Jan Berry of Jan & Dean dies

JAN BERRY
April 3, 1941 — March 26, 2004

LOS ANGELES - Jan Berry, who with Southland school chum Dean Torrence rose to fame singing surfer-rock songs in the 1960s, has died in Los Angeles.

Berry -- once described as the daredevil half of the Jan & Dean duo -- reportedly died at a hospital after falling ill yesterday at his Los Angeles home. He was 62 years old.

Berry and Torrence met while both were members of a junior high school football team. Their most memorable hits included "Surf City," "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena" and "Dead Man's Curve."

http://www.jananddean-janberry.com/main.html
Berry would have turned 63 on April 3.

In his younger days, Berry -- who grew up in Los Angeles -- was a hell- raiser who was expelled several times from school, People magazine reported in 1997.

"... he gave great party's up in Bel Air at his dad's house," actor Ryan O'Neal, another former schoolmate, was quoted as saying.

While still in his teens, Berry began to channel his energy into music and helped shape the Southern California sound with such hits as the 1963"Surf City," a tune he co-wrote with The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.

Jan & Dean racked up a number of gold singles before a car crash on April 12, 1966, short-circuited his career. The silver Corvette Stingray he was driving in Beverly Hills plowed into the back of a gardener's truck. The crash left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak.

Berry's recovery was slow but he was able to resume singing and writing songs, despite lingering brain damage.

Еще одна невосполнимая утрата для всех нас :(

Очень очень жаль

Уходят отцы. Для серф-рока это одна из крупнейших потерь. Жаль :(

Дин Торренс вспоминает Джэна Берри:
http://rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?nid=19552

DEAN TORRENCE ABLE TO ENJOY LIVE SHOWS AFTER JAN BERRY'S DEATH

Dean Torrence, half of the legendary surf-duo Jan & Dean, says that the death of his partner Jan Berry last year enabled him to fully enjoy performing live. Berry, who never fully recovered from a car accident in 1966 that left him brain damaged and partially paralyzed, toured with Torrence until his death last year of a brain seizure a week shy of his 63rd birthday.

Torrence, who has kept the act going under the name the Surf City All-Stars, told the San Luis Obispo Tribune that, "For the last year and a half, I'm actually really enjoying myself on stage. Before (when Jan was alive), I was happy we could please the fans, but I was always looking out of the corner of my eye, trying to keep track of Jan -- making sure that he wasn't getting up and going someplace that he shouldn't or worrying that he's going to trip over something and hurt himself." Torrence has taken over Berry's baritone vocals with former Beach Boy Al Jardine's son Matt now singing Torrence's original falsetto parts.

Torrence says that he went against the advice of concert promoters who felt having a handicapped star onstage too much of a liability: "I was told for a good five, six, seven years, 'You're going to have to do something about this because he's just not good any longer. It's nice that he's there, but he's not really adding anything musically.'"

He added: "I kept thinking it didn't seem to matter. I had talented guys around him. It seemed as though our fans were pretty forgiving, and they were just happy he was there."

A tribute album for Berry is currently in the works. Called Carnival Of Song, The CD will feature over a dozen guest artists performing songs from all eras of Berry's career, from his early hits with Torrence like "Surf City," "Linda," "New Girl In School," and "Dead Man's Curve," to selections from his final album, 1997's Second Wave. No release date has been announced.

Dean Torrence's Surf City All-Stars will be performing next on August 16th and 17th at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, California.

JAN & DEAN Surf City / Dead Man's Curve - The New Girl In School
(2007 24-track 2-on-1 CD album comprising the albums 'Surf City' [1963] & 'Dead Man's Curve – The New Girl In School' [1964] from the US Surf kings, presented in a picture slipcase complete with picture booklet containing extensive sleevenotes).
25 June 2007

CD1 - Surf City:
1. Surf City
2. Memphis
3. Detroit City
4. Manhattan
5. Philadelphia, Pa.
6. Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
7. Honolulu Lulu
8. Kansas City
9. I Left My Heart In San Francisco
10. You Came A Long Way From St. Louis
11. Tallahassee Lassie
12. Soul City

CD2 - Dead Man's Curve – The New Girl In School [Tracklisting TBC]:
13. Dead Man's Curve
14. Three Window Coupe
15. Bucket 'T'
16. Rockin' Little Roadster
17. 'B' Gas Rickshaw
18. My Mighty G.T.O.
19. The New Girl in School
20. Linda
21. Barons, West L.A.
22. School Days
23. It's As Easy As 1, 2, 3
24. Hey Little Freshman

JAN & DEAN Ride The Wild Surf / Folk 'N' Roll
(2007 24-track digitally remastered 2-on-1 CD album comprising the albums 'Ride The Wild Surf' [1964] & 'Folk 'n Roll' [1965] from the US Surf kings, including their hits and covers of songs of the day, presented in a picture slipcase complete with picture booklet containing extensive sleevenotes).
25 June 2007

CD1 - Ride The Wild Surf:
1. Ride The Wild Surf
2. Tell 'Em I'm Surfin'
3. Waimea Bay
4. She's My Summer Girl
5. The Restless Surfer
6. Skateboarding Part 1
7. Sidewalk Surfin'
8. Surfin' Wild
9. Down At Malibu Beach
10. A Surfer's Dream
11. Walk On The Wet Side
12. The Submarine Races

CD2 - Folk 'n Roll:
13. I Found A Girl
14. Hang On Sloopy
15. I Can't Wait To Love You
16. Eve Of Destruction
17. It's A Shame To Say Goodbye
18. Where Were You When I Needed You
19. A Beginning From An End
20. Yesterday
21. The Universal Coward
22. It Ain't Me Babe
23. Folk City
24. Turn, Turn, Turn