Biography 1958 - 1979
PHASE ONE BIOGRAPHY
(1958-1966)
Both Jan Berry and Dean Torrence attended Emerson Jr. High School in West Los Angeles. After graduation they also both attended University High School (also in West Los Angeles). Not until their senior year in high school did they really become close friends, when they both made the varsity football team and by chance happened to get team lockers next to one another ... it wasn't long before a bunch of guys on the team discovered that the sound in the shower was the best echo around.
Group songs were popular that year, so it was just a matter of time before Jan, Dean and some of the other guys started singing the songs of the day in the University High shower room.
The football season ended, and that meant that the showers were to be used by the baseball team. So the group, by now called the "Barons", had to start practising in the boys' restrooms during lunch, but the teachers began to complain. lt wasn't long before the Barons had their first big break: they were asked to sing at the school assembly. This meant that they'd have to really get their sound together. Jan had two tape recorders but no microphone, so Jan offered to steal the assembly microphone from the auditorium during lunch one day, (Jan was a master thief); he got it! After securing the mike, the Barons began meeting at Jan's house where they'd practice their songs on Jan's tape recorders. They used two tape recorders so they could make a tape delay by going from one machine to the other creating an echo effect - it was almost as good as the shower room!
At that point there were six guys in the group: Chuck Steele was lead singer because he was black, Arnie Ginsberg was first tenor because he was Jewish, Wally Yagi was second tenor because he was a Jap, John "Soggy" Seligman was also second tenor because Wally didn't sing very loud. Jan Berry was the bass singer because he was the biggest, and Dean sang all the high stuff because he was the only one who could. All they needed was a band. Bruce Johnston, a neighbor of Jan's, wanted to play piano; so he did. Sandy Nelson, a neighbor of Dean's, wanted to play drums; so he did. A friend of Sandy's played saxophone. The big day came and went, but everybody did say the Barons sounded just like the real records.
Jan said they should keep on practising after school, even though there was no real good reason to. They all made it to practice for a few weeks, but then more important things began to take the place of practising for nothing. Arnie met a girl at the Frostee Freeze so he hung out in the parking lot until she got off; Chuck lowered his Buick so low that he couldn't drive it down Jan's driveway (and besides he said he had a better offer to be lead singer of the Del Vikings or the Coasters or something like that).
... She was a stripper, Swear to God!
This left Jan and Dean. They had one original song they'd both written. They called it "Sally She Lived Upon The Hill". One night while they were trying to figure out the words to "She Say" by the Diamonds, Arnie came by and told them that he'd broken up with the girl at the Frostee Freeze. But he had found a girl he liked better ... she was a stripper: Swear to God! And she had two of the biggest "you-know-whats" that you've ever seen. He thought they should all drive to downtown LA to see for themselves. Since they weren't doing too well figuring out the words to "She Say," they all agreed. All the way downtown Dean thought seeing any size "you-know-whats" were bigger than he'd ever seen.
As they arrived at the Follies Burlesque, they saw a huge sign that read "Jenny Lee, the Bazoom Girl-Park Free After Six." Upon sitting down (as far back es they could get), the show started. Jenny came out dancing and even Jan said: "She has the two biggest-you-know-whats' l have ever seen" Dean commented "I thought I had seen some big ones in my day but without a doubt these were the biggest".
lt was a hot night and yet all the old men were carrying coats and making strange noises. As Jenny Lee bounced, the old man would accentuate the bounces by chanting "bomp bomp, bomp bomp" etc. Later that evening, while driving home in the car, Jan, Arnie and Dean started the "bomp bomp" chant and added some lyrics reflecting Arnie's love for the future Mrs. Ginsberg, and the song "Jenny Lee" was born.
