168,328 plays (43,427 listeners)
Misirlou (Greek: Μισιρλού, “Egyptian Girl”; from Turkish Mısırlı, “Egyptian”; from Arabic مصر, Miṣr, “Egypt”), is a popular Greek song with a cult-like popularity in five very diverse styles of music: Greek rebetiko, Middle-Eastern belly dancing, Jewish wedding music (Klezmer), American surf rock and international orchestral easy listening (Exotica).
The song was rearranged as a solo instrumental guitar piece by Dick Dale in 1962. Dale’s father and uncles were Lebanese-American musicians who were a part of the aforementioned ethnic nightclub scene. Although they were Arab, they, like other performers, played the music of all the main cultures which made up the nightclub patrons—that included Greek music and Misirlou. During a performance, Dale was bet by a young fan that he could not play a song on only one string of his guitar. Later that night, he remembered seeing his uncle play “Misirlou” on one string (actually a double string) of the oud. He tried to imitate that style on his guitar, but vastly increased the song’s tempo to make it into rock’n’roll, and the result was the famous Dick Dale Misirlou. It was Dale’s version that introduced “Misirlou” to a wider audience in the United States as “Miserlou.”
The song was rearranged as a solo instrumental guitar piece by Dick Dale in 1962. Dale’s father and uncles were Lebanese-American musicians who were a part of the aforementioned ethnic nightclub scene. Although they were Arab, they, like other performers, played the music of all the main cultures which made up the nightclub patrons—that included Greek music and Misirlou. During a performance, Dale was bet by a young fan that he could not play a song on only one string of his guitar. Later that night, he remembered seeing his uncle play “Misirlou” on one string (actually a double string) of the oud. He tried to imitate that style on his guitar, but vastly increased the song’s tempo to make it into rock’n’roll, and the result was the famous Dick Dale Misirlou. It was Dale’s version that introduced “Misirlou” to a wider audience in the United States as “Miserlou.”
Video
Added by dreamcast1212
January 1996 Dick Dale playing Misirlou
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Shouts
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basman33 wrote:
whether its a wave or a bicycle lane...... dick rules!
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Molivia1 wrote:
I love this song! Used to remind me of the beach ( o.O ) now reminds me of Pulp Fiction :D
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Giusychevola wrote:
Awesome♥
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Corvair1963 wrote:
Very cool, but I don't know if I could take a whole concert full of this stuff.
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1226 wrote:
pump it
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OLDCHAVYCAR2RED wrote:
cool tune
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treeperch wrote:
Saw Dick Dale perform in concert this year -- his incredible energy, passion and technical expertise dazzled the audience. If you get a chance to hear him perform live, GO -- it is an amazing experience.
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Cyanide-_- wrote:
This fucking stuff rocks very well!
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sideBe wrote:
+
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lovethe60s wrote:
Kick ass song!
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caliboy1956 wrote:
Love this Track. I always saw it played in films during a High Anxiety scene or while someone was riding the big Whitecaps
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darkpeach wrote:
Let´s dance!!
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st3ppinraz0r wrote:
pulp fiction!
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FALKU wrote:
saw him in Tahoe playing the smallest bar...true rock icon
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cincotta25 wrote:
Is this from his latest.......? Funny, I never hear this one on lastfm..... LOL :+)-
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Olson-M wrote:
just about the best, ever.
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sfusyron wrote:
Surf Slam !!!!!!!!!!!!!
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luckyrio21 wrote:
love this stormy beach day surfers yumm
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smichaelgbg wrote:
Epic
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Audiomoxie wrote:
Fantastic!
Dick Dale
Misirlou
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Recent Activity
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SkDaWs added Misirlou to their Loved Tracks. 6 hours ago
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rwitte tagged Misirlou with ‘rjw best 2009’. 8 hours ago
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ifendsmatter1 and vestigialvisage loved Dick Dale – Misirlou. yesterday evening
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J0EN0THING added Misirlou to J0EN0THING’s library. Friday evening
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abhimanyurawal added Misirlou to the playlist Favourite Music. Friday afternoon
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shakeypremise, ColeHimself, djrsonist and 18 other people loved Dick Dale – Misirlou. Friday afternoon
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vnebeto added Misirlou to vnebeto’s library. Monday afternoon
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vnebeto added Misirlou to the playlist Play. Monday afternoon
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katelace, SONICSEABASS, wahoffman and 14 other people loved Dick Dale – Misirlou. Monday morning
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guminda added Misirlou to guminda’s library. last week
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