"I came across this on the way out to Hoboken to play Maxwell's, and my manager, Geoff Travis, gave it to me as a gift and we put it on the CD player in the van. I was very touched by his gift - he'd thought to give me that record, I was very moved by that. I knew Nina Simone obviously, but I'd never heard her sing like this. It just turned my head - I'm not sure how it's influenced me as a songwriter or as a musician, but again, another album of just classic songs, one after the other, and so much attitude, so much fucking fire. I think, for me, her questions, her lyrics, were just fantastic - from 'Do I Move You?' all the way through. It was a real learning curve of growing up - there's a lot of wisdom in these songs and also a lot of diversity. The music's also pretty hard-hitting: a lot of groove in there, a lot of amazing rhythm. Just an unusual, really surprising record."

"What a crazy title! It’s not a surf album at all, of course. I think it’s basically a reissue of his previous album [Let’s Hide Away And Dance Away With Freddy King], which featured his big hit Hide Away. “I guess they stuck the surf picture and title on the record to capitalize on The Beach Boys and the whole West Coast craze that was going on at the time – which Freddy King had nothing to do with. “Although Freddy later became known for being a fine vocalist, he was one of the best blues guitarists ever, and this album really shows what a creative and aggressive guitar player he was. Between the lead lines are little rhythm lines, and they’re all played by Freddy! He could fill in the blanks all by himself. Freddy found all the right notes – nothing was superfluous. When we tour, I make sure to have this on the iPod, so we get to treat the audience and the crew to Freddy King before we come on."