Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes instrumental performance and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental music in rock can be found in practically every subgenre of the style. Instrumental rock was most popular from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, with artists such as Bill Doggett Combo, The Fireballs, The Shadows, The Ventures, Johnny and the Hurricanes and The Spotnicks. Surf music had many instrumental songs. Many instrumental hits had roots from the R&B genre. The Allman Brothers Band feature several instrumentals. Jeff Beck also recorded two instrumental albums in the 1970s. Progressive rock and art rock performers of the late 1960s and early 1970s did many virtuosic instrumental performances.
Richard Anthony Monsour, known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scales and experimenting with reverb. Dale was known as "The King of the Surf Guitar", which was also the title of his second studio album.
The Surfaris are an American surf music band formed in Glendora, California, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and "Wipe Out", which were the A-side and B-side of the same 45 rpm single.
Surf music is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental surf, distinguished by reverb-heavy electric guitars played to evoke the sound of crashing waves, largely pioneered by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones. The second is vocal surf, which took elements of the original surf sound and added vocal harmonies, a movement led by the Beach Boys.
Surfers’ Choice is the debut studio album of Dick Dale and his Del-Tones, pioneers in the surf genre. The album was released in November 1962. The recording established the conventions of surf music and brought the concept to middle America. The album was mostly recorded live at the Rendezvous Ballroom, with overdubs added in the studio. The record was out of print for a long time. It was reissued on CD by Sundazed Records in October 2006. The album was later rereleased by Not Now Music with a bonus disc of singles as Surf Beat.
"Man or Astro-man?" is an American surf rock group that was formed in Auburn, Alabama in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade.
The Surf Coasters are a Japanese surf band, started by Shigeo Naka in 1994.
Back to the Beach is a 1987 American comedy film starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, directed by Lyndall Hobbs. The original music score is composed by Steve Dorff. The film generated a total domestic gross of $13,110,903. It received a "two thumbs up" rating from Siskel and Ebert, who compared it favorably to Grease.
Gary Lee Usher was an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer, who worked with numerous California acts in the 1960s, including the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and Dick Dale. Usher also produced fictitious surf groups or hot rod groups, mixing studio session musicians with his own troops. These bands included the Super Stocks ; the Kickstands; plus the Hondells with their No. 9 US pop single "Little Honda"; and others.
Surfbeat was the first album recorded by the Los Angeles-based surf rock group The Challengers. They recorded the album in a 3½ hour session at the end of 1962. The album was released in early 1963 and became a huge hit, helping to propel the surf genre. It was sought by collectors for many years and gained great notoriety in the obscure surf market. In 1994, Sundazed records, a company with a lot of vintage surf at its disposal, released the album on CD with two bonus tracks.
"Pipeline" is a surf rock instrumental by The Chantays, which was recorded in July 1962.
Muscle Beach Party is the second of seven beach party films produced by American International Pictures. It stars Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello and was directed by William Asher, who also directed four other films in this series.
Checkered Flag is the third studio album by Dick Dale and his Del-Tones, released in 1963. This is Dale's first entry into hot rod rock, which The Beach Boys, among others, were beginning to perform and record. Here the style shifts somewhat and features slightly altered beats and some added sounds to give the impression of the energy of Hot-rodding. The majority of the songs on this album are titled with themes of racing and Hot-rodding. Dale's next album Mr. Eliminator is basically a follow-up to this, featuring more hot rod songs.
Tribal Thunder is an album by surf guitarist Dick Dale, released in 1993. It was his first album of new material in almost three decades.
Jerald Edward Kolbrak, known professionally as Jerry Cole, was an American guitarist who recorded under his own name, under various budget album pseudonyms and as an uncredited session musician.
The Astronauts was an American rock band, which had a minor hit in 1963 with "Baja" and remained successful for several years, especially in Japan. They have been described as being, "along with...(the) Trashmen, the premier landlocked Midwestern surf group of the '60s." For most of their career, the band members were Rich Fifield, Jon "Storm" Patterson, Bob Demmon, Dennis Lindsey, and Jim Gallagher.
Summer Surf is the fifth studio album of surf music by Dick Dale and His Del-Tones. Dale wrote three of the tracks on the album, with Beach Boys' session musician Steve Douglas writing another three. The rest are culled from various writers that were not necessarily writing in the classic surf style. For example, the track titled "Glory Wave," written in the style of a spiritual, was originally written for the 1964 beach party film, Surf Party, where it was performed by Jackie DeShannon. This was the last album Dick Dale recorded with the Del-Tones due to his battle with rectal cancer, and the last album he would record until 1986.
The Kingsmen Volume 3 is the third album by the rock band the Kingsmen, released in 1965.
Dave Myers and The Surftones were a Southern California surf group who are most likely remembered for the few singles they recorded in the 1960s which include their cover of The Revels hit "Church Key" and their time at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California.
Surf Route 101 is a 1964 album by the Super Stocks, one of Gary Usher's ad-hoc surf and hot-rod studio groups. The band's line up featured some of the best surf musicians of the period including Glen Campbell. The title track "Surf Route 101" was a cover of a song from Jan and Dean's 1963 album Drag City. Brian Wilson had collaborated with Usher on "My First Love" and "Muscle Beach Party" for the 1964 film Muscle Beach Party, where they were originally performed by Dick Dale and his Del-Tones. For the Super Stocks album Usher re-used the original backing tracks made for the film.
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