When We Get to Surf City: A Journey Through America in Pursuit of Rock and Roll, Friendship, and Dreams

by Bob Greene

In a dazzling and exhilarating display of narrative on-the-road reporting, award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Bob Greene takes readers on an unforgettable American journey of music, memories, and universal longing.

Running away to join the circus is a dream we’re told to put away once we’re no longer young. But, as Bob Greene writes, “just when in our lives we give up on capturing the freedom and bright mornings of our world when it was new, sometimes something happens to keep the sun high in the sky a while longer. Sometimes we find something we weren’t even aware we were looking for."

For fifteen years beginning in the 1990s, Greene stepped into a universe that, out in the country every summer night, is hiding in plain sight: the touring world of the great early rock bands who gave America the car-radio and jukebox music it still loves best. Singing backup with the legendary Jan and Dean as they endlessly crisscross the nation, Greene takes us to football stadiums and minor-league ballparks, to no-name ice cream stands and midnight diners, to back roads and carnival midways as he tells a riveting story of great fame and lingering sorrow, of unexpected friendship and lasting dreams, of the things that keep us going in the face of all the things that threaten to stop us.

Striking chords of recognition and yearning, When We Get to Surf City glistens with cameos by the men and women with whom Greene traveled the United States on his deliriously unlikely journey, including Chuck Berry, Martha and the Vandellas, the Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beach Boys, the Monkees, the Kingsmen, James Brown, Lesley Gore, the Drifters, Little Eva, and the Coasters.

All of them—not just the people on the stage, but the people in the audiences, too—are seeking their private versions of the mythical destination Jan and Dean came up with all those years ago: Surf City as the perfect, cloudless place we all believe is out there, if only we can find it.

Hilarious and heartbreaking, moving and brilliant, this is the trip of a lifetime, a travelogue of the heart, accompanied by a thundering guitar chorus of Fender Stratocasters. It is a story destined to touch readers not just today, but for generations to come, as long as the music itself echoes.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Pop Culture, Rock N Roll

343 pages, Hardcover

First published May 13, 2008

About the author

Robert Bernard Greene, Jr., who writes as Bob Greene, is a journalist.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bob Greene has become one of my favorite nonfiction writers over the last few years. Full review forthcoming.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Bob Greene for writing this book for me.

Ok, I’m kidding….. but it sure felt that way.

I’m a native Californian, born and raised, never lived anywhere else, never wanted to.

When I was eight or nine, one weekend my brother was in a competition at a rifle range in Pacifica, Ca., below San Francisco. My dad was driving and I went along for the ride.
It was to be a long day. There were a couple hours between my brother’s events and my dad asked me if I wanted to go for a drive. Sure, why not?
So we drove a bit further down the coast to Half Moon Bay and we spent the time sitting on the beach watching surfers, just the two of us. It was terribly out of character for my dad, but it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.

Music is a powerful thing. The music of our youth plays a big part in defining who we are, and sometimes who we become. Hearing a song from that era can trigger so many memories and transport you through time.

By some fluke, Bob Greene had an opportunity of a lifetime that lasted for over fifteen years.
The boy from Ohio became a member of Jan and Dean’s backup band, playing guitar and singing, traveling the country doing oldies shows. Everything from small county fairs to stadiums filled with thousands of fans.

Some excerpts:

I hadn’t played since early in the Lyndon Johnson administration.
But the same three “Louie Louie” chords I’d known then — the basic guitar cords of rock and roll — were waiting somewhere in the recesses of my mind, and the tendons of my hands, just where I’d left them.

One of the bands that would follow us was a Beatles tribute group….in the wings, as I went to get water, were the fake Beatles, in tight-fitting light-gray suits and ties. The fake Paul McCartney handed me a bottle, and in a bogus Liverpool accent, said: “ ‘ere you go.”
….”You blokes were good,” the fake John Lennon said to me.

