Celebration of the '60s: Music to remember

Editor’s note: This decade is the 50th anniversary of the 1960s. We’ve asked area residents to list some of their memories.

link Staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Gayla Brumfield of Clovis proudly shows her Beach Boys gold album Tuesday afternoon in her home office.

Her favorite 1960s music includes the classics of Motown, rock ‘n’ roll and folk music; but for Clovis Realtor Gayla Brumfield, it’s the California sound of the decade that she cherishes the most.

With several odes to the Golden State, the music of The Beach Boys reminds Brumfield of summers she spent in the 1960s with family.

“Surfer Girl,” she said, is her favorite song from the 1960s.

“My mom was from California,” Brumfield said. “So, I loved the California sound.”

A memory is spending her 16th birthday, during the summer of 1969, with family in Huntington Beach, California.

She remembered a bonfire, and her uncle playing songs on the guitar.

“I connect (“Surfer Girl”) to California, to the beach, to summertime,” Brumfield said.

Originally from Farwell, Brumfield said her family moved to Clovis in July 1963 — just a few weeks before her 10th birthday.

“I thought my life was over,” she said. “I loved Farwell.” To lift her spirits, Brumfield’s father, Marvin Huguley, bought her “Little Deuce Coupe.”

It was Brumfield’s first Beach Boys album.

— Compiled by staff writer Vanessa Kahin

Gayla Brumfield’s favorite songs from the 1960s:

1. “Surfer Girl” by The Beach Boys, 1963

2. “Surfin’ USA” by The Beach Boys, 1963

3. “Honky Tonk Women” by The Rolling Stones, 1969

4. “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly, 1968

5. “California Dreamin’” by The Mamas & the Papas, 1965

6. “Hey Jude” by The Beatles, 1968

7. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones, 1965

8. “Crimson and Clover” by Tommy James and the Shondells, 1968

9. “My Girl” by The Temptations, 1964

10. “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin, 1969