The Surfaris: Surfer Joe (1963)

Yes, this was the flip side of “Wipeout.” What’s amazing is that it’s a completely different idea. Not a furious instrumental; not even sunny vocal harmony pop like the Beach boys. It’s a vocal number, but it’s not polished. In fact, it’s the singer’s very amateurishness that makes this record so effective. It perfectly captures that insouciant golden-boy everything-comes-easy-to-me California thang that the rest of us are trying to catch a piece of by listening to surf music….