Granted there are so many Beach Boys albums I and many others would rank really high. I know this is their debut. There have been posts here criticizing this album. But, if one is compiling an extensive 60's Beach Boys catalog, what from this album has merit and should it be included in one's collection?
"Surfin' Safari" is a great record. It's grungy and dirty and raw and I like it. It's the surfin' equivalent to "Never Mind The Bullocks". What's wrong with a group of enthusiastic young men singing about chicks, soft drinks, county fairs, and more chicks? Not to mention, the most earnest and heartfelt lead vocal ever, found on the overlooked masterwork "Cuckoo Clock"? Such a moving performance. The arrival of the Beach Boys was as Earth shattering as the Beatles landing in JFK. They had a fresh, energetic sound that kicked the whole 60's rock and roll scene in the ***. They provided the shot heard round the world which lead to all the great albums that followed. Friends, Sufin' Safari is as dangerous and dark as Velvet Underground & Nico 5 years later. Happier lyrics, yeah, but look at the muscianship. If Chug-a-lug was about liquid LSD you'd all see what I mean. Don't let the lyrics throw you. Messy haired teens with nothing to lose laying down some hot jams under the watchful eye of their lunatic father. Nothing was ever the same after it, and sweaty jocks everywhere put down their bat and gloves and picked up Fender stats all because of Brian and the gang. "Cuckoo Clock" is my favorite cut on the album, and it is as dark and cerebral as anything. "Ghosts crowd the child's fragile eggshell mind". It's all coming from the same troubing place. Surfin' Safari is a song about patricide. Read between the lines. Dare I say, aside from Johnny Cash, that Wilson was the only one gutsy enough to speak out against racial injustice on "Ten Little Indians". He could see that the California hills were stained with the blood of many a brave tribe. The tenth little indian acted like himself. He didn't succumb to the white man's ways and accept Jesus Christ as his savior. "Chug-a-lug" is a naked assessment of the group. "Gary like's a girl's tight black pants". This was 1962. How did such a filthy sentiment get past the censors? Wilson and Usher pushing the envelope, as much as the Beatles would with "I'd Love To Turn You On" five years later. Each Beach Boy represents a different fraction of troubled youth. Carl's unhealthy obsession with food is explored, as well as Mike's secret need for alcohol to help him deal with the reality of knocking up girls. A generation lost in space, all described perfectly within the confines of a two-minute song. "409" is a song that deals with the loss of a boy's virginity at the hands of a hooker. "Surfin'", the song that started it all, is a desperate cry for help. "Surfin' is the only life". All other roads lead to death. The escapism of the beach and surf and sand is the only thing keeping them from ending their lives because of the hardships they face. The "Surfer Stomp" is referring to giving squares and greasers the beat down. It's kinda like an American Quadrophenia, this song. "Heads You Win, Tails I Lose" is about some of the seeder parts of town, where pimps and hookers rule, and smoke filled pool halls crackle with the sounds of gunshots and knife fights. Sometimes the kids from uptown sneak into the slums to get a taste of the action. Peeking through a filthy window smeared with blood and **** and yellowed from decades of cigar stench. The innocence of youth is lost in an instant as they witness a man stabbed to death for attempting to cheat at a game. Either way the coin falls, you lose. Death is at your door. Heavy, heavy stuff. "Cuckoo Clock" is for me the ultimate Brian Wilson statement. Before fame, fortune, drugs, self-confidence, women, and lawyers got in the way, we have a sweet young man with a voice as pure as God's linen, experiencing the joy of a simple, wholesome relationship with a nice young girl. The cuckoo clock is not literal; it is only in Brian's head. Each time things start to happen again, he thinks he's got something good going for himself, but what goes wrong? "Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" The cuckoo is in his head, man, it's one of the voices. I almost cry sometimes because I feel so bad for that young boy whose life was ruined by all sorts of outside influences. This recording is pretty much the last snapshot of Brian before that red-blooded, all-American kid got swallowed up forever inside the jaws of paranoia, depression, and record industry corruption. **** you, Doctor Landy. "The Shift" is an animalistic statement of human sexuality, the words most likely spat solely from the sinful mouth of Mike Love. The polar opposite of “Cuckoo Clock”, it is complete devoid of emotion and old fashioned social standards. Sex is a physical act, done only for sick pleasure, nothing more. Women are objects and should wear this "shift" in order to please the men folk around them. I find myself rather offended by this song, to be honest with you. "She'll ball you with the shift on". Mike would park at inspiration point and have his girl climb over on top of him and he'd slide up the shift and do his business. Easy access, they'd call it. One of the most explicitly sexual songs ever recorded by the Beach Boys. Disgustingly brunt, but again, honesty where honesty had seldom been seen before. No sugarcoating. The reality of the era. Biff, you take your damn hands off her. So you see, the "Surfin' Safari" album is just as deep and meaningful and groundbreaking as anything released during the 60's. The Beach Boys had arrived, before the Beatles shook the world, before Dylan became the voice of a generation, and they had already broken down many barriers and expanded the musical horizon with their dark, realistic view of life as a teenager. BEST. ALBUM. OF 1962.
Thank you! I appreciate all those fine insights! I'm now a solid fan of this album! I have the Pastmasters of all albums from Surfin USA to 20/20 and will add this to my collection! Thanks Steve for the Pastmasters recommendation. I love how these sound!
Totally. "Heads You Win, Tails I Lose" is about some of the seeder parts of town, where pimps and hookers rule, and smoke filled pool halls crackle with the sounds of gunshots and knife fights. Beautiful. Makes "Bleeker Street" by Simon & Garfunkel sound like "Surfin' Bird".
Surfin' Safari is an enjoyable and fun album. The Beach Boys got better and better though. "Surfin' Safari" (the title song) is iconic and should be included in any compilation IMO. The Shift" is another great song that's surprisingly sophisticated musically for it's time. I think "County Fair" is the album's masterpiece. There aren't any bad songs on the album.
To answer the OP, I definitely don't think the album's bad. I like it and would definitely recommend it for Beach Boys fans. The songs are silly and lightweight, but who cares, it's fun!
I can add very little to Zodiac's review except: Surfin' Safari contains one of my least-favorite uses of the word "arbitrarily" in song, ever.
HaHaHaHa. glad I put the coffee down before reading this. ...great review! Nothing to add, just to note that Carl's neighbor pal David Marks is on this record instead of Al Jardine, who didn't rejoin the band until 1963. He's featured in a couple of pictures on the back cover, messy hair and hipster plaid shirt.
"409" and "Surfin Safari" are fine songs and there cover of "Summertime Blues" is listenable. But compared to most of their later work this is forgettable.
