Jan Berry of "Jan & Dean" dead at 62 (1 Viewer)

[Henry Gale]

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/...rry-obit_x.htm

There was a time when I would not have had to add, "..of Jan & Dean..." but that time is long past. 38 years after crashing on "Dead Man's Curve" Jan finally succumbed to his injuries.
Before he left, the cat gave us a good amount of happy boppable music.

 

[John Watson]

Sad news. Tho' afraid to say if I saw a pic of Jan & Dean, , I wouldn't know which one was which. :frowning:

The early and mid 60's were a great time for duos. (I hope they were still buddies)

I liked several of their songs very much. "Linda" and "Surf City" are my favorites. "Surf City" is still a very cool record.

PS - Jan & Dean should receive a lot of credit for skateboarding, as in the hit song "Sidewalk Surfing"

 

[Henry Gale]

I can't say how close they remained, but they continued to work together over the years. Just last year they headlined a rock 'n roll show at the Austin City Limits studios.

 

[Marty M]

Very sad news, indeed. I grew up in the 60s listening to Jan & Dean and The Beach Boys. A great loss.

 

[Henry Gale]

The All Music Guide bio on these guys is really worth reading.


I'd forgotton just how important Jan was to the music.

 

[larry mac]

Well I'm definitely showing my age here, but here goes.

My very first record, a 45 RPM, was Dead Man's Curve. Of course it was new, just released at the time. I had just gotten a new record player for Christmas. It was one of those that pulled down in the middle to reveal the turntable and the speakers were on each side. After awhile, I had to tape a nickle to the tonearm so it wouldn't skip.

I also had every LP of The Ventures!

 

[LarryDavenport]

The first concert i ever went to was Jan & Dean at The Paramount Theater in Seattle in 1978 (I still have my ticket). For all that Jan was through in his lifetime he was still a great performer (at least he still had his voice even if he did sing a little slower). One of the first records I ever bought was the Legendary Masters set and I managed to find all their Liberty records (though was never willing to send the $75 for the Batman album).

I'm really sorry he died. I sometimes wonder if he hadn't had the accident if he would be revered as much as Brian Wilson, who learned a lot from Jan.