….I stood in the wings to watch Chubby Checker perform….I stood next to the evening’s master of ceremonies, flown in by the promoters to add a special touch to the night. Jerry Mathers. Yep. The Beaver from Leave It to Beaver.

“We think we know who you really are.”
A group of four women came up as we were leaving the football stadium.
“We have a bet,” one of them said. “If we’re right, do you promise you’ll tell us?”
“Who do you think I am?” I said, waiting to bask in the moment.
“You played Little Ricky on I Love Lucy,” one of the women said.
I stood there….
“Are we right?” one of them said.
“Yes,” I said. “Yes, you are.”

I’m not even going to attempt to name all the famous performers Greene met and sometimes even shared the stage with, it’s jaw dropping.

But if you’re interested in this sort of thing, I would highly recommend watching The T.A.M.I. Show video from 1964 filmed in Santa Monica, Ca. It starred and was hosted by Jan and Dean and the other acts ranged from The Beach Boys to The Rolling Stones and everything in between, and is worth the price just for James Brown’s performance.

I also want to mention that I actually did attend one of Jan and Dean’s shows at a county fair in the 1980s. This was about 20 years after Jan’s tragic accident and several years before Greene joined the group.

[Fred Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those of you familiar with Bob's work know he is basically a boomer author. Well, this is basically a boomer book. Greene gets to play with Jan and Dean and their band as they play a variety of venues across the country ranging from county fairs to casinos to oldies shows.

We boomers need no introduction to the band, the surfer culture or "Dead Man's Curve" and those of you, like me that lived through it will enjoy the stroll down memory lane. Those who did not, will enjoy the education in the arts of music, business, friendship and grit.

Don't know many folks who could write this well and also sing and play guitar well enough to be up the the task so glad those various ingredients came together to produce a most readable story.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Gold is where you find it." - Bob Greene

Very enjoyable memoir written by a veteran journalist who most serendipitously finds himself - a 40 something regular guy - upgraded to volunteer guitarist status for the pop duo Jan and Dean as they pinball around America playing their 1960's "surf and car" songs at county fairs, corporate events, and the occasional sports stadium for adoring fans of all ages. During this decade or so spent enduring long summer days of travel and tedium awaiting the reward found in one hour of exhilarating evening play, the author's keen observational eye and skilled writing ability produced hundreds of short narratives that reveal much about the American experience, mostly good but occasionally sad.

As the title says, it's a journey through America in pursuit of rock and roll, friendship, and dreams. (All things I enjoy very much, BTW.) But it's also a look back at life with the wisdom and understanding that comes with age and hindsight. While Jan and Dean weren't well known to me (they were successful predecessors/contemporaries of the Beach Boys in the early 60s before my arrival, and before tragedy struck one of them) I was fascinated by the behind-the-scenes reveal this book provides of everyday life on the touring road, especially for a group that didn’t regularly enjoy the luxuries afforded a mega-successful act. This book makes clear that, aside from the rush that comes with singing in the spotlight each night to a crowd of hundreds or thousands of happy fans, their music life on the road is about as monotonous and lonely as what a travelling business professional might endure for the similar need of earning a living and supporting loved ones back home.

I'll end this review with one of the author’s observations that made me pause for further contemplation (though this happened often and throughout the book.) It takes place when he finds himself feeling disappointed in an empty, desolate Yankee Stadium, wondering where the grandeur was that he dreamed it contained when he was a kid listening to baseball games on the radio.

"If there is, indeed, a top rung of that ladder - if there is a finish line - then perhaps you're never supposed to see it. If you see the finish line, it's not really the finish line. Which is a good piece of knowledge to have. For all the people who spend their lives trying to make it to the metaphorical Yankee stadium, it's not so bad to find out that, when you get there, it's not there at all."

