"Surfer Girl" is a song written, produced and sung by Brian Wilson for The Beach Boys. It was released as a single and it then appeared on the 1963 album of the same name, Surfer Girl. The B-side of the single was "Little Deuce Coupe". The single was the first Beach Boys record to have Brian Wilson officially credited as the producer.
The song was based on a Dion and the Belmonts version of "When You Wish upon a Star", which has the same AABA form. As a solo artist, Wilson later covered it for the tribute album In the Key of Disney (2011).
The band first recorded the song at World Pacific Studios on February 8, 1962 which was one of the band's first ever recording sessions. However, the recordings from that session, engineered by Hite Morgan, would ultimately remain unreleased until later archival releases.
The instrumental track as well as the vocals for the officially released version were recorded on June 12, 1963 at Western Recorders, located at 6000 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, a location that has recorded more hit records than any other studio on the planet. The session was produced by Brian; the first song, along with "Little Deuce Coupe", to be credited as a Brian production. The musicians on the track are David Marks and Carl Wilson on guitar; Brian Wilson on bass guitar and Dennis Wilson on drums. The finished instrumental track can be heard on the 1968 release Stack-O-Tracks. The song is sung by the group - Mike Love, Carl and Dennis Wilson - with a prominent vocal by Brian. Also recorded during that session was "Little Deuce Coupe". Surfer Girl is played in 12/8 time.
The "Surfer Girl" single backed with "Little Deuce Coupe" was released under Capitol Records in the United States on July 22, 1963. The single entered the Billboard chart on August 3 and it would then hit the Top 40 on August 17 at the number 28 position. After the single had been on the charts for six weeks it peaked at number 7 on September 14, 1963. It placed at number 5, for three weeks, in Cash Box and number 3 in the UPI weekly survey used by newspapers. Its regional performances belie even these higher national peaks, having risen to #1 in playlists in Los Angeles (four weeks), San Francisco (six weeks), Philadelphia, Boston and Dallas—all major markets where it was among the very biggest hits that year; and runner-up or top three in Washington DC, Toronto, Montreal, Sacramento, Minneapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh. The single also peaked in the U.S. Billboard R & B chart at number 18 in September 1963. Internationally, it was number 1 on New Zealand's Teen Scene chart and number 8 in Australia (2UE).
Similar Tracks
All My Loving by The Beatles
Surf City by Jan & Dean
Good Vibrations by Brian Wilson
Twist And Shout by The Beatles
Runaround Sue by Dion
Happy Together by The Turtles
Similar Artists
The Beatles
The Temptations
Dion
Chuck Berry
