Customer Reviews

Gotta Take That One Last Ride

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4 star:		(4)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

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'.

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

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).

Love this one because it has all the big hits and a few obscure things and they are in Mono which is how we heard them on the radio. The Anthology has the same songs (more actually from their early years also) but Stereo and they don't have the same punch. Buy this one for the memory, Anthology for all the hits. I also like the From Surf City to Drag City collection. Newer mixes in stereo but closer to the original sound of the Mono mix. Jan and Dean both (Jan especially) were a little bummed when they weren't consulted on that collection at first but it sold well and I recommend.

This is the best Jan & Dean collection I have found. Not only does it have the single mono versions of their best known hits, "Surf City", "Dead Man's Curve" etc.,but it has rare stuff also.
The best of these are "Gonna Hustle You"(early version of "The New Girl In School"), "Vegetables" which was first recorded by The Beach Boys on "Smiley Smile". This version is much more commercial and could have been a hit for them. Including covers from other surf bands such as Ronnie & the Daytonas "Bucket T" and The Rip Chords "Three Window Coupe" makes this essential for the Jan & Dean fans.
Dean Torrence has said he never liked the stereo mixes and if stereo is your preference, The Legendary Masters Series has them plus alot more.

This double LP was originally released in the mid-'70s to capitalize on the success of the Beach Boys compilation "Endless Summer". In fact, there are five cover versions of Beach Boys songs here. Most of the songs are either about surfing or cars. Dean, who compiled the album, managed to sneak in a couple of his solo recordings, with "Vegetables" and "Sunshine Music". Those two tracks don't really fit the "theme" of the rest of the album. Anyway, this is a fun album that features not only hits, but also fun album tracks like "Schlock Rod" and "Bucket T". And it's in mono.

I used to have the original stereo United Artists "Gotta Take That One Last Ride" on 8-track and it sounded MUCH better than this. Unfortunately, some[one] decided to compile EVERY single track in MONO and use the same track listing for this CD. If you're a mono purist, this is definately the CD for you. However, if you want to hear Jan and Dean in true stereo like the original Liberty records, I would whole-heartedly recommond avoid buying products from One Way Records. If they ever heard of more than One Way, maybe they wouldn't have chosen the Wrong Way!