The Beach Boys

Released: October 1, 1962

Songwriter: Gary Usher Brian Wilson

Producer: Nick Venet

[Verse 1: The Beach Boys]
This time each year in our hometown
The county fair comes our way
Where the folks gather round to be happy and spend their day
A-here's what happened now
I soon decide that I'd take with me
The most specialest girl I knew
I had her pack us a lunch and on down the dirt road we flew

[Verse 2: County Fair Folk & Girl]
Folk: "Hurry hurry, step right up and win your girl a stuffed koala bear!"
Girl: "Aw, come on Nicky, win me a koala bear!"
Folk: "Break the balloon with a dart! Yes, you son, come up here! Win your girl a stuffed koala bear!
Girl: "Oh please, win me a koala bear!"
Folk: "Break the balloon with a dart! Come on son, step right up! Get up there, that's a boy!"

[Verse 3: The Beach Boys]
Right then I knew what I had to do
(Hurry, hurry)
Before that day was through
(Step right up)
I had to win a stuffed doggie or I'd break her poor heart in two
(Hurry, hurry)
(Win a prize)
A-let me tell you now
I passed up a chance when I walked by a booth
(Hurry, hurry)
Where you throw a dart and break a balloon
(Step right up)
I snuck by a couple more, but I had to get caught real soon
(Hurry, hurry)
(Win a prize)

[Verse 4: County Fair Folk & Girl]
Folk: "Step right up, test your strength! Come on, son, ring the bell with the hammer!"
Girl: "Aww, come on, muscles!"
Folk: "Win your girl a stuffed koala bear!"
Girl: "Ooohhh"
Folk: "Come on son, are you a man or a weakling? Yes, you, step up here and test your strength! Win your girl a stuffed koala bear!"
Girl: "Come on, baby!"
Folk: "Come on, son!"

[Verse 5: The Beach Boys]
I hit the rubber stump just as hard as I could
(Hurry, hurry)
But I didn't make it ring the bell
(Step right up)
I tried again and again, but I just didn't do so well
(Hurry, hurry)
(Win a prize)
Can you believe it now
Up walked a fellow and he tapped me on the shoulder, said
(Hurry, hurry)
"I can win your girl a prize"
(Step right up)
So he flexed all his muscles and he knocked the bell up in the sky
(Hurry, hurry)
(Win a prize)

[Verse 6: The Beach Boys & Fair County Folk & Girl]
Yeah the big strong guy knocked the bell in the sky
(Hurry, hurry)
Took my girl and the doggie away
(Step right up)
Yeah the big strong guy knocked the bell in the sky
(Folk: "Step right up son, test your strength!")
Took my girl and the doggie away
(Folk: "Come on kid, ring the bell!")
Yeah the big strong guy knocked the bell in the sky
(Girl: "Ah, goodbye, muscles, I don't need you anymore")
Took my girl and the doggie away
(Girl: "Loser!")
Yeah the big strong guy knocked the bell in the sky
(Girl: "Forget it!")

The Beach Boys are one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time and the first American pop band to reach the 50-year milestone. Their vocal harmonies are among the most unmistakable and enduring of the rock and roll era.

Formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California, by Brian Wilson, his two brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and classmate Al Jardine, the group’s first single “Surfin'” got them signed to Capitol Records and they quickly became one of the most popular and successful artists of the surf music craze of the 1960s. From 1962 to 1966, The Beach Boys scored over twenty top 40 hits in the US including the chart-toppers “I Get Around”, “Help Me Rhonda” & “Good Vibrations” along with the top 5’s “Surfin USA”, “Fun, Fun, Fun”, “California Girls”, “Barbara Ann” & “Sloop John B”. Several of the band’s singles also found top 40 success in Canada, Australia, Sweden and the UK. In 1965, de facto leader Brian Wilson suffered a mental breakdown due to the stress of writing, producing & touring combined with substance abuse issues, causing him to step down and stop traveling with the band on tour.

Inspired by producer Phil Spector and The Beatles' Rubber Soul, Brian focused on studio work, determined to keep the group relevant as the surf music scene was fading with their 1966 album Pet Sounds. Despite tension between members in the studio about this new direction, lack of faith from the record label, mixed reviews, and comparatively lukewarm reception initially in the US, the album still found massive success in the UK and earned accolades from fellow artists including The Beatles, who acknowledged that the album was their inspiration to further push the boundaries of pop music with their landmark album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Eventually Pet Sounds would be acknowledged as one of the greatest albums ever recorded by several media outlets like The Times, Mojo Magazine, The Guardian, VH1, BBC and Rolling Stone.

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Surfin’ Safari

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Surfin’ Safari (1962)

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