5 Bands that Defined Surf Culture in LA (NBR, obviously)

[mtnkitty]

I know there are some surfers on here who might enjoy this read. I'm not terribly familiar with all these bands, although Dick Dale is a classic.

Surf movies today are pretty infiltrated by punk, though the last one I saw, "The Present" had good music by Ray Barbee and The Mattson 2.

I was actually listening to Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" right when I reread this article, and it set a nice backdrop to the article.

http://blogs.kcrw.com/fivethings/?p=159



5 Bands that Defined surf culture in LA by Tom Schnabel

Tom Schnabel, KCRW DJ.
When I was fourteen, I started surfing, borrowing my older brother’s longboard. I persisted and eventually became pretty good. I surfed all up and down the coast and rode the big waves in Hawaii too. And of course I loved going to surfing movies and watching impossibly beautiful waves and classic surfers carving them like Baryshnikov. It was always disappointing going out the next day after the movie and find the surf flat.

When I was growing up I liked the normal things: riding my bike, eating ice cream, and selling lemonade at a stand on our block. When I was about eleven I became a fanatical cyclist, idolizing the great Jacques Anquetil and reading about the Tour de France. I was in a cycling club called “Les Voyageurs” (the travellers). We had jerseys, chamois-padded shorts, cycling shoes with cleats, etc. I always wanted an Italian bike with all Campagnolo equipment on it, probably because I have an older brother and always got his beaten up bikes handed down to me after he’d wrecked them. But alas, that fancy bike never came.


And I noticed the music in surf movies, especially the Bruce Brown films that had songs like Dave Brubeck’s Take Five. Smooth music went well with smooth moves by Lance Carson at Rincon, but then there were the big gnarly waves in Hawaii, which needed more aggressive music. In comes Dick Dale’s song “Miserlou” which I later found out was based on an old Jewish song!


Before long, surfing and music were the two most important things in my life, followed by competitive swimming and, or course, girls. I still remember great days surfing and some of the music that provided the soundtrack to those aquatic adventures. Below are some of the bands that moved me.

1. Dave Brubeck Quartet – Time Out (Columbia)
smooth and effortless playing by Brubeck and his saxman Paul Desmond provided a perfect soundtrack to classic and effortless longboard waveriding by Lance Carson, Phil Edwards, and Mickey Dora. Paul Desmond’s alto solos were fit particularly well with the eloquent curves of these surf masters.

2. Dick Dale and the Deltones -
exciting stuff that really pumped you up for surfing. I remember being so excited when hearing this music as teenage surf nut that I wanted to go surfing in the dark after the surf movies.

3. The Chantays –
celebrated the scariest left on the north shore of Oahu, the Banzai Pipeline, which I once rode and even have pictures and footage to prove it.

4. The Ventures -
provided the music soundtrack for Slippery When Wet and other early surf movies from the mid 60s.

5. Bud Shank -
a busy studio musician and multi-reedman who did soundtrack for classic Bruce Brown film Barefoot Adventure

Bonus: Duane Eddy –
his signature twang sound was used by many a surf movie, and songs like Rebel Rouser and Cannonball were surf anthems.

[Matt13]

No Aqua Bats?

[BKD]

Those are all great bands that did have a major impact on the culture in the early days. I could just imagine listening to the Ventures right before paddling out a Malibu back in the day. Unfortunately, those songs and that style of music just doesn't seem to fit with paddling out at Swami's or Trestles with 75 of your "best friends"......

[mikuteit]

WHAT? No Surf Punks?

[Matt13]

Was Gary Busey in The Surf Punks?

[mtnkitty]

The Aquabats...

I can always take some Sublime and Jack Johnson, even if JJ doesn't make sense half the time.

[CalEpic]

What, no Butthole Surfers?

[art23rockpile]

Originally Posted by BKD

Those are all great bands that did have a major impact on the culture in the early days. I could just imagine listening to the Ventures right before paddling out a Malibu back in the day. Unfortunately, those songs and that style of music just doesn't seem to fit with paddling out at Swami's or Trestles with 75 of your "best friends"......

