Talk:Surfin' U.S.A.

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Brian's Autobiography

Is it appropriate to have his "auto"biography Wouldn't It Be Nice as a source so many times when he: a) had nothing to do with writing it, and b) was found to be slanderous/libelous in court? MookieZ 14:37, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Rather than present potentially controversial passages derived solely from the book as if they were facts and footnote them, the article, when it references them, should state in its main text their derivation. Something like "According to Wouldn't It Be Nice?, this song was [whatever, etc.].TheScotch (talk) 07:37, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

Sunset

Can anyone confirm that the song is supposed to be referring to Sunset Beach in Hawaii and not Sunset Beach in Southern California off PCH between Warner and Seal Beach Blvd.? 72.129.0.10 (talk) 11:50, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I grew up in Sunset Beach, California. My favorite song as a boy was Surfin’ U.S.A.. But, I never thought the song was referring to California’s Sunset Beach; I always thought it was Oahu’s (which is a more renowned, more significant surfing spot). I think that the article should reference both possibilities (unless Jimmy Bowles’ intent could somehow be nailed down here). Dsutton (talk) 10:55, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Drummer

I think the Credits here are wrong. If I am not mistaken, Dennis played the drums on this song and not Frank deVito. Is there any reference that Frank deVito played the drums?--79.97.137.15 (talk) 22:08, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

The fills are too strong for Dennis, especially in Jan. 1963. Just looked through my collection of Beach Boy books; nothing there, but Frank deVito's MySpace page indicates he's the drummer. The link: http://www.myspace.com/frankdevitodrummerJusdafax (talk) 09:40, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Hi - I am the same one again. The thing is - Hal Blaine stated in an Interview and on his Homepage, that he played drums on Surfin USA, even though he started working working with the Boys in Juni 1963 and the Session was in Jan 1963. The Session Sheet indicate that Dennis Wilson was the Drummer. The producer could be wrong as well - Surfin USA war recorded Jan 2nd with no Nick Venet present. They recorded "Surfin USA", "Shut Down" and "Farmers Daughters" at Western Studios, the other songs were recorded at Capitol Records Studio with Nick Venet....at least so it´s written in keith Badmans book. --79.97.137.15 (talk) 00:34, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

I've got my Badman open to page 32, which says that the Jan. 2, 1963 session produced the 'Punchline' instrumental (eventually released in 1993.) It does note for Jan. 5 that 'Surfin' USA' single (important not to get album and single confused) was recorded at Western Recorders, but I see nothing about the drummer whatsoever. The session sheet on page 33 is for Feb. 11, 1963, and covers the tunes 'Let's go Trippin', 'Honky Tonk' and 'Miserlou'. I have not researched Blaine's info but have seen nothing elsewhere to indicate he was doing sessions for the BB's as early as Jan. 1963.

Do you have, perhaps, a different edition of Badman's book? My version of 'The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio' is the first edition, 2004. If you have a later edition it may be there are further additions to the book you have, which would explain the differences between what we are seeing.

The only people who could answer this for sure are Brian Wilson, David Marks, and Mike Love. But that would be original research! Color me confused. Jusdafax (talk) 02:09, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

Research conducted on the Smiley Smile forum a few years ago revealed that Frank diVitto is the uncredited drummer on this song in addition to Dennis Wilson. Frank himself produced documentation to uphold this, and David Marks recalls him in the studio. Andrew G. Doe (talk) 19:52, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Dennis did not play drums on this track because of a broken ankle, but he does provide his usual backing vocals. In Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys: The Songs that Tell their Story, Mark Dillon writes "According to David [Marks], Dennis was unavailable for the session after breaking his ankle while getting off a drum riser. Veteran player Frank DeVito was enlisted in his place, although some Beach Boys historians insist Dennis plays at least a portion of the final drum track... Dennis had his signature drum riff on 'Surfin' Safari,' so Frankie put that in at the beginning of the choruses of 'Surfin' U.S.A.'" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.118.32.225 (talk) 21:33, 31 January 2018 (UTC)

I read that the reason why Frank DeVito substituted was because Dennis was unable to play because of a broken ankle and if somebody can place a source to verify that anecdote, that'll be much appreciated. I highly doubt that Brian would have been regularly hiring session drummers at this early stage, but contrary to what I wrongly believed, Dennis did in fact play drums on a large portion of the recordings.203.221.128.210 (talk) 06:38, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

