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Filet Of Soul Redux: The Rejected Master Recordings
Port to Paradise
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Popsicle
Jan & Dean Biography
William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence formed the American rock duo Jan and Dean. They were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles popularized by the Beach Boys in the early 1960s.
One of their most popular songs was “Surf City,” the first surf tune to reach #1, which was published in 1963. Their other top ten singles were “Drag City” (1963), “Dead Man’s Curve” (1964; inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008), and “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena” (1964).
Torrence won the Grammy Award for Best Album Cover for Pollution’s first eponymous 1971 album in 1972, and was nominated three more times for records by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in the same category. Torrence won a Silver Award of Distinction at the Communicator Awards competition in 2013 for his design work for the Surf City Allstars’ In Concert CD.
Berry and Torrence started making music as “Jan and Dean” after Torrence returned from a six-month mandatory term in the US Army Reserve. Jan and Dean achieved a No. 10 hit on the Dore label with “Baby Talk” (1959) with the help of record producers Herb Alpert and Lou Adler, and then a string of singles over the next few years. They met and performed with the Beach Boys while playing local venues, and they found the appeal of the latter’s “surf sound.” Berry had co-written, arranged, and produced all of Jan and Dean’s original material by this point.
Berry co-wrote, arranged, and produced songs for a variety of artists other than Jan and Dean during this time, including the Angels (“I Adore Him,” Top 30), the Gents, the Matadors (Sinners), Pixie (unreleased), Jill Gibson, Shelley Fabares, Deane Hawley, the Rip Chords (“Three Window Coupe,” Top 30), and Johnny Crawford, among others.
Jan and Dean, unlike most other rock ‘n roll acts of the time, did not devote their entire lives to music. Jan and Dean were college students who managed to balance their studies with writing, recording, and public appearances.
After meeting Brian Wilson in 1963 and 1964, Jan and Dean achieved the pinnacle of their commercial success. Over an eight-year period, the duo had sixteen Top 40 songs on the Billboard and Cash Box magazine charts, for a total of twenty-six chart hits (1959-1966). Berry and Wilson worked together on a dozen songs and album cuts for Jan and Dean, including “Surf City,” which was co-written by Jan Berry and Brian Wilson and reached #1 in 1963. “Drag City,” which peaked at #10 in 1964, “Dead Man’s Curve,” which peaked at #8, and “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” which peaked at #3 in 1964, were among the top ten Jan and Dean hits.
Jan and Dean hosted and performed at The T.A.M.I. Show, a historic concert film made by Steve Binder, in 1964, at the peak of their career. The duo also sang the title song for the Columbia Pictures picture Ride the Wild Surf in 1964.
Jan Berry was badly injured in a car accident in Los Angeles on April 12th, 1966. Berry was initially presumed to be dead at the scene of the accident, and it took him several years to recuperate and learn to walk and talk again after being transferred to the hospital.
The accident completely interrupted the duo’s meteoric rise, and they didn’t tour again until the late 1980s, when Jan’s health allowed it. Jan Berry, who had been sick for almost 38 years since the vehicle accident, died of a stroke on March 26th, 2004, at the age of 62. Torrence had used his artistic talent to become a famous graphic designer after Jan’s accident, and “Jan & Dean” are now well known for their colorful and unusual contributions to 1960s popular music!
Jan and Dean Discography
| Filet Of Soul Redux: The Rejected Master Recordings |  |
| Port to Paradise | |
| Carnival of Sound | |
| Save for a Rainy Day | |
| Popsicle | |
| Filet of Soul – A “Live” One | |
| Jan & Dean Meet Batman | |
| Folk n Roll | |
| Jan & Dean’s Pop Symphony No. 1 | |
| The Little Old Lady from Pasadena | |
| Ride the Wild Surf | |
| Dead Man’s Curve / The New Girl In School | |
| Drag City | |
| Surf City (and Other Swingin Cities) | |
| Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfin | |
| The Jan & Dean Sound | |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What Genre Is Jan And Dean?
An American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound.
What Year Was Honolulu Lulu By Jan & Dean Released?
The song “Honolulu Lulu” was released in 1963 by the American pop duo Jan & Dean. The song is about a surfer who dreams of one day living in Honolulu, Hawaii. Jan & Dean were known for their surf music and this song is considered one of their signature tracks.
On What Song Did Jan And Dean Collaborate With Brian Wilson?
The song that Jan and Dean collaborated with Brian Wilson on is called ” Surf City.” The song was co-written by Brian Wilson and Jan Berry, and it was a huge hit for the duo. The song helped to propel them to stardom and cement their place in surf music history.
Most Searched For Jan and Dean Songs
| Surf City | |
| Pocket Full of Rainbows | |
| Dead Man’s Curve | |
| The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena) | |
| Surfin | |
| Drag City | |
| Popsicle | |
| Heart And Soul | |
| Frosty the Snowman | |
| Manhattan | |
