LOS ANGELES — Dick Dale, 81, whose pounding, blaringly loud power-chord instrumentals on songs like “Miserlou” and “Let's Go Trippin”' earned him the title King of the Surf Guitar, has died.

His former bassist Sam Bolle says Dick Dale passed away Saturday night.

Dale liked to say it was he and not the Beach Boys who invented surf music — and some critics have said he was right.

His fingering style was so frenetic that he shredded guitar picks during songs, a technique that forced him to stash spares on his guitar's body.