N E W B I O G R A P H YForthcoming in 2021.
Pre-Order from McFarland & Co.Dead Man’s Curve: The Rock ’n’ Roll Life of Jan BerryBy Mark A. Moore
Jan Berry, leader of the successful music duo Jan & Dean from the late 1950s to mid-1960s, was an intense character who experienced more in his first 25 years than many do in a lifetime.
As an architect of the West Coast Sound, he was one of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s original rebels—brilliant, charismatic, reckless, and flawed. He bucked authority and made his own rules. As a songwriter, music arranger, and record producer for Nevins-Kirshner Associates and Screen Gems-Columbia Music, Jan was one of the pioneering self-produced artists of his era in Hollywood. In addition to co-writing Jan & Dean’s most famous hits, he also penned hit songs for other artists.
He lived a dual life unprecedented in the annals of popular music, reaching the top of the charts with Jan & Dean while transitioning from college student at UCLA to medical student at the California College of Medicine.
Fast cars were an extension of his personality, but an automobile accident ended his seemingly charmed existence on April 12, 1966.
Suffering from brain damage and partial paralysis, Jan spent the rest of his life trying to come back from Dead Man’s Curve. His story is told here in-depth for the first time—from the birth of Rock to the bitter end.
