Surfin' Bird

"Surfin' Bird"
Cover of the 1995 re-issue of the album that featured the single
Single by The Trashmen
from the album Surfin' Bird
A-side	Surfin' Bird
B-side	"King of the Surf"
Released	November 13, 1963 (US) February 20, 1964 (Canada)
Format	7"
Recorded	1963
Genre	Surf rock, garage rock, protopunk, novelty
Length	2:24 2:20 (Canada)
Label	Garrett (distributed by Soma), Apex (Canada)
Writer(s)	Al Frazier Carl White Sonny Harris Turner Wilson Jr.
Producer(s)	Jack Bates
The Trashmen singles chronology
- "Surfin' Bird" (1963) "Bird Dance Beat" (1964)

"Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by the American surf rock band The Trashmen, and it is also the name of the album that featured this hit single. It was released in 1963 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1] It is a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons: "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's the Word",^[2] which was influenced by Red Prysock's "What's the word? Thunderbird!"^[3]

History

The Rivingtons followed up their 1962 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" with the similar "The Bird's the Word" in 1963. The Trashmen had not heard this version but saw a band called The Sorensen Brothers playing it.^[2] They decided to play the song that night at their own gig. During this first performance, drummer and vocalist Steve Wahrer stopped playing and ad-libbed the "Surfin' Bird" middle section.^[2] Despite not knowing "The Bird's the Word" was a Rivingtons song, the similarity to "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" was obvious and The Trashmen added the chorus to the end of their new track.

A local disc jockey, Bill Diehl, was at the gig and convinced the band to record the track.^[2] It was recorded at Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis. Diehl entered it into a local battle of the bands competition and it won. It was then sent to a battle of the bands competition in Chicago where it also won.^[2] This led to the group being signed to Garrett Records with the single being quickly released. It reportedly sold 30,000 copies in its first weekend^[2] before going on to national success, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wahrer was originally credited as the song's writer, but that was changed to the Rivingtons (Al Frazier, Carl White, Sonny Harris, and Turner Wilson Jr.) after the group successfully sued The Trashmen for plagiarism. There is apparently no truth to the urban legend which circulated in the late 1960s that the song had been written by Leonard Bernstein to show his disdain for rock'n'roll by proving that any song could become a hit.

Album track listing

Side 1

1. "Surfin' Bird" (Al Frazier / Sonny Harris / Carl White / Turner Wilson) - 2:23
2. "King of the Surf" (Larry LaPole) - 2:30
3. "Henrietta" (2:35)
4. "Miserlou" (Milton Leeds / Nicholas Roubanis / Bob Russell / Fred Wise) - 2:08
5. "Malagueña" (Ernesto Lecuona) - 2:35
6. "It's So Easy" (Buddy Holly / Norman Petty) - 2:06

Side 2

1. "Tube City" (Steve Wahrer) - 3:23
2. "My Woodie" (Larry LaPole) -1:55
3. "Bird Bath" (Dan Darnold / Dal Winslow) - 2:37
4. "Kuk" (Bob Demmon / Rich Fifield / Jim Gallagher / Dennis Lindsey) - 2:05
5. "Money (That's What I Want)" (Janie Bradford / Berry Gordy, Jr.) - 3:12
6. "Sleeper" (Larry LaPole) - 2:33

Bonus tracks (CD)

1. "Surfin' Bird [Demo Version]"
2. "Bird Dance Beat [Demo Version]"
3. "Walkin' My Baby"
4. "Dancin' with Santa"

Chart performance

Covers

• "Surfin' Bird" was instrumentally covered by The Centurions on their 1963 album Surfers' Pajama Party.
• "Surfin' Bird" was covered by the Ramones on their 1977 album Rocket to Russia.
• "Surfin' Bird" was covered by The Queers on their 1994 cover album of Ramones' album Rocket to Russia.
• "Surfin' Bird" was covered by Los Shain's Peruvian Band.
• "Surfin' Bird" was also covered by The Cramps on their 1978 debut single on Vengeance Records; it also appeared on their 1979 album Gravest Hits and on their 1983 compilation album Off the Bone.
• "Surfin' Bird" was covered by the Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo on the maxi single "The Bird" in 1993.
• Sodom covered the song on their 2001 album M-16.
• Paul Reubens (as Pee-wee Herman) covered the song on the soundtrack of the film Back to the Beach.
• Silverchair covered the song on their 1997 single The Door.
• Orbital sampled heavily from the original version on "Tension" from their 2001 album The Altogether.

Media portrayal

Family Guy

In the 2008 Family Guy episode "I Dream of Jesus", Peter Griffin can't stop singing and dancing to the song, much to his family's annoyance. Following the first showing of the episode in the UK in April 2009, "Surfin' Bird" entered the singles chart for the first time (having failed to chart when first released there in 1964), reaching its peak position of #3 by December 2010.^[6] It has also brought almost nine million viewers to hear the song on YouTube.^[7]

References

External links

• Biography and discography of The Trashmen
• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
• surfin' bird references
• Music video on YouTube.
• on YouTube.