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I must chime in and agree with the few comments on "A Run For Life",
which is absolutely astonishing. I love the whole arrangement,
especially the acoustic guitar and all the horns and even the
tambourine. Truly one of the peaks of Dick Dale's sixties output.
BTW, Robb, you say "Miserlou and all that followed was down hill
after it" - but Miserlou (9/62) came before "A Run For Life"
(1/63). "A Run For Life" was Dick's final Deltone single before
being signed to Capitol. The next single was "King of Surf Guitar"
(utter cheese) b/w "Hava Nagila" (still just as amazing as ever).
Since it was still a Deltone single, it's worth speculating that it
probably featured Dick's live band, rather than a bunch of studio
musicians (I was under an impression that this practice started with
Capital years, but I really don't know). If that indeed was the
Deltones, Capital REALLY screwed up by having Dick record with all
studio musicians.
(However, even though "A Run For Life" was so cool, you gotta love
just the sheer drive and those awesome drums of "The Wedge" (played
by the legendary Earl Palmer - a black guy on a surf classic - didn't
happen often, not even with the Pyramids' "Penetration"). I'm really
glad that both versions exist.)
Speaking of "Legends of Guitar - Surf", that was *thee* CD that got
me into surf music. I bought it shortly after it came out in '91 (I
remember very distinctly cranking that CD as I was moving into the
apartment where I lived my senior year of college), and was
absolutely blown away. I knew some surf instro stuff prior to that
CD (I heard some Challengers, a bunch of instro Beach Boys and the
Ventures, and may have gotten Dick's Greatest Hits by that point),
but when I first heard "A Run For Life", "Squad Car", "Bombora", "The
Jester", "Mar Gaya", "Diamond Head", and all the others (I don't
think there's a weak track on the whole CD), it changed my life.
That's when I really started searching out surf releases, and it took
four years after that to start my own surf band... I don't know if
John Blair reads this board, but if he does, here's a public 'thank
you' for putting together what is in my mind still the ultimate surf
music compilation.
Ivan
--- In , "Robb Lowe" <robblowe@h...>
wrote:
> ARFL was rerecorded as The Wedge, and IMHO, ARFL is MUCH better
than
> anything else DD ever did. It's vibrant, manic, explosive, tense,
and you're
> just exhausted by the end. He totally captured the mood and emotion
of
> surfing. Miserlou and all the stuff that followed was down hill
after it.
>
> JB may chime in on this, he knows all the details and facts -
"Legends Of
> Surf Guitar Vol.1" and his linernotes are what turned me onto it in
the
> first place.
>
> Robb
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Klas Fjellgren" <surfites@b...>
> To: <>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 7:14 AM
> Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Dick Dale "A Run For Life"
>
>
> >
> >
> > Yeah, "A Run For Life" is also one of my favorite Dick Dale tunes!
> > Besides the stuff you mentioned, I also think the tambourine (!)
> > really ads to it. Also always thought that "A Run For Life" was
> > recorded after "The Wedge"?
> >
> > Speaking of "The Wedge", one of my favorite versions is the
teenage
> > mayhem onslaught recorded by Johnny Barakat and the Vestells.
Anyone
> > who haven't heard it can listen to it from the link below (don't
> > forget to crank up the volume!)
> >
> >
> >
> > / Klas
> >
> >
> > --- In , "kahunatikiman" <chris@b...>
> > wrote:
> >
> >>One of my
> >> favorite D.D. songs is the original version of "The Wedge"
> > called "A
> >> Run for Life" there are so many cool thinks going on on that
> > song.
> >> The haunting vocal backing, the cool horns, the
> >> accoustic "Shadows" rhythm guitar. It might be my favorite all
> >> time surf song!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > .
> > Visit for archived
messages,
> > bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
> >
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
