Sunshine Music
Sunshine Music FAQ and Intro
Hi, fellow Jan & Dean fans!
I am Doc Rock, the founder, creator, president, and
main writer of Sunshine Music, The Official Jan &
Dean Authorized International Collectors’ Club. Contributors to SM
included Dean, Frank Kisko (who edited regularly), Honolulu Lulu, and many
Fans and members of SM.
I became a Jan & Dean fan back in the 1950s.
I started buying Jan & Dean
records in 1963, when I fell in love with “Linda” (not the girl, but the
record, my first J&D 45). My
first Jan & Dean album was Drag City.
I started corresponding with Dean in 1966, shortly
after Jan’s accident. I met
Dean in person in California at the office of Kittyhawk Graphics in 1972.
I met Jan in 1978 at a club in small club in Topeka,
Kansas, where he was performed his band, Aloha. We got together again
backstage in Wichita.
In early '70s, I wanted to started a new Jan &
Dean fan club. But right when I
was about to begin my club, Mark Plummer, a fan in Southern California,
started his own club called the Ripped Baggies club.
I new Mark pretty well, and decided not to compete with him.
Dean gave Ripped Baggies his blessings, and I contributed to Ripped
Baggies. However, after a few
years, Mark Plummer discontinued Ripped Baggies and many members were
disappointed that they didn't get to a thing for their money.
So in 1978, I launched Sunshine Music, named after
the Dean Torrence, Papa Do Run Run song of the same name.
Dean cooperated with me Sunshine Music, agreeing to look over the
material before I published each issue, he made comments and contributions,
sent photographs, and other had input. Over
the years, Dean and I became pretty good friends and talked on the phone
several times a year. I was also
backstage at more Jan & Dean concerts that I can remember.
The early days of Sunshine Music were difficult.
Since it was before home computers, I had to type every article myself,
use scissors and Scotch tape, white out, and hand-printed labels for the
issues I mailed. The membership
list was on three by five cards. Finally the home computer arrived in early
'80s, and things became a lot easier.
Sunshine Music came out four
times a year, but often I fell behind, and put out double issues in a year to
catch up.
Issues of Sunshine Music included record reviews of
re-issues and of new material, concert reviews, letters from fans, reprints
of old articles, concert schedules, many new interviews and original articles,
old radio station surveys of top 40 songs, contests, ads, and anything else
that came along. There were more
interviews with Dean than Jan, because Jan was difficult to talk to due this
disability. But, there were more
articles reprinted about Jan for the same reason, and Jan was on more covers
than Dean was, a way to balance things out. And there were ads for records,
T-shirts, videos, all sort of stuff.
At one time, they're were over 300 members of
Sunshine Music, from all over the US, Japan, Germany, Britain, France,
Australia, South America, Mexico, Canada and more. However, in the middle '90s, membership began to dwindle.
Plus, there was very little new information to fill each issue.
I had written so many articles, I got everything off my chest that I
wanted to say, I ran hundreds of photos, and so in 1996, I reluctantly
discontinued publishing Sunshine Music.
Shortly after that, the World Wide Web got big.
Then there was an explosion of CD releases I could have reviewed!
So I said to myself, how easy SM could have been for 17 years ago if
I'd had the World Wide Web, instead of photo copying, folding and stapling,
postage stamps, all the work of putting out a Fanzine! And the b&w
photocopied photos were terrible! Look at the color, motion and sound
available on the internet!
Suddenly it dawned on me that Dani had a great site,
and I had nearly 20 years of articles already written, articles that
today’s fans had never seen before!
So I approached Dani about reprinting old Sunshine
Music articles, interviews, reviews, etc., on his Web page.
Dani agreed, and so the Sunshine Music section of Surfin’ Again was
born. I hope you enjoy Sunshine Music. Write and let me know, especially g
you an SMer from the old days! And, Dani, thanks for the space! Bust your
Buns!
Michael
“Doc Rock” Kelly
Sunshine Music
Jan
Berry and the '60s
Over the years since his accident, interviewing Jan Berry has always been
tough. His memory is sometimes
open to him, other times closed. It
is not a matter of the veracity of the memories, but of their accessibility.
