The Pebbles, Volume 4 CD has only about half of the songs that are on the Pebbles, Volume 4 LP; even the title song “Summer Means Fun” by Bruce & Terry was omitted, so there is a different subtitle, “Surf ’n’ Tunes”. In addition to the head-scratcher “School is a Gas” by the Wheel Men, the CD also includes the original “School is a Drag” by the Super Stocks. Other highlights include “Move out Little Mustang” by the Rally Packs, a screaming cover of “Shortnin’ Bread” by the Readymen, “Wine, Wine, Wine” by the Bleach Boys (another hot inland surf band, this time from Sioux Falls, SD), and “The Big Surfer” by Brian Lord. Lord is a San Bernardino DJ who is backed here by Frank Zappa, Ray Collins, Paul Buff and Dave Aemi; the big surfer is evidently President John Kennedy, and the song sounds like it could have been an outtake from the hit comedy album The First Family.
(December 2014)
