Since it’s almost summer, I thought it appropriate to investigate the world of surf music. Not the culture displayed by vocal surf music, but the sport and the dance as revealed by the instrumental sound, which rose up in 1961 and was pioneered by Dick Dale, also known as Richard Anthony Monsour born in 1937 of Lebanese descent.
- Let’s Go Trippin’, Dick Dale
Dale’s interest in Arabic music would play a major part in his role as King of the Surf Guitar. Aside from playing several other instruments, Dale had an accelerated staccato picking style, and the reverb he got from his amplifier and left-handed Fender Stratocaster gave his music a wet sound. A surfer himself, he wanted to create powerful music that matched the feeling he had while riding his surfboard.
- Miserlou, Dick Dale
Dale and his band the Deltones gained a huge following from 1961 to 1964, particularly in Orange County, packing them in by the thousands every night at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa south of Newport Beach. Anyone who heard him was captivated by his energy and his sound. Every surf band that was created and followed, and there were thousands, was influenced by Dick Dale. Up to this time, there were a few popular electric guitarists with instrumentals that paved the way for Dale’s ferocious sound and style, including Link Wray, Duane Eddy, and the Ventures. But when it came to instrumental surf music, Dale was the Pied Piper—the man who created the Surfer Stomp.
- Do The Surfer Stomp Part 1, Bruce Johnston
Young songwriters like Beach Boy Bruce Johnston paid homage to Dale’s histrionics, as did all the surfing bands who saw him play. Famed guitarist Al Casey put out the call honoring Dick Dale, The Ventures and Duane Eddy in a record called Surfin Hootenany (with Darlene Love and the Blossoms). Instrumental surfing bands were cropping up all over the place, comprised mostly of young white males dressed mostly in (believe it or not) slacks, sport coats and ties, all pretty much playing the standard instruments: lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, sax, piano, drums.
The Belaires from Los Angeles County claim to have the first surfing instrumental, Mr. Moto, that hit the charts in June of 1961, three months ahead of Dick Dale’s first release, but they got their licks from the Deltones.
- Mr. Moto, Belaires
The surf instrumental sound was definitely a regional movement, mostly West Coast-based with a few exceptions like the Astronauts from Colorado and the Trashmen from Minnesota. Until the Beach Boys came along and made surfing a national pastime, surfers in southern California were really the only group that paid attention.
I found three surfing bands from the San Luis Obispo area that were active at the time: The Revels, who recorded Church Key in 1961; The Sentinals, with Latinia in May 1962; and the Impacts, led by local guitarist Merrell Fankhauser, who came out with an album in 1963 called Wipe Out. However, it was not the same song that was recorded by the Surfaris in the same year—the one that brought drums to the forefront.
- Wipe Out, Surfaris
Backed with Surfer Joe, Wipe Out turned out to be by far the most popular of all the surfing instrumentals, reaching number two on the national charts. Compared with the sound of the Chantays from Santa Ana, however, Wipe Out seemed more like a gimmick. The Chantays were popular regionally and nationally, presenting what many feel was a true surf record in the style created by the Deltones two years earlier. In the Spring of 1963, Pipeline reached number four on Billboard, and it was the first surf record to achieve a chart position in England at number 16. The Chantays won the Australian record of the year award and the BMI Citation of Achievement award in 1963.
- Pipeline, Chantays
Not all of the surfing bands were amateurs. Obviously the West Coast recording industry, very young at this stage, jumped on the bandwagon to cash in on the popularity of the surf music craze. Professional recording session musicians were incorporated and formed studio groups like the Marketts (Surfer’s Stomp) and the Routers (Let’s Go), and Wall of Sound producers like Jack Nitsche (Lonely Surfer). Even composer Henry Mancini got into the act with a song called Bonzai Pipeline. The last popular instrumental surfing band to make the top 20 was Penetration in late fall of 1963, about the same time as the Trashmen.
- Surfin Bird, Trashmen
By this time the Beach Boys had arrived on the scene, adding words to the music. Everybody would be surfin, whether they had an ocean or not.