Dick Dale followed up Checkered Flag with another hot-rod-themed album, Mr. Eliminator. With Gary Usher as executive producer, the group’s fourth studio album is pretty far removed from the surf-pounding sounds found on their first.

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Dale translates his hard-picking surf sound into the hot rod zeitgeist in the opening track, ‘Mr. Eliminator’ while ’50 Miles to Go’ is an obscure cover of a song that had been released one year earlier by the City Surfers. Dale’s version is the pinnacle though. ‘Flashing Eyes’ and ‘Taco Wagon’ are both top-notch energetic instrumentals, while the Carol Connors/Steve Barri vocal number, ‘The Squirrel,’ goes nowhere. Dale’s signature mid-eastern electric sound returns in the ‘Victor’. A pounding rendition of ‘Blonde in the 406’ receives an adequate vocal from Dick but suffers from a few too many lyrics. ‘Firing-Up’ is an excellent surf tune, while the clumsy ‘My X.K.E.’ stumbles along helplessly with no avail. It does feature one of my personal favorite guitar breaks ever. ‘Nitro Fuel’ is another strong effort, though ‘Hot Rod Alley’ is not so fortunate.

Dale’s final foray into the Hot-Rod genre, Mr. Eliminator is very much a continuation of Checkered Flag’s trajectory. 

Dale’s final foray into the Hot-Rod genre, Mr. Eliminator is very much a continuation of Checkered Flag's trajectory. Dick ultimately takes what could have easily been a rather formulaic endeavor and infuses every number with that powerful Dale gusto that initially spawned the surf genre.