Wipe Out / The Surfaris Play

Young even by surf band standards (the lead guitarist was 15), The Surfaris are, for me, the most consistently exciting, energetic and infectious act in the instrumental branch of the genre. Their one famous hit, the basic but lively 'Wipe Out' leads off this twofer, but the action never lets up. The Surfaris cover a lot of material better known by other artists here, but they don't worry about staying close to the originals. The results are impressive. They turn 'Memphis Tennessee', for example, from a great r&b song into a great rock and roll instrumental. While it's recognisable as the same composition, they emphasise different aspects of it. Where they score heavily over other bands is in the drum department, with Ron Wilson exhibiting all the power of a sports car. No wonder Keith Moon was a fan. There are occasional songs and one slow number, 'Blue Surf', but they are rare exceptions. Infectious stuff.

After going to a local concert and listening to some golden oldies from the past I decided I just must have a copy of the wipeout single.I found the original artists (a group of what looked like school kids), and the album so I bought it.The first track is wipeout so that was a great start to the album but while listening to the other tracks, a lot of which are instrumental, I found I was really enjoying it. Not wanting to go into individual tracks but the music was lively, refreshing and great to listen to.In summary a little like the Beach Boys on speed.

Being able to buy, no messing, an album as old as this is brilliant, previously I had to scour junk shops looking for old LP records. Tracking down music like this on Amazon is so easy, web pages set out clearly and so much choice. congrats.

Good surfing music

A great two-for-one!! Although the group will be best remembered as a one-hit-wonder,this double set reveals musicianship above the average! Highly commended!

excellent

This CD is the first 2 vinyl albums released by the surfaris, although the first album, apart from the hit,"Wipe out", and the B side,"Surfer Joe" , is actually by a group called "The challengers" This contains excellent covers of instrumental hits, such as "Green Onions", and Walk don't run". The arrangements are excellent, but are not too far removed from the originals. The 2nd album is all the Surfaris, including 4 of their own compositions. The "Beach boys" are undisputed kings of surfing music with harmonies, but the surfaris are undisputed kings of instrumental surfing music. Their version of "Misirlou" is the best of numerous renditions of this song(made famous by Dick Dale). This is one of my favourite albums, and is an excellent buy if you like late 50s and early 60s pop.