FWIW, that brought to mind the Wizard of Oz film, in the sense that while you may seek fulfillment “somewhere over the rainbow,” you may get there and realize it’s not that specific place or accomplishment that gives you what you thought you needed in life, but perhaps it’s something else that’s been near or inside you all along and just waiting for your recognition. Or, as the author also opined: “Gold is where you find it.” (Or maybe, and more likely, I just had too much coffee this morning...)

[Billy Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another terrific Greene book. Our interests are so much alike it's scary. I would have loved to tour with Jan & Dean -- or any other group, for that matter.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

When We Get To Surf City: A Journey Through America in Pursuit of Rock & Roll, Friendship, & Dreams by Bob Greene (St. Martin’s Press 2008) (973.9209). Another NPR contributor has written a great book. I’ve come to dislike and mistrust the “A Journey Through America in Search / Pursuit etc……” genre, but this book demands my highest rating. As a sixteen year old, Bob Greene adored the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean when they first hit the radio in 1964? – 1966?. As a forty-five year old many years later in the course of a story, Greene met and was befriended by Jan & Dean’s current drummer on the oldies / amusement park tour and became a pal of the band and an unpaid / official band member on rhythm guitar for ten years. This is funnier still because I heard Jan & Dean do a promotional radio interview in Emerald Isle, NC in 1980. Jan Berry had been a wonder boy, brilliant, ready to move on past the number one hits. He had already been accepted to medical school in the mid-60’s when a car crash (his fault, rear-ended a truck while speeding in his convertible) crippled him and left his speech and communication hard to understand. This was made more ironic by the titles of some of Jan & Dean's hits: they wrote and sang “Dead Man’s Curve” years before this wreck. At any rate, during the 1980 interview, I didn’t know their background – I didn’t know whether Jan was drunk or epileptic – but I do know that, on the air, he tried to pick up a girl; after inviting her to the night’s show, he asked her age and she replied “Thirteen”. They also spoke to a young man who, after the singers blustered on about their former fame, when asked if he had any questions for Jan & Dean, asked “Yeah. What are some of your songs?” (Aside: that’s akin to Knoxville DJ Phil Williams in the 1980’s doing a pre-New Year’s show with a Knoxville Police Officer with a breathalyzer on air to measure and demonstrate the loss of control when one drives while drunk.. Phil drank a shot of whiskey every fifteen minutes all morning and got well beyond wasted – he talked through and over the songs, his cohosts etc. After three-plus hours of this (which included periodic breathalyzer tests to demonstrate his ever-increasing blood alcohol content), they prepared to roll Phil out of the studio, pour him into the back seat of a car, and take the poor drunken sap home. As he was departing, Phil was asked if he had any final comments for the listening audience to wrap up the show about the dangers of drunk driving. Our intrepid host said as follows: “Well, I want ya’ll to know that even though I’m drunk, I can tell you one thing: I can still drive.”) That was one of the funniest and most inappropriate things I ever heard in my life! My rating: 8.75/10, finished 2011.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about the era I was born in. I was born in 67 so I was too young to remember or to have been involved in a lot of what was being talked about and my parents weren't into that type of music so was not introduced until my late teens. The book has a nice flow and does not do any bashing, I like that. Just an open and honest view on things and book of reminiscing.

[Florence Buchholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author took such delight in his travels with Jan and Dean that it was infectious. I loved hearing about his travels.

[Ken Heard · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this book is about Bob Greene's experiences traveling with Jan and Dean for about 15 years, playing his black and white Stratocaster and signing songs like "Help Me, Rhonda" and "Surf City," the deeper theme of "When We Get to Surf City" is about friendship. It's also about holding on to good memories for as long as you can.

He uses summer as a metaphor for that. The band travelled across the country mostly for summer shows and that's where Bob excelled. He loved the small details, the sitting in hotel rooms, the jokes, the camaderie and the fun that went with the performances. He even notes that on the band's itinerary notes. On travel days, it lists the airline they will use, the hotel where they check in, soundcheck times, etc. On the days they perform, it's a single word: "Play."

