*** Welcome to piglix ***

Surfin' U.S.A. (song)

"Surfin' U.S.A."
Beach boys surfin' usa.PNG
Single by The Beach Boys
from the album Surfin' U.S.A.
B-side "Shut Down"
Released March 4, 1963
Format 7"
Recorded January 5, 1963
Genre Surf rock, rock and roll
Length 2:27
Label Capitol
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Nick Venet
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Ten Little Indians"
(1962)
"Surfin' U.S.A."
(1963)
"Surfer Girl"
(1963)
Endless Summer track listing
Music sample

"Surfin' U.S.A." is a song with lyrics by Brian Wilson set to the music of "Sweet Little Sixteen", written by Chuck Berry. It was first recorded by Wilson's band the Beach Boys and released as a single on March 4, 1963, then appearing as the title track to their album Surfin' U.S.A. Also produced by Wilson, the single peaked at number two in the chart of the Music Vendor trade paper (within a year renamed Record World) and at number three on the Billboard and Cash Box charts. It was backed with "Shut Down".

Billboard ranked "Surfin' U.S.A." the number 2 song of 1963. It has since become emblematic of the California Sound. The song "Surfin' U.S.A." is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.

The song features Brian Wilson's surfing-related lyrics set to the music of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen". According to Wilson,

"I was going with a girl called Judy Bowles, and her brother Jimmy was a surfer. He knew all the surfing spots. I started humming the melody to 'Sweet Little Sixteen' and I got fascinated with the fact of doing it, and I thought to myself, 'God! What about trying to put surf lyrics to 'Sweet Little Sixteen's melody? The concept was about, 'They are doing this in this city, and they're doing that in that city' So I said to Jimmy, 'Hey Jimmy, I want to do a song mentioning all the surf spots.' So he gave me a list."

In 2015, Mike Love stated that "Surfin' U.S.A." was one of many Beach Boys songs he helped write but for which he did not receive credit.

When the single was released in 1963, the record listed Brian Wilson as the sole composer although the song was published by Arc Music, Chuck Berry's publisher. Later releases, beginning with Best of The Beach Boys in 1966, listed Chuck Berry as the songwriter. Later releases list both writers although the copyright has always been owned, since 1963, by Arc Music. Under pressure from Berry's publisher, Wilson's father and manager, Murry Wilson, had given the copyright, including Brian Wilson's lyrics, to Arc Music.


...
Wikipedia

...