I think Dennis always had a fairly rough voice . . . evidenced early by the bridge for "Girls On the Beach."

It got worse later . . . But Dennis developed a major songwriting talent.

I think Dennis's creative endeavors far outweighed his vocal abilities.

M.

[Intro:]

Here are the chords, as transcribed by Alex Houton and published by Warner Bros. in '93 (Guitar Anthology Series):


Intro:

F# — G#m — F# — G#m — C#


1st & 2nd Verses:

G#m — C# — G#m — C# — F# — F#maj7 — F#6 — Gdim

G#m — C# — G#m — C# — F# — F#maj7 — F#6 — F#7

B — G#m — C#


Bridge:

B — E — B  — G#


3rd Verse and Fade:

G#m — C# — G#m — C# — F# — F#maj7 — F#6 — Gdim

G#m — C# — G#m — C# — F# — F#maj7 — F#6 — F#7

B — F# — Gdim

G#m — C# — G#m — C# — F# — Gdim

Probably not; according to the session sheet (November 4, 1963; session no. 94002) the following musicians participated:
Bruce: vocal, piano, session leader
Terry: vocal
Tommy Tedesco: guitar
Bill Pitman: guitar
Ray Pohlman: bass
Hal Blaine: drums

Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down and 409 were cut a the same session, so it was a kind of a Beach Boys session as far as the songs were concerned.

Is this an AFM session sheet? . . . If so, it would have been a tracking session (instrumental) . . . Vocal sessions were done separtately through AFTRA . . . not AFM.

Though I suppose there could be exceptions.

M.

Thanks 

While you're here, Mark, do you know if Dean sang on any of the Celebration stuff (apart from joining them live)?

I don't know about Dean singing, but I do know he designed the Celebration album cover.

M.

[Track #28. Audio Montage #3 — Jan & Dean — Featuring Brian Wilson and Others (Warning: Strong Language)]

Jan & Dean - Ride the Wild Surf

The bonus track on our Jan Berry trbute album (Encomium In Memoriam Vol. 1) featuring Jan and Brian interacting in the studio is from a "Ride the Wild Surf" session in 1964.

Track #28. Audio Montage #3 — Jan & Dean — Featuring Brian Wilson and Others (Warning: Strong Language)

M.

Earl "The Pearl" Palmer . . . a true legend on drums.

Earl played on a lot of Jan & Dean tracks with Hal Blaine . . . and he also did the earlier Jan & Arnie sessions in 1958.

I was lucky enough to talk to Earl about Jan Berry, as part of my research.

I hate to hear he's gone . . . but I knew he'd been ill for some time.

M.

["Laurel & Hardy"]

The Carnival of Sound material is very strong from a compositional standpoint.

We recorded seven Carnival tracks for the new Jan Berry tribute album:

"Laurel & Hardy" -- with restored string parts.

"Carnival of Sound" -- with original backing vocal parts.

"Fan Tan"

"I Know My Mind" -- with original backing vocal parts.

"Blowin' My Mind"

"Mulholland"

"Love & Hate"

----------------------

The bootlegs are from poor quality acetates.

We're working on getting to the master tapes at WB, and getting them released.

M.

[Vic Diaz]

As part of my larger research on the life of Jan Berry, I eventually got to his original music scores; and when I did, I realized they were the authentic parts used by the Wrecking Crew to record the original songs. Jan had also written out some of the more difficult vocal harmonies, as with "Anaheim."

So I wanted to do an album based on those -- kind an aural documentary highlighting some of Jan's best and most complex arrangements -- to augment my eventual biography. Jan & Dean are underrated, so it's a good project to explore the nuts and bolts of the music. Jan died . . . so it's a tribute to his life; but it's also meant to shed new light on his arrangements and productions . . . a way to get listeners to go back and listen a bit deeper to the original J&D recordings.

I transcribed the music scores and asked Cameron to helm the project as a co-production with me. Cameron was the hands-on producer, and sang many of the vocals. I do play and sing a bit on the album, but it's mostly others.

From my research, I had ready-made contacts, so I was able to get some great guest artists on board -- five of whom played or sang on original Jan & Dean material in the mid- to late Sixties.

Examples . . .