It's also about grown men, most in their 50s and 60s, still having the fun of youth. And, he notes that he's playing the same music as an adult that he listened to and made memories with his friends when he was youngster some 40 years earlier.

Bob shines in his travels. Like his columns and other books, he revels in state and county fairs and enjoys meeting people along the way. They're all in "Surf City," folks who may say funny things or provide anecdotes that carry along his journey.

Whether it's his book on Michael Jordan ("Hangtime"), the airmen of the Enola Gay ("Duty"), his high school yearbook ("Be True to Your School"), his best friend's bought with cancer ("And You Know You Should Be Glad") or Jan and Dean, you know it'll be a perfect read.

[Dorian Box · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bob Greene is an excellent writer who takes readers on two different nostalgia trips in this book about his intermittent touring with surf rock legends Jan and Dean and their backing band over a period of many years.

The first and most obvious nostalgia trip harkens back to when the band's songs (and the Beach Boys' songs, which dominated the touring playlists because Jan and Dean only had a few recognizable hits of their own) were fresh and new coming out out of AM radio speakers in cars and on transistor radios. Mr. Greene lays on the sentimentalism heavy and does a great job with it, evoking genuine wistfulness about those wonderful "endless summers" of youth.

The second, possibly unintended nostalgia trip was the touring itself, which occurred at a time when promoters would regularly package 60s oldies bands together for multi-band shows (which doesn't happen much anymore in large part because most of the original artists are, sadly, dead). As a result, Mr. Greene got to meet and hang (at least a little) with a zillion other popular artists from those days.

Mr. Greene tenderly and lovingly evokes the struggles of Jan Berry who ironically nearly died in a car accident in 1966 not far from the Dead Man's Curve which was the subject of one of Jan and Dean's hit songs. His permanent injuries were mentally and physically debilitating, yet he lived for these summer tours until his death in 2004.

As someone who has played in several Memphis oldies bands, albeit on a much smaller scale, I related to Mr. Greene's frequently expressed sense of utter joy and astonishment at having the opportunity to get on a stage and sing and play all of the favorite songs of his youth while watching happy people dance to them.

The only reason I gave this book 4 instead of 5 stars is because it gets quite repetitive in expressing the emotions Greene so effectively evokes, diluting their impact each time.

[Joe Rodeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the road with Jan and Dean. Bob Greene joins the summer tours as Jan and Dean sing at many a rock and roll revival at state fairs and music fests. There are lots of laughs and times to celebrate, fairly counterbalanced by Jan's health decline or the kind of diss that occurs when the one time Surf City kings have to open for the Monkees. The best part of the memoir is when Bob meets old rock and roll stars whom we get to know better: Frankie Avalon, the Everly Bros, the Beach Boys, Chad and Jeremy . . . Give me more!

It's a refreshing change from the usual sex and drugs brag books. The closest they get to that is the occasional beer that goes with supper or the man who asked "Can you sign my daughter's ass?"

Easy reading. Mostly recommended for rock and roll fans who'd remember Gene Pitney or Gary U.S. Bonds.

[Keith Luckenbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book only Boomers might enjoy, as virtually all the acts are from the 60s.

The subtitle pretty much explains it all, and the book is quite enjoyable for a while, but by the time one has completed 2/3 of the book, a certain tediousness sets in as Greene describes the group's performance at yet another fair in America's hinterlands.

The late Ben E. King (A number of people depicted in this 2008 book are now dead.) kind of describes what's going on in the book in a nutshell at a performance in Augusta, GA: "'Stand By Me' makes me think ... about how important it is to have one person in your life you can count on ... The people who are alone are the ones I can't look away from."

There are many such touching moments in the book, but a sense of chronology is absent, and the book sorely needs an index.

