Dead man's curve: the rock 'n' roll life of Jan Berry
Mark A. Moore
- Resource Type:
- Book (Print/Paper)
- Publication:
- Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2021]
- Copyright:
- ©2021
More Details
- Summary:
- "Jan Berry, leader of the music duo Jan & Dean from the late 1950s to mid-1960s, was an intense character who experienced more in his first 25 years than many do in a lifetime. As an architect of the West Coast sound, he was one of rock 'n' roll's original rebels--brilliant, charismatic, reckless, and flawed. As a songwriter, music arranger, and record producer for Nevin-Kirshner Associates and Screen Gems-Columbia Music, Berry was one of the pioneering self-produced artists of his era in Hollywood. He lived a dual life, reaching the top of the charts with Jan & Dean while transitioning from college student to medical student, until an automobile accident ended his seemingly charmed existence in 1966. Suffering from brain damage and partial paralysis, Jan spent the rest of his life trying to come back from Dead Man's Curve. His story is told here in-depth for the first time, based on extensive primary source documentation and supplemented by the stories and memories of Jan's family members, friends, music industry colleagues, and contemporaries. From the birth of rock to the bitter end, Berry's life story is thrilling, humorous, unsettling, and disturbing, yet ultimately uplifting"--Provided by publisher.
- Table of Contents:
- Prologue: Tuesday, April 12, 1966
- Some genius or a very clever criminal
- If Ricky Nelson can do it...
- The real musician in the bunch
- Kids swarmed the aisles and screamed
- Good hings happened quickly
- Pandemonium
- Nevins-Kirshner Associates and Aldon Music
- More than most people can do
- Screen gems and a righteous trip to Surf City
- A surf scene with music and medicine
- One of the finer arrangers in the business
- Big, fat frothy records
- Pop symphony
- Easy come easy go
- Crazy hours, on the run
- The death instinct
- Dead man's curve
- Some very ingenious stuff
- There is promise
- Impulse disorder
- Life can have a higher meaning
- In a carnival of sound
- Hitch a ride to Hollywood
- Music is power
- Sing sang a song
- Rock drama
- Aloha, America
- On the run again, with Papa & the Bandits
- WJB, Inc.
- Chapel of love
- Second wave
- Cleaning up the past
- Epilogue: Friday, March 26, 2004.
- Author/Creator:
- Moore, Mark A., 1966- , author
- Languages:
- English
- Language Notes:
- English text.
- Subjects:
- Genres:
- General Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Physical Description:
- xiii, 511 pages : illustrations, maps, music ; 26 cm
- Physical Characteristics:
- plan; music; illustration; map
- Call Numbers:
- ML420.B368 M66 2021
- ISBNs:
- 9781476672106 (paperback)
1476672105 (paperback)
9781476643335 (ebook) [Invalid] - Library of Congress Control Numbers:
- 2021022385
- OCLC Numbers:
- 1198978526