"GOTTA TAKE THAT ONE LAST RIDE!"

A Lesson in Courage, Perseverence, and the Power of Friendship

The Story of

For some reason I always slightly preferred Jan and Dean over the Beach Boys.  There was something joyous and infectious about the combination of brlliant production and skewed, off center humor.   I was slightly disappointed to learn that in the early years Jan Berry, given his genius, was rather self-centered and didn't always treat others well.  But I loved his enormous talent, both as a singer and a producer.

All of their fans know their story.  In early 1966 they were at the top of their game.  They had the highest charting 'Batman' spin-off record, they had just signed a movie deal and had made a TV pilot for ABC.  

It all came to a catastrophic, tire-screeching fender crashing halt, reminiscint of the sound effects on their records, but with far more drastic and tragic consequences.  Jan ran his Corvette into a parked truck. 

Believed to be dead at the scene, Jan was in fact alive, but with extensive brain damage that left him comatose for months.  While Jan struggled, Dean launched various projects released under the Jan and Dean banner to keep the act alive until Jan could hopefully resume his role as the creative  force.

Meanwhile, paralyzed and unable to speak or walk, Jan's indomitable will and passionate desire to perform again caused him to make incredible progress over his head injury.  Dean gives the credit to Jan's friends and family, talented rehab therapists and mostly to Jan, who started with a strong ego, a lot of hutzpah and a 185 IQ, who just would not be denied his dream. 

Jan's progress was amazing, but it was also painfully slow.  Although the brain damage had not impacted beyond repair the area where his music lived, it would be seven years before Jan could try singing in front of an audience. 

During those years Dean Torrence had to eat.  He combined his talent as an artist with his love for rock music.  Kitty Hawk Graphics designed album covers and logos for groups such as Chicago and the Beach Boys, as well as Jan and Dean compilations.

In 1978, the TV movie Deadman's Curve was a ratings hit and reignited fan interest in Jan and Dean.  Two compilations of their hits did well.  With Jan's approval, Dean produced a couple of albums of new recordings of their classic hits, that is essentially "Dean and Dean" with Jan and others doing background vocals.  But the stage was set for a return to performing live.  With the help of their old friends the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean did just that in the summers of '78 and '79. After those tours, Jan and Dean knew they were ready for a full-fledged comeback tour of their own.  With the excption of a couple of 'speed bumps' they never looked back.

Those 'speed bumps'  include helping Jan through a period of drug addiction and coping with those who would try to take advantage of  Jan's selective memory problems to alter his relationship with Dean.  But through it all,  these two partners and friends overcame the odds and kept performing in venues from posh birthday parties to baseball stadiums, from county fairs to skateboarding on the Great Wall of China.  They kept doing what they loved to do and they kept doing it together.  When Jan finally got married for the first time Dean was his best man.

If Jan was the creative force in the early days, Dean was the stabilizing influence that helped contribute to their longevity.  After 1983 Dean was only going to continue as long as it stayed fun and it stayed fun until Jan's untimely death in 2005.  The magic of their partnership can be heard in a moment in a live recording.  Jan is struggling throuh the narration of Deadman's Curve but Dean won't let him give up.  When he gets it right everyone feels hid sweet moment of victory.  Jan and Dean were truly a team who needed each other in order to entertain at their best.  The two of them together personified the joy they gave to us.

Thank you Jan and thank you Dean.  Through the music the fun and the joy live on.