Surfin'/ Surfin' Safari

Originally released on Candix 331. This track was the first Beach Boys appearance on the Bilozoard Hot 100, though it made little impression at the time except on the West Coast. The single had a tortured early release history, with some controversy about exactly what issue was released when. Apparently, Candix 331 was the first Candix solo release, in early December 1961. This was followed by a release on X 301, also by Candix as a result of a convoluted distribution situation. Then, Candix merged with several other small west coast labels (Pacific and Era), and re-released the single as Candix 301 (to align numbers with X 301). Later, when the single became popular along the Coast, the single was released again with the phrase "Distributed by ERA" on the label. This latter is apparently the most common copy.\r\n

ERA Records had an LP's worth of early Beach Boys recordings that were never released until they put out an album of that material in 1969. The version of "Surfin' Safari" on the flip side of this 1970's reissue is from those earlier sessions, and is quite different from the familiar version they did for Capitol a few months later. Not only is the arrangement different, but the lyrics are as well. It's quite a treat to hear!