Dude!
Everyone needs at least a little surf music in their collection, and this one has most of the famous/popular tracks and it's inexpensive, so a great place to start.
However, Rhino also released a box set, Cowabunga! The Surf Box, which any fan of the genre would eventually want anyway.
All but 3 of the tracks on Surfin Hits are duplicated on Cowabunga.
The non-duplicated tracks are "Surfin Safari", "Ride The Wild Surf" and "Boss". The first two are pretty easy to find, but "Boss" (which is essential, you'll love it) is very difficult to find (I know of only 2 other compilations on Amazon which include it, Let's Go Trippin' and Surf Legends and Rumors:1961-1964, both of which are out-of-print and more expensive than Surfin Hits. The out-of-print Rumblers album, Boss: Surf Music Classics has it, but only fans of the band would want a whole album by them.
The two Surfaris tracks are "long versions" on Cowabunga, but single versions here.
Even though there's a lot of duplication, I suggest people unsure how deep they want to dive into surf music buy Surfin Hits first. It's cheap and has most of the classics.
That will only whet your appetite for more, then you'll want to save your pennies for the out-of-print and much more expensive Cowabunga box.
Note to Rhino: what's with the duplication of tracks from previous compilations on later compilations? You did the same thing with the Girl Group and Rockabilly comps. Lots of the same songs, but with enough essential different tracks so you have to buy them all! Is that the plan?
It would make more sense to simply add "Volume 2/3/4/5/etc" in a series without ANY duplication. That way we only need to fork out our money ONCE! That would also mean you could take your time, adding to the series gradually over years until you run out of good material. No need for "major projects" like 4-volume box sets.
And where's your bubblegum compilation, you've NEVER done that genre! Isn't it "cool" enough for ya!
|
Gotta take that one last ride
This is a great CD featuring some of the greatest surf hits of the '60s. Eleven of the tracks are instrumentals and seven of them feature vocals. I know that some people don't consider vocal songs to be "real" surf music, but I disagree. I love the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean and the rest. Recommended as a great starter for those with an interest in surf music.
|