Dead Man's Curve story

[Rocky]

I just found this on songfacts.com and I'm thinking there's no way this story is true but I'm curious now and I'm sure there are plenty here who know a great deal more than I.

from songfacts.com:
  The credited songwriters are Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Jan Berry, Roger Christian (a DJ and car enthusiast who wrote "Little Deuce Coupe" with Wilson) and Artie Kornfeld, who later helped organize the Woodstock festival. In 2009 on Artie Wayne's Blog, Kornfeld explained:

One day, Brian and I were chilling and trying out this tiny Honda that the company had sent him as a thank you for writing the Hondells "Little Honda." (the song was not yet released, but Wilson had already written it for a Honda commercial) We were cruisin' about 3 miles from his ex-wife, Marilyn's mom's house. Brian, as he was known to do, was pushing two hundred pounds way over what a 60 cc Honda could handle. I said Bry you should slow down, as in Santa Monica there is a lot of sand on the streets. We went over and the bike and were torn apart. We carried half a Honda each 3 miles, bleeding like crazy, to an open door in an empty house. We noticed a piece of blank paper on the piano and Bry sat down and I pulled up a chair and, I guess because of recent events I wrote down the words, "Dead Mans Curve."
Brian started a two four piano rhythm but I don't have any idea for the lyric…except I always envied Jan's Corvette, sang to Brian's chords" I was crusin' in my Sting Ray late one night and an XKE pulled upon the right…" Bran repeated what I wrote down with the melody and I almost finished the lyric in about 30 minutes with me writing the words, some with Brian, as being a New Yorker after I put us on Sunset Blvd.
I had no idea what landmarks we would pass to that curve after Doheny where it turns right and heads into Beverly Hills.
We were laughing and Brian said, lets hear what we have, laughing at the whole trip and tripping on our wipeout still. I jumped up and said Brian stop, "I think we need an accident here". He responded "you are nuts Artie", but stopped and hit a chord, for some reason at that moment I thought of Robert Frost Poem about two roads in the woods and went metaphoric putting in an accident.
In my mind symbolic with the point we make those decisions that may change or end our lives. I wrote something like it says on the record and Brian Started a Kick Ass chorus. In walks the ever great loving talented Jan Berry who with Bry and a little me worked out the complete song. As Jan tightened up the song for a Jan and Dean Record, he was already hearing a finished product. Jan sat down at a table, hardly touched the piano, except to find the changes and as only Jan with Brian there could do…wrote out the entire arrangement, that as I remember, and was not a note off when we went in with it to play for Lou Adler. It just seems like moments but it was really days later when we went in and recorded it. The reason we had to put DJ Roger Christians name on the song, Lou Adler would know more than I.
The musicians on the date included Glen Campbell, then a tough tee shirted ass kicker on guitar, and Leon Russell (wearing a suit). Then there was Earl Palmer and Hal Blaine, the only drummers you could put together, and it came out great.
Of course being about 19 or 20 I could not help but notice Lou's Fiancée Shelly Faberes, in a very tight sweater. Dean did not show. I did stand behind Bry to get a falsetto sound that was a little different.
When the record came out it was the B side to "New Girl in School."I guess I did my first promotion as for reasons so few know I reversed the Charts and "New Girl in School" stopped shooting up the charts and "DEAD MANS CURVE" RULED! Brian, Jan and I all lived "Dead Mans Curve" in our separate lives.

[jimmyboy]

What a terrific story! Thank you so much and keep them coming.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Comments in italics mine...  

