Tune Tuesday – Surfin’ Safari

It was on this day in 1962 that Capitol Records signed one of the biggest acts of the 1960’s! The Beach Boys had been turned down by the Dot and Liberty labels, however, Capitol executive Nick Venet was sold on the group after hearing about eight bars of their song “Surfin’ Safari.”

According to Brian Wilson, the song was inspired by Chuck Berry. He referred to the song as “a silly song with a simple-but-cool C-F-G chord pattern that I came up with one day while trying to play the piano the way Chuck Berry played his guitar.”

The song was released with “409” as the B-side. Originally, Capitol Records wanted “409” to be the A-side, because it was about a car. There is a story about it actually being released as an A-side, DJ’s in Arizona started playing the B-side (Surfin’ Safari) and it becoming the hit. However, no one has ever been able to produce a copy of “409” as the A-side, so take that story with a grain of salt. In the end, it didn’t matter, because the record was considered a two-sided hit. Surfin’ Safari went to number 14 on the chart, while the flipside (“409”) charted at 76.

Many of the early Beach Boys songs were about surfing, which was their niche. Believe it or not, their first record label named the band and they were almost called The Surfers! Another little known fact: only their drummer, Dennis Wilson, was a surfer. Obviously, the guys could fake it for photos and seemed to know what they were singing about in their songs. 

Surfin’ Safari

Let’s go surfin’ now
Everybody’s learnin’ how
Come on and safari with me
(Come on and safari with)

Early in the mornin’ we’ll be startin’ out
Some honeys will be comin’ along
We’re loadin’ up our Woody with our boards inside
And headin’ out singin’ our song

Come on, baby, wait and see (surfin’, surfin’ safari)
Yes, I’m gonna take you surfin’ with me (surfin’, surfin’ safari)
Come along, baby, wait and see (surfin’, surfin’ safari)
Yes, I’m gonna take you surfin’ with me (surfin’, surfin’ safari)

Let’s go surfin’ now
Everybody’s learnin’ how
Come on and safari with me
(Come on and safari with)

At Huntington and Malibu, they’re shootin’ the pier
At Rincon, they’re walkin’ the nose
We’re goin’ on safari to the islands this year
So if you’re comin’, get ready to go

Come on, baby, wait and see (surfin’, surfin’ safari)
Yes, I’m gonna take you surfin’ with me (surfin’, surfin’ safari)
Come along, baby, wait and see (surfin’, surfin’ safari)
Yes, I’m gonna take you surfin’ with me (surfin’, surfin’ safari)

Let’s go surfin’ now
Everybody’s learnin’ how
Come on and safari with me
(Come on and safari with)

They’re anglin’ in Laguna in Cerro Azul
They’re kickin’ out in Doheny too
I tell you surfing’s mighty wild, it’s gettin’ bigger every day
From Hawaii to the shores of Peru

Come on, baby, wait and see (surfin’, surfin’ safari)
Yes, I’m gonna take you surfin’ with me (surfin’, surfin’ safari)
Come along, baby, wait and see (surfin’, surfin’ safari)
Yes, I’m gonna take you surfin’ with me (surfin’, surfin’ safari)

Let’s go surfin’ now
Everybody’s learnin’ how
Come on and safari with me
(Come on and safari with me)

Surfin’ safari (yeah, me)
Surfin’ safari (with me)
Surfin’ safari (yeah, me)
Surfin’ safari (with me)
Surfin’ safari (yeah, me)
Surfin’ safari (with me)
Surfin’ safari (yeah, me)