His condition has improved with time.
And of course, he has always maintained his intelligence and primary
brain power. His main problem
has been aphasia -- getting the thoughts in his head to come out of his mouth.
People often mistake the characteristics of aphasia for retardation or
simple mindedness. Nothing could
be more incorrect, as witnessed for example by the great productions Jan has
released since the accident, such as "Totally Wild" or "Sing
Sang A Song," complex, mature, interesting, and musically sophisticated
productions all.
Because of
Jan's health problems, most of the interview material in Sunshine Music up to
now has been from sources other than Jan, such as his dad Bill Berry and
Dean. Beginning here and now,
without ignoring other sources, our intention is to present more from Jan.
Doc Rock :
Do you remember much about the days at Liberty Records?
Jan Berry:
Oh, yeah, before my accident and after my accident.
Doc Rock :
Great! Do you remember
Dick St. John of Dick and Dee Dee?
Doc Rock :
I talked to him last week.
Jan Berry:
So did I. We were on a
plane going from the East Coast to the West Coast.
On this flight, we had a song to Sandy, his wife.
Doc Rock :
Since 1970, Sandy has been "Dee Dee," because the original
Dee Dee, Mary Sperling, retired.
Jan Berry:
Dick and I wrote a song called "She's Dancing, Dancing," on
the flight. It is not completed
yet, it is just in rough form, but it was a fun concept.
Doc Rock :
Well, Dick told me that when he was on his first Liberty tour, that
you were on Challenge with "Heart and Soul."
Jan Berry:
Oh, yeah, that is right, I remember.
Doc Rock :
Dick said that you were obsessed with getting on Liberty, that you
were always asking him, "Dick, who do you know at Liberty, how can I get
there, I've got to get Jan and Dean on Liberty."
Jan Berry:
Ha! Yes, I guess so. That was so long ago. The
highlights I remember, but not the details.
I do remember talking to Dick and Dee Dee about Liberty.
Doc Rock :
Do you remember the president of Liberty Records, Al Bennett (Al was
the namesake for Alvin the Chipmunk on Liberty).
Jan Berry:
He was like the Leader of the Pack.
I went into his office to see him after we got big hits. I wanted to renegotiate our Liberty contract to a higher
level. At these times, there was
conflict between Al Bennett and myself.
But it worked out.
Doc Rock :
Do you remember how you finally got on Liberty?
Jan Berry:
I don't really remember. People
in the business who worked at Liberty that we knew, with their help, it just
happened. United and Wester
Studios, renamed these days, we recorded there, but I had to sign with
Liberty to record there.
Doc Rock :
Is that right?
Jan Berry:
It was a good studio, and a good thing, a good arrangement for me.
I did it all myself. Not
including Dean. I didn't even
call him.
Doc Rock :
When?
Jan Berry:
On "Surf City" and all of those things, he wasn't even
around, he didn't sing, he didn't do anything.
Doc Rock :
Dean has said he was not on "Surf City."
He was on the album cuts? (Dean
is obviously on a lot of songs, especially on a lot of the album cuts.)
Jan Berry:
Well, the label still says Jan and Dean, so it doesn't make any
difference, but I produced the records, so I got paid more than Dean I think,
but I don't know for sure. That
was a long time ago.
Doc Rock :
Dean has always been very frank about that.
He said years ago how he was not on "I Found A Girl," about
how Steve Barri was able to impersonate him, and just last summer about how
he was not on "Surf City." Do
you remember the producer at Liberty Records, Snuff Garrett?
Jan Berry:
Yeah, we did "Tennessee" with him.
Just that one song. We
did the performance "live" at United Studios, the Liberty studios.
Eastwood and Sunset. Dean
was there, we recorded everything, the vocals, the rhythm track, everything
at once. It was just on two
tracks at the time.
Doc Rock :
And Dean was there for that one, of course.
Jan Berry:
Yes, sure.
Doc Rock :
Do you recall the flip side of that record?
Jan Berry:
No.
Doc Rock :
It was called "You're Heart Has Changed Its Mind."
Jan Berry:
Oh, yeah, right!
Doc Rock :
The sound on that is a lot different, produced by Lou Adler.
