The Orfuns played garage punk in the mid-sixties, with original songs by singer/guitarist Jerry McCann, formerly of the Tridents, a rhythm-and-blues, soul, and surf band. Inspired by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, McCann formed the Orfuns. The South Bay-based members were between 16 and 18 when they signed a management deal with Chula Vista's Patty Doig with early performances at the Catamaran and the San Diego Teenage Fair, as well as the Chula Vista High Howdy Dance (where guitarist Skip Rudolph was still a student at the time). They recorded their first of at least four demos in L.A. for Liberty Records in 1965.

The band scored an option contract with White Whale Records in Los Angeles. However, the demos submitted to White Whale were rejected, their contract option dropped, and the band split in 1967 with only one single to their name, "Gettin' It On" b/w "Put You Down." Their music was also heard on the 2005 compilation Uptight Tonight and an unreleased single called "The Animal In Me" (1966) surfaced online almost 40 years later.

Members of the Orfuns and the Centaurs later merged to formed Framework. Drummer Carl Spiron was later in the Descendants. Jerry McCann went on to record and play with Framework, Show of Hands (formerly Anthrax), Nova, and his own Jerry McCann Band.