I was a fan of the music on this album when it was being played on the radio in the 1950s. The spirit of camaraderie and good times that has been a part of Jan & Dean music from the beginning attracted me the first time I heard it, and has held me a musical captive ever since.

Although I enjoyed Jan & Dean (always written with an ampersand, never with the conjunction "and") all along, my allowance didn't permit me to actually buy any Jan & Dean records until 1963. From then on, there was no turning back. Well, that's not true. I did turn back -- to the '50s. Jan & Dean's '60s releases came out too far apart to satisfy me! So in 1964, I began a search for their earlier Doo Wop records. And over the years, I found those records, one by one. For today's Jan & Dean fan, it is easier -- those classic songs are all included on this album.

In 1958, Jan Berry and Dean Torrence were friends and football team mates at University High School in Los Angeles. Fellow Uni High classmates Arnie Ginsberg, Wally Yagi, Don Altfeld, Sandy Nelson (later to have hit records including "Teen Beat") and Jimmy Bruderlin (aka James Brolin), along with Jan & Dean, formed a club called The Barons. Music was one of the club's main interests, mostly Doo Wop songs like "Get A Job" and "Book of Love." Jan and his club listened to this music constantly on the radio, bought it at the record store, made tapes of it for parties, and sang it as an informal group. An original song that everyone liked, especially Jan, was called "Jennie Lee."

Over time, the membership of the Barons dwindled. One of the last to leave was Dean Torrence, who left to meet an active-duty obligation in the service. Thus, it was only Jan and Arnie who were present to perform when a tiny record company called Arwin Records decided in 1958 to release a tape of "Jennie Lee" that Jan & Arnie had made in the garage.

"Jennie Lee" by Jan & Arnie was a national hit record, but two follow ups did less well, and a tape of a proposed album was lost in a house fire. Inside of a year, Arnie quit the music biz and Jan asked Dean, back from the service, to join him. Recalls Jan today, "I chose Dean because I liked his harmony, and I really liked his falsetto." >Jan & Dean and Dore Records

Arwin records had lost interest in Jan's music, so the newly reconstituted duo had to find a new outlet for their musical inclinations. Dore records (pronounced "Dorrie"), which had just had a number one hit with the Teddybears' "To Know Him Is To Love Him," was interested, was slightly larger than Arwin, and was near Jan's garage recording studio. So that is the label on which Jan & Dean records first appeared.

In the next two years, Jan & Dean had five national hit 45s on Dore records, as well as an LP.

The first 12 cuts on this Sundazed record represent the original lineup of that very first Jan & Dean LP, which was originally released by Dore records in 1960. The remaining six tracks are sides that appeared on Dore 45s but never appeared on an album before now. The Poster

The original pressing of the Dore Jan & Dean LP included a 12-inch color poster of the duo to cash in on Jan & Dean's classic California good looks. Such a freebie was something of a rarity in those days, and the poster has become impossible to find over the years. You will find your copy of this rare poster in this album. How did I get mine?

In the early 1970s, I was still laboriously collecting old Jan & Dean records. One of my prime sources for Dore singles was a record dealer in California named Rip Lay. I was sort of known across the country as the #1 J&D collector. So it was little surprise when, the night before Rip was going to the old Dore warehouse to look for collectible vinyl, he called me to ask which record numbers he should search for.

Soon after, a package arrived with my latest order from Rip. In it, besides the records I'd ordered, was a 12 by 12 color photo of Jan & Dean. Rip said that he didn't know just what it was, but that it had been laying around his place for a long time, and he figured that if anyone deserved it, I did.

That, my friends, was the legendary Dore LP poster which was packed in the original issue of that classic LP! And it is the only copy I have ever seen or even heard of! I guess all the rest got thumbtacked on girls' bedroom walls in 1960, then torn down and thrown away when the girls grew up and went to college? The original poster is worth a couple of hundred dollars today, but is a free bonus with this LP.

The music on this LP is white Doo Wop music. To the fans of Jan & Dean's mid-'60s Surf and Drag music, it will come as a surprise. But the harmonies and falsetto that is the hallmark of Jan & Dean's '60s hits is here in their '50s Doo Wop music.

"Clementine" (LP version)
(Jan Berry, Dean Torrence)

The first cut on the LP has Jan singing lead on a reworking of the old public-domain folk song from 1884, "My Darling Clementine," here transformed into a great novelty number with a hot sax break. On the Dore LP, Dean's introductory "Oh my darlin'" was presented in single voice. For the 45, that same introduction was replaced on most copies with a mix that had a second track of Dean's voice, delayed a second or two.

