Dick Dale w/ The School of Rock June 4th, 2005 By Luis Soler

With a thunderous sound booming from his amps, Dick Dale, King of Surf Rock, announced his triumphant return to New York City.

As last Spring came to a close, the city greeted its first truly hot day of the year. People sloughed off clothing as a butterfly pushes off its cocoon, hued and glorious. Little did we know the cruelty of the coming summer; at the time, the heat was welcomed and thanked. The city was in high spirits. It was the perfect day to see Dick Dale for the first time.

I’d heard much about the man and his place in Rock History. Dale and his band, the Del-Tones, are credited with creating the “surf rock” sound of the late ‘50s and early 60’s. His relationship with Leo Fender supposedly led to the creation of better, louder guitar amplifiers, introducing hearing loss to coming generations of rockers. Dale’s a lefty, and he plays guitar with the treble strings on top, bass strings on the bottom (opposite to a normally strung guitar). The inspiration for his percussive style, Gene Krupa, was a jazz drummer known for his wild, flamboyant playing. He’s raised lions, tigers, and other big cats on his ranch, though no longer does so for fear that his son may get eaten. He’s appeared in films with Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon and Marilyn Monroe. He has strong political views that he won’t hesitate to express. Despite all I’d heard, though, I still wasn’t sure what to expect. “Miserilou” (the song made famous by Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, and the only one I was familiar with) is a great track, but it’s little to go on, considering Dale’s career spans over forty years.

B.B. King’s Blues Bar & Grill was set up for an evening of entertainment, with tables available for dinner. The throng sat patiently through the opening act, enjoying their meals and applauding in the right places. But when it came time for the main event, most quit their tables and crowded the foot of the stage. I was surrounded by a multinational, multicultural group of Dickheads (as his followers are affectionately referred to), many of an age to have experienced Dale in his heyday. One young lady carried an old Dick Dale & the Del-Tones vinyl, hoping to score an autograph. A palpable excitement coursed through the ready horde, tense with impatience.

Suddenly, from the idle amps exploded an aural assault- a single guitar note, picked at amazing speed. The crowd pressed forward in anticipation. The bassist and drummer took their places, yet that note played on. When Dale emerged from the wings, still pummeling us with that thunderous sound, the crowd cheered as if welcoming a conquering hero. Striding across the stage with a sly smile, Dale reached the mic and announced, “It’s bitchin’ being back,” and the rockin’ commenced. The show was, in short, phenomenal. Playing his own tracks (“Miserilou”, “Let’s Go Trippin’”) along with covers (“House of the Rising Sun”), Dale worked the songs like a master craftsman. Weaving intricate melodies through the solid drum/bass foundation, adding flamenco-like flourishes here and there, and flavoring it all with the effects built into his gold-sparkle guitar, he led the band like a veteran, improvising and surprising at every opportune moment. He played up to the audience like the seasoned showman he is.

As his lightning-fast fingers flogged the fretboard of his guitar, Dale winked at the ladies and cracked jokes on the mic. He did his best Elvis impression for us, and even played trumpet while doing a great Louis Armstrong. At one point, Dale put his guitar aside, picked up a pair of drumsticks and soloed around the drummer. Yes, on the same drumset. Perhaps feeling that the crowd wasn’t sufficiently agape after that display, he then played bass with the drumsticks as the bassist fretted notes. Without breaking stride, he went back to guitaring. All the while, he kept up a stream of banter that included stories about his family and his days on the road.

I was blown away. I rarely see musicians half that man’s age working as hard for the respect they feel entitled to. At the end of the set, Dale didn’t even disappear backstage; he passed his guitar to a roadie and sat down to chat with fans and sign autographs. Though I didn’t stick around to talk with him myself, I was happy to see that young lady get her vinyl signed by the legend, Dick Dale. The first act of the evening, the School of Rock All-Stars, featured a rotating lineup of teenagers from Paul Green’s School of Rock Music. Established in Philadelphia in 1998, the School of Rock Music is a program designed to teach kids the history, appreciation and execution of good old Rock and Roll. Billing itself as “the original performance based, interactive music school,” the program has ranches in New York, New Jersey, California, and other parts of the country.

A documentary on the School, imaginatively entitled Rock School, was released earlier this year, and founder Paul Green claims to be the inspiration for Jack Black’s character in (you guessed it) School Of Rock.

The parade of fresh-faced young proto-rockers (who’ll be jaded post-rockers before they even reach legal drinking age) came to show off their chops and get a taste of stardom with old standbys like the Who’s “Pinball Wizard”, Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”, and the Zeppelin classic, “Stairway to Heaven”. While some of the kids hammed it up (most notably the pubescent girl putting on her meanest guitar face as she wailed out a solo), others had that dear-caught-in-the-headlights, please-God-let-me-get-through-this air about them that you’d see at an elementary school play. Nevertheless, the kids put on a good show. If you’re interested in learning more about Paul Green’s School of Rock Music, check the website at www.schoolofrock.com for locations, the manifesto and the next All-Stars event.

Actually, you may be more familiar with Dick Dale than you think. Dale recently appeared in a Chevy truck commercial, and the Black Eyed Peas mined “Miserilou” for their track “Pump It”, which you’ve probably heard in that annoying Best Buy ad. If you’d like to get more information on this oft-overlooked guitar hero, head over to www.dickdale.com. His newest release, Spatial Disorientation, is available now, and with forty years under his belt, it shouldn’t be difficult to find an older disc you’ll enjoy.Thanks again for checking us out here at Cityzen. Keep on scanning these pages for further coverage of B.B.’s stage. See you there.