The Rhino Records Story by Harold Bronson

Author:Harold Bronson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bisac Code 1: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Entertainment & Performing Arts
ISBN: eBook ISBN: 9781590791356
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2013-10-22T04:00:00+00:00

I saw Pulp Fiction at an advance screening in New York when we were on a promotional tour for our Sweet Sixteen Anniversary in September 1994. I was so blown away that I plugged it in our interviews. Many months before, I got a call from Karyn Rachtman, the film’s music supervisor, who wanted to license Dick Dale’s “Miserlou” over the opening credits.

Dick Dale created the style that would be referred to as surf instrumental. An avid surfer, he wanted to approximate, musically, the power of the waves he felt when he was on a surfboard. Although “Miserlou” originated as a Greek folk song with Middle Eastern influences, Dick’s ferocious arrangement resulted in his best recording. Dick Dale and his band, the Del-Tones, were extremely popular in Southern California in the early 1960s, but their renown was geographically limited because Dick refused to tour so he could be close to his favorite surfing spots. The band’s November 1962 record Surfer’s Choice is regarded as the first surf music album.

Like other instrumental surf groups, when the Beatles hit, their popularity dwindled. Around this time Dick was diagnosed with rectal cancer and given three months to live. An operation was successful and he went to Hawaii to recuperate. He cultivated a menagerie of animals—including a tiger—studied martial arts, and fell in love with his wife, Jeannie, Hawaii’s top Tahitian dancer, whom he married shortly after returning to California in 1971. Jeannie encouraged Dick to return to performing, but with her involvement it was more like a Las Vegas lounge act. He started at the bottom and his popularity grew all over again. During the seventies he became very successful in real estate.

In 1981 Bruce Springsteen—and members of his E Street Band—helped to resurrect the career of early sixties rocker Gary U.S. Bonds with a hit single and album. Richard thought that Bruce, and other Dick Dale fans like John Fogerty and ELO’s Jeff Lynne, could do the same for Dick. In July, Dick and Jeannie drove to our funky warehouse office in their Rolls Royce, after which we reconvened at a coffee shop. I had met Dick previously, when I covered the Surfer’s Stomp revival concert for Rolling Stone in August 1973. Paul Rappaport and I went backstage at the Palladium to meet Dick. He was very congenial, and even gave Paul one of his guitar picks—which Paul framed and hung on his office wall.

In his mid-forties, Dick was a handsome and charming man. What I liked most about him was his positive energy and aphorisms. What I liked least about him was his self-centeredness. When he talked, he peculiarly referred to himself in the third person. This could partially be explained because his real name was Richard Monsour. Although he’s identified as a pioneer of surf music, when he previously performed country and western music, a DJ thought he should have a more appropriate handle and named him “Dick Dale.” Dick and Jeannie had a unique rapport, conversing in a manner that was one or two steps above baby talk.

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