From Robyn on Patreon in 2023
This was conceived in San Diego on my last tour with The Egyptians, a mere 30 years ago. Morris and Andy were both Beach Boys fanatics, and the spirits of the Wilson brothers roamed freely in our tour bus. I don’t speak Beach Boy the way my musical cohorts did, but some of Brian Wilson’s creations touch even my scruffy musical soul.

I thought “Surfer Ghost” would be a great name for an outtake, which could lie unheard in the vaults for years. Accordingly, when I returned to Britain that summer I wrote it. I made it as intricate as I could and we duly recorded it in early 1994 at the last Egyptians recording session. And it did indeed lie in a vault for 15 years or so before appearing on a Yeproc boxed set of outtakes. Job done!

Bereft of harmonies it’s rather stark, but as a number of folks have requested it on our streaming show, I’ve resurrected it once again and thought I’d play it for you along with a few other outtakes this month. It’s an odd feeling to look back over the acres of songs that I’ve written, or half-written, stretching away into the fog. I can remember a time when I hadn’t written anything…