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Dick Dale RIP


sonnymax

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Legendary "surf" guitarist Dick Dale has passed away at the age of 81.

Dale was close friends with Leo Fender, the inventor of the Stratocaster, which helped to revolutionize rock guitar, and together, they invented the first 100-watt amplifier to handle the input with which Dale had destroyed an estimated 48 standard 30-watt boxes, according to Fender's company. "Dale and Fender would continue to work together on upping the ante, building a speaker cabinet that could house two 15-inch speakers to sustain his vicious riffage."

NBC News

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statement from Al Jardine

 

Dick Dale was an innovator. He helped Leo Fender develop a Fender amplifier with an 11 setting...lol. Carl and I enjoyed playing Misirlou, Let's Go Trippin' and other classics early in our career when we didn't have enough songs to fill out a set. We played the Rendezvous Ballroom where Dick created the iconic surf sound that helped jump start our career . "We'll do the Surfer Stomp, it's the latest dance craze." RIP Dick, you'll ALWAYS be the King of the Surf Guitar 

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RIP Dick Dale! 

I saw him in Atlanta in the mid-'90s, and after the show he exited up the aisle, shook everyone's hand, and autographed my t-shirt!  I'll pull out his CDs to play them today.

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/18/704329806/dick-dale-surf-guitar-legend-dead-at-81

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-dick-dale-obit-20190317-story.html

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For the uninitiated.  The Dick Dale version is both a great piece of music and a cultural touchstone.  The Bbby Fuller version is just freaking jaw-dropping.  What a loss he was, gone at 23 under such strange circumstances.  Much more to him than "I Fought The Law" (though even that alone would have made him memorable). RIP.

 

 

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Sad news. He was something else.

Also unfortunate, when I was younger he played Lawrence, Kansas City, and Minneapolis all the time. I wasn't too into that kind of music -- or didn't appreciate it -- and skipped the opportunity to see the man at work. I regret that now. I mean, $10 to see Dale play? Jeez.

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Who plays the trumpet on Dale's Miserlou?  It sounds Latin American to me.

Speaking of the surf rock, I was contemplating seeing The Ventures here last year, but they are more like a cover band now, even though some of the current band members have played with Don Wilson and Nokie Edwards.  

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In an interview for The History of Rock & Roll documentary I used to play for my students, they have a segment on DD living out in the desert with his lions, and he talks about Gene Krupa being the biggest influence on his style of guitar playing. RIP to a very cool guy.

That Bobby Fuller version of The Miserlou was great!. There's a website about dead musicians named after him called "Fuller Up".

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On 3/18/2019 at 10:06 AM, Dmitry said:

Who plays the trumpet on Dale's Miserlou?  It sounds Latin American to me.

Speaking of the surf rock, I was contemplating seeing The Ventures here last year, but they are more like a cover band now, even though some of the current band members have played with Don Wilson and Nokie Edwards.  

my guy you should of seen the show i saw in 2011, the wailers and the ventures- was my 1st and only ventures experience, don + nokie on guitars

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11 hours ago, chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez said:

my guy you should of seen the show i saw in 2011, the wailers and the ventures- was my 1st and only ventures experience, don + nokie on guitars

THE Wailers of Bob Marley fame? On the same bill with the surf dudes?!

You were lucky to see the last original Ventures, man. 

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