Vic Diaz of the Matadors, sang harmonies on J&D's Surf City and Drag City LPs in 1963 (along with Tony Minichiello and Manuel Sanchez, during J&D's early Screen Gems era). Jan -- thanks to his contracts with SG -- also produced the Matadors as a separate act for Colpix Records. Vic sang lead on the original Matadors version of "Ace of Hearts" (which he co-wrote with Jan and Gary Zekley) . . . so Vic came on board and sang lead on our new version of "Ace of Hearts."

Jill Gibson was Jan's girlfriend and songwriting partner.  Jill co-wrote "It's As Easy As 1, 2, 3" and sang a duet with Jan on the J&D version. Jan also produced a solo version for Jill on Imperial Records in 1964. Jill's solo version had different lyrics, and that's the version we did for our album, with the amazing  Lisa Mychols on lead . . . Jill also co-wrote "When It's Over" (the B-side of "Sidewalk Surfin'"), and she sings with Cameron on our version. This one also dates from 1964, and the lush string and woodwind arrangement was a foreshadow of Pop Symphony and Jan's changing style.

P. F. Sloan co-wrote "I Found A Girl" and does a cameo on harmonica for our version.

Tom Bahler (Partridge Family, Monkees, etc.) sang lead on the original version of "Carnival of Sound" (from the unreleased album of the same name, 1968). So Tom also sings lead on our new version of "Carnival of Sound."

Mike Deasy (former member of the Wrecking Crew) played guitar on the original version of "Love & Hate" in 1967 . . . So Mike plays lead guitar on our new version of the song.

Other highlights . . .

Paul Johnson (Belairs, "Mr. Moto") plays lead guitar on our version of "B Gas Rickshaw (Quasimoto)" . . . a Wrecking Crew instrumental Jan wrote in 1964.

David Marks (Beach Boys) did a sweet job on lead guitars for the Gothic short "Bat No. 1."

Don Grady (The Yellow Balloon) and Michael Carey Schneider (Sneaker) did an incredible job on 1967's "Fan Tan." One of our bonus tracks features an excerpt of the "a cappella" vocals for "Fan Tan").


And Clay, you're absolutely right . . . one of our big goals was to shed new light on Carnival of Sound. All people have heard are the poor quality acetate bootlegs . . . and the raw materials prove that those songs are really strong from a compositional standpoint. The seven "Carnival" tracks are grouped together on the album.

A big shout-out to Alan Boyd . . . who recorded some of our vocal and brass parts.

I sent Probyn Gregory the horn charts, and he nailed them in two sessions . . . October 2006 and March 2008 . . . totally blew us out on some of Jan's most important brass arrangements.

M.

Yeah, I co-produced it.

More info here:
http://www.jananddean-janberry.com/album/jb-album.html

M.

[Carnival of Sound]

Pleasure Island: A Rock Fantasy . . .

I can see it now. Palisades Park (A Rock Opera).

Why not . . . Carnival of Sound . . . picking up where Jan Berry left off ?

M.

Don Grady and Michael Carey Schneider did a great job on the vocals.

There's an 'a cappella' excerpt of "Fan Tan" -- featuring both lead and backing vocals -- on the album.

M.

[do]

Ah, yes. The geeky tendency of this board to obsess over the tiniest minutae has once again served its intended purpose.  I mean, some people mean well, but before pointing out the flaws in someone's work, why not read earlier post where the person specifically acknowledges said flaws and tries to move past them? I can just see if Brian came on here:

Hey everyone. I thought I'd come by and answer some questions. Is that cool with everyone? Groovy. So let's get started!

Brian, when did you record the vocals for Sloop John B.?
Uh, I don't know. Sometime in early 1966, I guess.
Actually, it was 1965. 
Oh. Okay.

Brian, what year was your gorgeous falsetto replaced by a croaky shadow of its former glory?
Um...  1976?
No, we've discussed this at length and believe it was 1975.

Brian, is your marriage to Melinda a sham?
No, I love Melinda, and she loves me.
Wrong again, Brian.

Brian, is it true that Mike Love is an furo do burro?
Sometimes. Yes, yes he is.
No, Brian. He's not. He's misunderstood, and you're overrated. Go back to the blueboard.

Brian, when was... Brian? Brian? Where'd Brian go?

Haha! . . . This is a very funny and revealing post.

But as was said earlier, you have to take all views in context.

