Dick Dale, whose unique style became a genre in the 1960s, passed away after years of ill-health serious enough to have retired other performers, but which spurred Dale on to regular touring, often with his son.

Dale started out as a drummer and that lightening beat never left his hands, even when he took up guitar. Son of a Lebanese immigrant, his high-energy interpretation of  an old-country song, “Misirlou” (Egyptian Girl), became the most famous song of surf rock, and can still bring on chills today. Dale learned the song from his Lebanese uncles, who reportedly played it on the oud, but it was Dick Dale’s unmistakable guitar which enshrined the song in music history, along with “Wipeout” and his version of “Ghost Riders in The Sky.”

Read an exclusive interview with Dick Dale, and another great guitarist, Steve Cropper, HERE