Jan Berry:
That was a ballad.
Doc Rock :
Back to "Surf City," if not Dean, then who was on that
record with you?
Jan Berry:
I don't mean to make a big deal of it, about Dean. Before the accident, I was the leader of the pack of Jan and
Dean. After the accident, Dean
became the new leader of the pack sort of, and he controlled everything, and
so it has come full circle. My
day then, now his. He was
jealous then, so I have the accident, then I was jealous!
After that, the whole jealous thing was completely finished.
Doc Rock :
It all equalled out, eh?
Jan Berry:
And we still survived. Not
in the studio, but on the road. There
is still road work all the time. Best
ever so far on the road. All
across the nation and in Canada and we just did two weeks in the Caribbean. We sang four songs, two weeks, everything else we just
relaxed!
Doc Rock :
Last summer, I saw you in Newton, Kansas.
Jan Berry:
Yes, I saw you back stage.
Doc Rock :
You did a very good show.
Jan Berry:
Yes, our vocal now is better than ever, the vocals with the wireless
microphone is perfect, sensitive, super now with no feedback, loud, my voice,
it is all I need. Now we go on
the road and we are happy! Or
unconscious, I don't know what it is (laughs)!
Doc Rock :
If Dean was not on every record, he was always a big asset on stage,
with comedy and personal appearances, right?
Jan Berry:
Yeah, yeah! We always had
good rapport. There was one
thing at the Hollywood Bowl, with the Mamas and Papas, we sang and then we
missed Hollywood Bowl while I was driving back to the studio.
We made it too late. And
I didn't get on. A week later, I
had an accident. Strange, huh?
Doc Rock :
The last show you did on the road, the weekend before the accident,
you were in Kansas City an hour from here, and I could have seen you.
But I did not go because you were coming to my town, Lawrence, the
following weekend. But you had
the accident between the two dates, so I missed your last show and my only
chance to see you.
Jan Berry:
Was it on the news?
Doc Rock :
Yes, the newspaper and the news.
Jan Berry:
Oh, God, strange world, you missed it!
I'll tell you one thing, I am alive, and we'll be there sooner or
later!
Doc Rock :
I saw you the first time in 1978 with your solo band Aloha.
I met you and showed you my 78 of "Jennie Lee."
Jan Berry:
That was a good record. It
wasn't Dean. The studio and
everything, no one heard about Dean. He
went into the Army. So, we
recorded and put it out and it was funny.
Dean had a transistor in the Army and he heard us up in San Francisco
[heard Jan and Arnie's record "Jennie Lee" on the radio], and he
had all of his friends listen to it, and the disc jockey finished the song
and he said, "Yes, and it's Jan Berry," and Dean yells!
"Oh!" (Laughs.)
Finally, when Dean got out, we hooked up.
Doc Rock :
Was Dean not on "Jennie Lee?"
Was that just Jan and Arnie?
Jan Berry:
Yeah.
Doc Rock :
But was Dean in the rehearsals, the practice sessions for "Jennie
Lee?"
Jan Berry:
No. He hadn't even heard
about it. He wasn't on it, (didn't
record with me) until the next year.
Doc Rock :
When you were at Liberty Records, Snuffy didn't work with you very
much. You produced your own
records, didn't you?
Jan Berry:
Right. "Tennessee"
was produced by Snuff Garrett, and I think one of the other songs, and that
was it. We kept on going with my
producing later on.
Doc Rock :
And that was a change for the good, because you did better records.
That is when the hits came.
Jan Berry:
Yeah, right.
Doc Rock :
"Linda" was the first Jan and Dean record I bought, I liked
it a lot.
Jan Berry:
Good, I liked it, too.
Doc Rock :
The surfing songs after that were wonderful.
Did Brian Wilson sing on much of those, maybe the falsetto parts?
Jan Berry:
No. On "Surf
City," Brian Wilson sings on the vocal, me and Tony Muchello, who has
passed away now. On "Little
Old Lady," Dean wasn't anywhere around here.
Brian Wilson helped with the song, that one.
One other track, "Dead Man's Curve," Brian Wilson, I think
he wasn't singing the vocals though. The
other thing, he did, "Surf City" and "Little Old Lady From
Pasadena." just the
background. Not the leaders,
just the vocals, you know.
