Gotta Take That One Last Ride

Jan & Dean | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 23, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: One Way Records Inc
• ASIN: B000002R1A
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #522,637 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Surfin'

2. Surfin' Safari

3. Sidwalk Surfin'

4. Summer Means Fun

5. One-Piece Topless Bathing Suit

6. Vegetables

7. Ride The Wild Surf

8. Honolulu Lulu

9. Sunshine Music

10. Gonna Hustle You

11. Surf City

12. Drag City

13. The Little Old Lady From Pasadena

14. The Anaheim, Azusa And Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review And Timing Association

15. Drag Strip Girl

16. Schlock Rod (Part 1)

17. Schlock Rod (Part 2)

18. Dead Man's Curve

19. Little Deuce Coupe

20. Popsicle

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great slice of Americana....and yes, they're still together, April 2, 2000

By 

Mike Frazer (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gotta Take That One Last Ride (Audio CD)

Finally, a compilation that discards the '50s doo-wop stuff and concentrates on the music that made Jan and Dean famous. Also some interesting sidelines (the cover of Brain Wilsons' 'Vegetables' and 'Schlock Rod' pts I & II which sounds like Beavis and Butthead (I'm serious....)) that show up J&Ds' limitations just a bit....but everything you ever need to hear by Jan and Dean is here and the whole thing ends with a roaring live version of 'I Get Around'.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jan & Dean Spell FUN!, February 11, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gotta Take That One Last Ride (Audio CD)

With the exception of the Beach Boys, for a brief moment in the mid-sixties Jan & Dean were the most popular proponents of the California sound of surf, sand and sun. While the duo began their career as a doo-wop influenced vocal group with hits like "Baby Talk" and "Heart and Soul" (from 1959 and 1961 respectively), this set covers their peak period of 1963 to 1966.

Although they never matched the artistic development of the Beach Boys, they were just as much fun. In fact, Brian Wilson and the rest of the Beach Boys often worked closely with Jan & Dean. [It's Dean Torrence's lead vocal heard on the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann"] Brian Wilson worked with Jan Berry on their first No. 1--"Surf City"--and the Beach Boys provide backing vocals. Since United Artists is now the owner of Liberty , these are the original recordings. Most of the hits are here. Only three of their hits are not included: "The New Girl in School" (which was the Beach Boys' "Gonna Hustle You" with new lyrics by Jan Berry and that song IS included--go figure!), the ballad "You Really Know How to Hurt a Guy" (which Dean hated so much he refused to sing on it), and the quasi-psychedelic "I Found a Girl."

Album tracks include a number of Beach Boy covers: "Surfin," "Surfin' Safari," "Vegetables," "Little Deuce Coupe" and "I Get Around." [Even their hit "Sidewalk Surfin'" is the Beach Boys' "Catch a Wave" with new lyrics.] Also included is "Bucket T," which the Who(!) faithfully covered on one of their albums.

Following the initial break-up of the duo, in the wake of Jan Berry's near-fatal car crash in 1966, Dean recorded one solo album and launched Kittyhawk Graphics. [Dean designed the album.]

These are all terrific songs of a bygone era and it's a joy to revisit them. While some may view Jan & Dean as little more than Beach Boys Lite, these are infectious songs. As Dean Torrence says in the liner notes: "These recordings are for fun and dancing only and not for the purpose of competing musically or artistically with any other recording artist's recordings." I think he's being modest. RECOMMENDED

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great place to start your Jan and Dean collection, March 29, 2004

By 

Max H. Shenk (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gotta Take That One Last Ride (Audio CD)

This is a nice introduction to Jan and Dean's music; specifically, to the music they're best known and loved for: their surfin' and hot rod music from 1962-1965.

Of the 24 songs on this CD, only seven of them were hit singles, which to me is its strength: some of my favorite Jan and Dean music ("Hot Stocker," "I Gotta Drive," "Summer Means Fun," "One Piece Topless Bathing Suit," "Bucket T") was buried as "filler" on albums like DRAG CITY, DEADMAN'S CURVE, and THE LITTLE OLD LADY FROM PASADENA. It's nice to have a sampler of both the hits and the misses together.

A note: as I write this, I have in my hands the original United Artists double vinyl LP set, and, like this CD reissue, the original Lp was issued in "quazi-moto- monaural," not stereo as another reviewer stated. That's another reason this package is valuable, since monaural mixes of most of this stuff have long since vanished, and since monaural mixes of the day were often superior to their stereo counterparts (they were often mixed "hotter" for AM radio-portable record player-etc).