Surf Music: Post-War California Dreaming
- Music History Hall
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Surf Music
The American Dream was alive and well in 1960s Southern California amid the rise of surf culture. California had advantages over other states, as it boasted many jobs in the defense and tech industries and gorgeous sunny weather.
Surfing was invented in Hawaii and brought over to California in the early 1900s. It received a boost in the 1950s due to the teenage-focused culture. The first surf shop in Southern California where you could buy a surfboard and surf the same day was opened in Dana Point, California, in 1954 by surfboard shaper, Hobie Alter.
The California coast was the epicenter of California cool, and the lifestyle centered around the beach and surfing. Surfing in the 1960s was a form of breaking free from a somewhat rigid society. Surfing was often not just a hobby, but a way of life. There was a sacredness to the sport. It was a time when surfing was slower and everyone rode long boards.
The first type of surf music was instrumental. The music was played on electric guitars with a lot of reverberation and sounded like waves crashing. Dick Dale was a boy from New Jersey who moved to California in high school and fell in love with surfing. His big hit, Miserlou, in 1962 gained national attention.
Surf Music exploded with the arrival of The Beach Boys. Their music combined electric guitars with beautiful harmonies and teenage lyrics about surfing, cars, and girls. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys pushed the music forward with intricate harmonies and complicated instrumental and vocal arrangements.
