Surfer's Choice

Dick Dale and His Del-Tones released Surfer’s Choice on Dale’s own Deltone label in November 1962. Most of it was recorded live at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California, with studio overdubs — the room where Dale’s loud, staccato picking helped define instrumental surf for middle America.

Dale worked with Leo Fender on amplifiers that could survive his volume. Middle Eastern scales, Fender reverb, and left-handed attack became the template others chased. The LP includes “Misirlou Twist,” “Surf Beat,” “Let’s Go Trippin’,” and other Balboa set pieces; the better-known “Misirlou” single from the same year often shows up as a reissue bonus.

Sundazed and later labels kept the out-of-print debut available on CD. For luaus and patio nights it is the high-volume alternative to Denny: that Misirlou attack still clears a path across a room.