The Beach Boys - Surfin' USA

The ultimate pressings of the Beach Boys discography from Analogue Productions!

Original mono mix created in 1963 under Brian Wilson's supervision

One of 10 titles featuring 33 1/3 mono and stereo remastered editions: Surfin' USA, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down Vol. 2, All Summer Long, Today!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), Beach Boys Party!, Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile

Audio production — Mark Linett

For Brother Records — Elliott Lott

Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, most from the original master tapes or best sources available

Lacquer plating by Gary Salstrom and 180-gram vinyl pressing by Quality Record Pressings!

"These are the best sounding and best-looking versions of the Beach Boys records that have ever been produced. We want everything about these to be better than the original." — Chad Kassem, owner and CEO, Acoustic Sounds

"These reissues restore whatever was really on the tapes — and given who was involved and where they were recorded, you can be sure the bass heard on these reissues was not added by Kevin Gray. ... As for the quality of these reissues, it's quite clear that, whether or not you like the sonic results, Analogue Productions sets the reissue standard. The company insists upon using analog master tapes (where available), not analog copies, it uses the best available artwork, and packages in 'Tip-on'^TM jackets. It masters where the tapes are located using Kevin Gray in California, Ryan K. Smith in New York and Willem Makkee in Germany." — Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com

"The sound is rich in detail, yet one of its key strengths is how "mellow and romantic" it sounds. While listening to these records, I was never fatigued. ... the AP Beach Boys significantly betters the original U.S. Capitol pressings that I've heard, with considerably more separation, detail, fullness and presence." — Jeff Wilson, The Absolute Sound, October 2015

"What I can say is that Kevin Gray has been able to extract every last bit of information from whatever tape is in the box, and present it in a way that is pleasing and natural to the ear. ... in my opinion, the Analogue Productions pressings are now THE definitive issue of each Beach Boys album, and will be my reference copies until if and when something better comes along — which may be never." — Lee Dempsey, Endless Summer Quarterly, Summer 2015 Edition

"Here you have a choice between mono and stereo versions. I think the mono version has it all over the stereo version, which, while not hard left/right like early Beatles albums, still sounds as if the intent was to combine the elements to create a mono mix. The mono mix holds together far better in every way — particularly the way in which Dennis's drums are mixed and in the vocal integrity. ... Both the mono and stereo reissues sound open, transparent and full frequency." — Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com. Read the whole review here.

To meet the standards of Analogue Productions, our Beach Boys album reissues had a mission to achieve: Present the band's music the way that Brian Wilson — famed co-founder, songwriter and arranger — intended. Mono mixes created under Wilson’s supervision were how the surf rockin’ California crew rose to fame! And we’ve got ‘em!

For the early part of the Beach Boys career, all of their singles were mixed and mastered and released only in the mono format — they didn't release a single in stereo until 1968. In those days, hits were made on AM radio in mono. And the mono of those times worked well for Wilson, who suffers from partial deafness. Still, apart from Surfin' Safari, which was mono only, the Beach Boys did turn in stereo masters on all of their early albums up until 1965. The Beach Boys Today! was the first LP for which they only delivered a mono master.

The stereo editions of Surfin' USA, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down Vol. 2, All Summer Long, Beach Boys Christmas Album and Beach Boys Concert were all mixed in stereo by their own preferred engineer, Chuck Britz, ostensibly under the group's supervision.

"Brian may or may not have been present for those mixing sessions - evidence suggests that he trusted Chuck's skills enough to let him prepare those mixes on his own - but the group held onto their multitrack tapes and delivered stereo masters to Capitol, rather than allowing Capitol to prepare their own stereo versions. Later, when Brian was only delivering mono masters, Capitol would prepare the Duophonic pseudo stereo editions for the stereo market," says Alan Boyd, producer and Beach Boys' archivist.

All of the newer stereo mixes on these remastered albums (The Beach Boys Today!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), The Beach Boys' Party, Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile) were done by Mark Linett on behalf of the Beach Boys. Still, bottom line, the mono mixes were where Brian Wilson paid intense attention, and the dedication paid off!

We’ve taken 10 of the most classic, best-sounding Beach Boy titles ever and restored them to their mono glory!

But there’s no disputiing that the close harmonies and one-of-a-kind rhythms of hits like “Surfer Girl,” “In My Room,” “Little Deuce Coupe” and more lend themseleves naturally to stereo. So we’ve got your 2-channel needs covered with prime stereo mix versions as well. 

Mastered by Kevin Gray, most from the original master tapes, and plated and pressed by Quality Record Pressings, the finest LP pressing facility in the world, these are awesome recordings to experience. And the look of each album befits its sonic superiority! Presented in "old school" Stoughton tip-on jackets, these time honored favorites shine brighter than the originals!

Surfin' USA was the Beach Boys' real breakthough album, showing Brian Wilson asserting himself in the studio as both a premier songwriter and arranger.

Besides the hit title track and its popular drag-racing flip side ("Shut Down"), AllMusic.com notes that Surfin' USA has a lovely, heartbreaking ballad ("Lonely Sea") and a couple of strong Brian Wilson originals ("The Noble Surfer" and "Farmer's Daughter").

"There are also a surprisingly high quotient of instrumentals (five) that demonstrate that ... the Beach Boys could play respectably gutsy surf rock as a self-contained unit. Indeed, the album as a whole is the best they would make, prior to the late '60s, as a band that played most of their instruments, rather than as a vehicle for Brian Wilson's ideas. The LP was a huge hit, vital to launching surf music as a national craze, and one of the few truly strong records to be recorded by a self-contained American rock band prior to the British Invasion." — AllMusic.com

 

1. Surfin’ U.S.A.

2. Farmer’s Daughter

3. Misirlou

4. Stoked

5. Lonely Sea

6. Shut Down

7. Noble Surfer

8. Honky Tonk

9. Lana

10. Surf Jam

11. Let’s Go Trippin’

12. Finders Keepers

Customer Reviews (4.71 Stars) 7 person(s) rated this product.

Cool!!!! posted on 12/20/2021 5 Stars Reviewer: Brian

POW! posted on 01/11/2015 5 Stars Reviewer: Mark Fig This is how you make a record!

Punchy Surf Rock! posted on 01/03/2015 5 Stars Reviewer: Wade Burrow AP's reissue of Surfin' USA sounds great. "Farmers Daughter" is very punchy and clear. "Stoked" the guitar is punchy and clear despite the good amount of reverb on the guitar. "The Lonely Sea" is mesmerizing. Brian's voice just puts you in a trance and shoots off of the speakers. "Lana" is punchy and clean. This pressing is worth $30 no doubt. Mid 60's capitol records just don't sound this good. Kevin really did great on the tracks. "Surfin' USA" and "Shut Down" is not quite on par with the sound quality of the other tracks but they still sound good. There is punchy guitars, Brian's Voice centered up on "Lonley Sea", deep punchy bass on a good amount tracks. I'm really enjoying this release.

wow posted on 01/02/2015 5 Stars wow what i job kevin gray has dun and qrp have have pressed this perfectly i am very hard to impress but i have to say from the fist note of surfin u.s.a i knew this was special

Write a review and let people know what you think of this product OR just rate it.