I got to see Dick Dale in Oregon in ’98. All the US punk bands were lining up to play support slots, he was a hero to tons of them. I think the line-up I saw was The Nobodies, The Lillingtons, The Vandals and The Queers, with Dick Dale headlining. The Vandals and The Queers were both on their own headline tours and took the night off for the honour of supporting Dale.
Dick Dale was a revelation live. I had no idea until then how much of a powerful sonic assault surf guitar really was. One of the loudest gigs I’ve ever been to. Stacks and stacks of old Marshall amps, all turned up to 11. No messing about either – no banter, no chat, just every song straight into the next. Bang, bang, bang.
Yeah I was pretty into the whole surf sound a few years back and there were a couple of DD tracks that were on heavy rotation, probably not his best but I love 'em:
Still sound cool af today imo, can't say that for a lot of 60s music.
Hmmm, saw him with Gillan many times back in the day and he was always an entertainer. Funny how the obits all bang on about him as former Ozzy guitarist, because I'm pretty sure he was only in his backing band for about five minutes. Seemed to disappear after that, tho I gather he stayed in the business.
By all accounts a nice chap too.
Also the Walker Brothers' last album Night Flights. There are only 2 or 3 songs by Walker on there but they're a clear indication of the direction he was going to take - Night Flights and The Electrician.