Surf

Surf-music heads may talk in terms of specific bays and surf spots in California, when really it's all just a starting point for 1960s instrumental guitar. Surf led to hot rod followed by space rock as typified by "Telstar." That said, there is considerable variety to be had. The Beach Boys and other vocal groups did their thing, but most of the attraction is the guitar "shredding" of such guitar heroes as Dick Dale. As the idiom ran its course, skiing (water and snow), skateboarding, and probably a few other things worked their way into the general "board sports" theme begun by surf music.

And then you have the phenomenon of every group that started in 1962 or so claiming it invented the style, or wrote the original "Wipe Out," or were the first to do something else. Another point of contention is the contrast between teenagers trying their hardest and studio professionals achieving something close to perfection. The "Wrecking Crew" of LA studio players and especially producer Gary Usher created some very fine stuff, as did the kids in their own raw way. The impact of all this "music scene" (and its exploitation) was felt far and wide, eventually. Early on, though, surf guitar first had to replace light jazz as the stuff of the soundtracks for Bruce Brown's famous surf movies. And even some of the mid-1960s beach-party movies featured a few great tunes sprinkled in, here and there. But, as with all idioms, sometimes the best stuff is lurking on rare records on [in this case, hopelessly inland!] labels such as King.

Buying: It's always a great time to collect surf records, as original 45s and CD compilations continue to round out the better-known quantities available on LP and CD. CD reissues offer extra tracks but sometimes at the expense of the tracks on the original LP. For the best sound, vinyl is the way to go.