Mark A. Moore
|
|
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2017, 11:46:41 PM » |
|
Phil was great . . . one of the greatest songwriters of all time. A seriously talented guitarist and singer. I interviewed him, and corresponded with him a lot over the years. His insight on Jan Berry was really good, and really helpful.
But Phil was sometimes given to major exaggeration. He was a damaged soul, basically. He struggled with mental illness. He felt ripped off by Lou Adler, and in later years Phil did some major compensation in the story-telling department. It wasn't an across-the-board thing though. Much of what he said over the years checks out quite well.
But . . . "Kick That Little Foot Sally Ann" was not the first hit from the West Coast office of Screen Gems, as claimed in the video mentioned above. "Kick That Little Foot Sally Ann" first charted in late May 1964 and peaked at #61 in July. Screen Gems acquired Nevins-Kirshner Associates in April 1963, and that's when the West Coast office of Screen Gems was established. The same people were involved, Al Nevins and Don Kirshner (running things from New York City). The West Coast office of Nevins-Kirshner (Lou Adler) became the West Coast office of Screen Gems. "Surf City" by Jan & Dean was released in May 1963 and became one of Screen Gems' first hits from the West Coast. Jan Berry's songwriting and producing contracts with Nevins-Kirshner, and Jan & Dean's artist contract, had been acquired by Screen Gems.
Also, Phil's claim that his voice "became Jan & Dean" is patently false. His claim that he did all the vocal parts is bogus. He did do a number of the lead falsettos, beginning with "Hey Little Freshman" in early '64, leading to "Little Old Lady" and others. But Phil's claim that Dean never sang falsetto again was false. Phil and Steve Barri did sing harmonies for Jan & Dean beginning in late 1963—a crucial part of their sound. But Jan's voice was always in the harmonies singing bass, and Dean's voice was often in the backgrounds as well.
Phil never did any lead vocals for Jan & Dean, in terms of taking Jan's part, as Phil claimed in the video. "Move Out Little Mustang" (with Phil singing lead and Jan singing bass) was a Rally-Packs track that Jan produced for Sloan and Barri on the Imperial label—as part of Jan's scheme to circumvent his obligations to Screen Gems, which backfired on him. Screen Gems sued Jan Berry and Lou Adler on that and other issues, but the case was settled out of court. Part of the fallout from that was that "Move Out Little Mustang" ended up being included on Jan & Dean's "Little Old Lady" LP in '64 . . . With the Rally-Packs release, Jan had tried to pass it off as a Dunhill production. But nope . . . it was owned by Screen Gems all along.
|