THE BIOGRAPHY OF TOM STANTON

Tom Stanton is a native of Southern California and was raised and went to school in Westchester, a small coastal town next to LAX Airport. He was introduced to music at the very young age of 7 when his parents put him into a school for Tap Dance, it really didn’t seem to hold his interest for to long. Then one day he found his Dad’s old banjo all dusty laying in the garage, he plucked the strings and he was amazed at the sound it made. Mom and Dad saw this and signed him up to take violin lessons, but when he had to play in front of all his friends at a Boy Scout meeting he was so nervous and scared that after that experience he quit!

A couple of years went by and he was about 13 when he met new friend from school who could play the piano really good, and also the guitar… acoustic guitar. Tom loved the sound the guitar made, he was a fast learner and in no time was hooked. Soon to follow was the electric guitar which Tom spent most of his time playing, he would put on the radio and listen to his favorite songs and learn to play them “by ear”.

                                                Tom Stanton

In the summer of 62, Tom was in high school when he formed his first band, the Avengers…a surf/rock combo. They became popular very fast and by the end of that summer Tom was approached by the Crossfires, the biggest and most popular band in the area, Tom jumped at the chance and joined. Soon they secured a spot every Friday and Saturday night as the house band at Reb Foster's Revelaire Club in Redondo Beach. It was here that demands were made upon Tom to learn the various hit recordings of stars like the Coasters, Sonny and Cher, the Righteous Brothers, Dick and Dee Dee, the O’Jays and others for whom they would occasionally become the backup band.

But that was all about to change when in 1966 Tom was drafted into the Army where he spent two years, one year in Viet Nam. Not long after Tom left, the Crossfires changed their name to the Turtles and produced several hits, the biggest one was “Happy Together”.

While in Nam, Tom met a guy named Berry Curtis, the keyboard player for the Kingsmen, the band that recorded Louie Louie. Listen for the organ intro part right in the beginning, that’s Berry. Together they actually put a band together and played for 3 months in the local officers and enlisted men’s clubs in South Viet Nam doing R&B covers for the local troops, now that is amazing! After returning home Tom continued to play with different local bands and musicians, and did some studio work as well. He stayed underground for a long time, writing, playing and developing his own origin instrumental rock/fusion style of music.

In 1996, Pulp Fiction was released with Dick Dales anthem “Miserlou” playing over the opening scenes of the movie, and over night surf/rock was back! Inspired, Tom dug back to his original roots and blending what he knew so well with his new progressive style of writing and playing, he put together a group of talented players, the Surf Kings were born!

The Surf Kings very first show was at Surfers Paradise, to this day considered to be the mother of all Surf/Rock shows. Tom’s creation, the Surf Kings blew the house down and received rave reviews. They were immediately booked all over town and soon their first CD “Up From The Depths” was released. Tom wrote and arranged every song on what was to become one of the best Surf/Rock CD’s of the year. It won national and international acclaim, earned them 3 European Tours, TV appearances, many songs were used on several independent films, commercials, and Fox Sport Net TV in four separate productions. Tom was also approached by Bruce and Dana Brown of “Endless Summer” fame to write a song for their major motion picture release “Step Into Liquid”. Tom wrote “Lobotomy” which can be heard in the Lake Michigan sequence of the movie, and also on the CD “Coming Up For Air”.

Tom and the Surf Kings also contributed songs to several compilation and tribute CD’s, then in 2003 the Surf Kings 2nd CD “Coming Up For Air” was released again to rave reviews. The Surf Kings are still alive and well playing shows all across Southern California.

And if that was not enough, in 2004 Tom was asked to join a very special group of talented musicians who wrote and performed to a sell out crowd at the Escondido Center for Performing Arts, the first Rock/Opera since the Who’s infamous “Tommy”, the rock/fantasy…”Destiny Faire”. Tom is currently working with the Destiny Faire crew on a new project called “Forever After”, which promises to become another brilliant rock/fantasy.

Tom has been playing his guitar for over 45 years, has performed live in countless shows all over California and Europe, from small clubs to large festivals. He has written, arranged and produced two incredible CD’s. Written songs for a major motion picture. The surf community considers him a “living legend” and one of the few remaining surf guitarists of the early 60’s.

His experience and creativity speaks for itself. He is a master guitar player, his influences run long and deep from players like Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and David Gilmore as well as many others.

Tom also teaches guitar at his own “Tom Stanton’s Rock & Roll Guitar Workshop” in Oceanside, California. And is now offering his 45 years of music experience and knowledge to anyone who would like to take advantage of this opportunity.