Massive Guilt over my treatment of Jan and Dean

I've been thinking it over. I'm not retracting my statements over Jan and Dean. Hours after my previous post, I still feel the same way about their fluffy sound. But maybe I should clarify my position. I like them--I do. But maybe some fans are too blinded by the Brian Wilson connection to see them for their own talents. And to show there are no hard feelings, here's an outtake of a Brian Wilson demo of "Gonna Hustle You", "New Girl in School", "Get a Chance With You"--whatever it was called. Since Wilson wrote it for them, I figure it would be appropriate to add this as an addendum to the previous blog entry.

(and for anyone who thinks i only added this to slip in a rare Brian Wilson track, who knows you may be right. Please don't tell anyone though.)


brian wilson demo song ****gonna hustle you



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More Music for a Rainy Day--Jan and Dean Bootleg

I like Jan and Dean, in a lightweight sort of way. Not an intense love affair, really. Like the way you like slim jims--you could do without them but they at times provide some cheap satisfaction. There is a large J & D cult. And Jan and Dean's catalogue is one of the easiest to to attain for completists as they've had their cuts reissued repeatedly in different formats--even while the group was still in existence. And I probably have some pent up jealousy issues of Jan and Dean fans because they were able to find a plethora of goodies at little expense while in my youth I had to pester the employees of Princeton Record Exchange to hold any Curt Boettcher stuff behind the counter.

The guys do have some great qualities. They have the Brian Wilson-connection with gives them some major pointage. Jan also gave Gary Zekley a break early in his career by doing the Restless Surfer for J & D's "Ride the Wild Surf" Lp.

I like Zekley a lot.

One issue I have with the duo (now I know this may sound petty, and I know it is totally my problem that i have to get over) is that when I was 15 I bought the biopic on vhs at a flea market and I watched it. It was actually pretty good, and I got all tingly when Mike Love came out at the end. But the actor who played Dean (Bruce Davison) also played the dad on the "Harry and the Hendersons" TV show in the early 90's. So maybe I should grow up, but I can't help connect Dean forever with the actor playing him. Even when I see this guy on other shows, somewhere in the dark chunks of my brain (the medulla I believe) I think it's Dean.

Say it--I'm a simple minded twit.

The early pre-surf songs are ok even if recorded in a rusty oil can. And the surf songs are catchy and slick, but teen fare.

Then Dean made "Save for a Rainy Day" while Jan was rehabilitating from the accident. He did it to keep the name alive, so he says. I like to think it was his way of saying "I can do it too, you egomaniacal jerk. What, with your magnetic stare and rugged yet wiry build."

That album is a lost classic, released on Sundazed a few years ago with bonus tracks.

I like that album too; all the songs have to do with rain and it's quite harmless.

One of those albums that you listen to and don't feel any different afterwards.

But being a sunshine pop enthusiast, when I ran into "More Music for a Rainy Day", a 28 track bootleg of outtakes and alternate versions from those sessions, I got more than a bit excited.

In addition to different takes of "Like a Summer Rain", "Raindrops", "Rain on the Roof", "A Taste of Rain", "Crying in the Rain", "Pocket Full of Rainbows", and "Here Comes the Rain", there were two unreleased tracks, not even bonus tracks on the Sundazed comp-"Rhythm of the Rain" and "Louisiana Man". The only other version of "Louisiana Man" I'd ever heard was from some Czech vocal band called the Rangers from 1970 maybe.

I like the Rangers.

I got so excited. You should have seen me. I rushed home because my cd player in the car doesn't work. Driving home I openened the insert in the jewel case thinking that there might be some super cool extra stuff, although I know that never is the case with bootlegs.

And when I got home I listened to it.

And life went on normal afterwords.

Then I came to an important realization. There's a difference between listening to a Beach Boys bootleg and a J & D bootleg. Beach Boys instrument only or vocals only takes are at times incredibly beautiful. Listen to their vocal track for "Time to Get Alone" or "Breakaway". Something mystical happens when you play them.

Dean could have put "Louisiana Man" or "Rhythm of the Rain" on the album instead of "Pocket Full of Rainbows" or any other track besides "Yellow Balloon" and you would have pretty much the same product. Listening to Jan and Dean outtakes is like listening to Jan and Dean released songs. The vocals are at times weak, which really doesn't differ from the final version of the album. The instruments are quite nice but nowhere near complex.

Maybe Jan had a better idea of how to sculpt arrangements to give you a chill. Maybe he didn't.

Again, I like Jan and Dean. But I like the Five Americans too. Both made some great tunes and contributed to the evolution of music history and give me something to smile when I think about my teenage years. But where is the care and respect put into the catalogue of the Five Americans or Don and the Goodtimes or Tommy Roe?

Just a thought.

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