"Judy"
(Jan Berry, Dean Torrence, and Don Altfeld)

Jan usually performed some variation of the word "bomp" on the Dore sides, while Dean added a falsetto part. But here, It is Dean who sings "La-la-la," while the high notes, which could have been Dean's falsetto, are sung by Sally Stevens, a session singer who performed on many records of the period, including hits by Colpix records artists Shelley Fabares, Paul Peterson, and James Darren.

"My Heart Sings"
(Herb Alpert and Lou Adler)

This song was written by Jan & Dean's managers, Lou Adler and Herb Alpert, as the flip side of their follow up to "Baby Talk." Jan handles the "bomps" while Dean takes lead.

Their managers, who had already worked with Sam Cooke, would go on to great fame and fortune in the music world. Lou would marry Shelley Fabares ("Johnny Angel," Coach); found Dunhill Records, which made stars of the Mamas and Papas, the Grassroots, Barry McGuire, 3 Dog Night, and Steppenwolf, and others; and produce the Monterrey Pop Festival, among other achievements.

Their co-manager, Herb Alpert, founded A&M Records and formed the Tijuana Brass. Interestingly, in his pre-trumpet days when he worked as a fluglehorn player, Herb billed himself as "Dore Alpert."

"Rosie Lane"
(Jan Berry, Dean Torrence, and Don Altfeld)

Jan, Dean, and school friend Don Altfeld wrote this nifty song about Rosie Lane Halprin, a girl who was dating Baron Jimmy Bruderlin. On different printings of the record label, her name appeared as either "Rosilane" or "Rosie Lane." Jan sings the introduction, and the boys share the lead. There is no explanation for the weird funeral march chords at the very end!

"Oh Julie"
(Noel Ball and Don Moffat)

Also known as "Julie," the Crescendos had a huge national hit with this song in 1958. The Crescendos' record included a female voice singing a high part, but neither Dean nor Sally sang that high part on this version.

"Baby Talk"
(Melvin Schwartz)

This song was the very first Jan & Dean hit record. It was #1 almost everyplace, but distribution was so poor that its national ranking was "only" #10. The song was originally done by the Laurels on Spring records (Spring 1112). Jan & Dean's record was in turn covered by Tom and Jerry (Bell Records 45-120) of "Hey Schoolgirl" fame. Tom and Jerry were later better known by their real names, Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon.
Side 2

"You're On My Mind"
(Jan Berry and Don Altfeld)

Dean sings lead and falsetto on a song inspired by Don Altfeld's father. "That was a title my Dad, Horace [Altfeld], gave me. He later wrote Jan & Dean liner notes, and was president of the Jan & Dean Fan Club. The Fan Club address on the Dore album cover, 1307 Brinkley, was our house, and my dad was the subject of 'Horace, the Swingin' School Bus Driver,' a 1964 Jan & Dean album cut. 'You're On My Mind' was a little more legitimate type of song."

"There's A Girl"
(Herb Alpert and Lou Adler)

This song almost marked the end of Jan & Dean. It was written by their managers as the follow up to "Baby Talk," but flopped on the charts -- #98! It could have mean that Jan & Dean were just another one-hit wonder. As on "Baby Talk," Dean sings lead. Yet it is a worthy number, a pretty, Doo Wop waxing.

"Jeanette"
(Jan Berry, Dean Torrence, and Don Altfeld)

With '60s hits like "The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)," album cuts like "Horace, the Swingin' School Bus Driver," and a stage act that was 20% music and 80% comedy, Jan & Dean were known as the Laurel and Hardy of Rock and Roll. Even "Baby Talk" has a novelty-tune angle. But it was on the "Baby Talk" flip side, "Jeanette, Get Your Hair Done" (as it was called on the 45 label) where the Jan & Dean humor first became really obvious. According to Don Altfeld, "Jeanette was Jan's girl friend, whom we used to kid all the time about her hair, 'Jeanette, get your hair done,' because it was always a curly-haired mess!"

"Cindy"
(Jan Berry and Dean Torrence)

Dean begins the lyric, with Jan joining in later, and providing his trademark bomps. Cindy was another real girl, a blonde whose last name no one recalls.

"Don't Fly Away"
(Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman)

From the team who wrote many hits including "Suspicion," "This Magic Moment," and Teenager in Love" comes an unknown Jan & Dean flip side with Dean singing lead. A sweet ballad which should have gotten more recognition.

"White Tennis Sneakers"
(Melvin Schwartz)

More humor, and this time from the composer of "Baby Talk." The baby boomers' first nod to the future "grunge" look. Dean, especially, enjoyed doing comedy.

