Surfing About Music
Timothy J. Cooley
University of California Press, 2014
This first major examination the interrelationships of music and surfing explores different ways that surfers combine surfing with making and listening to music. Cooley uses his knowledge and experience as a musician and avid surfer to consider the musical practices of surfers in locations around the world, ideas about surfing as a global affinity group and the real-life stories of surfers and musicians he encounters.
Cooley discusses the origins of surfing in Hawai‘i, its central role in Hawaiian society, and the mele (chants) and hula (dance or visual poetry) about surfing. He covers instrumental rock from groups like Dick Dale and the Del Tones amongst others, and songs about surfing performed by the Beach Boys. As he traces trends globally, three broad styles emerge: surf music, punk rock, and acoustic singer-songwriter music. Cooley also examines surfing contests and music festivals as well as the music used in a selection of surf movies that were particularly influential.
Engaging, informative, and enlightening, this is a fascinating exploration of surfing as a cultural practice with accompanying rituals, habits, and conceptions about who surfs and why, and of how musical ideas and practices are key to the many things that surfing is and aspires to be.
