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For the second Sunday in a row, there’s sad news to report this afternoon as word is circulating that Dick Dale, the undisputed “King of The Surf Guitar”, has died. He was 81.
A death notice was first posted by West Coast online music magazine California Rocker. Dale died on Saturday night (March 16), and the musician’s live bassist, Sam Bolle, confirmed the news to The Guardian a few moments ago.
The rock and roll icon and American guitar hero had continued to tour and play live despite lingering and worsening health issues in recent years, including two bouts with rectal cancer, renal failure, diabetes, and vertebrae damage. Dick Dale was born in Boston as Richard Anthony Monsour, and was raised in Quincy until high school, when his father took a job in Southern California and relocated the family across the country, to settle in El Segundo.
My band toured with My Bloody Valentine and I have shared the stage many times with Mascis. But Dick Dale at the Middle East in Cambridge might have been louder than ‘em all. King of the Surf guitar, vaya con Dios. 🏄♀️ 🎸
— Bill Janovitz (@billjanovitz) March 17, 2019
With a career that spanned several decades and respect as one of the most influential guitarists in history, his versions of classic songs, such “Pipeline” and “Miserlou”, became a part of America’s pop culture fabric, the later experiencing a resurgence in the mid-’90s when it was featured in Pulp Fiction.
“Sad news,” tweeted TJ Connelly. “Dick Dale was a formative influence on my young musical tastes. My Dad and I went to see him at the Middle East downstairs a few years ago, completely excellent show.”
More to come as information becomes public. Listen to Dick Dale below via Spotify, and watch video of his 2017 appearance in Cambridge after the jump. The featured image is a screengrab from that clip.