Catch A Wave
Grab your board and go sidewalk surfin’ with me
That’s from "Sidewalk Surfin’", by Jan and Dean. I was a huge fan. One of the first albums I bought with my own money was "Command Performance", a live show containing all the group’s hits including this. I played that LP so much it turned grey.
And you can imagine my surprise when I finally got a copy of the Beach Boys’ "Surfer Girl" album and it contained the same damn song, only this time it was entitled "Catch A Wave".
I’d like to tell you "Catch A Wave" sounds dated almost fifty years on. But somehow it doesn’t, especially on this 100 degree day in Southern California. I guess no matter what your age, riding in a convertible with the top down and the radio blasting remains the same.
I just installed a new hard drive. And desiring to clean up my computer, I went through my desktop and found a file I couldn’t make sense of. Yes, it was a live show downloaded from one of my favorite sites, but what was it?
I hadn’t decompressed it sooner because I forgot the password. Having time on a Saturday, I looked up the code, unpacked the .rar file and realized it was an Al Jardine show, from this past summer, something I planned to check out and delete, I mean how good could it be, Al’s pushing seventy and really, isn’t the story Mike Love and Brian?
Brian’s shows are lovefests. We know he’s got a shadow of the command he once had, but we love the material so much we go, once anyway, and relish the joy of the tunes that have become American standards.
We avoid Mike. He’s litigious. He had that rant at the Hall of Fame dinner. He’s keeping Al from touring under the Beach Boys moniker. Instead of the Beach Boys being iconic, Mike’s grinding the name into the ground with soft ticket shows.
And Al… Poor sweet Al. Still alive, but irrelevant. He did sing "Help Me Rhonda", but to say he was the George Harrison of the group would be stretching it, especially since he played rhythm, not lead.
And there are only five songs. "Help Me Rhonda", of course. "Do You Wanna Dance", nothing fascinating here. "Hawaii"…mm, interesting choice. And "Dance, Dance, Dance", definitely have to check that one out. And "Catch A Wave"?
Wait a minute, Al didn’t sing "Catch A Wave"!
Then again, it’s one of my absolute favorite Beach Boys cuts, never a single, but a jaw-dropper that makes me feel completely alive every time I hear it, I can’t burn out on it.
So I pull up this track and…I’M BLOWN AWAY!
Catch a wave and you’re sittin’ on top of the world!
What made the original was the harp and the changes. But what makes this live take so exceptional is the EXUBERANCE!
Last Saturday night I went to Felice’s high school reunion. In her class was Jan Berry’s sister, it was a big family, even including Neil Young’s Bruce. And as entertainment, for when small talk had evaporated, they had a karaoke set-up.
I can tell you the number of times I’ve sung karaoke on one finger. And I can’t even remember if I sang back then, at some Korean joint with Vince Bannon and his buddies. Actually, thinking about it now, I didn’t, and I wasn’t going to sing this night in Beverly Hills either.
But after midnight, when the house had emptied out, I heard the unmistakable opening riff of "Surfin’ U.S.A."
I strode up to the mic and proceeded to belt out the names of the greatest surfing spots in the world, I needed no prompter, I knew them by heart. They had to tear me away from the machine. I could have sung Beach Boys songs all night.
Because when something’s in your DNA, it’s undeniable.
Brian Wilson is the reason I’m in Southern California on this blistering hot fall day. And when I listen to Al Jardine’s version of "Catch A Wave" I’m taken on a tour in my mental woodie from Nutmeg Bowl to Camp Laurelwood to Middlebury College to today, in Santa Monica.
Check it out. The MP3 I’ve got is at a better resolution, there’s too much backup noise, but the essence…it’s there.
Go to: http://www.aljardine.com/biography.htmlClick on the downward triangle to scroll down to "Catch A Wave", it’s number three.
