Dick Dale and His Del-Tones “Mr. Eliminator” 1964. “The King of the Surf Guitar” died this past Saturday, March 16th, at age 81 (b. Richard Anthony Monsour, May 4th, 1937). Mr. Eliminator was Dale’s fourth studio LP and, as the cover and song titles indicate, is heavy on the hot rod theme (see “Blond in the 406,” “Nitro Fuel,” “My X-KE,” “Hot Rod Alley”), with lots of surf guitar sprinkled liberally with Middle Eastern flavors (most especially “The Victor”) and Bo Diddley beats (“50 Miles to Go”). I like those last two tracks the best, a bit of a break from the surfy style. The only track I really don’t care for is “The Squirrel” which is just awful (Allmusic calls it “a lost cause”).