Jan on 'Silver Summer' and 'One Summer Night/Live'

[Bitman]

This Internet "radio" jock does know the difference...and plays Jan's mono mixes!

[sweetdudejim]

Has Dean ever been questioned about why he allowed this material to come out as "Jan & Dean"?

As recently as last year, he did the artwork for that CD called Surf's  Up which is pretty much just a reissue of Silver Summer. And by doing the artwork, it seems like he has no problem with the fact that it's labeled as such.

And what's worse, this isn't a release that's just hanging around the internet. I actually saw this CD available at a nearby record store. They had no other "Jan & Dean" CDs but they had that one. Shame on Dean.

[Bitman]

It wasn't just J&D, but many oldies artists remade their hits in the 70's and 80's for labels like K-Tel. When these labels approached the original record companies about purchasing the rights to re-release these old songs, the fees were often unaffordable. For much less money, the smaller labels like K-Tel could get the original artist(s) to spend a day or two in the studio re-cutting their old tunes. Many of these artists were struggling because this was in the days before the record companies' practice of screwing the artists had fully come to light. The chance for them to go into the studio and make a few thousand bucks for a day or two of recutting their old songs was welcome money. It wouldn't seem that Dean would've been hurting financially at that time, but others here may know more.

[jdman]

Bitman, great point! There were a lot of artists doing that. I hear it on oldies radio all the time. I've bought several CD's that had re-recordings-not just Jan & Dean. The J&D stuff upsets me more. lol 
I don't think Dean needed the money. I believe he was putting his stamp on those songs.

[owen]

In an alternate universe The Legendary Masked Surfers' single Gonna Hustle You was a big hit in 1973, after which Dean and a variety of others (including Bruce & Terry and Mike Love) rerecorded many old Jan & Dean and Beach Boys songs under the LMS brand name, interspersed with occasional new stuff - like their Top Forty hit Ocean Park Angel.

And everyone was happy that Dean had found a way to move on and create a second career for himself.

Except for a few Jan and Dean fans who were angry because nowadays everyone thinks that Surf City, Dead Man's Curve, and The Little Old Lady were originally hits for the Legendary Masked Surfers (and hardly anyone credits J&D anymore). That certainly seems to be how a lot of disk jockeys on the internet act.



Owen

[2dean2]

Owen I'd say they think the songs are BB Hit's . Only a handful of J&D Fans even know who LMS is.
You know we look at this with Hindsight , Not in 76-77 terms when there were no real plans or thought Jan & Dean would ever again mean anything to anyone. Dean's stuff sounds like all the other 70's stuff.
NOT AS GOOD AS JAN'S !!! But Jan had the BEST Musicians at the time.

[Kentucky Surfer]

I bought a K-Tel LP entitled "The Jan & Dean Story" in the early 1980s.  Side 1 was the 1977 re-recordings, and Side 2 was a selection of Dore recordings.  The liner notes clearly stated that they were rerecordings.  Over the years, I think I listened to Side 1 less than half a dozen times.  I always thought the 1977 recordings sounded "chirpy".  Of course, what they were missing was Jan's voice.  On the other hand, Side 2 was great, and I got to hear "Gee" and "There's A Girl" for the first time.

I agree with the overall consensus that the 1977 recordings should have been marketed as Dean only.  I cannot stand to hear these versions misrepresented as originals.

[jdman]

Kentucky, it's not just missing Jan's voice. More importantly, they are missing Jan's production! Either way, I could do without the remakes. Although, I will say that Dean sounds pretty good on some of them, the sound just is not half as strong.

[Kann]

Torrence released the album Silver Summer with the help of Mike Love in 1985 for Jan & Dean's 25th anniversary. Silver Summer was officially released as a Jan & Dean album, but falsely gives credit to Berry as co-producer and singer.

Bump! Dean has said something like this before in an article but cant find it right now. as soon as I find this I will post a link!

[1Jay1]

I m told this lp was released on polydor,I always thought it was released on skyline record label.

Polydor is a good label,

Any info on this.

[NateRuvin]

I prefer the LMS remakes to the K-Tel J&D Story ones for sure. No remakes will ever match Jan's originals however.

[jdman]

Well said Nate

[1Jay1]

I m told this lp was released on polydor,I always thought it was released on skyline record label.

Polydor is a good label,

Any info on this.

found out the polydor  is a japan release on cd and double vinyl. I m after a copy on vinyl, if anyone can help me.

[1Jay1]

I like the ktel jan and dean story, also silver summer. The album cover on silver is great. What bugs me, is the amount of repackaging of these songs as the best of Jan and Dean albums. Not fair to true jan and dean fans,

[surferbee]

My concern with Dean's rerecordings is that those of us advocating for Jan and Dean do so on the basis of Jan's arrangements and productions - the original multi-layered versions. Our case is diluted at best with the inferior remakes that are all over the place. The casual listener is too easily taken to these. I came to Jan and Dean initially through the singles and was blown away when I discovered the richness of the albums.I can't imagine taking the time to do that based on Dean's reworking.
I strongly contend that Jan's expertise in the studio and his use of the Wrecking Crew was a huge influence on Brian Wilson. Impossible to prove this via the remakes.
I know Dean wasn't alone in this but the versions he gave us are so inferior to the originals. I think Jan's voice - multi-tracked - is often overlooked. His phrasing and the 'punch' of his voice gives further depth to the songs.

PS Can't wait for the new book.