Here is the link verifying the broken ankle. Also, as I mentioned before, Dennis did provide backing vocals. Unsure why his name was removed. https://books.google.com/books?id=QAP0yVAVq3YC&pg=PT29&dq=frank+devito+surfin%27+usa&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiYm_P6j4PZAhUSR6wKHVJHB2AQ6AEIMzAC#v=onepage&q=frank%20devito%20surfin'%20usa&f=false — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.118.32.225 (talk) 18:30, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

Thank you.203.221.128.210 (talk) 21:21, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

Other claims to have played on this session

I've removed the listing for Carol Kaye and Billy Strange as having played on this song, as the AFM contract does not list them, and further David Marks has stated several times that neither of them played on this session. Kaye's claim to have played on the session is based purely on her own website, and Strange's because she says he did. It should be noted that Kaye has made several claims of playing on sessions where it can be proven that she didn't, both Beach Boys and other artists. Andrew G. Doe (talk) 19:52, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Who does the AFM contract list? It sounds to me as if you're saying it's Marks's word against Kaye's, and in that case (especially considering that Kaye indisputably did play on a fair number of Beach Boys recordings) it would be better for the article to remain neutral about the matter. TheScotch (talk) 07:27, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

The AFM contract lists just The Beach Boys - the Wilson brothers, Mike Love and David Marks: no-one else. Andrew G. Doe (talk) 11:10, 9 June 2012 (UTC)

One-sided

The information in the 'Songwriting credit disputes' section seems to be terribly one-sided. It is heavily based on Brian Wilson's autobiography and I would say that it implies that Chuck Berry has a questionable claim and that he was only given a songwriting credit to placate him. The words "after the song became a hit" also seem to suggest that Chuck Berry was jumping on the bandwagon or something. As I understand it, there was some sort of litigation and Berry came out of it with the songwriting credit. Can this section be rewritten to sound a little more balanced please? I don't know enough about it to do it myself. EttaLove (talk) 02:06, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

According to http://rockhall.com/inductees/chuck-berry/timeline/, Berry sued and got "a co-writing credit". According to http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/chuck+berry/biography.html, the song "is credited as Berry-Wilson". Given this, we need to remove or qualify the claim that Berry now gets sole credit. DougHill (talk) 23:17, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Chuck Berry is obviously not the sole composer of this song. The copyright is owned by Arc Music and the registration shows music by Chuck Berry and words by Arc Music, employer for hire of Brian Wilson. Piriczki (talk) 15:50, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

1) lyricsfreak.com is not an authoritative source. 2) Although Chuck Berry did not write the lyric to "Surfin' USA", it's difficult not to conclude that its lyric derives from Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" given how similar the lyrics are (relentlessly listing places in the refrain, etc.), and given that Surfin' obviously lifted its music from Sixteen. 3) Copyright registration doesn't prove legal ownership. TheScotch (talk) 07:46, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

Precursors to the song

BOTH Berry and Wilson owe a great deal to T'as vole mon chapeau by the Breaux Freres. I came here after listening to this song (recorded 3rd December 1935, San Antonio, Texas), because the tune (and parts of the arrangement) are almost identical to Surfin' USA. To me, Berry's number 'Sweet Little Sixteen' is much further away from the Breaux Frere's song, and If I were a betting man, I would bet my hat that Berry heard this as a kid, and the tune stuck somewhere in the back of his mind. The arrangement of Surfin USA is so close to the Breaux Freres' version that I cannot believe that Wilson didn't actually use it as a template for his version. What I find astonishing, is that in the court case, no-one seemed to have noticed this!

In addition, none of this sticks in Wikipedia, because, try as I may, I can't find a source anywhere to say that either of these versions was based on the Breaux Freres song, and so all of this counts as OR - which is a pity, because clearly both Berry and Wilson owe a debt to the Cajun origins of their respective songs.--86.133.77.27 (talk) 14:32, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

I can much more easily believe that Chuck Berry heard an old obscure Cajun recording in the Midwest in the late 50s than that Brian Wilson did in southern California int the early 60s. Andrew G. Doe (talk) 10:36, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

No US EP

I've removed the reference to a US EP issued a month after the single, as implied by the text, because there wasn't one. The only EP released by the band in the 60s was Four By The Beach Boys in 1964. Andrew G. Doe (talk) 09:51, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: CALIFORNIA DREAMING, THE GOLDEN STATE'S RHETORICAL APPEALS

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 7 February 2023 and 24 March 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Suzannahw25 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Suzannahw25 (talk) 17:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)