Doc Rock :
I never heard of Tony before.
Jan Berry:
Yeah, he passed away, oh, four years ago, I guess.
Doc Rock :
Where did you know him from?
Jan Berry:
He was a three voice of background, played a lot of other songs,
harmony. He was good, and sort
of just a musician on the vocals, sort of a year or two, I just sang alone,
you know.
Doc Rock :
Oh, three voices! You
mean "Tony, Vic, and Manual," the Matadors.
Jan Berry:
Yes! That's it, that's
the group, that's the name! The
background voices! To sing
background harmony against my lead.
Doc Rock :
What about Phil Sloan and Steve Barri?
Jan Berry:
Yeah, we were up there recording together many times. Steve Barri with the falsetto.
"Surf City," "Little Old Lady," the falsettos.
Doc Rock :
"Sidewalk Surfin'," he did that one, too?
Jan Berry:
Right. Yep.
Doc Rock :
What has been going on lately?
Jan Berry:
There is a year and a half now, we've worked on the studio. I paid everything. Oh,
boy! That's a lot of money.
And that's why I'm broke. The
record's done. And so we've printed and everything. And sent it to music lawyer.
We're gonna push it on a label now.
That's good anyway if I get signed, that's gonna be interesting!
It's called "Second Wave."
If you can get that!
Doc Rock :
That is a great title. I
can't wait to hear it. Thanks
for talking. I know you have
another appointment to get to.
Jan Berry:
OK. hey, thanks a lot,
and keep on truckin'!
Interview
Postscript
Last
year, when I printed the interview with Dean in which he stated that he was
not on "Surf City," I got many letters from people who were
perplexed, shocked, or disbelieving. Long-time
SMers will remember when I printed Dean's comment that Steve Barri had Dean's
falsetto down and Jan would use Steve when Dean was not around, as on "I
Found A Girl." Anyone who
listens to the out takes of "Little Old Lady" and compares them to
the 45 can hear that the falsetto voice and parts are entirely different.
Dean was there for the sessions, but mixed down on the final track,
along with some trumpet parts. It
is also clear that Dean is on a great many, the vast majority of singles and
album tracks. To me, singles like "Surf City" have always been of
minor personal importance and interest; it has been the LPs that have
entertained and interested me.
Dean
was clearly on "Submarine Races," "Schlock Rod,"
"Drag City," Batman," "The
Restless Surfer," "Linda," "Heart and Soul," "Ride
the wild Surf," "Clementine," "Baby Talk," "Frosty,"
and "Popsicle," to name but a very few.
But
Jill Gibson did the high notes on "Easy As 1,2,3."
Brian and Steve Barri did them on "Surf City."
Steve did them on "I Found A Girl" and apparently on "Sidewalk
Surfin'" and "Little Old Lady."
Neither Jan nor Dean is on "Move Out Little Mustang."
What
is one to make of this revelation that Dean did not warble on every cut, or
that Tony, Brian, Jill, Steve, and others sang not just backgrounds (like the
Fantastic Baggies and the Matadors), but also dualed leads, did harmonies,
and sang falsetto parts?
Remember
in the Sunshine Music story about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where Dean
nominated Jan Berry, not Jan and Dean, for membership?
Dean feels that as a writer, producer, arranger, business man, and
artist, Jan deserves recognition for the genius he showed and the
accomplishments he achieved. For
his part, Jan says not a bad word against Dean.
Here
is the bottom line. As a musical
act, "Jan and Dean" were not two guys.
They never pretended to play all the instruments and sing all the
harmony. "Jan and
Dean" was a group. Jan was
the leader of the pack, as he says, the driving force, the overachiever/extrovert
who wrote songs and dissected lab specimens on airliners on the way to
weekend gigs while in Med school. The
"group called Jan and Dean" included, at various times and places,
Jan, Arnie, Dean, Brian, Lou Adler, Glen Campbell, Phil Sloan, Steve Barri,
Jill Gibson, Hal Blain, Bones Howe, Billy Strange (guitar), Roger Christian,
Tommy Tedesco (guitar), Tony Terran (French horn), George Tipton, Snuff
Garrett, Johnny Crawford, and others.