[Richard Smither · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun read. Especially for anybody that started to listen to music in the early 60’s. Bob Green takes you on a ride to keep the surf music of the era alive and the memories of that music blasting through your AM radio before FM radio took over the air waves. In a time of such uncertainty it was fun to leave all of that behind a relive some of the fun of growing up. A time of innocence. Even though it didn’t feel like at the time. Hanging with friends and music. What a great combination.

[Richard Kain · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reader gets to relax for a while in the warm bath of Greene's engaging memoir of touring with Jan & Dean. Wrinkles and room temperature ensue by the end which arrives too late.

Just how far can you grind out servings of nostalgia? For most people including Greene, maybe the answer is endlessly. The most tantalizing subplot, when an artist tries to create new music, is alas the least explored.

[Deborah Charnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Bob Greene since I was a kid reading his columns in the Chicago Tribune. But I had no idea that he had a music background or love that took him touring for many years. This book is wonderful for people of my generation. It's an enjoyable feel-good read, even though the premise may not be about life being a bed of roses. It's about living every moment to the fullest.

[John Stevenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bob takes you on an adventure, which includes time travel. His opening comment of what every teen age boy born in the fifties and sixties equalent of running off to the circus was playing in a rock and roll band. His book does this for the reader. A heartwarming tale of his playing part-time for Jan and Dean for over 15 years. Or maybe I am becoming over sentimental in my later years!

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know the music you'll love the book. So much that I didn't know and Bob Greene is simply amazing to share these stories with us

[Nina]

A delightful romp through my adolescence. Greene captures the magic an allure of being a band guy.

[Claire Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When We Get To Surf City" is Bob Greene's story of his multi-year odyssey as a member of Jan and Dean's touring band. Greene is a long-time columnist for the Chicago Tribune and Esquire, as well as the author of several previous books. The opportunity to play with Jan and Dean came about as a one-time event, but the surf rockers saw how much fun he was having, and invited him back. Soon Greene was flying across the country to join the band whenever he could, a gig that stretched on for many magical summers.

Jan and Dean were pop music stars of the early 60s, and topped the charts in 1963 with the hit that provides the title for this book. The Jan and Dean story appeared to come to an abrupt end in 1966 when Jan Berry, who also produced their albums and wrote many of their hits, was involved in a near-fatal auto accident. He spent years battling back from those injuries, and well over a decade after the accident, began touring with Dean Torrence again.

Greene is a marvelous storyteller, and the most poignant moments of the book unfold as he portrays Jan's heroic struggles to get through each day. Fans of a certain age will remember the made-for-TV movie, "Deadman's Curve," which told the story of the first phase of Jan's comeback. But even those who remember that film will find themselves moved by the degree of struggle Jan Berry faced every day for the last 38 years of his life. Greene observes Jan before shows and wonders why he is listening intently to and singing along with recordings of the hits he wrote decades earlier. It turns out he has to re-learn the lyrics every single time due to the lasting brain damage he suffered in the accident.

Greene's gift is to interweave the nostalgia for innocence and youth with the realities of the present day. He does a wonderful job of evoking the beauty of a warm summer night, with music and laughter in the air and that mythical place called Surf City just around the next curve in the road.

As a long-time fan of Bob Greene's books, and of Jan and Dean, I couldn't pass this one up, and once I started it, I couldn't put it down.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bob Greene wrote an outstanding book about life on the road with an oldies rock group. Greene, known more as a Chicago newspaper columnist, used his reporter's keen eye to take the reader behind the scenes in the world of rock and roll, which may appear glamorous on the surface, but takes a lot of sacrifice, hard work, and humility. Greene was invited to play with the band over several years. He admits that it was a dream come true, especially since he grew up listening to their music. Jan and Dean were one of the top acts in music in the early 1960s. That ended when Jan Berry was involved in a near-fatal car accident. Jan never fully recovered from the accident, but through sheer perseverance, returned to the stage. And Greene's tells us his story of courage and heartbreak; inspirational and sad. And he shows the compassion and quiet determination of Dean Torrence in taking care of his longtime band mate and keeping the show on the road. Along the way Greene introduces the reader to the likes of Freddy "Boom-Boom" Cannon, Gene Pitney, some of the Beach Boys, Frankie Avalon, the Monkees, and even Frank Sinatra. This book is much more than about music. It's about life on the road and the importance of friendship.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book for 2 reasons: The author grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where I live, and I have enjoyed several of his other books. I also wanted to read it because of my job in the media biz at an Alternative Rock radio station-- which gave me an "inside look" at the rock & roll lifestyle, not to mention the opportunity to meet many well-known entertainers, and all the rock band tee-shirts I could handle!! Greene's vivid pictures of being "on the road with the band" -- very entertaining.

