Surfin' Bird

"Surfin' Bird"
Label art for the 7-inch single "Surfin' Bird", with the original songwriting credit.
Single by the Trashmen
from the album Surfin' Bird
B-side"King of the Surf"
ReleasedNovember 13, 1963 (1963-11-13)
Recorded1963
StudioKay Bank Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Genre
Length2:20
LabelGarrett
Songwriter(s)
  • Al Frazier
  • Carl White
  • Sonny Harris
  • Turner Wilson Jr.
Producer(s)Jack Bates
The Trashmen singles chronology
"Surfin' Bird"
(1963)
"Bird Dance Beat"
(1964)

"Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by American surf rock band the Trashmen, containing the repetitive lyric "the bird is the word". It has been covered many times. It is a combination of two R&B hits by the Rivingtons: "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's the Word".[1]

The song was released as a single in 1963 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] The Trashmen also recorded an album named after the track, released two months later.

  1. ^ Gueningsman, Ryan (April 27, 2009). "A whole new generation is 'hearing the word'". Herald Journal. Winsted, Minnesota. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  2. ^ "The Trashmen | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019.