Calling Up Spirits Explained

Calling Up Spirits
Type:studio
Artist:Dick Dale
Cover:Calling Up Spirits.jpg
Released:1996
Recorded:1996
Studio:Prairie Sun (Cotati, California)
Genre:Surf music
Length:53:41
Label:Beggars Banquet[1]
Producer:Dick Dale, Ron Eglit, Scott Mathews, Prairie Prince, Allen Suddeth
Prev Title:Unknown Territory
Prev Year:1994
Next Title:Spacial Disorientation
Next Year:2001

Calling Up Spirits is an album by the surf guitarist Dick Dale, released in 1996.[2] [3] It was dedicated to the American Indians.[4]

Dale supported the album by playing the 1996 Warped Tour.[5]

Production

The album contains a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun".[6] Vince Welnick contributed to Calling Up Spirits.[7] Ron Eglit, Dale's longtime bass player, received a producer credit.[8]

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly wrote that the "mix of covers, remakes of [Dale's] '60s surf hits, and ecologically minded new material feels thin and lacks the cohesiveness of previous efforts." The Vancouver Sun stated: "Playing speedy as ever, Dale returns to the land he founded: a mix of eastern-tinged influences (his dad was Lebanese) rolled up in surf wax and thrown into the wide-open waves."[9] The Calgary Herald concluded: "From his raunchy title track and the bongo-beat hipness of 'Fever' to his twang reworking of Jimi Hendrix's 'Third Stone From The Sun', he embodies rock guitar cool."

AllMusic wrote that "Dale only manages to capture his manic energy on the cover version of Jimi Hendrix' 'Third Stone From the Sun'."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Dick Dale, except where indicated

  1. "Nitrus"  - 3:29
  2. "The Wedge Paradiso"  - 2:37
  3. "The Pit"  - 2:38
  4. "Fever" (J. Davenport, E. Dooley)  - 4:46
  5. "Doom Box"  - 3:04
  6. "Catamount"  - 3:05
  7. "Window"  - 4:22
  8. "Calling Up Spirits"  - 3:50
  9. "Temple of Gizeh"  - 6:16
  10. "Bandito"  - 5:32
  11. "Third Stone from the Sun" (Jimi Hendrix)  - 6:32
  12. "Peppermint Man" (A. Willis)  - 4:11
  13. "Gypsy Fire"  - 3:13

Personnel

Additional musicians

Recorded January 1996 at Prairie Sun Recording Studios, Cotati, California.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dick Dale obituary. March 18, 2019. the Guardian.
  2. Web site: Dick Dale Biography, Songs, & Albums. AllMusic.
  3. Web site: Dick Dale. https://web.archive.org/web/20220303234241/https://www.mtv.com/news/871591/dick-dale/. dead. March 3, 2022. MTV News.
  4. Poem "I must tell you there was a time", from "Calling Up Spirits" CD booklet
  5. Book: Perna, Alan di. Guitar Masters: Intimate Portraits. October 1, 2012. Hal Leonard Corporation. 9781480329706 . Google Books.
  6. News: Boehm . Mike . ..PH: ..KH: ..DH: Dick Dale's Tours de Force . Los Angeles Times . 24 May 1996 . F1.
  7. News: Knopper . Steve . Singles Hit, but Album Misses . Newsday . 19 May 1996 . C25.
  8. News: Boehm . Mike . Bassist Backs Boss in Life, Musical Path . Los Angeles Times . 23 May 1996 . Calendar . 23.
  9. News: Monk . Katherine . DICK DALE Calling Up the Spirits . Vancouver Sun . 6 June 1996 . D8.