The Surf Teens

The Surf Teen were a band consisting of brothers, Jeff and John Hammond, Greg Smith and Tony Johnson. At the time of their discovery, Jeff Hammond was 16 years old and played lead guitar.John Hammond was 13 years old and played drums. Greg Smith was 16 and played rhythm guitar. And Tony Johnson was 20 and played bass. How the Surf Teens came to be associated with Norman Knowles, former sax man of The Revels was a result of contact with the mother of two members Jeff and John Hammond. She had been calling him to come and check out the band that her kids had. He had been looking for acts to release on his Westco label. Making the trip to Atascadero which is 20 miles north of San Obispo, he saw them. They were playing their music in the garage which was instrumental rock and roll. He noticed they were very young and also very good. He had them booked to play at Pismo Beach on July 12, 1963, opening for The Sentinals. For their efforts they were paid $25.00. The next night they played at the Atascadero Lake Pavilion and for that they got $50.00. The following week they got $100 which was about what other bands got. He had them learn covers by other bands such as The Centurians (see The Centurions (2)), The Impacts, The The Revels etc. and told them if their songs were good his Westco label would record them. They recorded a single, "Moment of Truth" bw "Moonshine" . Released on Westco WC-9, it was pressed in very limited numbers, mainly for promotion. For an album, he had the group recorded more material at Ted Brinson's studio in Watts. Brinson, an African American man had been running a studio out of his garage and this is where Tony Hilder had most of his surf bands recorded. They included Dave Myers & The Surftones and The New Dimensions. Knowles went looking for an album deal, and through Tony Hilder he had the release done on the budget Sutton label. The release Surf Mania (Sutton SSU 339), had just a mention of the band's name on the cover and label. There was no other info except for a list of the tracks on the front cover. Over time this has added to the mystery of the band and the intrigue it invokes. Some of their tracks appeared on the The World Of Surfin' which was released on the budget Almor Records compilation in 1965. This probably represents the only other appearance of the band on any other release until the early 1990s. Their album has been re-released in 1998 and 2014 on the Bacchus Archives label. The later re-releases include unreleased tracks by the band that were on a reel of tape that Knowles discovered in his vault.