E
sciousness as the official purveyors of the “sound of summer,”
they killed surf music.
How does surf music kill surf
music? Let’s backtrack. The
Beach Boys, and similar-minded
bands like Jan and Dean, were
part of a school of surf rock that
played up vocals and four-part
harmonies. Their pop-friendly
style was present in the American International Pictures beach
party films of the early 1960s
(think Beach Party and Beach
Blanket Bingo). The series —
which celebrate its 50th anniversary this July — sparked
mainstream interest in surf music, but bears little resemblance
to the instrumental surf that
purists call the real thing.
“Surfers remained fairly loyal
to the instro school while the
general public lapped up the vocal school,” Kent Crowley, author of Surf Beat: Rock ‘n’ Roll’s
Forgotten Revolution, told The
Huffington Post.
So what does real “instro”
sound like? According to John
Blair, who formed the ‘70s surf
revival band Jon and the Nightriders, that question has been asked
a thousand times to no avail.
SURF
BEST
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ENTERTAINMENT
MUSIC
Geographically, the answer is
located between the guitar and
amp, in the reverb unit, which
adds an effect to make the chords
sound “wet and drippy.”