Surf Rock: The Chantays

Just some of the fresh baby faces of surf rock.

Okay, sure. This picture of the Chantays doesn’t exactly make you think of waxing your board and hanging 10.  But cut them a bit of slack. I mean, do you love your high school pictures? Cuz, that’s right: the Chantays were seniors in high school when they started.

Yes, you heard me.

Here were these two kids hanging out at Santa Ana High, and one day in 1961 they came across this hep group called the Rhythm Rockers and were like “hey, they’re making money and getting all the girls!! let’s do that!”

So, they picked up some guitars, learned how to play them, recruited some friends for drums, bass and keyboards and, of course, bought super keen matching suits. Less than a year later, in the back of a local record store, they cranked out “Pipeline,” which made it to #4 on the charts. The album of the same name was released in 1963.

I don’t know anything about the members, really, but my guess would be that the keyboardist Rob Marshall was the most classically musically educated of the group because the incorporation of keys is really a defining cohesive feature throughout the album.

The title track wouldn’t be the same without them, really, since they so strongly add to its eerie, expansive quality. It’s like the Western Frontier meets the California Coast – a combination that weaves throughout the album, and is really a recurring thematic feel for a lot of the surf rock bands of the time – many of whose guitarists started out in rockabilly (including Dick Dale).

Other tracks are a bit of a departure. On tracks like “Last Night,” the keys bring an almost boogie-woogie danceablity; while “Night Theme” really feels like the song they made to play for their parents just before asking for advances in their allowances to pay studio fees.

Ok. So actually they’re a little all over the place. But remember, these were kids who were just figuring it all out, so it’s still a pretty awesome achievement. And through it all, they never lose the surf. Still, ultimately the album definitely falls on the softer end of the surf rock spectrum. Let’s just say they weren’t blowing out any amps. But maybe they scores some screaming girls anyway.

Pipeline was also the Chantays only surf rock album before they dropped off the scene. (Which maybe happened because the scene itself was short-lived, or - more likely - because their second album, Two Sides of the Chantays, was the type of album you’d expect from five kids in matching suits who were first inspired to make music by the group that would go on to back the Righteous Brothers.)

Not sure where they went after 1964. Probably got jobs and had some kids and stuff. They did eventually reemerge, recording new music during the 90s surf rock revival. But can you ever ride the same wave twice?

At least we’ll always have that first one.