There's minutiae on the one hand . . . and the bigger picture on the other. And they both do matter. In a perfect world, the meeting of the two in the middle brings major enlightenment to the less informed.

The question, from my perspective is . . . Does lack of knowledge and accuracy in the former lead to flawed perspectives in the latter? I would say yes and no, depending on the info and circumstances (and the writer). The devil can lie in both the details and the larger social context. It all depends on the writer, his/her sources, and his/her abilities to communicate in writing.

Readers (myself included) will make their first-look, knee-jerk observations . . . regardless. But if we can then go beyond that . . . and further dissect the material, we can often come away with something more than we had before.

But yes . . . absolutely . . . mistakes and factual errors (large and small) are a pox on any writer and/or historian. It happens to all of us, regardless of subject matter.

M.

["Even though he is pumping out hit after hit for the Beach Boys, Brian finds the time and interest to write for and produce other artists, including California brethren Jan & Dean . . . "]

I agree with Jon . . .

"Even though he is pumping out hit after hit for the Beach Boys, Brian finds the time and interest to write for and produce other artists, including California brethren Jan & Dean  . . . "

This is bullsh*t . . . Brian Wilson never produced anything for Jan & Dean . . . nor did he ever write anything for J&D. Brian's writing credits for J&D were collaborations with Jan Berry . . . except for the cover version of "Catch a Wave" (Sidewalk Surfin').

Someone put a halt to civilization and declare the Internet a huge f*king mistake . . . ha!

M.

Steve Kalinich did a new poem for the Jan Berry tribute album.

We backed it with a melody Jan was working on in the late '60s, called "Song No. 2" . . . with additional orchestrations by Cameron Parkes.

The poem is about overcoming limitations, and is delivered wonderfully by Steve.

M.

Next up- and this is a no-brainer for us to ask- you mention that Carl showed signs of some of the Wilson "issues". Would it be out of bounds to ask you to expand on that? 

I would say drug abuse would be at or near the top of the list.

M.

Thanks so much, Mark. I appreciate it. I've been slowly wading into the Jan and Dean waters this year (picked up the "From Surf City to Drag City" comp, and have orders in for your CD and the Liberty singles collection) and was just surprised to see such an odd compilation. (Plus it was 7-8 bucks.) Any idea if it's legit or not?

I don't even buy the endless re-treads . . .

Anytime you see "Fun, Fun, Fun," . . . "Help Me Rhonda" . . . or "I Get Around" on a J&D comp . . . they're more than likely  re-recordings, from the cache of Dean's re-recordings listed in tracks 1-10 above..

Also . . . I'd like to know the business details of any labels that are licensing outtakes of original J&D material . . . or Jan Berry solo material, etc.

M.

M.

Answers . . .

1  I Get Around  — Remake with Dean and Papa Doo Run Run, recorded in 1977

2  Little Old Lady from Pasadena [No1]  — Remake with Dean and Papa Doo Run Run, recorded in 1977

3  Little Deuce Coup  — Remake with Dean and Papa Doo Run Run, recorded in 1977

4  Surf City  — Remake with Dean and Papa Doo Run Run, recorded in 1977

5  Ride the Wild Surf — Remake with Dean and Papa Doo Run Run, recorded in 1977

6  Sidewalk Surfin' [No1]  — Remake with Dean and Papa Doo Run Run, recorded in 1977

7  Fun, Fun, Fun — Remake with Dean and Papa Doo Run Run, recorded in 1977

8  Help Me Rhonda  — Remake with Dean and Papa Doo Run Run, recorded in 1977

9  Dead Man's Curve  — Remake with Dean and Papa Doo Run Run, recorded in 1977

10  Drag City  — Remake with Dean and Papa Doo Run Run, recorded in 1977


The tracks above were released as "Jan & Dean" . . . and they fooled a hell of a lot of youngsters who saw the J&D movie in 1978. People thought at first that these recordings were original J&D tracks . . . NOT. So there was a learning curve.

 
11  Do You Wanna Dance [live]  — The beginnings of Dean's cover band.

12  Roll Over Beethoven [live]  — The beginnings of Dean's cover band.

13  California Girls [live]  — The beginnings of Dean's cover band.


14  Little Old Lady from Pasadena [No2]  — Outtake of orignal Jan & Dean version, missing some backing vocals and doubling.

