MERRELL FANKHAUSER: The Wipe Out Saga

Yesterday I posted a link to an article about one of my favourite pieces of music, which – coincidentally (or maybe not) – was composed by one of my favourite Gonzo recording artists – the incomparable Merrell Fankhauser. Anyone whose music, in a career that has spanned six decades, has run the gamut between surf rock and cosmic psychedelia has got to be OK with me, and when it turns out that this is the fellow who wrote ‘Wipe Out’ then Mr. Fankhauser is someone who will always be welcome to visit Downes Mansions in our obscure corner of rural North Devon, where he will be an honoured guest and fêted with tea, homemade cake, and the affectionate attentions of my soppy, old bulldog Prudence.

For Wipe Out is one of those iconic tunes, in fact, apart from the Peter Gunn theme I can’t think of an equally iconic tune that has inveigled itself into the collective consciousness of the Western World to such an all-pervading extent. It has been covered by all musicians great and small; even by an unjustifiably obscure ensemble named Jon Downes and the Amphibians from Outer Space who – as this clip from a pub in Seaton back in the autumn of 1995 will show – not only played it rather well, but were notable for the boyish good looks of their sauve and talented frontman.



However, it turns out that the story to which I had linked got it ever-so-slightly wrong. I had an email from Merrell himself which points this out. He tells me that the entire Wipe Out saga had been correctly written up in a book called Surfin’ Guitars: Instrumental Surf Bands of the 60s by Robert J. Dalley which was first published in 1988. It looks a fascinating tome, and I would go out and buy one if it wasn’t for the fact that on Amazon.co.uk the prices start at £72. Golly. I will have to wait until the end of the year, when a fat bloke with a beard decides whether I have been naughty or nice.

However, according to Merrell (and I see no reason to doubt him), “For some reason every journalist has gotten it wrong since, or put their own spin on it!”

To set the record completely straight, the main points are:

1. Merrell wrote Wipe Out in 1961



2. His band, The Impacts, was discovered in 1962 at their weekly gig in The
   Rose Garden Ballroom at Pismo Beach, in the central coast area of California, which is – incidentally – home to a species of large, edible, salt-water clam called the Pismo clam. The producers took them into the studio in Los Angeles and they recorded the entire Wipe Out album in one session. It was released some six weeks later, nearly a year before The Surfaris released the song as a single. The song was never released as a single by The Impacts.



3. According to Merrell: “The producers called us back into the studio in
   January 1963 and we re-recorded Wipe Out with drum solos all the way through.” The version on the album only had one solo. Unfortunately, no single was released from this session either.
   

So there, straight from the horse’s mouth we have the story as it happened, and Merrell Fankhauser is vindicated…..

I don’t know how my own humble musical career would have survived without him!

LINK: Merrell Fankhauser and the secret of 'Wipeout'

Posted on April 13th, 2012
by Simon Barrett in All News, Music News
Read 108 times.

One of the most identifiable hits from the 60’s was the smash hit Wipeout. It put Surf Music in the center stage for the radio listener.

For as long as I can recall I have been a fan of mysteries. It matters not what the subject is, they are just fun to explore. The Kennedy Assassination, Amelia Earhart, the list goes on and on. Of course these lofty cases are far beyond my capabilities to make a change. Instead I play with smaller mysteries, mysteries that I feel I can solve to my own satisfaction. I love music, and the music world is full of mysteries.



My favorite period for music mysteries is the 1960’s and 1970’s. Mysteries abound! What appeals to me is that they fall into the category of ‘living mysteries’, many of the protagonists are still playing. Better still, after four or five decades they are willing to talk about what really happened.

Read on...

Check out his Gonzo artist page, and buy his CDs

MERRELL FANKHAUSER: 'Best Of The Tiki Lounge'

Psychedelic Surf Music Legend Merrell Fankhauser's 'Best Of Tiki Lounge' Volumes 1&2 DVDs
Now Available on Gonzo MultiMedia

3/17/2012 - London, UK - Hailed as the godfather of surf music, legendary Merrell Fankhauser, who has led one of the most diverse and interesting careers in music, has released 'Best Of The Tiki Lounge' volumes 1&2 DVDs, featuring performances from his famed TV show 'Tiki Lounge', on UK's Gonzo MultiMedia. Merrell Fankhauser is considered one of the main innovators of surf music and psychedelic folk rock, and is widely known as the leader of the instrumental surf group The Impacts who had the international hit “Wipeout”. His travels from Hollywood to his 15 year jungle experience on the island of Maui have been documented in numerous music books and magazines in the US and Europe. Merrell has gained legendary international status throughout the field of rock music; his credits include over 250 songs published and released.