One day, Brian and I were chilling and trying out this tiny Honda that the company had sent him as a thank you for writing the Hondells "Little Honda." (the song was not yet released, but Wilson had already written it for a Honda commercial) ["Honda" was not written for a commercial - although The BB did record one such (8/31/64) - and was recorded 4/10/64] We were cruisin' about 3 miles from his ex-wife, Marilyn's [at this point, they weren't even married, much less divorced] mom's house. Brian, as he was known to do, was pushing two hundred pounds way over what a 60 cc Honda could handle[in mid-64, Brian wasn't 200lbs]. I said Bry you should slow down, as in Santa Monica [Santa Monica is about 10 miles from the Rovell house, not three] there is a lot of sand on the streets. We went over and the bike and were torn apart. We carried half a Honda each 3 miles, bleeding like crazy, to an open door in an empty house. We noticed a piece of blank paper on the piano and Bry sat down and I pulled up a chair and, I guess because of recent events I wrote down the words, "Dead Mans Curve."
Brian started a two four piano rhythm but I don't have any idea for the lyric…except I always envied Jan's Corvette, sang to Brian's chords" I was crusin' in my Sting Ray late one night and an XKE pulled upon the right…" Bran repeated what I wrote down with the melody and I almost finished the lyric in about 30 minutes with me writing the words, some with Brian, as being a New Yorker after I put us on Sunset Blvd.
I had no idea what landmarks we would pass to that curve after Doheny where it turns right and heads into Beverly Hills.
We were laughing and Brian said, lets hear what we have, laughing at the whole trip and tripping on our wipeout still. I jumped up and said Brian stop, "I think we need an accident here". He responded "you are nuts Artie", but stopped and hit a chord, for some reason at that moment I thought of Robert Frost Poem about two roads in the woods and went metaphoric putting in an accident.
In my mind symbolic with the point we make those decisions that may change or end our lives. I wrote something like it says on the record and Brian Started a Kick Ass chorus. In walks the ever great loving talented Jan Berry who with Bry and a little me worked out the complete song. As Jan tightened up the song for a Jan and Dean Record, he was already hearing a finished product. Jan sat down at a table, hardly touched the piano, except to find the changes and as only Jan with Brian there could do…wrote out the entire arrangement, that as I remember, and was not a note off when we went in with it to play for Lou Adler. It just seems like moments but it was really days later when we went in and recorded it. [the first, album, version of "DMC" was recorded 11/14/63] The reason we had to put DJ Roger Christians name on the song, Lou Adler would know more than I.
The musicians on the date included Glen Campbell, then a tough tee shirted ass kicker on guitar, and Leon Russell (wearing a suit). Then there was Earl Palmer and Hal Blaine, the only drummers you could put together, and it came out great.
Of course being about 19 or 20 I could not help but notice Lou's Fiancée Shelly Faberes, in a very tight sweater. Dean did not show. I did stand behind Bry to get a falsetto sound that was a little different. [Brian is on the LP version, not the re-recorded hit single]
When the record came out it was the B side to "New Girl in School."I guess I did my first promotion as for reasons so few know I reversed the Charts and "New Girl in School" stopped shooting up the charts and "DEAD MANS CURVE" RULED! Brian, Jan and I all lived "Dead Mans Curve" in our separate lives.

Ummm... I think in this instance, Artie's memory is somewhat at fault.

[Rocky]

Ummm... I think in this instance, Artie's memory is somewhat at fault.

i had a feeling that was the case. I just wanted confirmation from someone with the facts to pick that story apart. It makes me wonder what grains of truth (if any) exist within it though...

[LeeDempsey]

I don't see Artie's account taking too much in the way of journalistic liberties:

1) OK, I'll concede that there is a a timing issue with Brian receiving the scooter for writing "Little Honda."  More likely Brian just decided that he wanted to buy a scooter.

2) It was clear to me that Artie meant "...3 miles from his [now] ex-wife Marilyn's..."

3) Brian may not have been 200 lbs at that point, but I bet he was tipping 175.  And if Artie is of a similar size, that's a tandem load of 350 lbs on a 55-60 cc scooter.

4) Rovell's house to Santa Monica is definitely greater than 3 miles, but if they were heading west toward the beach, the closer they got the more sand you'd find on the streets.  Heck, when I was a kid I wiped out on my bike in sand next to the curb in central Mississippi!

5) It definitely would have been the album version Artie sang on, but his next sentence "When the record came out it was the B side to 'New Girl in School'" doesn't say "When the version I sang on came out..."

All in all, I think it's a fair account with a reasonable amount of failed memory and creative license, given that it's almost 47 years later.

Lee

[Andrew G. Doe]

I don't see Artie's account taking too much in the way of journalistic liberties:

1) OK, I'll concede that there is a a timing issue with Brian receiving the scooter for writing "Little Honda."  More likely Brian just decided that he wanted to buy a scooter.