15  Sidewalk Surfin' [No3]  — Alternate of original version, missing lead vocals.

16  The New Girl in School — Alternate of original version, missing lead vocals.
 
17  Tell 'Em I'm Surfin'  — J&D cover version from the original RIDE THE WILD SURF LP (1964) . . . a bad lead vocal from Jan, and the Baggys original is much better, vocally. On the other hand, J&D's cover of Sloan & Barri's "Summer Means Fun" is superior.

18  She's Still Talkin Baby Talk  — Original J&D side from 1962.

19  Tinsel Town  — Alternate version of Jan Berry solo track (Ode, released 1974).
 
20  Don't You Just Know It  — Jan & Brian (Ode, released 1973)

21  Little Queenie  — Jan Berry solo track (A&M, released 1977) — (a Chuck Berry composition)

22  That's the Way It Is  — Jan Berry solo track (A&M, released 1977) — B-side was "Little Queenie"

23  Totally Wild  — Sounds like an alternate take of the B-side of Jan & Dean's "Fun City" (Ode, 1975).  Dean only participated on "Fun City" . . . so "Totally Wild" was a Jan Berry solo track.

24  Fun City  — Jan & Dean side from 1975. See Track #23 above.

25  Sidewalk Surfin [No2]  — Jan Berry solo single (with Dean!) . . . A&M, 1978 . . . "Skateboard Surfin' U.S.A."

26  Little Old Lady from Pasadena  — Another outtake from the original J&D sessions (1964) . . . featuring Dean Torrence falsetto parts that were axed from the final hit single version.

27  Sing   — This is a version of Jan Berry's solo single called "Sing Sang A Song" . . . (Ode, released in 1976).

28  Mother Earth  — Jan Berry solo single . . . his first meaningful lead vocal released after his accident . . . (Ode, released in 1972).
 

M.

Oddly enough, at the time, I was even more interested in finding a definitive Jan and Dean biography (a book we're still waiting for).   I had thought they'd be more interesting. After all, they'd had a TV movie.

Hey, don't rush me . . . I work for a living. 

So there ya go . . . You can hear that and more on track 28 of our new Jan Berry / Jan & Dean tribute album.

Mark is there some way we can hear a 30 second preview or something of this track? And how long does that track go for and is the whole track just Brian in the studio with Jan or what? Any details would be much appreciated

The track is a montage . . . and the parts with Brian were pulled from a very lengthy session of Jan and Brian working together. Because of space limitations, we couldn't use the whole thing. So instead, we added the Jan & Brian clips to a montage that highlights Jan working with other people, as well.

If we can ever get a true Jan & Dean Box Set released, I'd like to put the whole Jan & Brian thing on there.

M.

[on tape in 1964]

In the Autobiography (1991), Brian relates the story of Murry calling Jan & Dean pirates. And Brian's comments on Jan are more detailed than in the Gaines book.

But in the Gaines book . . . (pp. 103-104, first edition hardback 1986) . . . there's the story that Murry called Jan & Dean pirates, and that Jan showed up at a Beach Boys session in an elaborate pirate costume.

In 2002, I was consulting historian for the Jan & Dean episode of A&E's Biography . . . and when asked by the producer about the "pirate incident," Brian had no memory of it. He remembered Jan throwing toilet paper out of a hotel window in New York, but nothing about the pirate thing.

WELL . . . it just illustrates that Brian's memory is sometimes off (as happens with all of us) . . . and that he's probably also a bit lazy in certain interviews.

Because the fact is . . . I have Brian on tape in 1964, talking with Jan . . . and Brian makes a direct reference to Jan's pirate get-up.

So there ya go . . . You can hear that and more on track 28 of our new Jan Berry / Jan & Dean tribute album.

M.

Ian,

The Fayetteville, NC gig is "Cumberland" County . . . not Columbia.

M.

Cool . . . The opening band for that show was called Alliance.

M.

I saw them at the Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium in Fayetteville, NC . . . and I thought it was 1982.

No Dennis, and no Brian for that show . . . Maybe it was '83?

M.

April 5, 1966:

US: (You’re My) Soul And Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers

UK: The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore - The Walker Brothers

AUS: These Boots Are Made For Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra

M.

I would love to have seen Buddy Holly & the Crickets perform live.