"We Go Together"
(Haims-Stevens)

Lou Adler takes credit for this wonderful Jan & Dean love ballad, the first 45 cut not taken off the LP. "That song comes from a genre that I would have been closer to because of my leanings toward R&B or black music. I believe the first record on that was Marvin and Johnny, which was a hit in the R&B market. It stretched Jan & Dean a little bit, I think, vocally. Ernie Freeman did the string arrangements for 'We Go Together.' He was a piano player and an arranger. We pretty much stuck with the same rhythm section for as long as we could."

Dean was also proud of this recording. "This proved that we could do ballads and it would be accepted by our fan base." It charted at #53, their highest national placement since "Baby Talk."

"Gee"
(Davis-Watkins-Norton)

It is not clear where the inspiration for J&D to record this tune originated.

Lou: "Like 'We Go Together,' this was from my very early days in high school growing up. That was something that I listened to on the radio with Hunter Hancock . . . I remember it as the first rock 'n' roll record that I ever heard."

Don: "'Gee' by the Crows is my all-time favorite record. Lou may have suggested recording that one, but I introduced Jan to the song. In my life, it was the first rock and roll record."

"It's Such A Good Night For Dreaming"
(Hunter-Mann)

Barry Mann, whose many song writing credits include "Who Put the Bomp" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," wrote this song, probably the most musical song Jan & Dean ever recorded. Dean really liked the song. "That is my favorite song of ours from that era. It was another ballad, another step from 'We Go Together,' except that 'Dreaming' has not been recorded before, and 'Together' was an old R&B hit."

"Baggy Pants"
(Bob Roberts)

The most comedic song that Jan & Dean recorded up to this time, "Baggy Pants" chronicals what happened when a boy from the bad part of town attends his socialite girlfriend's party.

"'Baggy Pants' was a novelty record and we were contemplating doing humorous things," explains Dean. "I guess we were doing some humor on stage. It was not overt, but at that time any humor on stage by a musician was been different, any at all. Once again, you can see that we were thinking about taking it some other directions, and were willing to try it. We knew that somewhere along the line it would fit, that we would be able to do more tongue-in-cheek stuff."

This was the last new song (although not the last new recording -- see the next listing) released by Jan & Dean before leaving Dore.

"Judy's An Angel"
(Berry-Torrence-Altfeld)

A reworking of the LP cut "Judy," this was the only song Jan & Dean recorded twice for Dore. This new version is more elaborately produced. Don Altfeld explains: "The new 45 version was a case of Jan's thinking he had something and went back to improve on it. Yeah, Jan was always tinkering on the songs."

"Clementine" (single version)
(Jan Berry, Dean Torrence)

This is the version of "Clementine" that was pressed on the majority, but not all, of the 45s of this tune. It features the echo introductory phrases, and is one of the most successful instances of a rock and taking an old folk tune and updating it. After Dore

After two years, 17 tracks, five hits, one LP, and a poster at Dore, Jan & Dean moved on to Challenge records ("Heart and Soul") and then Liberty records ("Surf City," "Drag City," and many more), where Jan wrote, produced, and arranged most of their songs. They stayed in school, Dean graduating with a degree is commercial design. Jan attended pre-med classes with Don Altfeld. Today, Don is a doctor who still dabble sin the music business. But a near-fatal car crash in 1966 ended Jan's medical career and left him partially paralyzed and brain damaged.

Always the fighter, Jan has recovered to a miraculous extent, and today Jan & Dean are back on the road, touring the country every summer with their hits of the '50s and '60s.Besides the LP, Dore released the following 45s by Jan & Dean.

All 45 sides, unless otherwise noted, were also on the LP, and all appear on the Sundazed LP. Composer credits are listed above for the LP tracks. 7-59 Dore 522

Baby Talk/Jeanette Get Your Hair Done #10 10-59 Dore 531

There's A Girl/My Heart Sings #98 1-60 Dore 539

Clementine/You're On My Mind #65 4-60 Dore 545

Cindy/White Tennis Sneakers 7-60 Dore 555

*We Go Together/Rosie Lane (aka Rosilane) #53
released with picture sleeve with 2 girls 10-60 Dore 576

*Gee/*Such A Good Night for Dreaming #81
released with picture sleeve with new fan club address on Sunset Strip 1-61 Dore 583

*Baggy Pants (Read All About It) / Judy's An Angel 7-61 Dore 610

Julie/Don't Fly Away

*Not on the Dore LP.

Thanks to Lou Adler, Don Altfeld, Jan and Gertie Berry, Buzzie Kelly, Elliot Kendall, Frank Kisko, Lauri Klobas, Rip Lay, and Dean Torrence.

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