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--- In , "Alexander Thorburn Hoffman"
<indiglowblue@y...> wrote:
> I recently took a look at Dick Dales myspace bio.
>
>
>
> I was surprised to read that Dick Dale "invented surf music in the
> 1950's."
Others have already pointed out that you can't believe everything
that DD says. Or even most things.
I'm at work now, so I don't have access to the articles on DD, but I
believe he only started performing on Balboa Island in 1960 or so,
first at the Rinky Dink Ice Cream place, or something, and then
opening up the Rendezvous Ballroom, which had been shut down at that
point, and throwing dances for the kids there. It appears almost
certain that he developed his early version of surf music during
that '60-'61 period, playing at those two places. Prior to that he
didn't seem to have much contact with the surfer community, but once
he started hanging out with them and surfing himself (motorcycles
were his main hobby before that - he was Von Zipper!), he picked up
the lingo such as "let's go trippin'". Also, he started playing
Miserlou at those dances, as someone asked him if he could play a
whole song on one string. And of course, it was during that time
that he started working with Leo Fender in development of the
Showman amp. There's no evidence that anything surf-music related
was going on prior to '60, though Dick often says it.
> I'm also quite confused by the claim that Dick Dale's Surfer's
Choice
> was the first surf album ever released, but perhaps that's
debateable
> in how you interpret the sentence...but I am pretty sure that it
was
> not released in the 50s...
September of 1962, I think. And beat to the punch by both the Beach
Boys and the Challengers, right? However, many say that Let's Go
Trippin' is the first surf record in general.
> "Dale had already been titled 'King of the Surf Guitar' by his
> surfer friends before his creation of the Fender Reverb,
That's probably true. He probably didn't start using the reverb
until early '62 or so (at earliest early '61), and he already had a
big following at the Rendezvous by then.
> Dale's first album
> called 'Surfer's Choice' was the first Surfing album to be
> commercially sold with a picture of Dale surfing by the pier in San
> Clemente, Ca. with a surfing title on it.
Wrong. Both the Beach Boys and the Challengers came out before.
Though they didn't have a picture of Dick surfing on it, so as Greg
points out, literally speaking, he's right! BTW, Dick often writes
his own stuff, and is really bad with run-on sentences, as is clear
above. He needs an editor - but NOBODY edits Dick!
> This album alone sold over
> eighty-eight thousand albums in the late 50's
Nope. 1962.
> Is there any truth to some of these claims and others made in the
full bio?
Partial truth. He's also claimed that Miserlou was recorded in the
MID-FIFTIES!! That's just crazy. It's very clear that 1) it's a
Strat through a Showman, 2) it has reverb on it; 3) it was released
in '62. In the fifties, Dick wasn't playing a Strat, and certainly
not a Fender showman with a reverb unit. If you listen to Dick's
early singles, like Let's Go Trippin' (b/w Del-Tone Rock) and Jungle
Fever (b/w Shake 'n Stomp - the early version, not the version from
Surfer's Choice that most people know), the difference in tone is
huge. The lead guitar is bone dry, and not nearly as powerful as on
Miserlou. Often it sounds pretty distorted, especially in the high
frequencies, and even a bit thin. His progression through '61
and '62 is caught very well on record, and Dick is very confused
about all the dates. Or maybe he's changing the story to make
himself look like even more of a pioneer than he actually was. He's
never the one to be humble about his contributions - which were
admittedly huge.
Ivan
