The Wedge
Dick Dale & the Del-Tones, 1963, from Checkered Flag. Solo by Dick Dale.
Dale's tremolo picking and Middle Eastern scales, named after a famous Newport Beach break.
The Wedge is named after a notorious Newport Beach break, and Dick Dale plays it like a man riding a dangerous wave. His rapid tremolo picking, hammering a single note at high speed, creates a shimmering, almost violent intensity, and the melody draws on Middle Eastern scales that reflect his family's Lebanese heritage. The thick, reverb-heavy tone gives the guitar enormous weight, as if the whole ocean is behind it. It is Dale at his most dramatic, and it shows why later players across rock and metal have admired his attack. Listen for the tremolo-picked passages where the notes blur into a single surging sound, and notice the exotic intervals that give the melody its tension.
The Wedge by Dick Dale & the Del-Tones is featured in our Surf (#12) list. The solo is played by Dick Dale and the song was released in 1963.
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Who played the guitar solo on The Wedge?
Dick Dale played the solo on Dick Dale & the Del-Tones's The Wedge (1963).