Jan & Dean: Official Message Board for Jan Berry

The results from the test are then used to classify people into various intelligence categories. The system used for such classification is commonly known as the Stanford-Binet system.

The following result below of IQ scores indicates the different intelligence categories:

Under 70: Very mentally retarded

71-80: Mentally retarded

81-90: Slightly slow to grasp change

91-110: Normal level of intellect

111-120: High Intelligence

121 - 150: Very high intelligence

150++: Exceptional intelligence

170++: Genius

I do own this CD, and yes, it is one of my prime examples of the changes in Jan's voice over the course of the 1970s. His singing here is much clearer and stronger, and sounds much like it did pre-accident.

If you listen to this video, which I believe is from their Midnight Special appearance in 1979, Jan's voice, while strong, has already acquired that nasally tone I was talking about:
Jan and Dean with Papa Doo Run Run

I wonder if the constant touring he did starting in the late 1970s was the culprit for the decline in the quality of his voice? By the time of the 1981 One Summer Night Live record, his voice sounds weak. And while you could blame the drugs he was doing at the time for some of that, in the 1980s and 1990s, when he was clean, his voice didn't really sound much better. As I said, it is mainly that nasally tone, which he didn't have in the early to mid-70s.

Mark,

I have to agree with Owen. When I first listened to Folk n Roll as a teenager, I too was embarrased by the lyrics to the "Universal Coward," and to a lesser degree, "Only A Boy." (Though both are great musically). And despite whatever  "the establishment" felt at the time, "Only A Boy" is clearly a pro-war song--"He helped people stay free from the misery of tyranny, yeah he died without fright in a fight that he knew was right." Pretty unambiguous right-wing, pro-war sentiment. 

Now, my being a fan of Jan and Dean is not predicated on my agreeing or disagreeing with their political views from 45 years ago, but I do think that neither "Universal Coward" nor "Only A Boy" are satire--in the way "Folk City" clearly is--and that both songs likely reflect Jan's political views at the time. Even Dean--I know, not always the most reliable source--has been quote as saying something to the effect of "Jan was in favor of war--as long as he didn't have to fight in it."

"I often wonder what would have happened if Jan & Dean had tried to talk things out pretty soon after Jan got home from the hospital. I think they could have salvaged their recording career."

While Mark and others probably know more about this, I would think that what you ask, while obvious with the hindsight of forty years, would have been impossible at that time. First off, from what I have read, Jan was in no condition, mentally, physically or emotionally, to have had a rational conversation with Dean about this stuff. Jan was simaltaneously in denial about the extent and permanence of his injuries while also pushing himself to recover and get back to recording music. While I could be wrong, I don't think it was easy back then to sit down and have a calm conversation with Jan, for a variety of reasons.

At the same time, while will never know the true motivations behind what Dean did, recording SFARD under the J&D name was illegal, and Dean had to know that. I mean, he even put a picture of Jan's brother on the cover in place of Jan, which is actually interesting in itself--did some parts of the Berry family support Dean in his efforts? No matter what, Dean did an obvious and illegal end run around Jan, probably knowing that Jan would have said no if Dean had asked him beforehand if he could record SFARD.

The interesting thing here is, would Jan have allowed Dean to be involved in COS if Dean had not recorded SFARD? Or did Jan regard the recording of SFARD as a big "FU" from Dean, and thus no longer want to have anything to do with him afterward?

It really is fascinating to consider their relationship at this time, and wonder how it all fell apart so quickly, and for the most part, permanently. Jan and Dean were actually living together before the accident, so obviously their relationship was fine at that point. In addition, Dean had been content to be the second banana for their entire career, so you have to wonder why he decided to step up so aggressively after the accident? Was he really trying just to keep the J&D name alive with SFARD? Or, had he secretly resented Jan for years, and looked at this as an opportunity to take control of the act? I find it interesting that Dean never attempted any true creative recordings after SFARD, even though the record proved that he had talent. It is as if once Jan rejected his music, he shut that part of himself down forever.

For Jan's part, it seems as if the accident brought out an attitude that Dean was inconsequential to the act, and that Jan and Dean was really just Jan Berry. Again, was this caused by Dean recording SFARD, or was it just a reflection of Jan's attitude all along, which the trauma of the accident allowed to come to the surface?

I have a question for Mark, or for anyone who can answer, or at least hazard a guess. If Carnival had come out in 1968, how was the album going to be promoted? Obviously, there weren't going to be any live shows or tours in support of it, and since Dean did not appear on the record, and Jan could barely speak, how was promotion going to be done for a "Jan and Dean" record that featured neither Jan nor Dean? While today we know that "Jan and Dean" often meant Jan and a bunch of different studio musicians, I assume that information was not common knowledge among the average fan in 1968. If COS had come out back in '68, with Jan's condition at the time, it would have been obvious that he had not sung on the record, and with Dean not appearing at all, I just wonder how this record was going to be marketed to the average fan?