Song #59 was "Surfin" which was the Beach Boys first record. It was first released in November 1961. Written by Mike and Brian. I spelled th title without an apostrophe after the n because that's how it was spelled on the label of the record. I always thought that it came out fiorst on X and then on Candix, but it seems that the first Candix pressing is the original based on the story below.
There's a cool story involved which I will get into now with some of the Wikipedia article about the song. It was released as the first Beach Boys single (with "Luau" on the B-side) in November 1961 on Candix Records and it later appeared on the 1962 album Surfin' Safari.
The single effectively began the Beach Boys' music career, establishing them at the vanguard of what would later be regarded the "California Sound". Initially, the group were trying to think of something original and creative that they could write a song about. Brian Wilson remembers that "One day, my brother Dennis came home from the beach and said, 'Hey, surfing's getting really big. You guys ought to write a song about it."
The song features Mike Love on lead vocals with Carl Wilson on backing vocals and acoustic guitar, Al Jardine on backing vocals and stand-up bass, Brian Wilson on backing vocals and snare drum and Dennis Wilson on backing vocals. The single peaked at number 75 in the US; it was never released in the UK.
Brian Wilson remembers that "I began noodling around the piano singing 'surfin', surfin', surfin''. It sounded stupid. But then Mike [Love] sang 'ba-ba-dippity-dippity-ba-ba.' He was fooling around, trying to spark a new idea with the same bass sounds he'd sung countless times before. For some reason, though, this time when he sang I pounded out a few chords to accompany him and then he took up the chant I'd been singing, 'surfin', surfin''." Brian continues that "twenty seconds later, I had the opening for the song that would become the Beach Boys' first hit single. A couple of hours later, I finished the song and called it 'Surfin''." The'ba-ba-dippity-dippity-ba-ba' were influenced by the early Jan and Dean records (like "Baby Talk") Brian also incorporated a riff from "Underwater", a nationally charting single by The Frogmen (also on Candix).
While a student at Hawthorne High School in 1960, Brian Wilson submitted "Surfin'" as an assignment in a music class and received an "F" from his teacher, Fred Morgan. In 2018, the school changed the grade to an "A."
Brian Wilson recalls that "the five of us arrived at the Morgans' Melrose Avenue office." The group sang a cover version of "Sloop John B", though Hite Morgan's response was "these days you need something original. You've gotta have an angle. The music business is all about selling a product." Brian remembers that "there was a long, awkward moment of silence that caught us looking at our shoelaces." Dennis Wilson then surprised the other group members by responding, "Yeah, we got an original. It's called 'Surfin''." Hite Morgan then asked them to play the song but as Brian recalls he responded, "Well, it's not finished. We've got the song, and it's original. But it's not done yet."
When it came time to record their new song, the group (then calling themselves The Pendletones) went back to the Morgans' studio for a second time. Audree Wilson remembers that Brian, Mike, Carl and Al were at the Morgans' studio recording a demo when they said, "We want to play this for you." So they played the demo of "Surfin'" to Dorinda Morgan and Hite Morgan of Hite Morgan's Recording Studio. Dorinda Morgan was excited by the demo as Audree recalls "Immediately, she said, 'Drop everything, we want to record that.' He [Hite] wasn't so much in favour of it, but she heard something she thought would click."
Brian remembers that "we were at the Morgans' all day; twelve takes of 'Surfin''...tried everyone's patience. I was to blame. I wanted the song to sound perfect." Brian remembers that they "did it all live. Our mix wasn't as good [as today's mix], it wasn't as balanced. You couldn't hear the guitar playing...you didn't hear the bass notes as well...some of the vocals were a little buried. It wasn't mixed and balanced very well. And my father was critical of the first thing we did, he said, 'Well, look, you don't hear the guitar, you don't hear this, what is going on here? Listen, I'm going to have to take over as producer', which he did. He took over as producer."
Brian recalls that "Hite [Morgan] announced that he was going to turn our demo into a record, press up a small quantity, and see how it did on local radio." When the group unpacked the first box of singles from Candix, they found that their band name had been changed from "The Pendletones" to "The Beach Boys". Label promotion man Russ Regan explained to Murry Wilson that he had taken the liberty of giving the group a new name to associate them more directly with the popular surf-music genre.
