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Gavin:
I concur wholeheartedly with your impressions of DD in
person. I'd like to offer a few of my own.
I went out to his SkyRanch in Yucca Valley CA a couple
years ago, I live near there in Apple Valley CA...you know
out in the Mojave Desert. I wrote Dick Dale an email, and
mentioned that I teach Photoshop...and he invited me out
for some lessons and to attend his son's Little League BBQ
celebration at the Ranch...it was a cool afternoon/evening,
and later on I gave old DD some pointers re: Photoshop and
digital photography in general. That dude has all the toys:
killer Apple Machine with dual Cinema displays, Xerox Color
printer, killer Cannon Digital camera...he has a pretty
good eye for photography and takes all kinds of family,
scenery, sunsets...plus he's working on scanning and
restoring tons of older family photos and memorabelia ..
(aside: poor old DD didn't know what "layers" were in
Photoshop...so he had these huge HUGE MEGA GIGA photo files
he was working on with like 300 layers each...I set him
straight though, and showed him how to use some of his
Photoshop tools...if you know Photoshop, this is stuff you
learn in "Lesson 1: Layers")
...at home, old DD is the coolest most gracious person
you'd ever want to know...nothing at all like his "public
persona". Totally gool, like your super cool grandpa or
Uncle Dick.
One thing I did notice from a teacher's viewpoint: old DD
definately seems to show some of the signs of Attention
Deficit Disorder...the guy is totally 100% in the "now" and
jumps straight from one activity to the next with no
seemingly logical connection...his attention span seems to
be jumpin' all over the place...but, I must say, when that
dude is focused (like on his Photoshop or his music) it's
like unbreakable lazer vision! If Dick Dale were my Dad,
I'd hate to get his "evil eye", if you know what I
mean...when he looks at you, his gaze can cut steel.
Classic ADD, I wonder if he ever tried Ritalin? No way!
Old DD is totally straight edge vegetarian eversince the
colon cancer episode. Scared the sh*t out of him, I'd say.
One funny thing old DD said before I left was that his
newest (Spatial Disorientation) was the best thing that he
ever (EVER!?!) recorded, and really was the only time in
his opinion that he was truly "captured correctly" in the
studio. All the previous stuff he ever did, he dismissed
it ALL with the comment "It's all crap...it's not really
me...just someone else's idea...not mine"...amazing!
So like I said, I'm sure that old DD is totally into this
moment right NOW...and his public persona is simply an
overly-amplified version of his belief and philosophy that
RIGHT NOW when he's totally looking at you in the eyteball
THAT'S the best Dick Dale you will ever see...
so there you go...my "Zen-Dave" take on DD
DP
PS: I knew it...punker... Hee heee..
--- Gavin Ehringer <> wrote:
>
>
> I hung out with and interviewed DD for several hours
> once, and while he didn't disavow
> surf music, he made it clear that: A) he was a surfer
> back in the day 2) he created his own
> sound, which SoCal garage bands copied but which had no
> influences other than Gene
> Kruppa and the sound of the ocean 3) anyone who did not
> use exactly the same gear and
> technique was not playing "Dick Dale" music.
>
> My conclusion: DD wants to play both sides of the fence,
> in that he likes being the King of
> Surf Guitar, but that other than himself, nobody else
> plays true "Dick Dale" music.
>
> I wonder what happens when you put him in a room with
> Shigeo of the Surf Coasters, who
> arguably plays "Dick Dale" music better than Dick
> himself, and who uses a Yamaha
> samurai guitar!
>
> P.S. It doesn't bother me that the DD sound is heavier
> and more distorted than in the early
> days. His playing and sound have evolved, and that's fine
> with me. I still dig his playing,
> but wish he'd check his ego and acknowledge how his
> legacy (along with a few other great
> early surf bands and instrumental musicians) has
> influenced a whole genre of music.
>
> Gavin
>
> P.S. DP is correct, I am just an aging punk rocker.
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