who sang surfin’ bird?

“Surfin’ Bird” is a song performed by the American surf rock band The Trashmen, and it is also the name of the album that featured this hit single. It was released in 1963 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1] It is a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons: “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” and “The Bird’s the Word”,^[2] which was influenced by Red Prysock’s “What’s the word? Thunderbird!”^[3]

History

It is widely rumored, but highly unlikely, that Surfin’ Bird was derived from a radio ad jingle advertising Thunderbird as a brand of cheap wine: “What’s the word? Thunderbird. How’s it sold? Good and cold. What’s the jive?

Bird’s alive. What’s the price?

Thirty twice.”^[4] The jazz release that reflects common misconception of the wine jingle and is titled, “What’s The Word? Thunderbird!” was issued in record form as Mercury 71214 in October 1957.^[5] This release was written by Wilbur Prysock, and performed by Red Prysock.

The Rivingtons followed up their 1962 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” with the similar “The Bird’s the Word” in 1963. The Trashmen had not heard this version but saw a band called The Sorensen Brothers playing it.^[2] They decided to play the song that night at their own gig.

During this first performance, drummer and vocalist Steve Wahrer stopped playing and ad-libbed the “Surfin’ Bird” middle section.^[2] Despite not knowing “The Bird’s the Word” was a Rivingtons song, the similarity to “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” was obvious and The Trashmen added the chorus to the end of their new track.

A local disc jockey

A local disc jockey, Bill Diehl, was at the gig and convinced the band to record the track.

^[2] It was recorded at Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis. Diehl entered it into a local battle of the bands competition and it won. It was then sent to a battle of the bands competition in Chicago where it also won.^[2] This led to the group being signed to Garrett Records with the single being quickly released. It reportedly sold 30,000 copies in its first weekend^[2] before going on to national success, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wahrer was originally credited as the song’s writer, but that was changed to the Rivingtons (Al Frazier, Carl White, Sonny Harris, and Turner Wilson Jr.) .

after the group successfully sued The Trashmen for plagiarism. There is apparently no truth to the urban legend which circulated in the late 1960s that the song had been written by Leonard Bernstein to show his disdain for rock’n’roll by proving that any song could become a hit.

Covers

• ” it also appeared on their 1979 album Gravest Hits and on their 1983 compilation album Off the Bone.
• “Surfin’ Bird” was covered by the Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo on the maxi single “The Bird” in 1993.
• Sodom covered the song on their 2001 album M-16.
• Paul Reubens (as Pee-wee Herman) covered the song on the soundtrack of the film Back to the Beach.
• Silverchair covered the song on their 1997 single The Door.
• Orbital sampled heavily from the original version on “Tension” from their 2001 album The Altogether.