A NIGHT AT THE SURF CONCERT

5-2-07
By Corky Carroll

The columns last week and the week before on surf movies seem to have been popular because I am having a hard time answering all the emails.  There were so many surf movies that I just listed the ones that I thought to be important or exceptionally well done for that time period.  Naturally I could not list them all.  But I was reminded about each and every one via the emails starting out with the always popular, “Hey, what about……. Insert movie name of your choice???”    I only got up to about 1966 and already I am swimming in controversy.  Just another day in paradise I guess.  I am planning on continuing the movie list soon so stay tuned so you too can write me to let me know about the big one I forgot about or left out because I am a know nothing geek with no functioning brain cells left, as has been suggested a few or more times. 

It was also suggested that I do a list of favorite surf tunes.  Oh yeah, this is a real can of the wormiest of worms for sure.  Taking that in consideration and against my better judgment I nonetheless am gonna go with the idea and offer up what I consider a short list of my own personal favorite surf tunes ever.  This is a hard one because there are the classic surf instrumentals and then there are vocal surf songs such as the Beach Boys stuff.  But, hard or not here goes.

1.     MISERLOU by Dick Dale.  My personal choice for the best surf tune ever written and performed.  Dick Dale's signature work.  When this came out as a 45 rpm single I wore out about thirty copies playing it over and over and over.  When it was used as  the main song for the movie Pulp Fiction it gave Dick Dale a huge rebirth in the music business and garnered him a fan base that he never had before.  He is the “King of the Surf Guitar.”

2.     PIPELINE SEQUENCE by Honk.  This was part of the fantastic soundtrack done by the best band to ever come out of Laguna Beach, California.  Also, in my opinion one of the best bands ever in the history of the universe.  The drum solo by Tris Imboyden is historical and the whole piece is perfect.  If you ever get a chance to see one of the reunion concerts DO IT.  You will not be sorry.  

 
3.     WALK DON'T RUN by the Ventures.  The Ventures were the state of the art electric guitar surf band of the early sixties and still tour today.  I got to do a few shows as their opening act a few years ago on a tour of Texas and it was a privilege to hear the classics of surf tunes up close and personal.  Walk Don't Run was their “biggie.”

4.     PIPELINE by the Chantays.  What can I say about this one?  It is the all time cool surf instrumental.  More mellow than most of the real edgy surf instrumentals yet solid and powerful.  I have heard many versions of this song including an acoustic version done by a couple members of the Chantays and it is a tune that seems to survive just about any approach very well.

5.     SURFIN' USA by the Beach Boys.  This wasn't their surf tune but it was the first one that really set the tone for their future bulk of amazing music.  Taken from a Chuck Berry song and filled with classic vocal harmonies and counterpoint it would have to list as the classic Beach Boys surf song.  It almost made me forget their first song song which was titled “Surfin'.”  I, and I think just about everybody that surfed, gagged when that one came out.  But they did redeem themselves big time and obviously became one of the biggest and most important bands of those times.

6.     OCEANIA by Chris Darrow.  Probably most of you have not heard this one but none the less I am putting it here because it is one instrumental that I feel really captures the feeling of paddling out on a beautiful sunny afternoon and dropping into that first smooth glassy wave.  I once had a conversation with Jackson Browne about surf music and his take was that surf music was “anything that makes you feel like surfing.”  Well this one makes me feel like surfing and if you don't know about Chris Darrow you should.

7.     THEME FROM PETER GUNN by Henry Mancini.  What would the old surf films have been without this one?   Simply a classic.  
That's all I have room for.  I know there are zillions of others but these are some of my favs.

 

 

THE DREADED BOLSA BUG

The Wave ~ 5-2-07
By Corky Carroll

I get tons of really interesting email.  A week or so ago I got one from a pal of mine who lives in Seal Beach named Duke Pullman.  Duke surfs Bolsa Chica quite a bit and sent me the following email about the forever-bloodthirsty Bolsa Bug.

“Hey Corky, did you see the article in the Register about the Bolsa Bug?  Having surfed in local waters since the hot-water pipe at the cliffs I think nothing strikes more fear in the locals than this "Vampire from the Wetlands."  Feared and respected more than Jellyfish or giant man-eating Clams, these beach bombers regularly terrorize unsuspecting gremmies & tourist.  Once, after donating about a quart of blood to one, while still in pain, I gazed north toward Jack-in-the-box and I could see an army of these B-52's flying back-and-forth from the wetlands.

The funniest part for locals was watching the "inlanders" get bit.  Once these three Asian dudes in Bun huggers were laid-out on a hot summer day. Within minutes, we spotted a giant gnarly Bolsa Bug land between the shoulder blades of the dude in the middle. In about 8-seconds this dude screamed-out in Japanese and all three started waving their beach towels, all I understood was "Godzilla".

If bitten, the only known antidote is the Taquito sauce from Tastee Freeze.”

Your Buddy,
Duke,  Seal Beach

At the time I got this I wasn't real sure what he was talking about and I hadn't seen the article in the Outdoors section of the paper.  So I emailed him back asking him what he was talking about and also if it was ok for me to use his email in the column.  I like the way he tells the story and didn't want to mess it up by putting it into my own words.   I just got this one back from him.

“Hey Corky;  Dude, The Bolsa Bug is those big gnarly black horse flies that regularly patrol Bolsa looking for a host blood donor. I'm sure a few of the groms in your surf camp trying to catch a few zzzz's after a session have been victimized.
These dudes look like regular horse flies on steroids. Some days, they are thicker than pigeons; chicks and kids hate them!  I've been bitten so many times, I'm now impervious, and I guess I'm so old they prefer young, fresh Hemoglobin. These dudes are really intelligent too; I've only seen one killed in fifty years. This dude was lying out with his wetsuit pulled down around his waist and a bolsa bug landed on his back, his buddy yelled out, "Bolsa Bomber, don't move" he grabbed a half-eaten bag of Doritos, twisted the end and whack, smashed the bomber in mid-transfusion.

The Register had a picture (rendering) and an article about the "Tabanus Punctifer" in its "Edge of Nature" series, check-out this paragraph, "The males' eyes are enormous, wrapping around to meet at the back of the head, giving these creatures a Cyclopean look".

It's the females that terrorize Bolsa, flying blood banks. (Reminds me of my first wife)

Yeah Dude, you can use any of my stuff if it's worthy, I was at Barnes & Noble at Marina Pacifica the other day doing research on wasting time and was in the Surf Section and picked-up something like, "The Encyclopedia of Surfing” There is a picture of you in there when you’re about 16, you gotta check it out!”

Later, Duke

Oh yeah.  Now that I know what he was talking about I will back that up all the way.  It used to be even worse years ago before they put in Bolsa Chica State Park and parking lots and bathrooms with hot showers and stuff.  When it was still Tin Can Beach clouds of those suckers, and suckers is the perfect term of them too, used to darken the sky. I remember one day I thought there was an eclipse going on or somethin'.   It got totally dark and then all of a sudden you could hear this low droning sound.  Everybody sat silent on their boards in the lineup trying to figure out what it was.  Then all of a sudden we were attacked by squadrons of those things dive-bombing us like ships in Pearl Harbor.  Holy Humanity.  It was Tora Tora Tora Tuesday.   I was severely damaged and the horrifying memory of that day still lives on in the dark reaches of my black memories.  Eeeeeee.   Anyway, thanks to Duke I know that I am going to have nightmares.