Surfing
Riders In the Sky
Pipeline / Surf Beat Medley
Misirlou
GUITAR SPACESHIP
Dick Dale (born Richard Anthony Monsour on May 4, 1937, in Boston, Massachusetts) is a surf rock
guitarist, known as "The King Of The Surf Guitar". He experimented with reverberation and made
use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first ever 100 watt amp.

Dale was born to a Lebanese father and a Polish mother, and soon learned to play the drums, the
ukulele, the trumpet and finally the guitar. Among his early musical influences was his uncle, an oud
player performing belly dance music. Much of his early music shows a Middle Eastern influence; Dale
is often credited as one of the first electric guitarists to employ non-Western scales in his playing.
Dale himself was an amateur surfer and wanted his music to reflect the sounds he heard in his mind
while surfing. While he is primarily known for introducing the use of guitar reverb that would give
the guitar a "wet" sound, which has since become a staple of surf music, it was Dale's fast staccato
picking that was his trademark. Since Dale was left-handed he was initially forced to play a
right-handed model, much like Jimi Hendrix would do a few years later. However, he did so without
restringing the guitar, leading him to effectively play the guitar upside-down (while Hendrix would
restring his guitar) and often plays by reaching over the fretboard rather than wrap his fingers up
from underneath. Even after he acquired a proper left-handed guitar, Dale continued to use his
reverse stringing. Dale is also noted for playing his percussive, heavy bending style while using what
are, for most guitarists, extremely heavy gauge string sets.

With his backing band The Del-Tones, Dale's live performances became huge local draws. 1961's "Let's
Go Trippin'" is often regarded as the first surf rock song. This was followed by more locally released
songs, including "Jungle Fever" and "Surf Beat" on his own Deltone label. His first full-length album
was Surfers' Choice in 1962. The album was picked up by Capitol Records and distributed nationally,
and Dale soon began appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show and in films. His signature single "Misirlou"
went to No. 1 in Los Angeles. He later stated, "I still remember the first night we played it
("Misirlou"). I changed the tempo, and just started cranking on that mother. And...it was eerie. The
people came rising up off the floor, and they were chanting and stomping. I guess that was the
beginning of the surfer's stomp."  His second album was named after his performing nickname, King
of the Surf Guitar.

-- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: January 22, 2009
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Dale)
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