Heavy-metal pioneer Dick Dale will be performing at the Grog Shop this summer. I emailed the surf-rocker while on his nationwide tour.
PT: Where at you currently emailing me from?
DD: Bonifay, Florida as we are Currently on Tour to Florida.
PT: How would you describe your past experiences in Cleveland?
DD: Everywhere I go we Always depart with the Warmest and Most Loving feelings given to us from those that come to our Concerts! Cleveland being one of them.
PT: What is your favorite thing about Cleveland?
DD: It has the Cleveland Indians that represent the Indigenous ones.
PT: The White Stripes guitarist Jack White recently mentioned you as an influence in the 2008 documentary “It Might Get Loud.” How does it feel to have younger guitarists like Jack White list you as an influence?
DD: I am Always Humbled by the Adjulation of my Peers.
PT: What new bands are you listening to?
DD: I listen to the Likes of Vince Gil and Patsy Cline and Big Bands and Hawaiian Music plusthe old singers like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, Players like Harry James, Louis Armstrong. I also listen to some of my favorite Musics such as Country and Latino.
PT: What memorable experiences have you had with other bands on tour?
DD: I don’t Tour with other Bands.
PT: How do you feel about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland? Do you hope to one day be inducted?
DD: Why worry about that when i have been inducted into the real Hall of Fame called The Musicians Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Nashville, Tn. where it all started. This was a voting not by a few board membersbut by 100,000 Music Members of my Peers such as the Actual Players and Producers and Directors which tells it all.
PT: What advice do you have for any young musicians?
DD: First of all You Must be in control of your Mind which controls your body. My saying is Your Body Follows your Mind…Your body is your Temple so Respectit and don’t desecrate it. Number two do not blindly sign your name to any contract with any large company unless you have the best Music Attorney to guide you! I suggest a man called Malcolm Wiseman in Beverly Hills, Ca. whom I have been with for thirty years.
PT: How does the music scene differ now from when you began?
DD: Too many Entertainers and players have died from being weak in the Mind.
PT: Where do you see music going in the future?
DD: We will always have some form of Music as we have had throughout the Centuries starting from the Neanderthal Man.
Dale will be at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights on Saturday, July 20th at 8 pm.
(Editorial note: Dick Dale’s responses are transcribed verbatim)
philtorres 