Indeed. More appropriate would be Slayer's 'Reign In Blood'.

Originally Posted by CalEpic

What, no Butthole Surfers?

+1

[Dino Brown]

Dave Brubeck... One of my ABSOLUTE favorites!

How would Sublime fit into this discussion?
While their music may not be "considered" surfer, there is ZERO doubt the groups influence on the LB/HB/Surfer lifestyle has been... HUGE!

[singlespeedrider]

Agent Orange needs to be on that list. Dick Dale meets punk rock

[strobelite]

guttermouth?

[dubl_xl]

The Ziggens - Very surf influenced, from Buena Park. Check out the instrumental called "Junipero Serra". This band was one of Bradley Nowells favorites! They played together quite a few times.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/ziggens/t...rra--176849877

Awesome video of the Waitress Song! (not a surf tune but a Ziggens classic!)

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/zi...-song--2149351

[gooseaholic]

I have a scar on my arm from a Ziggens concert in HB. I was by the stage and the Guitar player bent down and caught my arm with the end off a cut off string.

[MacGuyVer]

Originally Posted by Dino Brown

How would Sublime fit into this discussion?
While their music may not be "considered" surfer, there is ZERO doubt the groups influence on the LB/HB/Surfer lifestyle has been... HUGE!

[singlespeedrider]

Originally Posted by dubl_xl

The Ziggens - Very surf influenced, from Buena Park. Check out the instrumental called "Junipero Serra". This band was one of Bradley Nowells favorites! They played together quite a few times.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/ziggens/t...rra--176849877

Awesome video of the Waitress Song! (not a surf tune but a Ziggens classic!)

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/zi...-song--2149351

She keeps a pencil behind her bun and sometimes calls me hun.....Say polyester

[Albacore]

My beach, my wave! I still have my Surf Punks album -- yes, vinyl. The new breed of surf music like Los Straightjackets and The Eliminators can't be missed.

I agree Sublime brought the LB/HB lifestyle to prominence and influenced many bands like Slightly Stoopid and Pepper. Yet, they weren't that original. 40 oz. to Freedom was mainly a cover album. Nearly all of their songs were written and performed by other artists. They came more into their own creatively on their self titled album but their success had already been established. On a side note; they absolutely sucked live. I saw shows where they could not complete their set because they were so drunk/wasted.

[art23rockpile]

I find it hard to believe that in a discussion of Surf Music, nobody's mentioned The Beach Boys. They may have (arguably) influenced "surf culture" more than all the other bands mentioned in this thread combined.

Originally Posted by mikuteit

WHAT? No Surf Punks?

Surf Punks were great. They were a lot of fun live, too. If your YouTube vid was shot at the URGH! show at Long Beach Arena in 1980, i was in the audience.

Originally Posted by Dino Brown

How would Sublime fit into this discussion?

In no way whatsoever. Not surf oriented, and generally a very negative message. Musically, they were untalented, unoriginal, and uninspired.

[Matt13]

Originally Posted by art23rockpile

In no way whatsoever. Not surf oriented, and generally a very negative message. Musically, they were untalented, unoriginal, and uninspired.

While I will agree that Bud was a crappy drummer and Brad was an average guitar player, I think Erik the bass player was pretty amazing.

I do think they did have some originality and they were inspired.....to bad it was only by drugs.

[MacGuyVer]

^^^ ..not even worth quoting such a lame post #17

[art23rockpile]

Originally Posted by MacGuyVer

^^^ ..not even worth quoting such a lame post #17

Really?

Ignorance does you no credit. I've surfed for over 35 years and collected the 6000+ LPs in my collection over the same period of time. I'm knowledgable about entire musical genres of which you know nothing. My qualifications are ample... how about you? Please... thrill me with your acumen.

Remember: please stay on topic. The discussion is regarding S-u-r-f music.