"Half a pie was more than a third"
Four months later, it was the number 3 record in the nation. Yes "Jenny Lee" by Jan & Arnie was a smash ... but "where was Dean" you're asking? That's what Jan wanted to know, when he found out that the tape Jan, Arnie and Dean had made in his (Jan's) garage was going to be released by a real record company. Jan called Dean's mom to ask her where he was. She told Jan not to bother Dean because he was in the army doing his duty and that he'd be out in six months. She suggested that maybe when Dean got out he could start going to practice again, unless, of course, he got the best job in the neighborhood at Dick Martin's Chevron. It was rumored that Johnny Jameson had to get married and would probably be leaving his position at the gas station as a result of the impending scandal. By all rights Dean was expected to fill his shoes and a few tanks while he was at it. Jan wished Dean's mom good luck for him and said Arnie had mentioned something about "half a pie was more than a third". Dean's mom said she would be glad to send it to Dean the next time she sent him his vitamins.
One Sunday, a couple of weeks after Dean got out of the army, he attended the weekly Barons vs. Counts football game. After the game (the Barons won 24-14) Jan asked if he wanted to go up to his garage and work on some songs. Dean was wondering where Arnie was, Jan said that Arnie and Jenny were working on a new act together, or he went in the navy ... he couldn't remember. So Dean agreed that it was indeed time for Arnie to retire. A short time later, Jan acquired a song from Jan & Dean's future producer, manager and friend, Lou Adler. They worked on "Baby Talk" for about two months. Yes, you might say two months seems like a long time to work on a song, especially when it was only 2 min. & 17 sec. long. But as Dean remembers, "We would sing about 4 bars at a time (which wasn't that unheard of) but between those bars we would go to the beach, play some volley ball, or go down the street and violate some girls or maybe even cruise Goodie Goodies, a popular local drive-in". Once they finished putting on their voices and the piano, Lou Adler had his friend, Herb Alpert, do the arrangements. Then they went into the studio and combined the rhythm section with the vocal tape - that's all there was to it. Three months later "Baby Talk" was #7 in the nation.
The follow-up to "Baby Talk" was a song written by Herb Alpert and Lou Adler titled "There's A Girl'. It made the charts but that's all it did. Next came "Clementine" which was also recorded slightly differently by Bobby Darin at right about the same time. Jan & Dean were amazed when their "Clementine" jumped on the charts from nowhere to #40 (it was especially amazing as their record had only been out six days and nobody particularly liked it). Next week the error was corrected and Bobby Darin's name was added to the title "Clementine" and Jan & Dean were taken off. Eventually, it did make the charts, but again, that's about all it did. Then followed a few stiffs.
The next chart record they had was a song that had already been a hit some years before. "We Go Together" was recorded originally by the Moonglows in 1957. More stiffs followed: such greats as "Baggy Pants," "White Tennis Sneakers That Are Black" were among them. All the tunes up to that point were on Dore Records during the years 1959-1960, except "Jenny Lee" which had been on Arwin Records in 1958.
In 1961, Jan & Dean were determined to sign with a major company and never to deal anymore with record companies that carried on business out of a tent in an empty lot. So they cut a song that would certainly be worthy of the attentions of a major record company. The song was "Heart & Soul" and it was released on, yes folks, Challenge Records. Well, at least they didn't carry on business out of a tent. They had an almost new camper with decals of trout on the sides and Challenge Records painted on the door, all in lower case.
A short time after "Heart & Soul" had reached its final reward, trout season opened and it was time to look for a new company once again.
Coming into summer
This time Jan & Dean wouldn't compromise. Only the best ... after being turned down by all the best, they signed with Liberty Records.
Jan & Dean were excited about their first release there since the first release on each previous new label (coming into the summer) was a top 10 record. The first release came and went; and summer came and went. The follow-up was produced in desperation by Liberty’s hot producer, Snuff Garret. The song was "Tennessee:'
After "Tennessee" peaked on the charts, in the 70's somewhere, nobody had any new ideas; so it was decided that they would do a golden hits album. (In the music industry, that does make sense.) Liberty would get the rights to some of the old Jan & Dean hit records on the other labels and Jan & Dean would fill the rest of the album with old hit songs by other people. Since they hadn't made much money for Liberty, they wouldn't give Jan & Dean much of a budget to work with. This meant they would have to do all of the background vocals themselves. One of the relics they did for this album was "Barbara Ann" (originally done by the Regents).