Keep
in mind, not every Beatle was on every Beatle record, nor were the performers
on Beatle records limited to the Fab Four themselves. And Brian worked on Beach Boy albums while the band was on
tour, surprising them with what he had done using other bands and voices
while they were gone!
In
a less famous example of groups made up of many invisible members, Jerry
Allison, the drummer for Buddy Holly's Crickets, recently related to me the
strange tale of one Crickets' experience.
"We
did a 'Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets' tour in England in '62.
I was in the air force reserve at the time, and the Cuban crises came
up so I didn't get to go on the tour. I
think that is the only time the Crickets ever played with Bobby Vee.
I really can't remember it, because I wasn't there!
That was the only Crickets tour I ever missed. The Liberty album that was made to go with the tour, 'Bobby
Vee Meets the Crickets,' did really well in England. You still see a lot of them floating around.
Funny thing about that album. The
group that did the tour were not the ones on the album at all, including me.
And we always get asked in interviews, 'Who was on this record and
that record?' because in those days, they never listed on the albums who
played on them. Take the 'Bobby
Vee Meets the Crickets' album cover. The
picture has Bobby and Joe B. and Jerry Naylor and myself.
Jerry Naylor didn't play any instrument anyway!
He was just, like a member of the Crickets, we worked with him at the
time. And he was there only for
the picture that day, he was not on the album at all.
Joe B. was in the trucking business at the time and he happened to be
in town; he was a former Cricket, so that looked good, let's get Joe B. for
the cover! He didn't play on the
album at all, either!"
On
the "Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets" cover, of the three Crickets
pictured, only Jerry was on the record, and none on the cover or the record
was on the "Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets" British tour!
Gary
Lewis and the Playboys? Gary was
originally the drummer only. Snuff
made him the lead singer, but they used Ron Hickland as his back up singer to
help the sound, and mixed them together.
The
Jan/"Jan and Dean"/Dean situation perhaps most closely parallels
the Phil Spector situation. The
records Spector did are now known as "Phil Spector" records.
The "Phil Spector Group" consisted of Darlene Love, the
Crystals, Ronnie, Bobby Sheen, Nino Tempo, Cher, Jeff and Ellie, Jack
Nitzsche, the Ronnettes, Barry and Cynthia, the Righteous Brothers (the
Ronnettes did some of the high voices on their records), Ike and tina, the
Blossoms, Sonny Bono, and a half-dozen regular musicians.
With these people and others, in various combinations and under a
variety of names, Phil put out records.
His "main" visible partner changed over time, from Lester
Sills, to Darlene, to Ronnie, to the Righteous Brothers, and so on.
But through it all, Phil produced, wrote, arranged, ran the business
end, and had hits.
Jan
was like a West Coast Spector. The
only difference was, he almost always called the artist "Jan and
Dean," he performed himself more than Phil did, he stuck with one "main"
visible partner longer. And he
did live shows, invariably with that partner.
And
Dean? How many rock and rollers
of any era, who had many years of success, stayed in school (besides Jan)?
About the only one was Lesley Gore, and she did not get a graduate
degree like Dean. Sure, Jan was
a genius. But don't sell Dean
short. His comic was (and is)
genius, and that would have become even more important, apparent, and valued
had their TV show and movie career not been cut short by Jan's accident.
And just look at Dean's art work.
Name one other rock and roller with that kind of adjunct ability and
achievement!
No,
there should be no shock, dismay, incredulity, or least of all shame attached
to the revelations that Jan used others besides Dean on the records and that
Dean was not there every second like some kind of Siamese twin of Jan's.
Recall, when Dean first heard of Jan's accident the next morning (and
before he knew it was anything more than very minor injuries) he was actually,
if not glad, at least relieved that he could go out on a date that evening
instead of spending yet another night in the studio.
Jan
performed a wonderful service to record fans worldwide, and Dean's
contribution of support, friendship, business partner, camaraderie, friend in
need, comedy, and stage presence contributed immeasurably to the success,
appeal, and longevity of the act -- certainly more than any other single
person did.
