Burbank Girl
Inspires
Beach Boys Song “Be True to Your School”
From the Burbank High School The Blue and White Wave High (2008)
As a child growing up in Burbank, Jodi Gable (Class of 1965) fondly
remembers the grape arbors that filled the hillside above her house and
describes her life as living in “a Norman Rockwell painting.” When Jodi was 13
she met the Beach Boys at an Olive
Rec Center dance and was amazed at their
sound. After talking with them they asked her to head up their fan club. After
her parents met the Wilsons (parents of Brian, Dennis
and Carl), Jodi began hanging out with the boys, who treated her like a sister,
and building fan support.
“I loved BHS and couldn’t wait to get to school each day,”
she recalls. “I called Dr. Leland, ‘Unc,’ and I had
teachers who really seemed to care.” Jodi was an active member of the Drill
Team, and her loyalty to BHS became the genesis of one of their hits. Jodi recalls,
“Brian Wilson
was a genius and could come up with lyrics on the spot. We were eating chili
fries one day at an A&W in Hawthorne
and he penned, ‘Fun, Fun, Fun.’” Jodi was driving the guys crazy with her drill
team stories and Wilson came up with “Be True to
your School” (which coincidently contains part of “On Wisconsin,” Burbank’s fight song). On
her 16th birthday, the Beach Boys threw a party and performed in her
back yard.
By the end of her junior year the band’s popularity meant
greater demands on her time. Jodi left BHS and finished at Hollywood Professional
School in order to work
for the Beach Boys full time. At the time she was dating Bill Wyman of the
Rolling Stones and was in the middle of the exploding 1960’s music scene.
Eventually Jodi hired some of her classmates to join her staff and to help
answer fan mail. She stayed with the band until she was twenty, and then went
on to her own singing career.
Jodi resides in Oregon
with her husband, but has stayed connected to her classmates and has always
remained true to her school.
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