Pioneering surf-rock guitarist Dick Dale has died at the age of 81 after a long bout with various health issues, according to multiple news outlets.
Dale is best known for 1962's ground-breaking, reverb-heavy hit version of the traditional Eastern Mediterranean song "Misirlou," which was re-introduced to the world two decades later via the Pulp Fiction movie and soundtrack.
But his impact went beyond being widely credited as the first rock guitarist to use Middle Eastern and Eastern European melodies and scales in his music. Dale's staccato playing style is considered a huge influence on future generations of musicians.
He was also instrumental in the evolution of the electric amplifier. After blowing out, by his own admission,"about 50" Fender amplifiers, he inspired the company to increase the output transformers on his amps from 10-15 amps to 85. "Leo Fender kept asking me, 'Why do you have to play so loud?'," Dale told The Guitar. “I told him, when you have 100 people come in to see me, it’s okay. But when a theater fills up to 4,000 people, their bodies soak up the bass sound of the guitar coming through the amplifier."
When Fender delivered the newly souped-up amp, Dale was thrilled – temporarily. “When I plugged that speaker into the Showman, it was like going from a bicycle to a Ferrari Testarossa. It was like splitting the atom! And then what happened was, I started jamming that speaker." Further modifications were made to Dale's specifications, resulting in even more powerful amps with dual speakers and a three-tube system.
