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--- In , "supertwangreverb"
<supertwangreverb@y...> wrote:
> Ivan have you heard "Mag Wheels" from the Checkered Flag album?
> kind of similar... in some ways I guess.
Hey Bill! Yes, I know the song well. It's definitely similar
to "Nitro Fuel" - I-IV-V with a simple riff and wailing solo in the
middle. I gotta say that the "Mag Wheels" solo, though very good
and classic Dick, isn't nearly as impressive as "Nitro Fuel" - at
least for me. I tell you, I can totally see these songs being done
on the spot in the studio: "Well, we've got another half an hour -
Anybody get any ideas?" "How about this riff I came up with the
other day?" "Good enough - what key?" "Dick, can you just come up
with some kind of a solo in the middle? "Sure thing." 15 minutes
later - done! (Actually, according to Dusty, this is how Dick STILL
works!! Which explains why almost all of the songs on his nineties
albums have the familiar I-IV-V progressions. When in doubt...)
> I love the whole Mr. Eliminator album I got a bootleg mp3 copy of
> it. My favorite Dick vocals are on that one as well. While
reading
> through the Dalley book I noticed(can't remember who)a guitarist
> mentioned seeing Art Munson's Stratocaster case and wanting it.
Just the case? Not the guitar? Is this an important story? :)
> He also said Art used to do some pretty advanced leads at the
time. On
> the Mr. Elimintor album there are some really bendy solos and I
> wouldn't be surprised if those were Art and Dick was doing the
more
> double picked stuff. One thing I noticed the bendy solos, which
I'm
> assuming where Art, contain more full step bends, where as Dick
does
> more of the Johnny B. Goodish full step slides... Dick didn't swap
> his wound G strings.
Yeah, man, but have you seen Dick play live? He really bends those
suckers! He's gotta have unbelievably strong fingers, cause he'll
actually bend those bridge cable strings by a full step. You can
hear it on "Nitro Fuel" - it must hurt like hell, but he does it!
I was also under an impression that Munson did minimal playing on
those albums. You probably had guys like Jerry Cole or Glenn
Campbell or whoever else was in the studio around then that do the
drier, bendy stuff.
BTW, I don't think any of the studio guys played the solos on the
instro tracks, which was all Dick. But, the vocal tracks, well, it
sounds to my ears like on a lot of those Dick doesn't even play -
just sings. It's the studio guys playing everything.
> Nitro Fuel is a great example of a Dick Dale solo! I think those
> early albums contain some great examples of that.
Man, Dick was great freakin' guitarist back then (well, still is,
but back then he was better, flashier and more imaginative than
today, I think). Listen to his playing in "Surfing Drums", which I
think is mostly improvised. It's got FIRE!! Or how about "Riders
in the Sky"? He's constantly pushing the beat forward, and it
imparts such urgency to it. And the guitar break halfway through is
just so freakin' PERFECT! And it's clear he came up with that,
since I never heard it on any other version. Or check out his chops
on a brief solo in "Night Rider". Just pure poetry. Lot of songs
from those album were kinda filler, without much substance - were it
not for Dick's playing which never failed to elevate them above mere
triteness. "Surf Buggy" is like that - a simple, though effective,
riff, but the song really takes off when Dick starts bending 'em for
all he's got! With a great amount of emotion, too, I must say.
Ivan