[Seth Arnopole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun read about being on the road as part of Jan and Dean's backing band in the '90s and '00s. Bob Greene's usual themes are in here: friendship, the passage of time, nostalgia for a time when people were more decent to one another, kitschy Americana, the superiority of the Midwest, the power of summer, tasty cheeseburgers. The best parts of this one are about the encounters with other acts on the oldies/county fair/corporate event circuit.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bob Greene is asked to play back-up for Jan and Dean by their keyboardist, Gary Griffin. The book chronicles 15 years of playing the Midweat at lesser venues. The book concludes with Jan Berry's death in 2004. Greene, Bexley native, grew up on Roosevelt Ave., talks about the fellowship, great fun and residual power of these fun-in-the-sun surf songs. He muses on what drives these guys to do it and he finds that they love singing the songs and having one more summer. And one more summer after that. And another. The book is sentimental without being mawkish.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is written by a man who toured with the group for 15 years. Bob Greene is also a columnist/author, and he uses his usual style of relaying vignettes in the course of this phase of Jan and Dean's career. This is especially effective in that the book is written both from the perspective of a band member as well as that of a fan. I attended many of the concerts of which he writes, and it was really refreshing getting the different perspective.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was a perfect summer read. Bob Greene is an excellent writer. This book just made me wish I had been to some of these concerts. It's not just a book about the music but is about friendships too. I have read several of his books and have enjoyed them all, especially "And You know you should be glad" about a lifetime friendship of boys growing up in Ohio and "Once upon a town" the story of the miracle of the North Platte Canteen during WW two.

[John Orman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not know this, but for 15 years, Bob Greene sang backup for Jan and Dean as they toured America. Wonder if he was with them when I saw Jan and Dean perform in Albuquerque's Tingley Coliseum--maybe around 2003?
So here is a tale of great fame and sorrows. Along with the retro band touring, Greene meets up with Chuck Berry, the Everly Brothers, Beach Boys, Monkees, the Drifters, and the Coasters.
What a wild, magic carpet ride!

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

All right, this book is no "Gone With The Wind." I'll give you that. Having said that, I must say that this book hit all of the buttons for me. Maybe it's because I grew up listening to Jan & Dean way back when. Maybe it's because I like the writing of Bob Greene. Whatever. I just know that this was a fun, feel good read for me. I couldn't put it down. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if he had toured with the Beach Boys instead.

[Jennifer Rootham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've included & read pretty much all the books (mostly non-fiction, but poss. one or 2 fiction), by this author. He was an award winning columnist for the Chicago Tribune, so enough said. His writing style is impecible!! The only bad thing, is when I come to the last page, with whatever book of his, that I am about to finish reading!

[Roman Gokhman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably about 75 pages longer than it needs to be, but an entertaining, enlightening read about a genre of music, and oldies in general, that I know very little about. A nostalgic look about a time when this was cutting-edge music. If I have a chance to see the Surf City All-Stars, I won't pass on it..

[Dale Stonehouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greene's passion for surf music comes through on every page as he details 15 years of touring with Jan and Dean. For those who remember Jan Berry's talent before his tragic car crash in 1966. much of this is bittersweet. This may eventually rank as important historical material; if not it's nevertheless a pretty fun read.