120 -- Hang Ten With the History of Surf Music

Summer’s coming in hot, and so are we. In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re checking out one of the coolest, most American sounds in rock history: surf music.

It’s a sound designed to imitate the ocean — dripping wet reverb, a clean glowing tone, and that lightning-fast, machine-gun guitar picking you instantly recognize.

It exploded right in the gap between the first wave of rock ‘n’ rollers and the British Invasion, when the music charts had gone soft. But while surf rock as short lived, it wasn’t just a blip.

This scene drove major advances in guitar amps, influenced guitar gods from Jimi Hendrix to Eddie Van Halen, and even helped blaze a path toward speed metal. And of course, it gave the world The Beach Boys.

This was counterculture. This was pure American teenage freedom in musical form — cars, girls, waves, and rebellion.

In this episode, we’re riding the wave: and talking about artists like Dick Dale, The Surfaris, and the Ventures. We’ll also touch on how the Pulp Fiction soundtrack helped surf rock get back up on the board as well as some modern bands that are still hanging 10 with the sound.

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