Song · The Beach Boys
“Surfin' USA” by The Beach Boys
From the album Surfin’ USA (1963)
“Surfin' USA” by The Beach Boys appears on 1 radio countdown from 1 station in 1991. It was first released in 1963 on the album Surfin’ USA. Its best result is #497 on the WNEW Firecracker 500 (1991). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,853 classic rock song of all time.
"Surfin' U.S.A." is Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" given a California makeover: Brian Wilson kept the tune and wrote new words, the Beach Boys cut it with Mike Love singing lead, and the credit ended up reading Berry and Wilson. Wilson's lyric paints Southern California as a kind of promised land of leisure, and it has come to stand for the whole California Sound.
The single came out in 1963 with "Shut Down" on the flip, then opened the album named after it. It reached three on both Billboard and Cash Box and two in Music Vendor, the trade paper soon to be renamed Record World, and Billboard ranked it the number one song of 1963. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame counts it among its 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 497 | WNEW-FM | WNEW Firecracker 500 (1991) | 500 |
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