Today’s Orange County Bands Just Echo the ‘50s Surf-Rock Sound of Dick Dale : Music: Charity benefit proves a showcase for 17 bands on the program.

It is a historical fact that anybody who plays rock music in Orange County is following in Dick Dale’s footsteps.

On Sunday at the Orange County Music for the Needy benefit at the Coach House, Dale cranked up the surf-rock sound that he invented in the late ‘50s and showed that he still is strides ahead of any Orange County rocker in terms of sheer presence and sonic impact.

Dale’s set near the end of the 10-hour affair was a 20-minute, nonstop explosion of fierce sound and high-magnitude attitude. At 52, Dale may be a part of rock history, but this was history that smacked you in the face and left you shaking your head with a silly grin.

Mark Andrea of Don’t Mean Maybe, one of the better young guitarists on the local scene, summed it up succinctly after catching his first live glimpse of Dale: “He was ragin’. Seriously.”

Without waiting for an introduction, Dale walked on with his gold-flaked old Fender Stratocaster and began propelling riffs that slammed and reverberated like a high-speed car wreck in a tunnel. Backed only by bassist Ron Eglit and drummer Steve Aschoff, instead of his customary 10- or 12-piece Del-Tones ensemble, Dale rode a wave through the instrumental surf-rock lexicon, weaving such numbers as “Miserlou,” “Let’s Go Trippin’, “ “Peter Gunn,” “Pipeline” and the set’s only vocal number, “House of the Rising Sun,” into an ever-surging continuum.

With a black, 10-gallon hat hiding his face and his big body hunching and contorting to the sound, Dale was an imposing, almost arrogant figure for whom nothing seemed to exist beyond the border of the stage--not even the audience. The performance was as much gladiatorial as musical, and Dale made his kill with savage vigor. It had James Harman, the veteran bluesman who has seen some killer performances in his time, howling with delight as he looked on (Harman and Dale did not perform together, as reported in another local daily).

Afterward, Dale said it wasn’t his intention, after nine hours of more recent-vintage Orange County performers, to prove a point about still being the county’s top gun. “I didn’t know what I was going to play,” he said. “Tonight I said, ‘I’m just gonna get raw.’ I wanted to try something like the old days (working in a stripped-down trio format). I think I’ll stick with it.”

Regrettably, there were only 60 or so fans in the audience to witness what was easily the highlight of a 17-act program. Attendance was sparse throughout the day. Coach House owner Gary Folgner estimated the daylong draw at about 200--down from 600 or more the past two years. Organizer Jim Palmer said the event raised about $1,000, plus canned goods. It will be enough to provide for about nine poor families during the holiday season, Palmer said.

While Palmer had no explanation of why the benefit slipped in its fifth year after rising success in past years, he said that the fact that he now works in Las Vegas and wasn’t in Orange County to promote the show may have hurt. While Music for the Needy got more advance press coverage than ever before, Palmer felt it may have been hurt by a lack of such traditional promotional ploys as putting up posters and handing out leaflets where music fans gather.

“To me it was a success, even though the numbers were down,” Palmer said. “People were there having a good time.”

Other holiday pop music benefits over the weekend fared better. The sixth annual Noise for Toys benefit at the Doll Hut in Anaheim on Friday and Saturday drew about 500 people, according to organizer John Mello. Noise for Toys will donate $2,500-worth of toys to the Canyon Acres Home for Abused Children. The second annual Reggae Christmas Concert benefit in Laguna Hills attracted 400 to 500 people, according to organizer Joyce Herbert. The proceeds, about $4,000-worth of toys and cash, will go to the Orangewood Children’s Home. And Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’ show Sunday at the Hop in Fountain Valley attracted 350 people, netting $2,700 and about 75 toys for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Orange County, according to Big Brothers spokeswoman Lauren Medley (the singer’s daughter-in-law).

What makes the Orange County Music for the Needy show special is that it is designed not only to raise money for the poor, but to provide a broad, one-day showcase for the local music scene. While many of the performances offered proof of the local scene’s variety and vitality, the day also raised a troubling question: in an era when women rockers’ accomplishments are growing steadily, where are Orange County’s female rockers?

Of the 53 musicians who appeared, only two were women. Carolyn Russell played guitar for the Louisiana Cajun Trio, which began the day with a solid, if low-key, representation of traditional Cajun music. Andrea Maybaum displayed a powerful, emotive and well-controlled voice as an acoustic folkie.

As for female rockers, none played at the benefit, and only a few come to mind when one considers the Orange County-Long Beach scene. The most notable local women in rock are Ann De Jarnett, the strikingly talented singer-violinist, and Chain Smythe, the Joplinesque singer of Chain Gang. Beth Fitchet, who sang with ‘70s O.C. rock veterans Honk, performs in an all-women band called the Girls. Dance-pop acts Stacey Q and Bardeux have had national success, but neither act is really rock. Too Many Joes and Babylonian Tiles are among several less-established bands featuring women rockers.

Contrasted with the Los Angeles local scene, with its strong tradition of such female rockers as the Go-Gos, Bangles, Pandoras, Exene Cervenka and Mary’s Danish, Orange County rock is suffering from a lamentable dearth of female input. Let’s hope that changes soon.

After Dale, the James Harman Band and Eggplant were Sunday’s best acts. Harman made the daunting task of following Dale look easy, turning in a folksy set of “front porch blues” that he and his band played sitting down. The Harman band’s sharp playing and good spirits made for a sweet, smooth nightcap. Eggplant, the best young rock band in Orange County, once again showed an uncontrived group personality that is rare to find when the temptation is so great for young bands to grandstand for attention. In place of flash, Eggplant offers substantive songwriting and musicianship and a low-key pleasure in playing.

The multifaceted Wild Cards turned in a strong set that accentuated Latin rhythms and featured guitarist Jesse Reyes’ whirling dervish dance moves on a concluding jump-blues number. Don’t Mean Maybe’s riff-happy rock was consistently propulsive, with frequent tempo turns that lent the music humor while avoiding sameness. National People’s Gang showed some tremendous assets: a tight, forceful band sound, and a charismatic, theatrical front man in Chad Jasmine. Some political commentary on greed, geared to the occasion, came off a bit heavy-handed and self-righteous. On the plus side, this is a band that always seems to be thinking and taking creative risks.

Other acts showed some basic strengths, but they need to branch out with some of that risk-taking spirit. Wood & Smoke offered impressive musicianship, but, as in the past, the guitar-rock band seemed capable of painting only dark and stormy sound scapes that grow wearisome after a while. Red House needs to let its Led Zeppelin infatuation go the way of the Hindenburg. Big Drill Car played high-voltage, melodic punk rock without letup--which is great for fans of the style, but not so great for those who’d like some change of pace from the fast-hard stuff. Circadian Rhythm sounded vastly improved with the addition of a new singer from England. Its set was full of wispy, Brit-rock sentiments about falling into, or reaching out of, depression. It was well-rendered, but the band’s sound and its mid-’60s Mod look and persona both seem a bit ready-made.

Mark Davis’ solo acoustic set worked well when he sang a fervent and tremulous love song, and less well when he sang a fervent and tremulous song of self-examination. Davis is another talented musician who needs to broaden his perspective. Joe Wood of T.S.O.L. played two strong, emotive solo acoustic numbers that showed he can set aside his leathery blues-rock voice while branching out from his customary hard rock. Too bad he didn’t play a whole set of solo numbers instead of inviting Red House’s rhythm section on for desultory attempts at Hendrix and Doors chestnuts.

The Dennis Roger Reed Band offered a solidly rendered set of acoustic country-rock with a strong bluegrass flavor. Reed is a serviceable singer with a wry lyrical touch on his original material. Well-chosen covers of Byrds and Buffalo Springfield songs showcased sharp mandolin, Dobro and fiddle work from his six-piece band.