Customer Reviews

King of the Surf Guitar

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3 star:		(1)
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This is surf guitar at its finest. How wonderful it is that these Dick Dale classic early recordings are finally out on CD. Thanks to whoever made this possible. I was about to start collecting them on vinyl when I checked one more time for a CD release and here they are!



This recording is pure fun and energy from start to finish, and the rendition of "What'd I Say" is alone worth the price of admission. Surf's up!

If you love surf music, you have to have Dick Dale in your collection. One of beginning surf bands of southern California. Just a little fact for you, Dick Dale realy did surf ( Brian Wilson of Beach Boys never surfed). This is classic old D.D. surf sound, plus no one made there guitar sound like he did. If you didn't know, he played left handed. But he played with the strings upside down because they hadn't made left handed guitars back then.

Dick Dale's second album was his first to be issued on the Capitol label, and though his guitar playing is solid (as is his saxophonist's), the song selection isn't as inspiring as his debut, Surfer's Choice. The Blossoms, featuring Darlene Love, back Dale on the title track and the guitarist sings lead on "Kansas City," "Dick Dale Stomp," and several other tracks. The covers include R&B, Soul, Folk, Country and International tunes that aren't always the best showcase for Dale's immense instrumental talent. Or at least they're not always arranged to leave space for his guitar. The second half of the album offers more charms, with staccato flat-picked shredding on "Hava Nagela" and "Riders in the Sky," fancy picking on "Mexico" and a low twangy groove on "Break Time." Sundazed's CD reissue adds two bonus tracks, both instrumentals that offer up samplings of Dale's six-string craft, but on balance there's more singing and sax than belongs on an album titled "King of the Surf Guitar." This album leaves you wanting more of Dale's picking, which just might have been the idea at the time. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]