758 Jan and Dean - Surf City and Other Swingin' Cities (1963)

 758 Jan and Dean - Surf City and Other Swingin' Cities (1963)

Studio Album - Surf and Pop



About the Act:

Jan and Dean were a vocal duo from LA, who were among the pioneers of the Vocal Surf sound that most people associate with The Beach Boys. They were formed in 1958 and lasted until 1968, then briefly in 1973, and again from 1976 to 2004. Their height of popularity was between 1963 and 1966, at which point Jan was in a car accident, ironically not far from Dead Man's Curve (which they had a hit song about earlier). He was in a coma, and then had lost the use of his right arm. 

Apparently they had an anti-establishment attitude to the record business that has been cited as the foundation of Punk.

About the Album:

This was their third album, and the start of their peak in popularity. The opening track, Surf City was co-written by Brian Wilson, and an important single in the Surf Sound popularity. It is, I think, the only album in this series of reviews so far that has been lacking a Wikipedia page.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

This is definitely a themed album, and the theme is American Cities. From Surf City (the opener) to Soul City (the last track) we visit Memphis, Detroit, Manhattan, Philadelphia, and several more, most of which extol the virtues of that city. They can't all be the best city in the USA. Actually, the track Detroit City is less complimentary. Some of these songs were written for the album, and some are covers. They are not, by any means, all surf sound songs, there's blues, jazz, rock and roll, do-wop, psychedelic and even what sounds like Jazz Standards. I could do a run-down of all of the songs, but instead I'll just say varied ideas and styles. How's that? You will probably know some of the songs like Memphis, Tennessee and I Left My Heart in San Francisco.

From the get-go it is obvious that they are not the singers that the Beach Boys are. They are OK, but challenged at times. Possibly they had very limited studio time (quite common at this time). The production - well the version I listened to was stereo, but still quite flat at times. The arrangements are OK. These are the negatives.

The positives are that it's quite a fun album. It's not too serious. Some of the sentiments are a bit.. meh... and definitely of the time,  but some of the songs are better. I liked Philadelphia, PA which has many references and snatches of previously popular songs and is about the TV show American Bandstand with Dick Clark. 

So, despite the technical issues, I enjoyed it.

7/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4Hbp9FLjVBq9cOIs2LpI1i

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSnEc0eT1ST5rLbr-lZZG9SeLgfD3beXQ

Allmusic: https://www.allmusic.com/album/surf-city-and-other-swingin-cities-mw0002307919



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