Merrell Fankhauser has presented a number of television programs over the years including 'California Music', 'Route 66 TV Live', and in 2001 he began hosting a music show called 'Tiki Lounge' that airs on the California Central Coast, Southern California, Hawaii and parts of the East Coast. 'The Best Of The Tiki Lounge' volumes 1&2 feature highlights from Merrell's cable TV show. Volume One features Merrell performing alongside other music artists, such as Willie Nelson, Randy California, Dick Dale and Nicky Hopkins. The DVD also includes clips from Merrell's Birthday Boogie with Mary Ramsey of 10.000 Maniacs, Fito De La Parra of Canned Heat, Ed Cassidy of Spirit and many others! Joined once again by former Spirit drummer Ed Cassidy, along with John Cipollina, Mark Tullin and others, the 'Best Of The Tiki Lounge' Volume Two features new original songs by Fankhauser, including “The Whole Day Ahead of Us”. Also in this volume, Merrell takes an expedition into the Nevada desert to the edge of the secret airbase Area 51 in search of UFOs.

To purchase Merrell Fankhauser 'Best Of Tiki Lounge' DVDs www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15360

MERRELL FANKHAUSER: Don't judge a book by its cover said my dear old Ma

...well actually she didn't. She made more ridiculous generalisations, and then based her actions upon them than any other human being that I have ever met. Maybe I am being unfair to her memory (she died ten years ago this week) but I remember her refusing to watch Brideshead Revisited on the grounds that there were no such things as homosexuals in the British aristocracy, and condemning various people over the years because of their footwear. She even took an instant dislike to Princess Diana because - apparently - her nostrils were too close together.

Hmmmmm.

Basically, although I loved my parents dearly I have done my best not to turn out like them, and one of the great tragedies of growing older is that every time I pass a mirror I see my father (albeit fatter and with long hair) staring balefully back at me. However, one thing I have always tried not to do is to judge the aforementioned book by its cover.

But today I did just that. I received a press release from those jolly nice people at Glass Onyon PR, dealing with a Gonzo Multimedia Artiste called Merrell Fankhauser. I always thought that I knew a lot about rock and pop music over the years, but once again my knowledge was and is lamentable. So I did what I always do. I looked him up on spotify, and pressed `play`.

I had immediately jumped to the conclusion that Mr F (or Herr F as I had imagined him) was going to be experimental and slightly spiky krautrock, something like a cross between Can and Throbbing Gristle (both bands I like by the way). I could not have been more wrong.

It turns out that he was the bloke who wrote 'Wipe Out' and is a venerable doyen of the surf-rock scene. But then he got all mystic. The best analogy I can give is Eric Burdon. You will recall that he was a rough tough bluesman from Geordieland until he discovered peace and love and made some extraordinarily eccentric records that I love to this very day. But one could always here his bluesy roots even in his most outrageously hippy songs.

It is the same with Mr Fankhauser. You can tell that he comes from the surf music community; he still has those sparkling Dick Dale chord shapes, but this sounds more like.....

....ummm

I don't really know what it sounds more like. There are hints of Neil Young, hints of Spirit (he has played with Ed Cassidy apparently) and the songs are delivered in an outrageously cool MOR voice. But to be quite honest he doesn't really sound like anyone else. He once played in the same band as Drumbo from Captain Beefheart's ensemble, and he obviously believes in the concept of the Lost Continent of Mu, made famous by Francis Churchward. The songs are melodic, nuttily new age, and really impossible to categorise.

Check them out. I already have.
Add To Cart

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Merrell Fankhauser was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and moved to California when he was 13 years old this move was to have a life changing effect on the teenager. Merrell went on to become one of the innovators of surf music enjoying success with his band The Impacts and also a hit album entitled Wipe Out. Merrell went on later in the sixties to branch out into psychedelic folk rock.

His travels from Hollywood to his 15 year jungle experience on the island of Maui have been documented in numerous music books and magazines in the United States and Europe. Merrell has gained legendary international status throughout the field of rock music; his credits include over 250 songs published and released.

Return To Mu is a seven years in the making album featuring a cast of famous guest artists including with Jay Ferguson and Ed Cassidy of Spirit, Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean, John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Nicky Hopkins, John Cipolinna both of whom played for Quicksilver Messenger Service and many others. The album is considered a masterpiece amongst friend's critics and fans and was produced by award winning movie and record producer, William E. McEuen.

Originally released in 2003 to many good reviews this album has had limited availability until now when it is reissued.

Tracks: 1.Mystical Land , 2.Waterfall , 3.On Our Way To Hana , 4.Pictures of the Past , 5.The Unknown Writer , 6.Queen Mu , 7.Mother Sea , 8.Beckoning Maiden , 9.Polynesian Dream , 10.Time Travellers , 11.Prospectors Moon , 12.Goin' Down To Atlantis , 13.The Land of Mu , 14.Under A Maui Moon , 15.Matthew's Dream , 16.Lodru's Mu Chant , 17.The Mothership , 18.Mu Rainforest.

WAITING FOR THE RITES OF MU

To compliment my diatribe on the subject of Merrell Fankhauser and his fixation with James Churchward's lost continent of Mu, (see map) I am being mindnumbingly self-indulgent. But I am the editor and I can do so if I wish.

So check out James Churchward and also some stuff on the so-called 'Lost Continent' itself.

And whilst we are on the subject of complete self indulgence, watch this video. It is not by a Gonzo artiste, but it is not available commercially so who cares: