Song of the Day-Ride The Wild Surf

Jan & Dean are pretty much forgotten today, which is a bit of a shame. They started out doing crude, straight-ahead doo-wop recordings, recorded in a studio in Jan Berry's garage. By the time of the duo's demise their recordings were much more polished with mastermind Jan taking his cues from Brian Wilson who had supplied them with their biggest hit "Surf City" which you might know better as the "Two Girls for Every Boy" song. Brian also sang the back-up high harmonies on that track which hit number 2 in 1964. Dean Torrence later returned the favor by singing co-lead vocals on the Beach Boys "Barbara Ann" where he can be heard being thanked as the record fades out ("Thanks Dean!").

Jan & Dean's records became more sophisticated and Jan, aping Brian, starting making use of LA's "The Wrecking Crew" group of backup musicians's led informally by drummer Hal Blaine. Jan was also influenced by Phil Spector and some of his tracks approximated Phil's "Wall of Sound." Jan & Dean made surf songs, car songs, songs about drag racin' Grandma's ("Little Old Lady From Pasadena") and songs about Popsicles ("Popsicle") many with tongue-pressed firmly in cheek. They were near-constant presences on early 60's TV and in fact hosted the famous TAMI show which featured among others, James Brown, The Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys. TAMI was the precursor to the big Rock Festivals of the 60's.

In 1964, Jan, Brian and Roger Christian wrote the title song for a beach movie starring all the usual suspects. Fabian, Tab Hunter, Shelly Fabares which, I guess, was the 60's version of the Brat Pack. Jan & Dean were scheduled to be in the movie themselves but were dropped from this stellar lineup when a friend of Dean's kidnapped Frank Sinatra Jr. Legend has it that the song was dropped too, but that wasn't true.

The track itself is one of Jan & Dean's best. The Wrecking Crew are in top notch form and the guitars clash and clang at the beginning with energy and excitement. The chorus is strong and hooky and the falsetto, provided by Dean, evokes Brian Wilson's best moments. Working with a bigger budget due to it being a movie tune, Jan adds sweeping violins and orchestration giving the song an epic feel. The preferred way to hear this track is in mono as the stereo mix has a diffuseness that subtracts some of the power. The backing vocals are also mixed differently in the stereo version.

"Ride The Wild Surf" only got to number 16 on Billboard and is more or less missing in action from oldies radio formats. But still an exciting, worthwhile listen.

Two years later, Jan & Dean's career lay in ruins after Jan's car accident on April 12, 1966 which left Jan clinging to life with closed head injuries. Jan was in a coma for week's. Jan & Dean's career was essentially over. Jan would survive, brain-damaged and impaired. He would return to the studio in a few years, without success and return to the road with Dean, to much greater success. This comeback was chronicled in the excellent made-for-TV film "Deadman's Curve with Jan & Dean played by Richard Hatch and Bruce Davidson.

I got to meet Jan & Dean once during their later touring years at an in-store appearance at the Oakland Mall Harmony House. They were very nice guys but Jan's struggle with the after-affects of his accident filled me with sadness. That struggle ended on March 26, 2004 when he passed away a relatively young 62 after having suffered a seizure. Dean still tours occasionally with the "Surf City All Stars."