Search - Sentinals :: Sunset Beach

ONE OF THE BEST SURF CDs YOU CAN BUY

Real Surfer | Los Angeles, Ca | 11/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"At 27 tracks this is really a generous helping of Sentinals material, and they definitely were one of the most skilled of all the original surf bands in the early 60s. It should be noted too that this contains all the tracks from the "Surfer Girl" cd/lp (although in a different track-order), making that one mandatory only for collectors. "Sunset Beach" is the one to get, and the Del-Fi original issue is becoming very hard-to-find, especially the non cut-out copies!"

The Sun Never Sets On The Sentinals!

Mike King | Taunton, MA United States | 04/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Sentinals formed in 1961 in San Luis Obispo, California. The original lineup consisted of Tommy Nunes on lead guitar, Peter Graham on rhythm guitar, Gary Winburne on bass guitar, Bobby Holmquist on saxophone and Johnny Barbata on drums. By the time the Sentinals recorded their two albums, Harry Sackrider took over on rhythm guitar, Kenny Hinkle took over on bass guitar and vocals, and Mike Olson joined on piano. This CD contains both of their albums, "Surf's Up!" (1963) and "Surfer Girl" (1964), plus a bonus track from the "KFWB Battle Of The Surf Bands" album. The opening instrumental features Johnny Barbata yelling "Big Surf!" at certain intervals, starting this collection off on a rocking note. "Latin'ia" is a very melodic instrumental with a distinctive Latin beat, and was a big hit on the West Coast. "Latin Soul" is more of a hard rocking instrumental, similar to "Latin'ia" in name only."Sunset Beach" is a mid-tempo instrumental featuring tasty guitar playing, while "Pismo Beach" is a hard rocker with the sax and guitar alternately playing the main melody. Their vocal version of the Isley Brothers' song "Shout" is performed at a breakneck pace. The early Beach Boys' song "Surfin'" is performed as a vocal with mixed results. Their version of the Beach Boys' "Surfer Girl" is performed as an instrumental, opening with a Chuck Berry riff, to much better effect. "The Pipe" (as in pipeline) features rapid fire guitar playing, ably supported by outstanding sax and drums. "Vesuvius," the closing bonus track, is played so loud and fast that it just might blow out your speakers! By 1965 the Sentinals had called it quits. Johnny Barbata joined the Turtles in 1967, and later played drums with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and then Jefferson Starship! Mike Olson changed his name to Lee Michaels and had a hit with the song "Do You Know What I Mean" (#6 in 1971)."