2) It was clear to me that Artie meant "...3 miles from his [now] ex-wife Marilyn's..."

3) Brian may not have been 200 lbs at that point, but I bet he was tipping 175.  And if Artie is of a similar size, that's a tandem load of 350 lbs on a 55-60 cc scooter.

4) Rovell's house to Santa Monica is definitely greater than 3 miles, but if they were heading west toward the beach, the closer they got the more sand you'd find on the streets.  Heck, when I was a kid I wiped out on my bike in sand next to the curb in central Mississippi!

5) It definitely would have been the album version Artie sang on, but his next sentence "When the record came out it was the B side to 'New Girl in School'" doesn't say "When the version I sang on came out..."

All in all, I think it's a fair account with a reasonable amount of failed memory and creative license, given that it's almost 47 years later.

Lee

Lee, you should be a lawyer. 

[Rocky]

Does anyone have a more definitive account of how this song was written? it has always been a favorite of mine

[Andrew G. Doe]

Does anyone have a more definitive account of how this song was written? it has always been a favorite of mine

Sure - I recall that the principals were in a restaurant, and Roger Christian scribbled the lyric on a napkin, then forgot about it and had to return to the eatery and go through a dumpster to find it. Which he did. I also recall once reading that Jan was pulled up by a policeman who became suspicious when he saw the same Stingray going over the same piece of road again and again. Berry got off when he explained he was making sure the lyrics actually fit the road sequence.

[Foster's Freeze]

We carried half a Honda each 3 miles, bleeding like crazy, to an open door in an empty house. We noticed a piece of blank paper on the piano and Bry sat down and I pulled up a chair and, I guess because of recent events I wrote down the words, "Dead Mans Curve."

---------

Uh.....to an open door in an empty house?  We noticed a blank piece of paper on the piano......

Good lord Artie STOP and put down the crack pipe! 

[Mark A. Moore]

Does anyone have a more definitive account of how this song was written? it has always been a favorite of mine

Sure - I recall that the principals were in a restaurant, and Roger Christian scribbled the lyric on a napkin, then forgot about it and had to return to the eatery and go through a dumpster to find it. Which he did. I also recall once reading that Jan was pulled up by a policeman who became suspicious when he saw the same Stingray going over the same piece of road again and again. Berry got off when he explained he was making sure the lyrics actually fit the road sequence.

AGD, I think the napkin incident was for "Honolulu Lulu."

I've interviewed Artie, and talked with him ad nauseum about Jan over the years. When I first interviewed him, he said they were hanging out at Marilyn's house when they decided to take the scooter ride.

Artie gets his chronology mixed up at times. A little exaggeration here and there. But based on our many conversations; the detailed things he's told me about Jan largely ring true when compared to other information I've gathered.

Since Jan and Artie were both Screen Gems writers, Don Kirshner put them together in New York, where they wrote "I Adore Him" for the Angels (#13 R&B and Top 30 pop). Artie then went to L.A. to live with Jan for a few months, so they could continue writing.

Artie ended up co-writing three songs for Jan & Dean's Drag City LP — "Dead Man's Curve,", "Drag Strip Girl," and "Hot Stocker." This album was released in late November 1963.

Jan and Artie also co-wrote and co-produced two other numbers — "Come On Let Yourself Go" (Colpix) for the Matadors, which appeared in the film The New Interns (Columbia Pictures) in '64; and "Judy Loves Me" (Del-Fi) for Johnny Crawford (which cracked the Top 100 in '64).

As for DMC, Artie disavows Roger's involvement entirely. Others say the idea for the title was Roger's. Some say the idea for the crash was Jan's, but Artie says it was his. These are the kinds of conflicting memory accounts that are typical when dealing with events that happened so long ago in a person's life. Egos are a factor, as well. You pretty much have to acknowledge everyone's version of events, and then match them to documentation (and other memories) as best as possible.

M.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Does anyone have a more definitive account of how this song was written? it has always been a favorite of mine

Sure - I recall that the principals were in a restaurant, and Roger Christian scribbled the lyric on a napkin, then forgot about it and had to return to the eatery and go through a dumpster to find it. Which he did. I also recall once reading that Jan was pulled up by a policeman who became suspicious when he saw the same Stingray going over the same piece of road again and again. Berry got off when he explained he was making sure the lyrics actually fit the road sequence.

