The son of a Lebanese father and Polish mother, he was fascinated with the stringed instruments of both cultures.Īs a child, he was also impacted greatly by big-band drummer Gene Krupa, a factor that explains the ferocious percussiveness of Dale’s playing. Known as the “King of the Surf Guitar”, Dick Dale invented the genre with his fierce, never-before-seen style and was often imitated but never duplicated by artists around the world.īorn Richard Monsour in Boston in 1937, Dale was exposed to music at a young age.
