Summer Music Guide 2013

(Photo: Michael Ochs Archives)

For the past month, Y! Music has been running a mega-poll to determine the Greatest Summer Song Of All Time.
After four exhaustive rounds and tens of thousands of votes, our readers have determined that The Beach Boys's "Surfin' U.S.A" takes the crown for the slice of rock and roll that sounds the best when barbecuing on the deck, sunbathing by the pool or surfing in the deep blue sea. In other words, it's the tune with the hooks, subject matter and history that best represent summer.
"Surfin' U.S.A." beat out summer mainstays past and present, including this year's "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, last year's "Call Me Maybe" by Carley Rae Jepsen and yesteryear's summer jams like "Vacation" by The Go-Go's, "Summer Nights" from the 'Grease' soundtrack, and runner-up "Margaritaville" by Jimmy Buffett.

The lyrics for "Surfin' U.S.A." were penned by Brian Wilson and feature Mike Love on lead vocals. The song first surfaced as a single on March 4, 1963 and was the title track to the Beach Boys' second album, the follow-up to 1962’s "Surfin’ Safari." Like many great rock and roll songs, "Surfin U.S.A." wasn't exactly an original composition, but to their credit, The Beach Boys never tried to bury that fact under the sand.

From the get-go, Wilson was forthright about how he wanted to add lyrics about the best surfing beaches in America to the melody for Chuck Berry's 1958 hit "Sweet Little Sixteen." While Wilson was originally listed as the sole writer, proper permissions were later sought and Berry was properly credited as the composer.

"Surfin' U.S.A." debuted on national television on "The Steve Allen Show" two days before the record was released and the band lip-synched while the track played, which was common back when recording live sound was a hit-and-miss proposition.