RIP Dick Dale

[flatbutt]

See ya brah, and thanks.

[red-beard]

God Speed - Dick

[BeyGon]

we used to see him Friday nights at the Rendezvous, New Port Beach. a lot.

[kach22i]

Nice video, such a good reminder of the talent lost.

[stealthn]

I loved his guitar playing, first time I noticed he strings it upside down

[BeyGon]

Fender built him left handed guitars

[BeyGon]

yes but then Fender started building him guitars and equipment.

[stuartj]

Originally Posted by BeyGon

yes but then Fender started building him guitars and equipment.

The guy was a tone monster, if you got to see him play regularly Im very envious. Would have loved to see Dick play. Big old Fender amps running as loud as fk, dripping wet reverb and huge right hand attack.

The left/right thing is confusing with players like Dick. Even though DD frequently (usually) played LH guitars, they were strung RH. That is, any righty could pick up DD's guitar and play it, and it would look like the guitar was upside down. And DD could pick up any RH guitar and turn over, and play it. There are only a few other people I can think of that play like this- Doyle Bramhall, Eric Gayles and that guy from Airsupply….

The opposite is like say, Hendrix. Play a RH git upside down, but the guitar set up for a LH player, bass strings at the top. Still hard work on RH electrics where all the controls and switching are configured for RH.

Looking at DDs left handed Strat above, he seems to have done away with annoying distractions like volume and tone controls. Awesome.

[javadog]

This is a pretty good one:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GWw55XhTehg&feature=youtu.be

[A930Rocket]

Damn.

He’s my favorite when I ask Alex to play music.

[Fly Mach .86]

He had a great house in Newport Beech down by the "wedge". Then I heard he ended up in Garden Grove?? Must have hit some hard times. I loved his music and "surf music" in general. RIP

[PD41]

Dale, who lived in Twentynine Palms, died Saturday after battling cancer for two decades. He was 81. His son, musician Jimmy Dale, said he was told his father died at 10:30 p.m.
Dale had moved from Rivereside to Twentynine Palms in the mid-1980s, in part to escape the traffic and congestion of Southern California, Jimmy Dale said, and partly because he liked the solitude. He had his own air strip and hangar on a piece of property he developed called the Dick Dale Sky Ranch, and he'd fly his Cessna airplane to gigs around the country. He kept a Christmas tree up year-round in his house because, he said, "I like happiness all the time. Happiness is giving."
Some of his hits he would play them different at different shows.

3rd stone was originally done by Jimi Hendrix and was a dedication to Dick when he had cancer back in the 60's.

"Medley: Amazing Grace/Miserlou/3rd Stone"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e909ZRPbUd8

Nitro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuHs_mhg9Nk

Did the music at Space Mountain Disneyland (Dick Dale Version) 1:10 jam starts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq5YGRBOWyc

[PD41]

5. Dale Pioneered Reverb
In addition to his amp innovations, Dale was one of the first to use reverb. At first, he implemented it into his arsenal to enhance his voice when performing live to add vibrato. But he eventually plugged his Strat into the reverb tank and found that it offered a “wetter” sound with more sustain. From that point forward, reverb became synonymous with surf music.

6. Dale Was Called the “Father of Heavy Metal”
Yes, Guitar Player once named Dale the progenitor of metal, with his breakneck speed and electric stage presence. The surf genre that Dale championed had a direct influence on another SoCal guitarist—Eddie Van Halen. The first song that Van Halen learned to play on electric guitar was “Walk Don’t Run” by surf legends the Ventures, and he was also known for hyper-fast picking like Dale. You can hear tinges of surf coursing through several Van Halen hits, like “Romeo Delight” and “Top Jimmy”, as well.

https://www.fender.com/articles/artists/the-father-of-surf-7-essential-dick-dale-facts/

[PD41]

Burned through multiple picks during Third Stone.

Thanks for posting, PD. I heard an interview of him on the radio today where he said that he was inspired by middle eastern music. You can hear it in the melody to Misirilou, which he said was another-for note copy of a ME song, speeded way up.

I always thought a lot of his open tuning and chords had drone like bagpipes, with really fast high stuff on top like bagpipes have, speeded way up.

[PD41]

Dale was born Richard Anthony Monsour in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 4, 1937. He was of Lebanese descent from his father and Polish-Belarusian descent from his mother.

I read once he used to hear this song when he was young, then came up with his own faster version.

Check this version.

Misirlou - Old Arabic version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3tJ_XyBwyE

[PD41]

Saw him a few times. One time in OC at the Coach House after the show he was signing autographs.
My nephew went to the lot and got his maroon 51 Pontiac Chieftain and pulled up outside. I told Dick, "Hey Dick, you should see my nephews 51 Cheiftain out front" He got up and left about 20 people standing in line. Went out and jumped in it. He had a Sharpie pen and I said "Hey Dick can you sign the dash" He did, it was funny.