Endless Summer

A celebration of Beach Boys Covers and Soundalikes. By Kingsley Abbott

It was in the A-D rack in your friendly record shop that you found the great triumvirate of 60s groups: The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Byrds. These three acts were probably directly responsible for more covers and soundalike recordings than all of the rest of the acts put together. It was The Beach Boys who had the earliest release of any of the acts in recognisable form with Surfin’, in 1961, although it was not until summer 1963 that they really got a toehold on the British charts with Surfin’ USA, when it snuck into the Top 30 for a couple of weeks. It was enough, however, to catch the ear of British musicians, who began a love affair with the group’s vocal harmonies and summery imagery that continues to this day.

Any chart success, especially in the 50s and 60s, begat cover versions and attempts to cash in with soundalike recordings, and The Beach Boys’ hits spawned immediate action in the US with a plethora of major and cheap label copies. Many of the early ones were of particularly dubious quality. At least, though, a good proportion of Stateside buyers could readily relate to the surf and drag race subject matter, and had a passing knowledge of Hurache sandals, surfer’s knots, Naugahyde bucket seats and pink slips.

Here in the UK, by …

by Kingsley Abbott
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