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PART 21 "LET'S GO TRIPPIN" A.K.A. SURF'S UP" (Dick Dale, Ventures, Marvin, surf, surf...)
Greetings and salutations, again. Since we have covered all that English stuff i.e. The Beatles', we can concentrate on what was happening musically on "our" side of the pond. From the title of this month's column, you certainly don't have to guess where we're heading...the beach, of course!I had a conversation with Dick Dale awhile ago and he told me the history of "Surf Music" in detail. He was basically a Country and Western player in the mid-fifties. His hero was jazz drummer Gene Krupa. In 1956, Dick had an idea which was to emulate the percussive qualities of a drummer, just on guitar. This is where he conceived that "galloping" roar on the lower strings of his vintage Shoreline Gold Stratocaster.
Being a left-handed player, he strung his guitar upside-down like Albert King and Otis Rush. He always used roundwound nickel strings that had a round core ( that's what was used in strings during this period as the newer hex-core strings didn't become available until the Seventies). Hex-core actually means that the core has six "points" and six "flats" in its design. These points and flats grab the outer wrap of the wound strings and keep it from slipping and separating causing gaps in the surface of the wound strings.This was a great advance in the technical side of string development as it created a more stable string with far less problems that were just mentioned concerning the round-core style strings of the time.
Dick Dale was influential in the development of the Fender Dual Showman amplifier which he concocted with Leo Fender. His amplifier, as I understand it, has a huge output transformer in a piggy-back format using an extension cabinet using 2-15 inch JBL D-130 speakers. When you consider the extremely heavy gauge strings he uses (.014 to a .060) along with his use of a ridiculously heavy pick ( 2mm as I recall) this is what creates that huge percussive sound. Let's not forget his use of a Fender reverb unit, either.
Dick Dale plays SO hard that he told me he's seen his bridge saddles turn a purple color just from the friction of his picking assault! That's really slamming, as I've never heard of this phenomenon happen to anyone else in my whole life. Just listen to "Checkered Flag" on Capital Records, or to "The Best of Dick Dale and his Del-Tones" recorded between 1961 and 1963. This record contains great surf originals such as "Let's Go Trippin'" and "Misirlou", not to mention the giant instrumental cut "The Wedge".
There's no doubt that Dick is the inventor of surf music, and guess what? If Dick Dale hadn't been around with that "Galloping" sound, Metallica would'nt be doing what they're doing, either. It's my opinion that Dick Dale indirectly created heavy metal music...just a little further down the road! I'm sure that I am not alone in this theory amongst people of my circa.
Here's an odd twist in the "surf-saga". English composer Jerry Lordan penned the tune "Apache", which was recorded by Cliff Richards' band, "The Shadows" whose guitarist, Hank Marvin, was considered by anyone in Europe in the late-fifties, early sixties era to be the comsumate guitar hero. The Vox AC-30 was originally designed for Hank Marvin. Hank was the first English player to buy a fiesta-red Fender Stratocaster, too.
Here in the States, we most likely did not hear the "Shadows" version of "Apache", but what we did hear was this very same song recorded by Danish guitarist, Jorgen Ingmann, complete with multi-tracked acoustic and electric instruments, tons of tape-echo and the like in 1961. It was a big hit in the States and did very well.
1960 saw the first release from "The Ventures", entitled "Walk, Don't Run". This title cut was ironically written by jazz guitarist, Johnny Smith! This was a pivotal turn in the course of instrumental guitar-oriented music. We all know how well the Ventures did...they spawned a whole slew of guitar groups and changed the history of American guitar music forever. On their first album, you can even see a Gibson ES-355 on its cover photo if the pretty girl didn't get your complete attention!
The Ventures also covered the "Apache" tune and later re-worked it into "Apache `65" from their "Walk, Don't Run,` 64" album. We can presume with infident ears that the amps used were of Fender origin. On their sophmore release, "The Ventures", the ES-355 was changed to a sunburst Fender Jazzmaster. The other instruments depicted on the first record were a maple-neck Precision Bass with the anodized pickguard and a maple-neck "Buddy Holly" style two-tone Strat. Mosrite instruments were featured on the "Walk, Don't Run `64" album cover. It is my theory that the Ventures stopped using the heavily endorsed Mosrite instruments due to their very hot overwound pickups approximately four years later.
Every Mosrite I've played has been a bit edgy, but there are exceptions to the rules since guitar manufacturers have a tendency to change their specifications when you least expect it. Also noteworthy is the fact that the Ventures were the first guitar-based group to have an instructional album released, called "Play Guitar with the Ventures" on Liberty Records. Talk about being there at the right time!
Other bands of interest include the Boulder, Colorado-based "Astronauts" who had three guitar players, one of which as his sole function supposedly played the lower bass notes of his guitar! Another thing is this band had matching guitars and amps to boot...Olympic White Jazzmaster, two Jaguars, and a Jazz Bass with red tortoise pickguards along with their white Fender amps with the white knobs and the Oxblood grillcloths!
"The Astronauts" had a hit with "Baja" from their "Surfin' with the Astronauts" LP which is considered by many as one of the best surf records ever made. In "style", surf music is more related to Flamenco and Spanish music as it is completely void (for the majority) of blues influence. It just seems so evident. The strings of this music are again pure nickel roundwound to these ears. When I asked Dick Dale if he ever used the Flatwound type, he emphatically said, "Hell, no, NEVER!"
Being from the San Francisco Bay Area, I've noticed a big return of post-surf style bands lately... namely "The Mermen" and "The Aqua-Velvets". "Mermen" guitarist, Jim Thomas, is just incredibly brilliant. Very melodic, very creative and in total control of his instrument. In this trio format, he weaves great melodies within his chordal structures, being very adept in his use of feedback and whammy bar techniques. Their music lifts you in the air and completely takes you where you've never been.
His rig is really cool. Imagine this...take all your potentiometers off your American Standard Stratocaster and have separate outputs for each pickup. His neck and bridge pickups go through one Fender Twin each, while the middle pickup is going through a Dual Showman amplifier. Add a Lexicon LXP-1 delay/reverb unit with a volume pedal and splitter boxes and watch out!
This band is more "outside" than the surf bands of the past, but this is just their starting point. A must-have CD is their "A Glorious Lethal Euphoria" on Mesa Records #92634. Go get it, you will agree that Thomas should be the new guitar-hero, period. Anyone who covers Brahms Third Movement, Third Symphony, the WAY they do, is too cool in our book.
In contrast, "The Aqua-Velvets" are more "inside" than the above mentioned band. Their guitarist, Miles Corbin, uses an "off-the-rack" surf-green Stratocaster, running it through a 1971 Dual Showman. Their CD is named "Surf Mania", also on Mesa Records #2-92598. Yeah, High Tide is coming again and it's better than ever. By the way, where does Billy Strange's "James Bond Theme" fit into all of this? It sure has some surf elements to it when you listen closely.
It's quite amazing just thinking about the royalties that Johnny Smith got from "Walk, Don't Run". It's also funny that a jazz guitarist would end up writing a surf anthem and a former country and western player would indirectly invent heavy-metal through the same medium, that being "surf music". A special thanks to my longtime friend, Greg Allen, who always pulls out the stops when it comes to info on records, dates of recording sessions and generally going beyond the call to make certain we get the facts. Thanks a lot, Greg!!!! See you next time.
Copyright 1995 by Dean L. Farley
Reprinted from "Vintage Guitar" January 1996 issue.