"I Hear A Voice, Deep Down Inside - There Are Other Girls, Other Waves To Ride" Dept.

Jan & Dean should have fronted a pop group, not been a duo. Duos are tricky to get right. Simon & Garfunkel, Sam & Dave, the Everly Brothers [girls' group - Ed.], The Righteous Brothers, Sonny & Cher, James & Bobby Purify ... I'm struggling here. Anyway, here's why they should have fronted a group - the emphasis in a duo is singing. You don't get a singer teaming up with a bass player (although you did get Cher teaming up with a doofus). You're both up there to sing. And neither Jan nor Dean could sing a whole lot better than any random spirited Ben Frank's-type teen. Or they should have had a TV show, like the Monkees - they shot a couple of pilots.

But they did good for a couple of college kids making music on the side. Surf City, co-written with Brian Wilson [FX: harp glissando, heavenly choir, birdsong - Ed.] was the first surf song to reach #1, and they had a bunch of other chart hits before Jan Berry trashed his Corvette. Dean's loyalty and support through the long years of recovery shows how strong friendship can be. 

My favorite J&D album (and they were never an album act) is this here Original Soundtrack Recording of '64's Ride The Wild Surf, some kind of classic of the genre. I mean, gee whiz, check out that cover! Babes in bikinis, surfboards and striped shirts, and also too - for those what care, such as I - some boner-inducing typography - I just wanna lick that italic! The package is perfect, and so is the music. Yes, there's filler - a union requirement for surf-adjacent albums back then - but it's fun filler. And the tunes are killer, from the swooningly beautiful (Waimea Bay, and the elegiac A Surfer's Dream) through upbeat frug-alongs to the genuinely laff-out-loud (The Submarine Races).

Jan Berry gets credit for the sumptuous production (with massive assist, I should imagine, from Hal Blaine, Bones Howe, and Chuck Britz), and Brian Wison [FX: harp glissando, heavenly choir, birdsong - Ed.] gets principal credit for four songs. So yeah.

The lyrics to Tell 'Em I'm Surfin' (by the godlike P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri) are not only super-smart and deceptively finely crafted, but encapsulate the whole California Guy's Dream. And there's a sweet twist - for all his teen jock strut n' brag, he's talking to his Mom. He even asks her to pack his lunch - aww!! Read and enjoy. It's poetry, people!

Hey Mom if any of the guys from the baseball team try to call me on the phone, to ask me to play in an important game, just say their captain ain't at home.

Tell 'em I'm surfin' (don't care 'bout hittin' home runs now, all I have is fun fun fun now) - I'm tradin' in my bat n' ball, say I'll see 'em in the fall, I'm goin' surfin'.

And if that pretty little girl from across the street who's been botherin' me for days to go swimming in her pool, well her pool's real cool, but it hasn't got ten foot waves.

Tell her I'm surfin (she's a mighty mighty cute girl now, but I'm gonna be shootin' the curl now). If she wants some company I'll be out at Windandsea, I'm goin' surfin'.

Last year I had a summer job, and all day long I had to run around, but now I can afford a new surf board, and all summer long I'm gonna bum around.

So just pack me a lunch and I'll be on my way - oh yeah, there's one more thing to do; if the mail man comes with a letter for me, just forward it to Malibu,

Where I'll be surfin' (just drop it in my '34 Ford now, I'll read it while I'm waxin' my board now) Tell him I'm surfin'. I won't be home for days, I'll be ridin' the waves, I'm goin' surfin'.

EDIT: Lupine Assassin sends a link for The T.A.M.I. Show, hosted by Jan & Dean. See comments!

This post made fungible thru' th' Anaheim, Azusa and Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review, and Timing Association.