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Title: Jan & Dean Twofer's Post by: Don't Back Down on March 10, 2006, 01:34:23 PM I've been listening to a lot of Jan & Dean lately from my "All The Hits: From Surf City to Drag City" collection. Are the twofer albums worth getting?
Looks like there's a ton of overlooked stuff overshadowed by the hits "Surf City", "Little Old Lady From Pasedena", "New Girl In School", etc. etc. I just want to know if my money's going to something good before I order. Thanks! -OMP Title: Re: Jan & Dean Twofer's Post by: Joshilyn Hoisington on March 10, 2006, 01:43:11 PM Quote I just want to know if my money's going to something good before I order. It is. Title: Re: Jan & Dean Twofer's Post by: Mark A. Moore on March 11, 2006, 11:17:03 AM OMP,
The One Way two-fers are oddly paired . . . but you'll want to buy whatever it takes to get the following four original albums: 1. DRAG CITY ('63) 2. DEAD MAN'S CURVE / THE NEW GIRL IN SCHOOL ('64) 3. RIDE THE WILD SURF ('64) 4. THE LITTLE OLD LADY FROM PASADENA ('64) These four albums pack a wallop . . . aside from the hits . . . in terms of great album cuts penned by Jan Berry and his creative team. Also some good covers, and some of the best instrumentals from the era. The One Way re-issues are good renderings of the original stereo recordings. EMI did a two-fer of RTWS and LOL . . . but it's a Furmanek re-mix thing . . . like All the Hits and Best of . . . C5 Records (France) also put out some good versions of the original stereo albums. After listening to the four albums above . . . I would start exploring the rest of Jan & Dean's catalog. It's an interesting evolution . . . from the raw, Black R&B of Jan & Arnie in the late '50s, to J&D's early "bomps" and crooner stuff . . . then into the Surf & Drag era . . . and then to the changes of 1965 and 1966 . . . followed by the post-accident stuff in '67-'68. M. Title: Re: Jan & Dean Twofer's Post by: jazzfascist on March 11, 2006, 12:25:53 PM Apropos Jan and Dean I think their first record "Jennie Lee" sounded a lot like "Yakety Yak" by Coasters, I think they were recorded around the same time, so it's hard to tell who copied who, or if it was just a coincidence, both could have been inspired by Ray Charles´ "Mess Around". Later it sounds like Burt Bacharach updated that sound with "Bond Street". Besides the stuff they did with Brian I like "Walk On The Wet Side".
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