100 Records That Shook The World, #77

Let's Go Trippin'

Dick Dale

I am sure there are a few people out there reading this and scratching their heads. It's OK, I had never heard of this before the list, either. That is primarily because Dick Dale, king of surf rock guitar, and purported father of Heavy Metal due to his practice of pushing the limits of his equipment and frequently blowing up amps in attempts to make them louder, was never a chart act in the UK and barely known until Quentin Tarantino featured his "Misirlou" in the hit movie Pulp Fiction. In the States also, his career has had its ups and downs such as bouts with cancer and an infection that nearly caused him to lose his leg, not to mention the British Invasion all but wiping out (if you'll pardon the pun) surf music in general and Dale's surf rock in particular.

Let's Go Trippin',  released in 1961, is widely regarded as the first true surf rock  record, and exemplifies Dick's guitar sound, created using heavy gauge strings and heavy reverb. Dale was of Lebanese extraction and his uncle was an oud player who played belly-dance music, and you can hear this in a lot of his songs, particularly Misirlou. He is widely credited with being one of the first guitarists to use non-Western scales in his playing. He's still going strong at age 72, having enjoyed a renaissance since Tarantino's involvement. Hang ten, Dick!