AGD, I think the napkin incident was for "Honolulu Lulu."

You're right - took me a while but eventually I remembered where I'd read it. But I'm right about the cop flagging Jan down, right ?

I've interviewed Artie, and talked with him ad nauseum about Jan over the years. When I first interviewed him, he said they were hanging out at Marilyn's house when they decided to take the scooter ride.

Artie gets his chronology mixed up at times. A little exaggeration here and there. But based on our many conversations; the detailed things he's told me about Jan largely ring true when compared to other information I've gathered.

These are the kinds of conflicting memory accounts that are typical when dealing with events that happened so long ago in a person's life. Egos are a factor, as well. You pretty much have to acknowledge everyone's version of events, and then match them to documentation (and other memories) as best as possible.

Understand that... but you have to admit, as Artie tells it, there are holes in the narrative you could drive a truck through. Rock research is very different these days.

[Rocky]

Thank you so much guys, I'm loving all of this info

[The Shift]

Does anyone have a more definitive account of how this song was written? it has always been a favorite of mine

I guess the researchers have to contend with the fact that rock n roll is entertainment, and that often comes at the price of accuracy... Artie's tale is certainly entertaining, as is Roger Christian's tale of retrieving the lyrics from a dumpster... has BW himself never spoken of the story?  I mean in his own words, not Todd Gold's press cuttings service!

Sure - I recall that the principals were in a restaurant, and Roger Christian scribbled the lyric on a napkin, then forgot about it and had to return to the eatery and go through a dumpster to find it. Which he did. I also recall once reading that Jan was pulled up by a policeman who became suspicious when he saw the same Stingray going over the same piece of road again and again. Berry got off when he explained he was making sure the lyrics actually fit the road sequence.

AGD, I think the napkin incident was for "Honolulu Lulu."

You're right - took me a while but eventually I remembered where I'd read it. But I'm right about the cop flagging Jan down, right ?

I've interviewed Artie, and talked with him ad nauseum about Jan over the years. When I first interviewed him, he said they were hanging out at Marilyn's house when they decided to take the scooter ride.

Artie gets his chronology mixed up at times. A little exaggeration here and there. But based on our many conversations; the detailed things he's told me about Jan largely ring true when compared to other information I've gathered.

These are the kinds of conflicting memory accounts that are typical when dealing with events that happened so long ago in a person's life. Egos are a factor, as well. You pretty much have to acknowledge everyone's version of events, and then match them to documentation (and other memories) as best as possible.

Understand that... but you have to admit, as Artie tells it, there are holes in the narrative you could drive a truck through. Rock research is very different these days.

[Mark A. Moore]

Brian Wilson: "Jan wrote a song about gettin' wiped out on Dead Man's Curve . . . and it happened to him."

[Matt H]

Brian Wilson paraphrase "My favorite movie is Norbit."

[Andrew G. Doe]

Brian Wilson paraphrase "My favorite movie is Norbit."

Ya gotta have the context to fully enjoy that one:

Interviewer: what's the last movie you saw ?

BW: Norbit.

Interviewer: what's your favourite movie ?

BW: Norbit.

[JaredLekites]

That reminds me of when I saw Brian sing "Love and Mercy" in Lowell last year.

He sang 'crappy movie' instead of 'crummy movie'.

Perhaps he went to the theaters earlier that day?

OT, I know but worth sharing, no?

[Ron]

Brian Wilson paraphrase "My favorite movie is Norbit."

Ya gotta have the context to fully enjoy that one:

Interviewer: what's the last movie you saw ?

BW: Norbit.

Interviewer: what's your favourite movie ?

BW: Norbit.

LOL Thank you so much for that.

[Andrew G. Doe]

That reminds me of when I saw Brian sing "Love and Mercy" in Lowell last year.

He sang 'crappy movie' instead of 'crummy movie'.

Perhaps he went to the theaters earlier that day?

OT, I know but worth sharing, no?

In London once, he sang something like "I was sitting in a hotel room and the news came on the television"... and never even came close to scanning it properly, much less rhyming the next line. The expressions on the rest of the band, especially Jeff, were something to behold.