Various - "Lost Legends of Surf Guitar" 2xVinyl, LP, Mono, Compilation, 2012 (Sundazed Music)

The classic era of Surf Music is in the early 1960s and for me, it is more about the sound of the recordings than anything else.  Everything here on this excellent compilation is from small independent labels throughout the United States.   What they have in common is a sound that is very much like Joe Meek's recordings, but also you can hear the first Roxy Music album as well.  Especially with the horn sound that is similar to Andy Mackay's work with Roxy.   Of course, there's the guitar sound, which is magnificent and iconic. 

"Devil Surfer" is by Scott Engel, who a few years later will turn into Scott Walker, and that cut is great.  The orchestration that hints the big screen vision of Scott's vision for his future.  The other piece I admire is The Menn's "Ian Fleming Theme" which captures the John Barry Bond vibe, as well as the remarkable "Pray for Surf" by The Essex.  Both are produced by John Hodge.  

The great thing about this type of music is that it's rock n' roll but filtered through an Exotica aesthetic that is all about the blue ocean, or communities near the water.  Even though the recordings could have been made in the Mid-West, it still conveys a fantasy.  Sundazed does great compilations, and "Lost Legends of Surf Guitar" is an important document that one can dream and dance to.

The Raybeats - "Guitar Beat" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1981 (Don't Fall Off The Mountain)

The Raybeats were Don Christensen, Jody Harris, Pat Irwin and the late George Scott.   The music they focus on were sounds of The Shadows and The Tornados, but with the aesthetic of the No Wave era.   Since all the musicians were members of James Chance's The Contortions, or James White & The Blacks, there is a crossover of New York sophistication that reminds me a bit of The Lounge Lizards as well.   All is a very good thing because The Raybeats are terrific. 

The guitar work of Harris and Irwin are twangy, but with distortion effects that brings the picture of the sounds to another level.  For me, I adore The Shadows as well as The Tornados and there is equal respect for the guitarist Hank Marvin as well as a nod by the "Guitar Beat's producer, Martin Rushent to the outer space sounds of Joe Meek.  There have been revival bands devoted to surf/instrumental, but The Raybeats' attitude is different.  They are not here to imitate but to add their own sense of adventure with sound and vision.   If James White & The Blacks commented on the Disco medium, then The Raybeats play with the genre that is surf instrumental.    The Raybeats music is sharp, sophisticated, fun, and an eye out for the avant-garde.  Their music is a heady mixture.  

Jack Nitzsche - "The Lonely Surfer" LP, Album, Stereo, 1961 (Reprise)

More likely if one has Jack Nitzsche even in the studio while one is making a recording, there is a good chance that the record will be a masterpiece. Nitzsche was a brilliant arranger, producer, and on the classic Phil Spector recordings, the producer's right-handed man. It was his arrangements of "He's A Rebel," and "Da Doo Ron Ron" that gave it such magnificent power. "The Lonely Surfer" was Jack's first solo album, of his arrangments of various songs of that time. One can imagine "The Lonely Surfer" as a surf album, but it's surf as if it was arranged by a 19-century Russian composer. The fact is, I never heard such a sad sounding instrumental album before this one. Even an up-tempo "Baja" or "Puerto Vallarta" has a depressing aspect of exotica island music. The depth of feeling is Nitzsche's genius.

His version of "Da Doo Ron Ron," and as mentioned, he made the original arrangement, but here he slows it down that it's almost not identifiable. A sharp-suited man on the album cover, yet his eyes expose a certain hesitation or maybe even fear. There is a lot to read on this album, and it is one of my favorite records in my collection. I love all of Nitzsche's solo albums (three all together, then the soundtrack recordings, and of course production/arrangement works) and he gives any work that he's involved in a broad sense of feeling, which is unusual for a pop record of the 1960s. It's almost like he's giving the record a foot-note, giving it more depth or layer of emotion that is not yet settled. A classic Wrecking Crew era record album, but also one that I think is the best of the lot - including the Phil Spector recordings. Nitzsche was the real deal.