"Surfer Girl" is a song by American rock band

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

from their 1963 album '' Surfer Girl''. Written and sung by

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

, it was released as a single, backed with " Little Deuce Coupe", on July 22, 1963. The single was the first Beach Boys record to have Brian Wilson officially credited as the producer.

Background

Wilson frequently referred to "Surfer Girl" as his first original composition. However, his closest high school friends disputed this, recalling that Wilson had written numerous songs prior to "Surfer Girl". The lyrics were inspired by Judy Bowles, Wilson's first serious girlfriend, whom he had dated for three and a half years. The song was based on a

Dion and the Belmonts Dion and the Belmonts were an American vocal quartet prominent throughout the late 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci joined the vocal group the Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo ...

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 An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

'' In the Key of Disney'' (2011), saying, "We're doin' "When You Wish Upon a Star" for the new album. It kinda inspired "Surfer Girl.".Brian Wilson, i
@BrianWilsonLive
February 16, 2011: "We're doin' "When You Wish Upon a Star" for the new album. It kinda inspired "Surfer Girl." - Brian".

Recording

The band first recorded the song at World Pacific Studios on February 8, 1962, at an early recording session. However, the recordings from that session, engineered by Hite Morgan, would not be released until 1969. The version released in 1963 as a single and on the ''Surfer Girl'' album was recorded June 12, 1963. The song is written in the key of

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

, with a key change to

E-flat major E-flat major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D minor). The E-fla ...

after the B section.

Single release

The "Surfer Girl" single, backed with "Little Deuce Coupe", was released on Capitol Records in the United States on July 22, 1963. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as "a lilting soft beat-ballad charmer."

Charts

References

Bibliography * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Surfer Girl (Song) 1963 singles 1963 songs The Beach Boys songs Capitol Records singles Jan and Dean songs Songs written by Brian Wilson Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson