History:

The Surf Side 5 were a rock group from Salt Lake City, Utah. The group had many members, but their core membership was: Randy Young on lead guitar, Ted Gosdis on bass guitar, Walt “Red Beard” Sanders on rhythm guitar, Brent Littlefield on drums, and Larry Higginson on lead vocals. Other members included William “Bill” King on guitar, and an unnamed drummer who was sacked prior to mid 1964. 

The Surf Side 5 were an extremely popular act in Salt Lake City in 1963 and 1964, garnering a residency at the Surf Side Teen Club which was founded by Sanders’ older brother George. The band played at the club for several months prior to a drumming switch, as Littlefield, who was a fill in, joined full time. Four months after his arrival, the band recorded their lone album.

“Surf Side 5 Recorded Live” was released initially in the early fall in 1964. The album was pressed, a few copies sold, then immediately recalled by the band. It’s unclear if they destroyed them or not. The band recalled the albums due to inconsistency in the recording and poor production. They forced the record company to re-record the album for free. The second edition features a slightly different track-list with four new tracks, an altered back cover, and changes to the labels. 

The album features a mostly traditional rock & roll sound with a heavy surf influence and a few garagey moments. The band was then persuaded to do a small tour and eventually folded by the late 1960’s. The album obtained a cult status for years as the only copy available for many years was saved from a trash can in Arizona (a true story!). Over on Garage Hangover, many members of the band, family members, and even their promoter have been sharing cool stories and information about the group for over a decade. Check it out, it's great reading!

Review:

Recorded Live (Intermountain Recording Service, 1964)

Rating: 6/10

My review is of the second edition. Not a bad album but it could’ve been so much better. The band obviously had a lot of talent but their overuse of cover material makes the album suffer. The second edition seemingly features four original tracks and three of them are really good and are clear standouts. “Winter Winds” is a great garage rock ballad with nice vocals and good lead guitar. “Boogie Woogie” is a fast Chuck Berry inspired rocker with screaming girls in the background and some awesome drumming. “Sparkling Sands” is a really solid fast paced original instrumental. Some of the covers click too, like the frantic and out of place take on The Kingston Trio's “Greenback Dollar”. A bit derivative but overall pretty good.