Surfin Buddies Sunset Surfin' in the USA -

In March of 1963 the Beach Boys summertime hit "Surfin' USA" debuted and became # 2 on the Billboard Charts for that year. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys had composed the lyrics set to the Chuck Berry song "Sweet Little Sixteen". This may have been a result of his brother Dennis Wilson, founding drummer of The Beach Boys, suggesting to Brian and Mike Love in 1961 that surfing is becoming 'really big' and that they should write a song about it. Despite all of the surfing songs and mystique about those California girls, golden sand, beaches and ocean waves, Dennis was the only member of the original Beach Boys to regularly surf as part of his lifestyle. 

While at the beach in 1963 with his girlfriend's brother, Brian Wilson started humming to Berry's melody of Sweet Little 16 and thought what a kick it would be to compose lyrics that included some of the major southern California top surfing spots as his brother Dennis had suggested a couple of years earlier. He asked his girlfriend's brother Jimmy, to give him a list of some of those hot spots which turned out to be Del Mar, La Jolla and Trestles in San Diego County along with Doheny and Sunset beaches in Orange County. Some other spots also got included like Waimea in Hawaii and Narrabeen in Australia.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame lists "Surfin' USA" by The Beach Boys as one of the 500 most influential songs in rock and roll history.

Whether you acknowledge the origin of surfing from the Samoan Islands, Peru or Hawaii, there is little doubt the sport has exploded into the modern day American sport scene. Whether you are a fan of "The Ambassador of Aloha" Duke Kahanamoku, Kelly Slater or Coco Ho, there is no doubt surfing has become and will remain for some time to come an integral part of the American lifestyle.

While walking The Strand Beach at sunset one evening in 2013 near where I live in Orange County, the most amazing sunset was developing. The sunset in this photo is untouched. This was the sunset. The photo was taken with a Nikon S8200 with auto flash from about 20 feet back of the surfer.  The surfer is unknown. The make of surfboard is unknown. What is known: God never fails to amaze with His Creation.