409 (song)

"409" is a song written by Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Gary Usher for the American rock and roll band, The Beach Boys. The song features Mike Love singing lead vocals. It was released on their 1962 album, Surfin' Safari and it was also released later on their 1963 album, Little Deuce Coupe. It was also released as a single, with the A-side of the single being "Surfin' Safari". The single peaked at number fourteen in the United States, but it never charted in the United Kingdom.

The song was originally credited to just Wilson and Usher. Mike Love's name was added as a result of a lawsuit filed by him against Wilson in the 1990s.

Although The Beach Boys recorded over a dozen songs that were written about or had strong references to cars, only a few of them would become well-known songs, some of these included "Shut Down", "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Fun, Fun, Fun".

[edit] Background information

The "409" of the song is the Chevrolet 409, a 409 cubic inch W-series V8 engine popular with "hot rodders" of the time. Gary Usher, who wrote the majority of the lyrics for the song dreamed at that time of one day owning a Chevrolet 409. Ironically the engine noises heard at the beginning of the song were of Usher's Chevrolet 348, the W-series predecessor to the 409.

[edit] Musicians

Mike Love - lead vocals
David Marks - guitar
Brian Wilson - bass guitar, vocals
Carl Wilson - lead guitar, vocals
Dennis Wilson - drums

[edit] See also

Surfin' Safari Track Listing
Surfin' Safari \| County Fair \| Ten Little Indians \| Chug-A-Lug \| Little Girl (You're My Miss America) 409 \| Surfin' \| Heads You Win - Tails I Lose \| Summertime Blues \| Cuckoo Clock Moon Dawg \| The Shift