Jan & Dean sang all the background parts and Dean sang the lead, all in falsetto-high voice stuff. Once they finished and listened, they liked what they heard, a new sound kinda. They then looked for another song, preferably about a girl, that lent itself to a falsetto lead and some good vocal background parts. The old standard "Linda" had what they were looking for. They cut it and it made it.
Jan & Dean's new sound was a success. Because "Linda" was a hit record, they were allowed to do another album using "Linda" as the title song. Surfing music had just arrived via the Beach Boys and Dick Dale, so Jan & Dean, being physically involved in surfing, figured it was just natural that they should become involved with this generic California music.
"Two girls for every boy"
They had done some hops with the Beach Boys and had sung live with them on numerous occasions. So it was just natural that, on their next album, they do Jan & Dean versions of "Surfin" and "Surfin' Safari" and maybe they would con the Beach Boys into cutting the instrumental tracks and also helping out on vocals.
They conned ‘em. After the session was over, Brian Wilson asked Jan & Dean if they wanted to hear the Beach Boys' new single and Jan & Dean, of course, said they would. He sat at the piano and started playing "Sweet Little Sixteen" by Chuck Berry, but wait just a minute, the words weren't the same. He called it "Surfin' USA". Jan & Dean tried to talk Brian into giving the song to them, but he said he had another song that wasn't finished, but if they wanted to finish it they could have it. He played the intro on the piano, "Two Girls For Every Boy." Jan & Dean took lt. "Surf City" was #1 in the nation and top 10 in almost every foreign market in the world.
The next song Jan & Dean put out was entitled "Honolulu Lulu," on which was written on a napkin in a drive-in. Next was the start of the car song era, "Drag City" of course. One of the songs on the "Drag City" album was a return of the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean together. "Little Deuce Coupe" which Mike Love helped Dean sing lead and on which Glen Campbell played some incredible guitar licks.
The song that followed "Drag City" was one of Jan & Dean's all time personal favorites. Dean says "I liked everything about it: the melody, the vocal parts, the tracks and the lyrics (also the premise). This, I think was our most obvious satirical record." This opened a whole new area for Jan & Dean, singing about things that were never sung about before and probably will never, ever, be sung about again. The subject matter included a drag racing old lady, a board with skates on it, a topless grandmother, a popsicle, some vegetables, a senior citizen car club, and even a taco wagon. Anyway, the song they were originally talking about was "Deadman's Curve." On the other side, which was also a hit, was "The New Girl In School." This song was originally titled "When Summer comes, gonna hustle you" which was written by Brian Wilson and was given to Jan & Dean at the same session he gave them "Surf City."
They recorded it before "Surf City" but when they played it for people, adult types, they would exclaim: "You can't say 'hustle you' on the radio!" "Bust Your Buns," yes, but not "hustle you" ... well, Jan & Dean didn't know what the hell they were talking about, so rather than argue, they finished "Surf City" and rewrote "Gonna Hustle You" so that it became "The New Girl In School." "Gonna Hustle You" can be found in its original form on an album entitled "Filet of Soul" that was put out a few years after "The New Girl In School" and a short time after "Satisfaction" by The Stones.
"The Little Old Lady From Pasadena" was next. It was written about a real little old lady who was doing local Dodge TV commercials in Southern California and writing a song about her just seemed to be an obvious thing for Jan & Dean to do at the time.
The longest title of the year was bestowed upon their next song: "The Anaheim Azusa and Cucamonga Sewing Circle Book Review and Timing Association." It also wins the award for the most diversified influences, a certain Bach Chorale linked quite smoothly with "I Get Around" by the Beach Boys.
