“King Of The Surf Guitar” by Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - album review

features in: Album Chart of 1963Album Chart of the Decade: 1960s

TJR says

As far as I’m concerned yer man was underachieving on his first two LP’s. Too much goofing around on the vocals here and not enough rip roaring guitar instrumentals. Also, there are only two Dick Dale originals on this one, which is a bit disappointing. At least the set is a bit more cohesive than the debut – all recorded in the studio in March-April 1963 and issued a couple of months later in June. Opener “King Of The Surf Guitar” seems to want to challenge Duane Eddy’s “Dance To The Guitar Man”, what with its mean twang playing set against the female chorus ensemble. It’s a good start and side 1 goes on to be consistently decent without ever being overly dynamic. Side 2 gets the rate-o-meter bouncing all over the shop – the croon covers of “You Are My Sunshine” (originally done by Jimmie Davis with Charles Mitchell’s Orchestra in 1931) and “If I Never Get To Heaven” (originally done by Eddy Arnold in 1953) are as perplexing as they are frustrating. It’s so blatantly obvious that the album is at its best when Dick simply opens up the throttle and lets that guitar rip. The blistering instrumental covers of “Hava Nagila” and “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky” are testament. Great cherries to pick though…

The Jukebox Rebel
01–Mar–2012

Tracklist
A1 [02:07] 7.3.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - King Of The Surf Guitar (Alonzo Willis) Blues / Rhythm n Blues
A2 [03:17] 6.0.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - The Lonesome Road (Gene Austin, Nathaniel Shilkret) Blues / Rhythm n Blues
A3 [02:46] 6.9.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - Kansas City (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) Blues / Rhythm n Blues
A4 [02:14] 7.0.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - Dick Dale Stomp (Dick Dale) Rock n Roll / Rockabilly
A5 [03:27] 5.6.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - What’d I Say (Ray Charles Robinson) Blues / Rhythm n Blues
A6 [02:54] 6.4.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - Greenback Dollar (Hoyt Axton, Ken Ramsey) Rock n Roll / Rockabilly
B1 [02:06] 8.4.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - Hava Nagila (Traditional) Rock n Roll / Rockabilly
B2 [01:59] 3.5.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - You Are My Sunshine (Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell) Pop
B3 [02:13] 5.8.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - Mexico (Boudleaux Bryant) Blues / Rhythm n Blues
B4 [02:48] 6.5.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - Break Time (Dick Dale) Blues / Rhythm n Blues
B5 [02:19] 7.5.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - (Ghost) Riders In The Sky (Stanley Davis Jones) Rock n Roll / Rockabilly
B6 [03:01] 4.1.png Dick Dale and his Del-Tones - If I Never Get To Heaven (Roy Botkin, Jenny Lou Carson) Rock n Roll Ballad

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