Jan
-- as Dean said, you deserve the Hall of Fame!
And,
to quote the Beach Boys at the end of "Barbara Ann," "Thanks,
Dean."
Dean
Torrence At the Jan and Dean 30th Anniversary Concert Newton, Kansas
Saturday Night August 26, 1989
Jan
and Dean are alive and well and touring the US! I
hadn't seen them in about three or four years, and I didn't know what to
expect. Well, they were the best
ever. the newest version of the
Bel‑Air Bandits is very together, and the outdoor venue, with seating
on a grassy football field, was very atmospheric.
The warm up group was from Kansas, and did very enjoyable '50s and
'60s numbers and original material in an old style.
The three hour wait for Jan and Dean was well worth it.
Several
new songs were presented. "Green Onions" and "Summertime Blues"
were unexpected, but not as much as "Blueberry Hill" sung very well
by Jan right in the middle of "Dead Man's Curve."
The
crowd was as enthusiastic as any, and young and old danced, sang, and cheered.
After
the show, I went backstage (an air conditioned RV) with my wife, Buzzie, and
my daughter, college freshman Corina, to visit with Dean for about 90 minutes.
Jan was also there briefly, but he signed autographs then returned to
the hotel in the limo.
Dean:
Michael! Doc Rock! Welcome, come on in!
Michael:
Dean! The show was great!
I've seen you many times, but I think this was about the best. Your voice is excellent, Jan did very well, and this band is
really tight! But some faces
have changed in the band. Tell
me, who is in the band nowadays?
Dean: Well, the senior
members who have been with us since 1981 include Gary Griffin on keyboards.
And Chris Farmer, who is our base player but sometimes plays guitar,
keyboard, or trumpet and has also been with us since 1981.
We just added two new guys at the beginning of this year.
One is Chris Farmer's younger brother, who has hung around the band
for the last 7 or 8 years, as a little kid, now he's old enough to be with
us. As a matte of fact, he had a
birthday yesterday, we took him to Dairy Queen.
That's Terry Farmer, our lead guitar player now.
Finally, David Loggeman is our new drummer.
So half the band has been with us eight years, almost nine, and two
have been with us one year. And
that new blood has helped all of us a whole bunch!
Michael:
Maybe that explains the extra-tight performance.
Dean:
As for past members, John Cowsill, our last drummer, has reformed the
Cowsills and he's gonna do one of his first dates in October.
I think we are all going to go to that.
He's even going to use a couple of our band members for that show.
Randall Kirsch, who was with us last year as lead guitar, has his own
LP out which even got reviewed in Rolling Stone.
So he's on the road with his own music project.
His group is called Show of Hands, which plays modern folk country
rock 'n' roll music. And another
kid who was playing guitar for us last year was Phil Bardowell.
Phil and his little brother have put together a group of their own
called Brother To Brother. In a
couple of days, they are going to play and we are also going to that.
So all of our alumni have done varying things, stayed within music,
and at different times still play with us.
In fact, a couple of them played with us just last week.
We are all sill brethren.
Michael:
Now for the $64,000 question. Ever
since I bought my "Dead Man Curve" LP, for over 25 years, I have
been trying to decipher the background words to the second verse of
"DMC." I have tried to
read your lips on stage. But I
cannot figure it out? What are
those words?!?!
Dean: You know the
Carpenters did that song, whatever that album was, "Now and Then,"
they, too, heard that part. Richard
and Karen actually sang background on some Jan and Dean records.
Michael:
Which ones?
Dean:
Well, on some of the stuff I did.
"Like A Summer Rain."
Michael:
Right. Richard was also
on keyboard on that LP.
Dean:
Right. And so Richard got
my number and called me up and wanted to know what that part was.
And I was surprised he had heard it, because it was pretty subtle.
Michael:
Yes.
Dean:
That was one of Brian Wilson's favorite parts, too, on our records.
Michael:
So, are you gonna tell me what it was?
Dean:
That's... (deleted by your SM editor and publisher.
%%% (It's „slippin’ and a-slidin’,
driftin’ and broadslidin’ „ , says Frank Kisko) %%%
Michael:
Well, no wonder I couldn't get it!
Who wrote that?