Jan & Dean: Official Message Board for Jan Berry

Another legend gone. Phil Sloan was an essential part of the J&D family. He wrote some very, very good songs - I Found A Girl perhaps his best for Jan & Dean - and performed on numerous backing tracks (and at least one lead vocal on Move out little Mustang).

If there is another life, I reckon Jan is welcoming Phil there.

Rock on Phil: You can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
You made all of our lives a little richer.

A cool comment by Bruce Johnston on Keith's love for J&D (at about the 30-35 second mark)

Bruce Johnston brings Pet Sounds to Lennon & McCartney in London

Once again Bruce showing that he is the most genuine and likeable of the whole Beach Boy entourage, admitting that Keith preferred J&D to the BBs! (Actually the whole interview is typical Bruce, downplaying his own contribution to Pet Sounds, which was not inconsiderable).

Its a passing comment, but the fact he makes it shows he appreciates both J&D and that he actually knew Keith properly.

Just picked up a rather interesting item at a record fair today: a British pressing of Filet of Soul, with a completely different track listing from the US version. I haven't had the chance to listen to it yet (no turntable anymore...) but I'm guessing that the tracks are not live, but culled from earlier LPs.

Tracklisting: 1:Little Deuce C, Memphis, 1-Piece Topless, School Day, 3 Window Coupe, Tennessee.
2: Popsicle, Surf R 101, Summer Means Fun, I Gotta Drive, Schl Rd (pt 2), Horace...

Anyone know anyting about this?

It strikes me how little we - as the J&D community - ever even mention Arnie. While on a certain level thats logical - i.e. he wasn't a member of J&D! - I do think he is somewhat akin to David Marks, Stuart Sutcliffe or Pete Best: the third member! In some sense, he has been written out of the J&D story - although according to some accounts this was by his own doing (I read that he wanted his character written out of the "Deadman's Curve" movie).

As has been pointed out on these boards, Jan & Arnie were a very different act from J&D - I think 2dean2 once mentioned how Jan & Arnie are singing to one another and Jan & Dean are singing to the listener. I think, to judge by the music, Arnie had a very different relationship with Jan than Dean did. How different would the music have been had Arnie stayed, perhaps even forming a trio? Could he have stayed - was he more headstrong that Dean, perhaps making the working relationship with Jan more difficult?

I do think, however, that Arnie was a musical talent in his own right. The story that he quit the band because he disliked the music industry is partly contradicted by the fact he did try his hand at a number of other recordings, including a single with Bruce Johnston. What started me thinking about this, however, is coming across two tracks he recorded (I assume in 1959ish?), but which, as far as I know, were not released. Both, I think, are oustanding songs:

"Kathy Cryin' Heart" is a catchy number, laced with the ironic humour (even innuendo? - alongside the faux-arrogance of the lead vocal, there is a playful undercurrent) so prevalent in later J&D records. How can you not love a song with the spoken interlude:
"That girl has no looks, and no personality; but she does have feelings, and thats why I took her to the dance...so that she might have one good time"!

"Catching Spies" is a raw sounding garage number - foreshadowing the garage style which would flourish in the 60s.

So I wondered where people think Arnie stands in the J&D story, and what role he played their development. I know Mark has interviewed Arnie, and can shed more light on this than anyone else. But I do get the impression that Arnie did play an important role, that his musical skill and humour were a significant part of what later became J&D. Moreover, I think he was a talented musician in his own right, as these two tracks show. They are original, catchy, and despite their apparent simplicity are exceedingly well put together. In a sense, I suspect they were a bit too ahead of their times for 1959. Much as I love the Doo-wop style J&D were pioneering in 1959, I think Arnie was on to something really interesting.


Arnie Ginsburg - Kathy Cryin' Heart

Arnie Ginsburg - Catching Spies

Okay, this thread is a bit like 1jay1's thread, but here goes. I want to ask this 'cos I've been in this situation recently. If you had to select 5 J&D tracks - and only 5 - to introduce the music of J&D to someone who had never heard them before, what would they be? I really struggled to make such a short list, but the whole point is to suggest a selection of music that someone can listen to in 10-15 minutes. As a friend said, its all very well to say that they should listen to all the albums, etc, but as a quick introduction (which is what people want these days), 5 tracks is enough for most people (of course, once you've got people interested, then you can get them to listen to a lot more - but the initial selection is important).

So my shortlist, in no particular order, was:

DMC
Girl, You're Blowing My Mind
AACSCBRTA
Waimea Bay
I Found A Girl

In a sense, they are 5 of my favourites; but also selected to give a feel for the range of music J&D produced. The first two are pretty self-explanatory, I guess. Then I picked  AACSCBRTA as I think it highlights Jan's vocal/harmony arrangements, and Waimea as it is IMO one of his best orchestral arrangements. And Found A Girl is just a great tune which highlights the more folky sound. It hurt to leave out so many great tracks, but having set the 5-song limit I wanted to stick to it.

So what would other people select?

I saw this LP on eBay, by the Fleetwoods from 1965. The description claimed its Jan & Jill on the cover. I tried bidding but didn't get it!
 


Wonder if anyone knows about it. As the Fleetwoods were a Doo-wop outfit, they may have had connections with Jan from the early years?