Robert Hover
Rhythm guitarist Bob Berryhill, lead guitarist Jim Fuller, bass guitarist Pat Connolly, drummer Ron Wilson, and saxophonist Jim Pash were looking for practice space when they found Dale F. Smallin. Smallin, who owned a small recording studio, became the Surfaris’ manager and, with the help of parental funds, arranged a four-hour recording session at the Pal Studios in Cucamonga, California. “Surfer Joe” was to be the single record recorded. The instrumental “Wipe Out” (originally titled “Stiletto”) was to be the flip side, so not much time or thought went into recording it.
Gimmicks at the beginning of tunes were, as always, a big deal. Someone simulated the sound of a crashing surfboard by breaking a wooden shingle. Smallin’s “witch laugh” was added. Wilson worked out some drum solos, and “Wipe Out” was cut and dried in two takes. Smallin pressed 100 copies of the disk on his own DFS label.
“Surfer Joe”, backed with “Wipe Out,” came to the attention of Richard Delvy, the bass player with the Challengers, another well-established surf music group. Smallin gave Delvy the go-ahead to manufacture copies of the disk on his Princess label. One of Delvy’s pressings found its way to the much larger Dot Records, which issued the group’s record nationwide. (Note: the versions of “Surfer Joe” and” Wipe Out” on the DFS label are a full 10 seconds longer than the Dot release).
While “Wipe Out” was to become one of the best-selling debut singles ever recorded and one of the most cherished of all surf music instrumentals, all was not well, and there were soon lawsuits a-plenty. There were weird things going on in connection with the group’s first and only long-play album release for Dot—”Wipe Out.” The only Surfaris cuts on the album were “Surfer Joe” and “Wipe Out,” but all the other tracks had Delvy’s Challengers playing on them! The result was that the Challengers, not the Surfaris, received performance royalties from the best-selling album. Delvy also managed to rip off the publishing rights without the group’s permission. To top it all off, a group from L. A. brought suit against the Surfaris charging that they had the exclusive rights to the Surfaris name.
Once all the legal problems were ironed out, the group recorded some fine surf music for the major record label Decca. While only one other single recorded made the Hot 100 (“Point Panic” in 1963), the Surfaris put out one-high quality single after another as well as five albums. By the time the group formally signed with Dot Records in 1966 for the issuance of their last two singles, Berryhill, Connelly, and Fuller were gone.
The Surfaris have re-formed on many occasions. In 1976, Berryhill, Fuller, and Pash recorded a “Greatest Hits” LP for K-Tel. In the spring of 1989, Fuller, Pash, and Wilson toured the nation, but Fuller had to leave the tour when he broke an arm. Ron Wilson, who once set a record for drumming endurance by playing non-stop for 104 ½ hours, and reportedly spent much of his life in poverty in Dutch Flats, California, died in May of 1989 of a brain aneurysm.
Berryhill, a born-again Christian, has played with Christian groups and is currently working as an instructor at an Educational-Opportunities center. Fuller was part of other California groups, and was even a member of The Seeds of “Pushin’ Too Hard” fame. Pash, who was not present at the original “Wipe Out” recording session, is also a born-again Christian. He is also the inventor and manufacturer of the “Gitsitar.”