58 years later, Brian Wilson's high school changes his 'F' in music class to an 'A'

(Image credit: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images)

published 17 January 2018

It might not have impressed Brian Wilson's high school music teacher, but "Surfin'" was good enough to launch The Beach Boys to stardom.

While a student at Hawthorne High School 58 years ago, Wilson composed "Surfin'" and received an "F" from his teacher, Fred Morgan. On Twitter Monday, Wilson shared that he went back to visit his alma mater, and a new teacher changed his grade to an "A." Morgan used to say the composition earned an "F," Wilson wrote, "but it made a million dollars."

"Surfin'" was The Beach Boys' first hit off of their debut album, Surfin' Safari, and although Wilson was known for writing song ("Surfin' USA") after song ("Catch A Wave") about surfing, the 75-year-old wrote in his autobiography, I Am Brian Wilson, that he failed miserably at the sport. "I tried once," he wrote, "and got conked on the head with the board." Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.