- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Alone among the Pebbles albums, Pebbles, Volume Four assembles obscure surf rock songs and is subtitled “Summer Means Fun!”
Pebbles, Volume Four (Various Artists) (1979): Alone among the Pebbles albums, Pebbles, Volume Four assembles obscure surf rock songs and is subtitled “Summer Means Fun!”; “Summer Means Fun” is also the title of the opening track by Bruce & Terry (Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher). Bruce & Terry were a prolific California duo in the 1960’s, mostly behind the scenes; and they were involved with the Rip-Chords, another of the Under Appreciated Rock Bands that I wrote about – and the only one with a genuine hit song, “Hey Little Cobra”. Bruce Johnston has been a bandmember in the Beach Boys for decades, while Terry Melcher is the son of Doris Day. Also featured on Pebbles, Volume Four are the flip side of the immortal “Surfin’ Bird” by the Trashmen, called “King of the Surf”; a parody of the Jan & Dean hit “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena” called “Masked Grandma” by the California Suns; “London’s a Lonely Town” (“when you’re the only surfer boy around”) by the Welsh musician Dave Edmunds; and “Thinkin’ ’Bout You Baby” by Sharon Marie, a rare surf track with a female lead vocal. The bonus track is a commercial for Coca-Cola made by Jan & Dean.