Ronald Lee Wilson (June 26, 1944 – May 12, 1989) was an American musician and recording artist, best known as an original member and drummer of The Surfaris, an early surf music group of the 1960s. Wilson’s energetic drum solo on “Wipe Out” (a #2 US/#5 UK hit) made it one of the best-known instrumental songs of the period.

Ron Wilson
Born
Ronald Lee Wilson
June 26, 1944
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died
May 12, 1989 (aged 44)
Placer County, California, U.S.
Genres
Surf music
Occupation
Musician
Instrument
Drums


Biography

Ron Wilson’s drum riff on “Wipe Out” was so striking that “the yardstick for every aspiring young drummer in the early 60s was to be able to play a drum solo called ‘Wipe Out’.” Wilson played drums for the Charter Oak Lancers high school band in Covina, California, in 1962.
Their parents took them to gigs because none of them was old enough to drive. The members were inspired by the guitarist Dick Dale, but it was the drummer who inspired their biggest hit. Wilson said he had dreamed of a surfer and with the others wrote a song called “Surfer Joe”, sung by Wilson.
It was recorded at Pal Studios in Cucamonga, California in January 1963
The band needed a B-side and Wilson played a drummer’s practice exercise called a paradiddle. Wilson added stresses to what had been a rhythm he played in his school marching band, and the guitarists followed. According to band member Bob Berryhill, “Ronnie loved Scottish marches and played with our high school Tartan marching band. That came into play coupled with my suggestion of bongo rock-type breaks for an arrangement, a drum-solo type of song with a simple guitar melody. Ronnie started playing the famous Wipe Out solo and in about ten minutes we had the song together.”[2] They subsequently toured in various forms for many years and at times invited members of the audience to attempt Wilson’s drum riff while the guitarists played the melody.[1]
He is sometimes mistaken for another Ron Wilson that collaborated with the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson for the 1968 songs “We’re Together Again” and “I’ll Keep On Loving You”. They are not related.
Ron Wilson also played drums for legendary folk singer Tim Morgon during the late 1960s. Morgon was a wildly popular fixture at Bob Stane’s Glendale Ice House and later at the Pasadena Ice House to sell-out shows.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wilson was the drummer with the Monica Dupont band, which included Mel Brown, Johnny Heartsman, Bobby Forte. and from time to time Bard Dupont. They recorded honky tonk live at the Stony Inn, in Sacramento, California.
Wilson released an album of his songs titled Lost In The Surf on Bennet House Records of Grass Valley, California, which was recorded in June 1987. A very small number of cassettes of this album were produced. Lost in the Surf included a cover of “Louie Louie”, complete with Scottish bagpipes.
Wilson died of a brain aneurysm on May 12, 1989, one month short of his 45th birthday.[4]
Wilson and the rest of the Surfaris were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.
Check out Related articles
• The SurfarisAmerican surf rock band
• Bob BerryhillAmerican musician
• Wipe Out (album)1963 studio album by The Surfaris

The song “Surfer Joe” was written primarily by Ron Wilson, the drummer of the surf rock band The Surfaris, with official songwriting credits also shared among band members Bob Berryhill, Pat Connolly, and Jim Fuller. It was released in 1963 as the B-side to their massive hit “Wipe Out”.
Song Origins and Details
Writer: Ron Wilson (drummer and vocalist)
Band: The Surfaris
Release Date: Early 1963
Significance: Served as the flip side (B-side) to the famous instrumental track “Wipe Out”
For more background on how Ron Wilson dreamed up the beat and how the band recorded it in late 1962:
Surfer Joe by the Surfaris – 1963 Hit Song – Vancouver Pop Music Signature Sounds
Jan 4, 2021 — “Surfer Joe” was written by Ron Wilson. He also co-wrote their #2 hit “Wipe Out”. Wilson also did the amazing drumming on “Wipe Out”. The song begins by telling from Donnie Wilson
drumjamz.com