Dick Dale
The King of the Surf Guitar, who played like a crashing wave
Richard Anthony Monsour was born in Boston to a Lebanese-American father and a mother of Polish and Belarusian descent. As a child he absorbed the Middle Eastern melodies his relatives played, along with the big-band drumming of Gene Krupa. He started on ukulele before moving to guitar, and because he was left-handed he simply flipped a right-handed instrument over and learned it upside down without restringing. In the mid-1950s his family moved to Southern California, where he fell in love with surfing and with the region's youth dance scene.
Performing as Dick Dale, he built a following at the Rendezvous Ballroom on the Balboa peninsula, where surfers packed his shows with his band the Del-Tones. He wanted his guitar to capture the roar and power he felt riding waves, and his 1961 single Let's Go Trippin' is often called the first surf rock instrumental. The following year he recorded Misirlou, a blistering adaptation of an Eastern Mediterranean folk tune, and released the album Surfers' Choice on his own Deltone label, which sold strongly in Southern California.
Capitol Records signed him, issuing King of the Surf Guitar and Checkered Flag in 1963, and he appeared in the film Beach Party that year. His quest for volume pushed him to work with Leo Fender, blowing up amplifiers until Fender produced the high-powered Showman rig and a standalone reverb unit that became part of the surf sound. His momentum stalled when he was diagnosed with cancer in the mid-1960s, and as the British Invasion swept in, surf music faded and he largely stepped back from the national spotlight.
Dale remained a regional draw and returned to wider view in 1987, recording Pipeline with Stevie Ray Vaughan for the film Back to the Beach. A full revival followed with Tribal Thunder in 1993, and in 1994 Quentin Tarantino opened Pulp Fiction with Misirlou, making it one of the most recognizable guitar recordings in the world. The Black Eyed Peas later built Pump It around the melody. Dale kept touring hard into his eighties, partly to cover heavy medical costs, and died in 2019.
The 10 greatest Dick Dale solos
- 1Dick Dale and His Del-Tones · solo by Dick Dale · 1962
- 2Dick Dale and His Del-Tones · solo by Dick Dale · 1961
- 3Dick Dale & Stevie Ray Vaughan · solo by Dick Dale, Stevie Ray Vaughan · 1987
- 4Dick Dale and His Del-Tones · solo by Dick Dale · 1962
- 5Dick Dale · solo by Dick Dale · 1993
- 6Dick Dale and His Del-Tones · solo by Dick Dale · 1963
- 7Dick Dale and His Del-Tones · solo by Dick Dale · 1964
- 8Dick Dale and His Del-Tones · solo by Dick Dale · 1962
- 9Dick Dale and His Del-Tones · solo by Dick Dale · 1962
- 10Dick Dale & the Del-Tones · solo by Dick Dale · 1962
The sound
Dale's sound starts with relentless double-picking: rapid, staccato tremolo strokes on a single string that he slides up and down the neck like a wave building. He used extremely heavy strings and hit them hard, playing a left-handed upside-down Stratocaster so his high notes sat on top. Soaked in spring reverb and pushed through huge Fender amps, his tone is loud, wet and percussive, influenced by drummers as much as guitarists. Middle Eastern scales, especially the exotic flavor heard in Misirlou, give his melodies their distinctive tension.
- Fender Stratocaster (guitar) His main instrument for decades, played left-handed and upside down with the strings left in right-handed order.
- Fender Showman (amp) Developed with Leo Fender to survive Dale's extreme volume; later expanded into the Dual Showman.
- JBL D130 15-inch speakers (amp) Heavy-duty speakers chosen after he repeatedly blew out weaker ones.
- Fender Reverb Unit (effect) The standalone spring reverb that gave his early-1960s records their drenched, wet sound.
- Very heavy-gauge strings (effect) Unusually thick strings helped his tremolo picking cut through at high volume.
Covers
- Misirlou, originally by Traditional Eastern Mediterranean folk song He sped up an old folk melody he had heard in his family and electrified it into a surf anthem.
- Hava Nagila, originally by Traditional Jewish folk song His tremolo picking suits the song's accelerating dance rhythm perfectly.
- Pipeline, originally by The Chantays With Stevie Ray Vaughan he gave the classic a heavier, blues-rock muscle.
- Sloop John B, originally by Traditional Bahamian folk song A breezy reading that predates the Beach Boys' famous version.
- Fanny Mae, originally by Buster Brown He dragged an R&B shuffle into the surf ballroom with gritty energy.
- Lovey Dovey, originally by The Clovers A doo-wop era favorite reworked for his dancing surf crowds.
Timeline
- 1937 Born Richard Anthony Monsour in Boston
- 1954 Family moves to Southern California
- 1961 Let's Go Trippin' charts; Rendezvous Ballroom shows draw huge crowds
- 1962 Records Misirlou and releases Surfers' Choice
- 1963 Signs with Capitol; releases King of the Surf Guitar and appears in Beach Party
- 1966 Cancer diagnosis sidelines his career
- 1987 Records Pipeline with Stevie Ray Vaughan for Back to the Beach
- 1993 Comeback album Tribal Thunder
- 1994 Misirlou opens Pulp Fiction
- 2019 Dies in Loma Linda, California
Facts
- He was left-handed but played right-handed guitars upside down without restringing them.
- His birth name was Richard Anthony Monsour.
- His father was of Lebanese descent, and Arabic melodies he heard as a child shaped his playing.
- He credited drummer Gene Krupa as a major influence on his percussive picking.
- Leo Fender developed the Showman amplifier partly because Dale kept destroying weaker amps.
- He used string gauges far heavier than most guitarists could tolerate.
- Misirlou gained worldwide fame more than thirty years after its release thanks to Pulp Fiction.
- The Black Eyed Peas' 2006 hit Pump It is built on the Misirlou melody.
- He was a dedicated surfer, and he said he wanted his guitar to sound like the ocean's power.
- He kept touring into his eighties, partly to pay for ongoing medical treatment.