Surf Music
Bob Berryhill was the original guitarist for the surf band the Surfaris. The group of teenagers had a pop hit with "Surfer Joe," which was followed up by the 1963 chart topper "Wipe Out." The song became an anthem for the early 60s instrumental recordings that helped define the era and the drum...
Gil Orr played a part in the era of popular music known as the Surf Sound. With the steady growth of instrumental hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Orr performed and recorded his guitar-playing style with boardwalk bands on the California coast. The Surf Sound hit its zenith when a group...
Paul Johnson formed one of the early surf bands in Southern California during the golden era of instrumental music. As a guitarist and songwriter, Paul performed and recorded in the days before the Beach Boys, when it was common for an instrumental recording to be on the Top Ten lists. Over the...
Dick Dale was the King of the Surf Guitar whose driving style redefined instrumental music in the early 1960s. His music conjures the mood of the era so successfully that many of his tunes such as Miserlou are often heard on movie soundtracks and television programs that help evoke that era. Dick...
This audio only interview was conducted by David Schwartz and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Carl Wilson co-formed The Beach Boys with his brother, Brian, and school friend, Al Jardine. The songs they wrote and recorded helped invigorate popular music in the 1960s. Carl played lead...
This audio only interview was conducted by David Schwartz and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Al Jardine can be heard on the very first Beach Boys recording. The song, “Surfin’” was recorded in 1961 for Candix Records. Al left the group for a bit but returned to play bass for the group in...
Bruce Johnston has been a member of the Beach Boys since the mid-1960s, first singing with the group on the hit "California Girls." He appeared on most of the groups albums, including the seminal Pet Sounds and toured with the group for decades. Bruce is also a songwriter who penned "I Write the...