs considered for the "Surf's Up" album. Part of the reason this is not spectacularly likely are the presence of "Fallin' In Love," "Susie Cincinnati," "Take A Load Off Your Feet," "I Just Got My Pay," "Good Time," and "When Girls Get Together" which were intended for the rejected Add Some Music album, but discarded when the album was reworked into Sunflower. Also, Jardine seems to have not been happy with "Loop De Loop." 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. "Fallin' In Love" (aka "Lady")
11. "When Girls Get Together"
12. "Lookin' At Tomorrow"
13. "'Til I Die"

[edit] 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

[edit] External links

• Surf's Up lyrics

The Beach Boys
Brian Wilson | Carl Wilson | Dennis Wilson | Mike Love | Al Jardine | Bruce Johnston
Studio albums
Surfin' Safari (1962) | Surfin' USA (1963) | Surfer Girl (1963) | Little Deuce Coupe (1963) | Shut Down Volume 2 (1964) | All Summer Long (1964) | The Beach Boys' Christmas Album (1964) | The Beach Boys Today! (1965) | Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) (1965) | Beach Boys' Party! (1965) | Pet Sounds (1966) | Smiley Smile (1967) | Wild Honey (1967) | Friends (1968) | 20/20 (1969) | Sunflower (1970) | Surf's Up (1971) | Carl and the Passions - "So Tough" (1972) | Holland (1973) | 15 Big Ones (1976) | Love You (1977) | M.I.U. Album (1978) | L.A. (Light Album) (1979) | Keepin' the Summer Alive (1980) | The Beach Boys (1985) | Still Cruisin' (1989) | Summer in Paradise (1992) | Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 (1996)
Live albums
Beach Boys Concert (1964) | Live in London (1970) | The Beach Boys in Concert (1973) | Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980 (2002)
Related articles
Song List | Lead Vocalists | Capitol Records | Brother Records | Sea of Tunes | Discography | Solo Discography