Dick Dale

Hailed far and wide as the king of surf guitar, Dick Dale was a prime architect of surf music in addition to being a pioneer in the realms of guitar technique and technology. He was born Richard Mansour to a Lebanese father and Polish mother in Boston, Massachusetts, and in addition to learning guitar and piano, he learned to play Eastern instruments like the oud and the tarabaki drum, which proved to be a key influence on his musical conception. Dale was interested in country music from an early age and after his family moved to Southern California, he became a country performer and adopted his stage name. By 1958 he had become a rock 'n' roller, and he released a string of rock 'n' roll singles on his own Deltone label between '58 and '60. But in 1960 he began crafting his own, unprecedented brand of aggressive, guitar-led instrumental music for the SoCal surfing crowd, becoming a regional sensation. In 1961 he released "Let's Go Trippin'," widely considered the first surf instrumental. The song proved to be the Big Bang of surf guitar, launching both the style and Dale into the public eye. The following year, Dale released his debut LP, Surfer's Choice, which was picked up by Capitol in '63. 1962 also saw the release of Dale's immortal single "Misirlou," one of the most iconic tunes in the surf rock canon. Working with Leo Fender and others, Dale helped create innovations in guitar and amplifier technology in order to suit his heavy, distorted guitar style, helping to lay the groundwork for everything from psychedelia to hard rock in the process. Before the '60s were over, surf music and Dale went out of style. His recorded output slowed to a trickle, but he never stopped performing. The presence of "Misirlou" in the hit "Pulp Fiction" (1994) inspired a renewed interest in Dale, leading to more albums in the '90s. Dale suffered from numerous health problems but due to lacking health insurance he was forced to stay on the road up until the end of his life to afford medical treatment. He died at 81 on March 16, 2019 in Loma Linda, California.