Dick Dale & His Del-Tones

About

Dick Dale & His Del-Tones were a surf-rock group from southern California. Considered one of the first (if not the first) surf bands, the group was fronted by guitarist/vocalist Dick Dale. Formed in the late '50s, the group was extremely popular on their home turf. Dale's father, Jim Monsour, released several singles and an LP, "Surfer's Choice", (most of which were recorded live) on Deltone Records. The band's repertoire varied between Dick Dale-penned instrumentals and R&B and pop-flavored vocals tracks (usually cover songs) sung by Dale. The group was signed by Capitol Records in 1963. Apparently, there were frequent line up changes in the Del-Tones. On the albums released by Capitol, Dick Dale was mostly accompanied by studio musicians.

With 1963's "Checkered Flag" and 1964's "Mr. Eliminator", Dick Dale & His Del-Tones switched their focus from surfing to cars, as was the trend at the time, but Dale returned to surfing for "Summer Surf" (also released in 1964), his last record for Capital. In 1965, after being diagnosed with rectal cancer and frustrated with the music industry, Dick Dale retired from music. However, Dale would return to music in the 1970s, reviving the Del-Tone name and performing around southern California. Dale eventually dropped the Del-Tone name altogether and released several albums as a solo artist. Although Dick Dale owned the rights to his old music, including the records on Capital, the old albums remained out of print for a number of years, with only selected tracks appearing on several different "Greatest Hits" compilations. Eventually, Deltone Records reissued the band's early records in 2006 & 2007.

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