Some dates are carved into the stone of rock music’s long and storied history; it’s Elvis Presley’s “rubber legs” making an appearance in 1954 and Pete Townshend’s closing solo at Woodstock, 1969. However, it’s often other, lesser known, dates which often define the times and one such evening occurred thirty years ago in Southern California. A once-in-a-generation gathering of surf rock veterans, along with a host of revivalists, convened to celebrate surf rock. Thankfully, the tapes were rolling that night and the results now get released as The Legends Of Surf Guitar – Recorded Live At The Lighthouse April 1, 1995, a reverb-soaked, surf-inducing, celebration of the genre that sounds as good as the day it was recorded.

Thanks to college radio and Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction flick, 1995 became ripe for a surf revival, and in an amazing piece of serendipity, this gig at the iconic Lighthouse Café, Hermosa Beach, was poised to ride the crest of the revivalist wave. But let’s face it; there’s a reason why surf music sounded (and continues to) sound so fresh and exciting and that cause can be found in the album’s opening song ‘Lanky Bones’. In terms of energy it pretty much smokes anything that was released at the time, and like much surf rock, it demands that you move your body. This isn’t music that you put on as background music, rather it alters the listener’s physiology and I dare you to sit still when the riff of ‘Joyful Blues’ kicks in, it’s darn near impossible.

Bringing together legendary names from both the original scene of the 1960s, along with major players from the 1980s revival, means this album reads like a who’s who of surf music. Names such as The Chantays, The Surfaris, and Davie Allan & The Arrows will be familiar to readers of The Midlands Rocks, and when they take to the stage something very magical happens, as evidenced by the latter’s thunderous coupling of ‘Peter Gunn’ with ‘Baby Elephant Walk’. Along with tunes given the surf treatment (The Shadows’ ‘Apache’), there’s plenty of classic tracks (‘Pipeline’) to keep traditionalists happy.

When surf first crashed onto the scene, a split occurred between the (original) instrumental form as pioneered by Dick Dale and the (later) vocalised version popularised by the Beach Boys. Purists have long argued that surf music by definition is instrumental and that’s the ethos to which this record sticks, and in a way this record “speaks” in a way that vocal music never could. You feel that words would somehow detract from the evocative nature of this sound. That reverb-heavy, twangy, “wet” guitar sounds exactly like an ocean just dying to be surfed, while the band as a whole conjures images of burning, golden sand beneath a bruised coloured sky and I guarantee that this album will have you on the next flight out to Hermosa Beach.

This release is testament to surf music’s enduring popularity; not only did it inspire punk (The Ramones covered ‘Surfin’ Bird) and psychobilly (The Cramps also wrestled with ‘Surfin’ Bird’), but even thrash metal bands such as Anthrax muscled in on the action with a cover of ‘Pipeline’, while the scene as a whole is currently going under a resurgence thanks to South Korea’s Say Sue Me. But if you want to get a taste of that original magic played by some of the original propagators, you need look no further than this nifty LP.

• The Legends Of Surf Guitar – Recorded Live At The Lighthouse April 1, 1995 is released via Oglio Records on 4th July 2025.

Track List:

1. Lanky Bones *
2. Andele *
3. Windshield Wiper *
4. Joyful Blues *
5. Apache *
6. Tally Ho *
7. Armor Of Light *
8. Kami Kaze *
9. Squad Car *
10. Mr. Moto *
11. Peter Gunn/Baby Elephant Walk **
12. Blues Theme **
13. Killer Dana ***
14. Crystal T ***
15. Pipeline ***
16. Green Room ***
17. Surf Rider ****
18. Happy Gremmie ****
19. Curl Rider *****
20. Rumble At Waikiki ******
21. Geronimo ******
22. Baja *******
23. Movin’ *******
24. Hound Doggin’ *******
25. Wipe ********

* Paul Johnson & The Packards

** Davie Allan (Davie Allan & The Arrows

*** The Chantays

**** Jim Masoner (The Lively Ones)

***** Bob Dalley (The Surf Raiders)

****** John Blair (Jon & The Nightriders)

******* Bob Demmon (Astronauts)

******** Jim Pash (Surfaris)