Customer Reviews

Lost Legends of Surf Guitar 1: Big Noise From

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I think of all the times I've run across what I call "The Lost Syndrome," ie compilations of lost music by forgotten bands. These compilations often consist of mediocre garage bands performing forgettable tunes, lost tracks by legendary bands who probably wish the songs could stay lost, or so-so live covers of classic tunes. There might be a track or two of gems, but the bulk of these collections are fool's gold!

However, you do come across the occasional exception.

The first volume of "Lost Legends of Surf Guitar" is the most amazing exception to the "Lost Syndrome." I'm a surf music admirer who is approaching the cusp of being a rabid surf music fanatic, and have heard other "Lost Surf Music" collections with tepid covers of Miserlou, Pipeline and the likes. This collection is such a stark contrast. Sundazed Studios have produced a clean sweep of 20 surf guitar tunes that are all excellent!

You see a few familar names like The Pyramids, The Centurions, and The Original Surfaris ("original" as compared to The Surfaris that surf music aficionados are familiar with---the CD's liner notes give a brief explanation of the legal battle between two bands who used the same name). But the most surprising treasures are the way-rad tunes by obscure groups who are forgotten by all but the ultra-surf fanaticos!

The tune that stole me is "The Jester" by...The Jesters! The Jesters begin the tune with a cackling giggle ala "Wipe-Out" before going into an exotic guitar tune that has mix of melody and that "Super-Sleuth" mood that you would hear in surf classics like "Mr. Moto."

You really get a fantastic variety of songs here from the Halloween essence of "Cemetary Stomp" by "The Essex" to the peppy "El Gato" by The Chandelle's to The Royal Coachmen's moody "Repeating." The sharp sound quality on these tunes is every bit as surprising as the quality of the music itself!

While I would like to sum up "Lost Legends" with an articulate conclusion, the only way I can do it justice is to exclaim "BUY THIS CD!" Seriously, this is absolutely the finest compilation of surf music I have ever seen, and I cannot remember the last time I was this pleasantly surprised to find an exception to "Lost Syndrome!" The producers of this album get my highest fanboy salute!

The liner notes to this CD give the best definition of surf music that I have ever read. To quote, "The lilt of Hawaiian music and the flavor of flamenco guitar would be complemented by...pre-Motown rhythm and blues, West Coast cool jazz and rockabilly instrumentals." In addition to the liner notes, great care went into the selection of songs and the quality of the sound. "Cemetary Stomp" by the Essex and "The Jester" by the Jesters come close to being novelty songs, but they are also among my personal favorites. "Contact" by the Pyramids and "Surf's Up" by the Original Surfaris are two outstanding surf instrumentals. With twenty songs, clocking in around forty-five minutes, my only complaint would be that Sundazed Records didn't include more obscure and unreleased songs in this classic compilation.

Sundazed has made a name for itself by specializing in re-releasing vintage 45s from the 1960s, and they've really struck gold with the "Lost Legends of Surf Guitar" collection. All three volumes are simply brilliant, and will leave you salivating for more. Unfortunately, some of the artists on this collection are so rare that this is pretty much all you can find!

Ever since Quentin Tarantino put Dick Dale's "Miserlou" on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, Surf Guitar has experienced a bit of a revival. But most of the contemporary bands lack a certain feeling in their music. It takes more than just heavy reverb to make it true surf guitar. "Lost Legends" is the genre at its best. The tracks are almost exclusively from the early 60s, from 1961-1964. The music is still barely divorced from its R&B roots, with a number of other influences mixed in, including Latin guitar and there are even some hints of Middle Eastern.

Five minutes is all it will take to get you hooked. Pretty soon you'll find yourself scouring the garage sales of Southern California, desperately trying to find some original pressings on vinyl. Hang ten!

.........my title says it all. Great stuff here by some of the lesser knowns. But great nevertheless. If you like surf music, get this. I probably have over 70 CD's of surf music and this is one of the best. 'Nuff said.

