Dick Dale

Some people think Dick Dale is a crazy shaman, and a lot of other people believe that he actually invented Surf music in the early 1960s by first exploiting the sounds of a Fender Stratocaster as played through the cranked reverb chamber of a Fender Twin amplifier. His Latin-influenced, lightning speed, staccato, arpeggiated guitar playing has been copied by everyone who has ever played Surf music. The Beach Boys covered his "Let's Go Trippin'" and "Miserlou." Jimi Hendrix copied Dale's trademark guitar setup -- a right-handed Stratocaster flipped and strung southpaw. Hendrix best described the effect of Dale's playing when he muttered "You'll never wanna hear surf music again" on "Third Stone From The Sun" (which Dale would later cover).