Following "Little Old Lady" came "Ride The Wild Surf," which actually was the title song from the movie of the same name. Jan & Dean were supposed to be in this epic - their film debut co-starring with Fabian. But right about the same time, a close friend of Dean's kidnapped Frank Sinatra Jr., so the movie people kicked Dean out of the film.
"Bust your buns"
All of a sudden the boys found it was time to return to the magic of Brian Wilson. Taking one of his songs off of an old BB album, "Catch A Wave", Jan & Dean rewrote it and called it "Sidewalk Surfin'". To get a recording of a skateboard, they put a long extension on a microphone so they could record out in front of the recording studio on the sidewalk. Jan said he was better at crashing (he said he was better at everything), so they recorded him doing his famous wipe-out act and that's how the record starts. Dean came up with "Bust Your Buns" and, of course, the rest is record biz history.
Next there was a few contrived songs that were lacking the Jan & Dean humor. Next came (holy moly contrived) "Batman" which was the last single record that Jan & Dean recorded together and also was the last single record they did for Liberty Records.
During the first phase of their career, Jan and Dean were more than just singers. Known as the "Laurel and Hardy of the Rock and Roll", they were complete entertainers whose music was simply the most visible phase of their talents.
Jan and Dean were the hosts of the now-legendary "T.A.M.l. Show," featuring the Rolling Stones, James Brown, the Beach Boys, Diana Ross and other rock greats.
They were to be the stars of a movie called "Easy Come, Easy Go" (a title later used for an Elvis Presley film that was unrelated), co-starring Terry Thomas and featuring a newcomer named Mel Brooks, in his first screen role. On the first day of shooting there was a train wreck involving two locomotives and a flat-bed car that were part of a scene, and more than thirty cast and crew members. Jan broke his leg in the wreck. The cast Jan is wearing on the cover of "Folk 'n Roll" is the result of that wreck. Filming was suspended.
All the while that Jan and Dean were recording stars and were flying around the country playing concerts on the weekends, they were both full-time college students, Dean in the school of architecture at the University of Southern California where he earned a bachelor degree in fine arts, and Jan at U.C.L.A. where he was pre-med and upon graduation he was accepted in medical school.
"It just wasn’t the same"
When Jan received a notice to report to his draft board in April of 1966, he didn't think twice about it, knowing that his status as a medical student would get him a certain deferment. To Jan's surprise and horror, he was told (in error) that he was eligible to be drafted. Getting into his Corvette, Jan pressed down the accelerator, trying to scatter his misfortune in the convertible's wind. On Whittier Drive in Beverly Hills, Jan pulled out to pass a slow-moving vehicle and slammed full-speed into a truck that was unexpectedly parked at the curb. Jan's Corvette was a twisted pile of junk and Jan was smashed apart so badly that he wasn't expected to live. He remained in a coma for months and when he finally awoke, he discovered that he'd sustained severe brain damage and couldn't walk, move or speak. The doctors told Jan's family that he'd never be a fully functioning human again.
As quickly as it had begun, Jan and Dean's career as a duo was over. Dean tried to continue on his own, making a deal with a major record label for some songs-in-progress that were to have been Jan & Dean's next record. But, as Dean has often said, "It just wasn't the same"
PHASE TWO BIOGRAPHY
(1977-1981)
A few weeks following the debut showing of the successful movie made for television "Deadman's Curve" (the Jan & Dean story), Mike Love of the Beach Boys was jogging on a beach some place in the South. Two young boys, one thirteen and one fourteen, caught up with Mike and jogged with him for a while. After introducing themselves the first question they asked Mike was: "do you know Jan & Dean?"
Mike was very surprised since these kids hadn't been born during the time Jan & Dean were recording hit records. Mike asked "how do you know about Jan & Dean?" and they responded that they had seen the film "Deadman's Curve" and would love to see the real Jan & Dean in concert someday. Mike told them he would call Jan & Dean when he got back to Los Angeles. The two boys thanked Mike for his time and jogged off.