Dennis Wilson remembers "the first time we ever heard our record played [on the radio], We [Carl, Brian, Dennis and David Marks] were all on Hawthorne Boulevard in Brian's 1957 Ford...they said, 'Here's a group from Hawthorne, California; the Beach Boys, with their song, 'Surfin''. It was a contest; they played three songs and the one that got the most requests over the phone was the one they would add to the playlist. We were screamin' in the street, and knockin' on everybody's door, 'We got a record on the radio!'...That was the biggest high ever.
Nothing will ever top the expression on Brian's face. Ever...THAT is the all-time moment."
Dennis remembers that they "got so excited hearing our record on the radio that Carl threw up". Brian recalls that he "ran down the street screaming". Russ Regan, the man who gave the Beach Boys their name, remembers that "Surfin'" "actually exploded here in the city of Los Angeles. Their record was a big record here. It was just a natural Southern California record." By the final weeks of 1961 "Surfin'" had sold more than 40,000 copies. Over the following months (until pressed copies ran out in mid-spring 1962) the raw but radical new sound of the Beach Boys entered the top five in San Diego, San Bernardino, Mojave and crossing the California border into Arizona at Yuma; was seen in the lower reaches of playlists in San Francisco (KYA) and Seattle (KAYO); and appeared in the Northeast, peaking at #21 at Boston's WHIL for two weeks in late March and April.
Confusingly, "Surfin'" was seemingly released three times in three months on (apparently) two different labels: Candix 331 in November 1961, X 301 in December and Candix 301 in January 1962. The full story is complex and still imperfectly understood, but in simple form, when the owners of Candix went back to the pressing plant to order more of 331, they were told to settle their bills first, so in order to maintain a flow of singles they had another plant press the record, hence the X 301 release (which is far and away the rarest of all). When sufficient cash had been raised for a further repressing on Candix, the number 301 was retained, possibly for the sake of continuity, possibly as a slip of the pen.
RANK - SONG TITLE -------- TOTAL BALLOTS - POINTS
059 - Surfin --------------------------------------6-----220
060 - Break Away -------------------------------5-----218
061 - Please Let Me Wonder ------------------6-----199
062 - Rock And Roll Music ---------------------4-----168
063 - Getcha Back ------------------------------4-----167
064 - Good Timin' -------------------------------6-----159
065 - Cottonfields (The Cotton Song) ------5-----157
066 - Still Cruisin' -------------------------------3-----153
067 - Kiss Me, Baby -----------------------------3-----149
068 - Girls On The Beach ----------------------4-----147
069 - The Trader ---------------------------------3-----146
070 - Then I Kissed Her -------------------------3-----145
071 - It's O.K. -------------------------------------4-----143
072 - Time To Get Alone -----------------------3-----137
073 - Little Bird ----------------------------------3-----132
074 - Cherry, Cherry Coupe --------------------3----131
075 - Pet Sounds ---------------------------------4-----130
076 - Do You Like Worms? ----------------------3-----128
077 - Add Some Music To Your Day -----------2-----125
078 - California Saga (California) ------------3-----124
079 - It's About Time ----------------------------3-----122
080 - Vegetables ---------------------------------5-----116
081 - Hawaii --------------------------------------3-----106
082 - All This Is That ----------------------------2-----105
083 - Don't Go Near The Water ---------------3-----104
084 - Our Prayer ---------------------------------4-----102
085 - The Man With All The Toys ------------4 -----102
086 - Let Him Run Wild ------------------------3-------97
087 - Looking At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song) 3----96
088 - Hushabye ----------------------------------3-------95
089 - Cool Cool Water --------------------------3-------94
090 - The Night Was So Young ----------------2-------90
091 - We'll Run Away ---------------------------2--------90
092 - A Young Man Is Gone --------------------2-------89
093 - Our Sweet Love --------------------------3--------87
094 - California Saga (Big Sur) ---------------2--------85
095 - Country Air --------------------------------2--------77
096 - Summer's Gone ---------------------------2--------76
097 - With Me Tonight --------------------------2--------76
098 - Here Comes The Night ------------------2 -------75
099 - Drive-In -------------------------------------2 -------73
100 - Santa's Beard ------------------------------2 -------73
Song #58 is next. We are back now in 1966 with the "Pet Sounds" album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEoKf52h9ok