The Timers, "No Go Showboat" c/w "Competition Coupe," Reprise 231 (rel. 11/1963); Gary Usher & The Usherettes (Honeys), "Three Surfer Boys," Dot 45-16518 (rel. 7/1963)
It's a batch of Beach Boys-adjacent rarities for thought-free summer fun! In 1963, as waves of Beatlemania lapper up on American shores ("From Me to You," the Beatles' third single, got into some regional Top 20s that summer), SoCal surf and car songs ruled the roost. Fad-mad America welcomed the genre, alongside all the dance crazes, commercialized folk music, etc., while the Billboard Hot 100 was a hotbed of a wide integration of musical styles.
For Capitol Records in LA, Brian Wilson was a cash-cow--with his group The Beach Boys on a hot streak and no end in sight, as the lad's family issues weren't disclosed and everyone did their best to show up, make records and show dates and not incur the wrath of their Cyclops monster, father Murry.
Brian Wilson found kindred spirits in Gary Usher and Roger Christian, who shared his vision of a utopian pop music based on the kind of rugged outdoor kicks the shy Brian never approached in real life. Today we'll hear three songs that fall outside the official Beach Boys canon but have close ties to Capitol's star group (until said Beatles usurped them in a few months).
"No-Go Showboat" is a deep track in the Boys' early catalog--an album filler for their third LP, Little Deuce Coupe. With lyrics by Roger Christian, it offers an unusual minor-key interlude amidst a sweeping melody with Brian's usual bluesy turns. We get to hear Wilson, uncredited, sing lead on this unusual song, with Usher doing the Mike Love counter-vocal on a spirited attempt to get this exotic song into the hit parade. "When it comes to speed, man, I'm just outta luck/I'm even shut down by the ice-cream truck" may be Roger Christian's best couplet on this appealing, melancholy item that showed, in Usher, a producer on Wilson's level, with a great ear and understanding of dynamics.
It had the misfortune to hit the stores at a time of national mourning. The assassination of John F. Kennedy made such happy-go-lucky music verboten for a spell; it took The Beatles to perk America up and restore some pluck and grit to a troubled nation. By that time, The Timers' time was up. No-go!
I know it's unintended, but still...yes...kinda hard to get around that innuendo. Girls, these guys are waaaaay too much into themselves. No huggin' an' a-kissin' is in store for you here.
"2,4,6,8—What a way to spend a date!" are priceless lyrics. These are all a hoot. The first two car songs don't have Jan and Dean's 1964 hit "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena" intelligible AND funny lyrics. As you noted, they suffer from TOO much info about the car and no emotion from the driver.
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