ABC/Nicole WilderJack White has paid tribute to the "King of the Surf Guitar," Dick Dale, who passed away over the weekend at age 81.
"It is saddening to hear of the passing of the incredible guitar player Dick Dale," White writes an Instagram post. "I spent many moments learning his massive reverbed guitar licks in my bedroom, and still enjoy playing his song 'Nitro' whenever I can. Sadly, I never got to meet him."
Dale was credited with pioneering the surf rock genre, and is best known for his 1962 song "Miserlou," which would gain greater fame in the '90s after being used to soundtrack the opening of Pulp Fiction.
In his post, White calls Dale "a unique innovator of the guitar with pick melting style and swagger for miles."
"I can remember traveling up to Pontiac, [Michigan] from Detroit by myself to watch him play when I was sixteen," White adds. "That upside down gold sparkle Fender of his needs to be hung up some place special. Dick Dale, King of the Surf Guitar."
Dale's gold Fender Strat, known as "The Beast," was made especially for Dale by Leo Fender himself. White describes it as "upside down" because Dale was left-handed.
Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.