LOS ANGELES, Jan 17 — Back in 1959, when Brian Wilson submitted a composition to his high-school music class, his teacher Fred Morgan gave him an “F.”
Nearly 60 years later, the current principal of the school has turned that grade into an “A” — because that very song turned out to be the Beach Boys’ first hit single: Surfin’.
The 75-year-old singer recently returned to Hawthorne High School in California for a tour of his alma mater and took the opportunity to appeal the grade.
After his visit, Wilson tweeted a quote from Morgan saying: “Brian wrote a composition for me and it turned out to be Surfin’. That composition got an F, but it made a million dollars.”
Then added that his “failing grade has now been changed to an A on this assignment by Dr Landesfeind!”
Brian’s high school music teacher Fred Morgan: “Brian wrote a composition for me and it turned out to be ‘Surfin.’ That composition got an F, but it made a million dollars.” Brian’s failing grade has now been changed to an A on this assignment by Dr. Landesfeind! pic.twitter.com/ICANT605Kx
— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonLive) January 15, 2018
The tweet was accompanied by a photo of Wilson triumphantly holding a “Student Grade Form” authorised by current principal Dr Vanessa Landesfeind that updates the earlier “F” grade to an “A.”
Surfin’ was recorded by the Beach Boys on October 3, 1961, at World Pacific Studio in California. It was released as a single a month later and became the group’s first US hit, reaching No. 75 on the chart.
