As some of you may know, Im doing a big project on all things ‘surf music’ and music relating to surfing. I’m super interested in The Endless Summer soundtrack and was wondering why you guys think its so special. Its a super open post but was just looking for some inspiration!
Thanks a lot and hope your all getting some waves,
You talking the whole soundtrack or just the theme song? A lot of the music Bruce Brown used wasn’t what you typically think of as surf music. He used a ton of jazz by the likes of Bud Shank. As for the theme song, its just the pure simplicity of the two guitar parts working together.
Thanks Mako224! Yeah im just trying to get an impression of other peoples overall interpretation of it, and the balance of different styles / the significance of different styles. I’ve been doing a tonne of research on ‘surf music’ and whilst I get, and agree with the purist definition of surf music, im also super interested in the other definition of surf music, which is just music that just gets surfers stoked / appreciated and listened to by surfers. Im only 22 so I wasnt close to being born yet, so would love to hear about what people thought of the relevance of the music at the time if that makes sense. All input is welcome!
I started surfing in the early 70’s at Cronulla in Sydney Australia and can remember The Endless Summer being a popular surf film but the soundtrack wasn’t memorable.
Whereas the soundtrack to ‘The Morning of the Earth’ was incredibly popular, everyone had a copy of the film and a separate copy of the soundtrack either on record or cassete tape, which would often be played in the car on trips to the beach.
Basicly that soundtrack became an iconic part of the surfing life here in OZ in the 70’s and there has never been a surf film music soundtrack to rival it.
The theme song itself is sweet, melodic, simple, restrained and mellow. It becomes what it is when associated with the film, which is sweet, simple, pleasant and I guess pretty guileless, if I were to choose a word.
Something you might want to be reminded of is that until the 80s and home video came along, the film was rarely seen- maybe once a year on TV. For me the theme song acquired some specialness 'cause I hardly ever heard it, and seeing the movie was a bit of an event (to a teenager).
Buying the soundtrack back then wasn’t even on my radar. More interested in Zep : )
The album by The Sandals was originally called Scrambler. After they hooked up with Brown for the movie they went back in the studio and recorded the theme. That tune was added to the LP and the name of the album was changed. Not every track on The Sandals album was used in the film, and not every tune in the movie is by The Sandals. The drummer of The Sandals was Danny Brawner, who also happened to be an employee at the Hobie factory… Brown was one of the guys included in the so-called “Dana Point Mafia”. So the whole thing was a bit incestuous as Hynson was a Hobie rider back then. The Brawner/Hobie connection may have had some influence on Brown’s choice.
FYI-The album was reissued on a CD some time in the 90s. It is NOT the same as the record as it’s a complete redo. Does not sound the same and isn’t as good, IMO.
While the Sandals LP brings back some fond memories of my teenage years, the soundtracks to Brown’s first two movies remain my favorite surf flick music, to this day. Those are Barefoot Adventure and Slippery When Wet. Bud Shank did them and LPs of both were released back then.
Really? The only similarity I can possibly hear is the period recording quality, and that’s a generality based on technology only… and even that practically doesn’t factor.
An acoustic jazz band with understated single guitar vs. a heavily amplified electric guitar rock band? Such utterly different sounds! Not to mention skill levels.
They are completely different, but theres Jazz and Bluesiness in the Sandals, and the Sandals music in The Endless Summer is pretty mellow. Theres parts of Endless Summer that have the 12 bar blues formation (I think its doubled in speed and only 6 bars in length). I wasnt saying that Bud Shank was like the Sandals, im just saying, it feels a little more in that direction that Dick Dale and other’s heavy, reverby sound.
Walter and Gaston Georis of The Sandals are Belgian immigrants. I’d say their sensibilities are rooted in a more European approach. While I would not equate their sound with that of Bud Shank, they are certainly of a mellower school than a “heavily amplified electric guitar rock band”. I mean, they used a melodica on the Endless Summer theme. Pretty subdued stuff, IMO.
I would say that the similarity in the two groups lies in the sense of understated playing and themes. The Sandals are a far cry from Dick Dale, The Challengers, or The Surfaris.
I have no idea who did the other stufff on the soundtrack. Like the scene where they are sailing the catamaran and there’s some very generic orchestral sounding stuff in the background. Try IMDB and see if they list who did the rest.