This is excellent collection of songs. The songs are very lively and entertaining. The most stunning thing about this CD is the reproduction quality. A lot of the songs sound like like they were just recently recorded, the audio is that good. You can hear the big influence Dick Dale had with other musicians on this CD. Their second CD "lost legends of surf guitar 2" has less surf oriented tunes with more hot rod songs, it makes me wonder if I should bother buying the third CD of this collection. The pyramids had one of the top surf tunes in "penetration" but the two pyramid tunes on here just sound like copies of that tune with the same minor sounding desending riff. This is an exciting collection of songs for all surf music fans. I also recommend their second CD even though it has hot-rod tunes.

If you like treble, vibrato, and drums, you'll love Lost Legends of the Surf Guitar. While there are no legends prominent of this disc, there is plenty of great surf music. I love the Ventures music, and this album has plenty of stuff along their vein. Simply put, BUY THIS DISC! Guitars, guitars, guitars!!!! Great stuff.

I do not know all the inside info on all those obscure bands that hit the surf in California in the (esp. early) 60s. But I do know a lot about other music, Classical, Jazz, 70s & 80s disco, or in other words, the sound of good stuff! This is! The Cowabunga 4 CD set to me seemed unbeatable. Until this issue by Sundazed records came out. What an absolute GREAT sound the surf music is! Guitars, slow or rough, the melody, it truly captures the unspeakable beauty and excitement of surfing in the Pacific!
Loaded with info, the booklet is a wealth of information about all those bands you do not know the names of. Now you do, and you can check them out on individual albums if you want. Go for this set, all 4 of them! And check out the Rare Surf volumes 1-2-3 too!
Conclusion: 60s surf to me is the coolest, greatest sound around!

I bought these CD second, even though it was the first one released. Again I really enjoyed it as well, some great stuff here. Here you'll find Jim Messina(pre-Loggins & Messina)with his group the Jesters.Also a couple of great songs by a group called the Chandelles(El Gato & the Jetster) It pays to read the liner notes, you really get some great info into the time period and what was going on with theses groups. Also, a couple of songs from the hard to find "Original Surfaris" first Surf album. And the story behind them and the more well known So. Cal group we're all familiar with that released "Wipe Out", "Surfer Joe", etc..If you love the California West Coast sound, start collecting these CD's. It will help you fill in the musical gaps.

I'm writing this about Volume 1, but essentially I'm speaking for all four volumes. Hell, you'd might as well buy them all, pal.
As another reviewer has stated, collections made up of "lost" tracks are usually not all that interesting, and only to the hardcore collector. But the good folks at Sundazed actually care about this stuff, and these collections rank right up there with some of the greatest official band releases of the time. The sound quality is excellent, not to mention the songs themselves. It makes you wonder why they were ever "lost" to begin with. Many of these artists recorded only one or two songs and were never heard of again outside their hometown or county(of course some more famous names are included as well). Be that as it may, that doesn't mean there weren't any great bands here. I'd really like to hear more by some of these groups.
Of course instrumental surf music appeals to a very specific fanbase, most of the world couldn't care less about it. I mean, instrumental music? Popular? Give me a break. Well, as I said before, at least Sundazed care and have taken steps to see it hasn't been forgotten. I'd definitely recommend these discs to surf music fans(naturally), but also to those folks who are curious about it. I do feel these discs also make a good introduction to the genre and it's sound.
Surf is one of the purest forms of rock and roll. Dig in.

First off, I want to reassure you that the CD itself sounds great. There's nothing wrong with the way this was mastered. It sounds terrific in my car from 2005, and slightly less great in a 2011 car. I'm glad it's not mastered in the current idiotic "max-loudness" fashion.

I like the songs. They're mostly interesting and well-played. They guitarists have nice tone and there is some interesting drumming in there too.

The selections come from the mature stage of surf music, 1963-64, and they all sound typically like what you'd think "surf" to be, i.e. reverb-drenched guitars, a little deeper and ballsier-sounding in general than the Rock Instrumental Classics: Surf CD from Rhino, but no better or worse.

If you're a fan of surf this CD is a can't miss.