Johnny Rivers At The Whisky a Go Go

[BlackSea]

Just came across this Johnny Rivers Lp on my recent visit to the record store. Jan and Dean are quoted on the back cover of the Lp.
Jan "Johnny turns Sunset Boulevard into an adult Dick Clark Show"
Dean " Right "
I listened to the record and his version of Memphis sounds a lot like the J & D version on Little Old Lady. I think the Johnny Rivers version came out first. Record manager Lou Adler engineers Howe/Linstrot.
There also mentioned and take part, from what I've read, on a Jean King live in the studio. Haven't got  a copy, still trying to track down a clean copy.
In the Simon and Garfunkel box set they also make reference to Jan and Dean rather than the Everly Brothers. I think the liner notes for Bridge Over Troubled Waters state something like   "They go all out like Jan and Dean..." ? Maybe making reference to Baby Driver track. Personally I can't hear J & D in there.
And finally Andrew Loog Oldman mentions Jan and Dean in the opening sentence for the liner notes he wrote for a Chesterfield Kings album from 2007.
Not that Jan and Dean need any confirmation of their credibility.
Until next time

[jdman]

As far as SImon and Garfunkel, when they were Tom and Jerry, they seemed to be fans of Jan & Dean's garage stuff. They did Baby Talk and there were other songs that sounded like Jan & Dean.

[BlackSea]

The Tom and Jerry records have the Dore Jan and Dean sound. They're  some of my favourites I have two Lps with their early recordings. As for S&G I recall reading the liner notes for the Bridge Over... Album the J & D reference as I recall was made to this album. I don't have the box set, friend of mine, looks like a book with all there folk/folk rock lps/CDs.
Note Chesterfield Kings aren't a surf band...they just recorded a one off double album in the surf genre, Surfing Rampage.
The Andrew Loog Oldman liner notes come from another Lp of theirs, Psychedelic Sunrise, nothing to do with surf music.
Until next time

[Actorman]

Jan & Dean's version of "Memphis" first appeared on the Surf City and Other Swingin' Cities album which came out in 1963. (The track was later reused for The Little Old Lady from Pasadena album in 1964.)

Johnny Rivers at the Whisky a Go Go was released in February 1964, so that was after J&D's version was released on SCAOSC. However, it is very possible that J&D's version could have been influenced by Johnny's since Johnny had most likely been performing it live for quite awhile prior to it's appearance on the album. Legend has it that Johnny's arrangement of the song was "stolen" from an unreleased version of the song by Elvis Presley that a member of Elvis' team had played for Johnny. As a result, Elvis allegedly hated Johnny for the rest of his life.

Lou Adler produced the album which is probably where J&D's endorsement on the cover came from.  In addition, Johnny's label, Imperial Records, had just been purchased by Liberty Records in 1963, so it could have been cross-promotional as well.

[jdman]

The Jan and Dean version on Surf City was different from the one on Little Old Lady. The later version was definitely influenced by Johnny Rivers. The first version on Surf City was probably influenced by Chuck Berry's hit.

[Mike]

or  the big instrumental hit by Lonnie Mack.

[Actorman]

The Jan and Dean version on Surf City was different from the one on Little Old Lady. The later version was definitely influenced by Johnny Rivers. The first version on Surf City was probably influenced by Chuck Berry's hit.

Well, that's just embarrassing.  Shows how long it's been since I've listened to those album cuts!  I should have double checked that before I responded.  The Surf City album version was the one I remembered off the top of my head. I only checked the track listing on Little Old Lady to confirm the title. It didn't occur to me that it might be a rerecording since there were several other tracks that popped up on multiple albums. This is the kind of minutiae I usually remember.

Sorry guys! Epic fail! Thanks for correcting me, jdman.

[jdman]

The Jan and Dean version on Surf City was different from the one on Little Old Lady. The later version was definitely influenced by Johnny Rivers. The first version on Surf City was probably influenced by Chuck Berry's hit.

Well, that's just embarrassing.  Shows how long it's been since I've listened to those album cuts!  I should have double checked that before I responded.  The Surf City album version was the one I remembered off the top of my head. I only checked the track listing on Little Old Lady to confirm the title. It didn't occur to me that it might be a rerecording since there were several other tracks that popped up on multiple albums. This is the kind of minutiae I usually remember.

Sorry guys! Epic fail! Thanks for correcting me, jdman.

Nothing to be embarrassed about. Easy mistake to make. I had Surf City first. When I got Little Old Lady, I remember thinking they did a much better job with that song.