In our previous installment, I went into a bit of the story of the band's first single. As it turns out, they also had a second single released prior to any definite plans for a full album.
SURFIN' SAFARI/409
Early in 1962, as "Surfin'/Luau" was still looking for a national audience, the group found themselves back in Hite Morgan's studio after another round of songwriting for Brian.
On February 8th, early versions of "Surfin' Safari" and "Surfer Girl" were recorded along with a couple of more obscure tracks. "Judy" took its name from Brian's first girlfriend and "Beach Boys Stomp" was an instrumental.
A few days after this session, Al Jardine quits the band around the time "Surfin/Luau" breaks the Top 100. It's a blow for a small time band still hoping to break out, but by March David Marks, a very young Wilson neighbor, proves to be a solid guitar player and joins the band.
At this point in history, there are no guarantees The Beach Boys won't prove to be an obscure one-hit wonder. But manager/father Murry Wilson kept them busy in March and April of 1962, booking them into such gigs as high school gymnasiums and hotels.
By all accounts Murry was a monster and it seems in poor taste to say much nice about the guy, but the truth is his relentless drive and his belief in the boys' talent really went a long way to breaking the group out as quickly as they did.
Leaving Hite Morgan, Murry got the boys booked into Western Studios on April 19th for the purposes of producing a high quality demo tape that could be shopped around to major labels. This session yielded a new version of "Surfin' Safari", a cover of The Four Freshmen's "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring" and a pair of new Brian Wilson songs: "409" and "Lonely Sea".
With these songs in hand, Murry went shopping and found a willing buyer in Nick Venet, an executive at Capitol Records. The boys were signed to a contract, the demo was bought and on June 4th "Surfin' Safari/409" was released as a Capitol record, using the April demo recordings.
There were no initial plans for an album as Capitol wasn't going to spend any money on their newest act unless the single was a success.
Long story short, it was quite successful. "Surfin' Safari" climbed all the way to #14 and even the B-side "409" broke the Top 100, peaking at #76, making The Beach Boys' first single as contracted recording artists a double-sided hit.
After the single proved to be a smash, Nick Venet told the band they were going to the studio to produce an album to capitalize on the momentum. The result was the band's debut album, Surfin' Safari, released on October 1, 1962.And only then did "Surfin' Safari", "409" and the earlier "Surfin'" find their way onto an album, the latter leased from Hite Morgan for inclusion.
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