The real breakthrough, as Brian Wilson asserts himself in the studio as both songwriter and arranger on a set of material that was much stronger than Surfin' Safari. Besides the hit title track and its popular drag-racing flip side ("Shut Down"), this has a lovely, heartbreaking ballad ("Lonely Sea") and a couple of strong Brian Wilson originals ("The Noble Surfer" and "Farmer's Daughter"). There are also a surprisingly high quotient of instrumentals (five) that demonstrate that, before session musicians took over most of the parts, the Beach Boys could play respectably gutsy surf rock as a self-contained unit. Indeed, the album as a whole is the best they would make, prior to the late '60s, as a band that played most of their instruments, rather than as a vehicle for Brian Wilson's ideas. The LP was a huge hit, vital to launching surf music as a national craze, and one of the few truly strong records to be recorded by a self-contained American rock band prior to the British Invasion. [Surfin' Safari/Surfin' U.S.A, a Capitol two-fer CD, combines this and Surfin' Safari onto one disc, with the addition of three rare bonus cuts from the same era.]
Tracks
Title
Composer
Time
1 Surfin' U.S.A. Berry 2:31
2 Farmer's Daughter Wilson 1:52
3 Misirlou Leeds, Roubanis, Russell, Wise 2:05
4 Stoked Wilson 2:02
5 Lonely Sea Usher, Wilson 2:25
6 Shut Down Christian, Wilson 1:52
7 Noble Surfer Wilson 1:54
8 Honky Tonk Butler, Doggett, Glover, Scott ... 2:05
Composed by: Butler, Doggett, Glover, Scott, Sheper
9 Lana Wilson 1:43
10 Surf Jam Wilson 2:14
11 Let's Go Trippin' Dale 2:00
12 Finders Keepers Wilson 1:40
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