Dick Dale, ‘King Of The Surf Guitar’, Dead At 81

“In the space of a few short years, the Boston-born, Southern California transplant (born Richard Anthony Monsour) had merged the laid-back, sun-blasted lifestyle of the surf scene with a blistering rhythm of rockabilly and early rock-and-roll. As the mad scientist behind what was dubbed ‘surf rock,’ Dale was, in the words of a 1963 Life magazine profile, a ‘thumping teenage idol who is part evangelist, part Pied Piper and all success.'” – The Washington Post