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Jan & Dean: One Last Ride Rating: G 61 mins Warner This Californian surf-sound vocal duo were not only contemporaries and chart rivals of The Beach Boys (often releasing versions of the same song at the same time), but they were also collaborators, singing harmonies on each others recordings. Together, the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean were responsible for defining and profiting from the early-1960s surf phenomenon, a music genre that was particularly hot wherever there was sand and surf (eg: Australia), though the fantasy didn't fail to register in the UK either. Jan Berry co-wrote Surfin' USA, Surf City and Ride The Wild Surf among others, with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Berry and Dean Torrence hit particularly big with Surf City, Dead Man's Curve (perhaps with Wilson on lead vocals) and The Little Old Lady From Pasadena, and these songs together with sixteen others are performed live on this DVD. However, this 1981 concert is much later than their hey-day: the duo had not performed since Berry suffered severe head injuries in a 1965 motor vehicle accident. It is immediately apparent in the opener New Girl In School that this New York concert comes after a monumental process of rehabilitation, with a lot of committed support from Torrence, the other musicians and Berry's friends. Berry's voice is quite uncertain and he appears in rather bizarre attire with some degree of paralysis in his right arm; though to be fair it's the drummer's hairstyle (the 'Lioness Look'?) that is truly laughable. The pair revel in singing the second number Linda (a boppy ditty written - incredibly - about the toddler Linda Eastman, who went on to marry Paul McCartney) and the set continues with plenty of the essential ingredients; cars, girls, beaches, surf and hot rods. This is sunny, cheery rock'n'roll with a fair amount of hamming-it-up to compensate for what's been lost in pitch and timing. Admittedly there's a dreadful version of Help Me Rhonda and a few other duds, but there are fine versions of Little Deuce Coupe, Little Old Lady From Pasadena and poignant renditions of Dead Man's Curve and the Beatles' You've Got To Hide Your Love Away. It's not Jan & Dean at their best and it's not a great introduction to their music either, but it's a fun and fascinating comeback nonetheless.  |
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