The Surfers

1. The roots of surf music
1. Since post-WWII California had enjoyed a steady influx of people, financial prosperity, and a reputation as “happily hedonistic.”

2. Surfing received some notice in the 1959 movie Gidget, starring Sandra Dee and James Darren. A string of Hollywood "beach party" movies followed, many of which starred Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Among these are Beach Party (1963), Muscle Beach Party (1964), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965, also starring Dwayne Hickman), and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965).
3. Surfing became a craze by 1963, and a distinct surfer look and (at least partly apocryphal) lifestyle evolved based (at least indirectly) on images of affluence and consumption.
4. Garofalo notes that the surfing craze represents one trend in which Hollywood beat the record companies to the punch by about four years.
2. a middle-class white music
1. Although clearly geared toward middle-class white America, surf music did not completely reject its rock 'n' roll ancestry
2. The music in some ways far outlasted the general surf craze and served as a bridge to the psychedelic music that follows in the 1960s.

3. Dick Dale and the Del-Tones
1. Dick Dale and the Del-Tones were the original surfer group. Dale worked with Leo Fender to develop the Showman amp and the reverb sound commonly associated with the music. http://www.dickdale.com/history.html gives more detail on the development of his equipment.
2. Although he had been playing and touring previously, Dale's first hit was "Let's Go Trippin'," released in 1961. Many of his tunes have no vocals, which helped to define the genre of instrumental surf music (i.e., "Wipeout," "Pipeline" by the Chanteys, and several hits by the Ventures).
3. Although less generally known than his successors, Dale's guitar style influenced a number of players. He continues to tour; his schedule is avaliable at http://www.dickdale.com/.

4. Beach Boys - a bio of the Beach Boys is available at http://www.rockhall.com/induct/beachboy.html), the rock Hall of Fame.
5. Although groups such as the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean sang about both surfing and hot cars, hot rodders and surfers were separate, vaguely antagonistic groups. The car crowd was generally considered less “clean-cut.”