Best Albums !: Beach Boys. Surfin' USA (1963)

Surfin' USA is the second album released by The Beach Boys and was released in early 1963. This was the group's second album to be credited with production from Capitol's Nick Venet, Capitol Records' representative for Artists and Repertoire.

Surfin' USA is notable for breaking The Beach Boys' career wide open with its title track, and for Brian Wilson's increasing prowess in songwriting, as well as vocal arrangement. The fuller-sounding vocals were achieved simply by doubling them, creating The Beach Boys' own unique sound. As with Surfin' Safari, some have speculated that it was not Nick Venet, the officially-listed producer, but Brian who produced Surfin' USA.

What is also interesting about this particular album is that five of its twelve tracks are surf instrumentals, "Stoked" being Brian Wilson's first of many instrumental songs he'd composed over the years for The Beach Boys. In addition, "Surf Jam" marks the first time Carl Wilson, aged 16 at the time, gets a songwriting credit.

While the title track of the album was the center of attention (with its B-side "Shut Down" receiving some notice in the process), there were other highlights to be found. "Farmer's Daughter", the first of many Brian Wilson falsetto lead vocals, was affecting enough that Fleetwood Mac covered it live in 1980, while "Lonely Sea" (an outtake from the Surfin' Safari sessions and the first song Wilson wrote with Gary Usher) is the earliest glimpse we have of Brian Wilson's melancholic side. "Lana" and "Finders Keepers" (with its Four Seasons-esque hook) are also acclaimed tracks from Surfin' USA.

The title track, "Surfin' USA", became The Beach Boys' first big hit in the US and took its parent album into gold record status and the Top 10, peaking at #2. In 1965, upon re-release in the UK, Surfin' USA would reach #17. The song so closely resembled Chuck Berry's Sweet Little Sixteen that the threat of a lawsuit gave Berry cowriting credit on the album.

The song "Surfin' USA" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.

The photograph that adorns the front sleeve was taken by artist/photographer/surfer John Severson during January 1960, showing California-based waverider Leslie Williams riding the winter swell at Sunset Beach in Hawaii. Intended for the front cover of Severson's legendary 'Surfer' magazine, the original negative was damaged during the color separation process and never appeared in print, until Capitol Records requested a suitable photograph for the new Beach Boys album. Severson fixed the damaged image and sold it to Capitol