A couple of days later, Mike returned to his home in Santa Barbara, California. Mike called Dean and they met at Mike's house. Mike asked Dean if he would be interested in becoming involved with his new special projects band Celebration. They were working on sound track music for a movie entitled "Almost Summer". They were also going to be heavily involved in the promotion of the film as well. Mike Love and Celebration were going to play free street concerts in all the major cities in which the movie was to open and he asked Dean to be a special guest.
Dean quickly accepted Mike's offer and rehearsals were set up with Celebration. The debut concert was set for April 28th, 1978 at Dean's alma mater, the University of Southern California. The event started with a lunch for band members at the Alpha Chi Sorority. Hearing of a free lunch, two other Beach Boys and one other Jan & Dean showed up, Brian and Carl Wilson and Jan Berry. lt was like Summer 64 had never ended.
The concert started with Mike Love and Celebration playing all the music from the soundtrack plus their new single, the title track from the movie of the same name "Almost Summer" Then Mike introduced Brian, Carl and Jan & Dean and the concert became a full blown event. The audience was treated to an afternoon filled with all the major classic summertime songs ever done by the two most important summertime groups in pop music, the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean.
There were to be only two more of the Mike Love and Celebration concerts. The money that had been promised for the promotion of the film was put on hold and the project came to an abrupt halt. But the magic had already happened, people were really gettin' off on seeing even just some of the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean together.
Surfin' Deja Vu
Mike and Dean got together again and put together "The Beach Boys/Jan & Dean Surfin Deja Vu Tour 1978." August 25th everyone met at the Los Angeles International Airport and boarded a lush private jet and headed for Grand Haven, Michigan, site of their first concert together in fourteen years. The tour ran from August 25th through September 2nd. Half way through the tour they were joined by ex-Beach Boys and ex-Jan & Dean band member Bruce Johnston.
Returning to Los Angeles after the very successful tour, Jan & Dean started making plans to put together their own touring team.
Dean had been managing/producing the locally based, second generation surf band, Papa Doo Run Run, and Dean had performed with Papa Doo Run Run on many occasions during the five years they had been associated. lt seemed natural for Jan & Dean to re-enter the music wars backed by Papa Doo Run Run.
The first day on the road was an outdoor concert et Fresno State University. The school expected 3,000 to 5,000, but over 12,000 paying customers showed up to rock and roll in the California sun.
The next stop was Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va. where 6,000 Teenagers and pre-teens were there to see their first Jan & Dean concert. The balance of the five week tour was spent working the rock & roll circuit clubs, and, when it was over, the highlight dates were still the first two, Fresno St. and Busch Gardens.
Jan & Dean now went to work on their first television special "Jan & Dean's California Special." Some footage had already been shot at the Fresno State Concert and there also was some very rare footage of Jan & Dean from the Sixties that had surfaced. A special one night concert was arranged at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles with Glen Campbell who was once Jan & Dean's guitar player, as host of a tribute to Jan & Dean, co-starring Richard Hatch who had played Jan Berry, and Bruce Davison who had played Dean Torrence in the TV movie "Deadman's Curve," along with Beach Boy Bruce Johnston as a special guest.
This concert was filmed and became part of the television special. Once the television special was finished, Jan & Dean played Christmas week through New Year's Eva at Harrahs in Tahoe where they broke all house records. Three weeks later they headed out for their second national tour. The first night out, middle of January, Jan & Dean drew 12,000 plus to Old Chicago Amusement Park, 80% of whom were under 18 years of age. In the next two weeks, Jan & Dean packed theaters in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Virginia, New York and Florida.
A breath of fresh air
The second tour's success confirmed what had been apparent since the first date at Fresno State, that Jan & Dean had been catapulted to stardom again, thanks to a TV movie and their own infectious music and humor. Where the first tour might have been thought to have succeeded as a result of curiosity aroused by the movie, the larger success of the second tour, many stops of which were in the same places as the first, confirmed that it was the special chemistry of Jan Berry and Dean Torrence together onstage that charms audiences.
