The Lost Surf Soundtracks
“For more than forty years, surf movies have played to audiences who were passionate, committed, and, quite often, stoned”
Never mind the Beach Boys, Dick Dale or the sand stomping legends of the surf guitar. Chairman Of The Board is a collection of the lost soundtracks from the Golden Era of the surf movie; a time during the mid 60s to the mid 70s when counter culture and surf culture where on a parallel journey.
These surf films were often low budget, badly edited and overly long masterpieces that beautifully reflected the genuine aspirations of an era where travel, tropical surf and a big fatty at sunset combined with the energy, moods and dreams that echoed through the music. These accompanying soundtracks had a limited release or just existed on the film.
Sixties beats, stoner rock, a touch of folk and psychedelia breathed life into screen sized footage of giant tube rides and alternative views of how to live barefoot in your own oceanic postcard of Woodstock.
Children of the Sun (1968), is like NZ’s version of Endless Summer. Two EPs released by The Music Convention charted back in the late 60s but haven’t been heard of since. Their musical legacy now lives on with the reissue of the film on DVD.
As surf boards got shorter, the style of surfing changed. The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun (1970) is the Holy Grail of what a surf movie should be. Film maker George Greenough strapped a camera to his back and surfed through the hollow space where time momentarily pauses as the wave curls overhead. The Farm played along to the footage and their album, same name as the film, is something even the Grail seekers have trouble finding.
Morning of The Earth(1972) is more of a trip than a film; the next level where the exaggeration of colours and music pinpointed a lifestyle choice. A classic with an eclectic soundtrack.
Tamam Shud scored Evolution (1969) which wins the distance prize for being one of those films that anyone not in a stoned coma with a passion for watching men surfing would find nearly two hours too long.
Hal Jepsen was a director who left his city job, dropped-out and made surf films. Super Sessions (1974) was a masterpiece. The soundtrack by Smoghorn, aka Dennis Dragon, contained a whole album’s worth of unreleased original soundtracks.
Crystal Voyager needs no introduction to anyone who has gone down the Pink Floyd path of musical expenditure. The film is famed for its visionary tube ride sequence (again filmed by the George Greenough) that accompanied by Floyd’s Echoes which today overshadows the original soundtrack album. This contained the work of G. Wayne Thomas and Bobby Gibbert and beams the listener into a good-time travel-zone where “space” and “time” enter the lyrics.
With a clear head, these films with their lost soundtracks are awesome. Stoned, you start to understand why…
Never mind the Beach Boys, Chairman Of The Board is a collection of vintage soundtracks from iconic cult surf films. Underground film makers wanted original music, a harder sound to reflect the new wilder cinematic expression now possible on the face of a wave. The soundtrack they chose to enhance this visual experimentation was the mellower stoner blues and
psychedelic rock, which perfectly captured the cerebral highs of living the alternative dream. The music featured on this compilation, some of which has
never been released, originates from six of these classic surf films.
Check out some amazing shots from Jeff Divine's collection
