the king is dead.... the king of the surf guitar

https://youtu.be/oj9OUiNrZI4

I can recall so many shows in philly where he graciously regaled me with his Leo Fender stories over a beer after the show. A true gentleman, even if the stories became mroe and mroe outrageous with every retelling, year after year! Truly an originator and one of the men who spurred the creation of really loud tube amplifiers at the dawn of rock n roll.

premierguitar.com/articles/28702-dick-dale-19372019

i fucking wish I'd gotten to see him live. true fucking innovator and his amp designs are some of the greatest fenders. \m/

Aww damn - I had tickets to see him in a club in Nijmegan when I was stationed just over the border in Germany. It was about the time Pulp Fiction brought him back to everyone's attention. Unfortunately I came down suddenly with glandular fever and so instead spent the evening in the med-center, severely dehydrated and halucinating screaming monkey faces and WW1 tanks rumbling towards me. Always deeply regretted not seeing him there, it was one of those 'intimate venues' where I'd also once missed Henry Rollins sitting in for a poetry reading. I missed the Levellers that same weekend too.

Dick Dale's playing was brutal tho'. RIP big fella.