In a business that has chosen to take itself so seriously over the past decade that many have forgotten that rock and roll started out as a way for kids to laugh, dance and have fun, Jan & Dean's return to full-time performing is just the breath of fresh air audiences seem to be clamoring for.
KITTYHAWK GRAPHICS BIOGRAPHY
(1967-1981)
With Jan and Dean's career over as a result of Jan's accident, Dean turned his attention to design, which he'd been studying at U.S.C. during Jan and Dean's recording career.
Sticking to the business he knew best, Dean opened KITTYHAWK GRAPHICS, a graphics design firm specialising in music industry design and packaging.
In 1967, less than one year after Jan's accident, Kittyhawk was sharing office space with an enterprising young producer named James William Guercio, who came to Dean with a design project. Guercio wanted Dean to help design a logo for a new group Guercio was producing, called "Chicago Transit Authority." Using elements of the Coca-Cola logo design, Jim and Dean came up with a basic concept which was then given to a lettering expert to refine and complete. That logo, later shortened along with the group's name to "Chicago" was Kittyhawk's first major project.
In early 1968 Dean designed the first of over two hundred album packages to follow, "The Turtles Golden Hits."
In 1969 Dean designed the first of nine covers for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, a relationship that continues to this day and has resulted in three Grammy Award nominations for "Best Album Cover of the Year"
In addition to those nominations, Dean won a Grammy in 1972 for "Best Album Cover of the Year" for the album "Pollution" by the group of the same name.
DEADMAN'S CURVE MOVIE BIOGRAPHY
(1969-1979)
lt was Easter week 1969 when Paul Morantz, a young law student at the University of Southern California, met Jan Berry at a resort motel in Palm Springs, California. Paul and Jan became instant friends. After listening to some of Jan's stories, Paul who dabbled in freelance writing, decided to write a feature story about Jan and his struggle against all odds.
The story first appeared in the University of Southern California Daily Trojan in a short-edited form. Later Paul spent many months re-writing the article for a California magazine called "West". Just about the time he was putting the finishing touches on the story "West" stopped publishing.
By this time Morantz had graduated from law school and was busy practising law. The story was shelved.
A couple of years later, Paul got itchy to write again. He dug out Jan's story and re-read lt. Paul realised that the story could easily be expanded to include the whole Jan & Dean story. At this point, Paul called Dean and they got together to discuss what had begun to take on the proportions of a larger project.
After many regular meetings and major rewriting Paul and Dean submitted the re-written story to Rolling Stone magazine, after it had first been turned down by all of the major general interest magazines on the ground that not enough people would remember Jan & Dean to justify its publication.
Rolling Stone accepted the story with tremendous enthusiasm, scheduling Jan & Dean to appear on their cover with the article given a major spread within. The publication date was Septem6er 12, 1974. But a funny thing happened on the way to the press, Nixon resigned and Nixon's picture pushed Jan & Dean's off the cover. But the story ran and was very well received. There seemed to be a renewed interest in Jan & Dean. Being the naive guys they were, Dean and Paul now decided that the story had all the elements of a feature film, so they started writing a treatment/screen play and started shopping the property all over town.
After two years of rejections a deal was finally made with CBS to make the movie for television. The production of the film "Deadman's Curve" starring Richard Hatch ("Streets of San Francisc", "Battlestar Galactica"), Bruce Davison and guest-starring Dick Clark, Wolfman Jack, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys was started in late 1977.
The real Jan and Dean consulted daily on the set, ensuring the accuracy of facts and projecting a more subtle hovering presence that carried through Hatch and Davison's characterisations.
The film aired February 1978 and again in April 1979. The mail started pouring in, average age, fourteen! Yes, you can come back from Deadman's Curve.
