JAN BERRY — A SELECTED TIMELINE
By Mark A. Moore
Author of Dead Man’s Curve: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Life of Jan Berry
1966
• January 1966 — The Beach Boys’ Party! LP, featuring Dean Torrence on “Barbara Ann'” peaked on the national charts: #6 Billboard.
• January 1966 — The Folk ‘n Roll LP peaked on the national charts: #83 Cash Box and #145 Billboard.
• January 1966 — “A Beginning from An End” “bubbled under” on the national charts: #109 Billboard.
• January 1966 — Liberty Records released “Batman.” Jan & Dean’s “Batman” single and Album were a celebration and spoof of the Batman television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. The show took a campy “Pop Art” approach to depicting the Caped Crusaders. Like Jan & Dean’s On the Run pilot, Batman was a product of ABC-TV and 20th Century-Fox.
• January-February 1966 — “Barbara Ann'” by the Beach Boys, featuring Dean Torrence doubling the falsetto lead with Brian Wilson, peaked on the national charts: #1 Cash Box and #2 Billboard.
On the Run — Jan & Dean’s Second Television Pilot
• February 1966 — Production wrapped for On the Run, Jan & Dean’s television pilot developed by ABC-TV and Ashmont Productions. Directed by William Asher with a cameo appearance by Elizabeth Montgomery. An Ashmont Production in association with 20th Century-Fox Television, Inc. The screenwriter was Ruth Brooks Flippen.
• February 1966 — Jan & Dean appeared on the Lloyd Thaxton Show.
• February-March 1966 — “Batman” peaked on the national charts: #60 Cash Box and #66 Billboard.
• March 1966 — Liberty released the Jan & Dean Meet Batman LP.
Final Concert Appearances
• March 1966 — Jan & Dean performed in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• March 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at the Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• March 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at the The Dome in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
• March 1966 — Jan & Dean performed in Cochran, Georgia.
• March 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at the The Spot in Tampa, Florida.
• March 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at the Seminole Jai-Alai Fronton at Fern Park in Orlando, Florida.
• March 1966 — Jan & Dean performed in Montgomery, Alabama.
• March 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at the Municipal Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama.
• March 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at the Municipal Auditorium in Atlanta, Georgia.
• April 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at the Municipal Coliseum in Portland, Oregon.
• April 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at the Hollywood Bowl.
• April 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri.
• April 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at Memorial Hall in Dayton, Ohio.
• April 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at the Municipal Auditorium Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
• April 1966 — Jan & Dean appeared on The Scene in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
• April 1966 — Jan & Dean performed at Wedgewood Village Amusement Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This was the final concert of the duo’s original era.
Jan’s Automobile Accident
• April 12, 1966 — Nine days after his 25th birthday, Jan crashed his brand new ’66 Corvette Sting Ray into a parked truck on Whittier Drive in Beverly Hills. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, resulting in aphasia, verbal apraxia, and partial paralysis. Hospitalized at UCLA Medical Center, Jan was unconscious for two weeks and semi-conscious for roughly another two weeks.
• April 1966 — Liberty released the Filet of Soul: A “Live” One LP.
• May 1966 — Liberty released “Popsicle,” a track that originally appeared on the Drag City LP in 1963 (as “Popsicle Truck”).
Jan Begins Trying to Speak Again
• May 1966 — After a period of semi-consciousness, Jan began trying to speak again in early May.
• June 1966 — Letters of Conservatorship were issued in Superior Court to Jan’s father William L. Berry. Bill Berry became conservator of Jan’s person and estate, allowing him to run Jan’s business affairs.
• June 1966 — Liberty released the Popsicle LP.
• June 1966 — The Filet of Soul LP peaked on the national charts: #127 Billboard.
Jan is Released from the Hospital
• June 1966 — In mid-June, Jan was released from the hospital at UCLA Medical Center and transferred to the rehabilitation facility at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He underwent physical therapy and speech therapy at Cedars and other facilities. Jan worked with renowned speech pathologist Vivian Sheehan and aphasia therapist Maurice Sklar, among others.
• June 1966 — Sandy Ward, a young psychiatric technician who had connected with Jan while he was in the hospital was hired privately by the Berry family to continue working with him.
• July 1966 — “Popsicle” peaked on the national charts: #21 Billboard and #24 Cash Box.
• July 1966 — Liberty released “Fiddle Around,” an unreleased track from 1962.
• August 1966 — Liberty released the Golden Hits Volume Three LP.
Dean Torrence Produces New Music
• August-November 1966 — Dean Torrence began to release new music in a promising but ultimately unsuccessful effort to keep the Jan & Dean name alive while Jan recovered from his automobile accident. Dean’s releases on the J&D Record Co. and Magic Lamp labels were halted by Screen Gems for breach of contract, including the original mono version of the Save For A Rainy Day LP. Jan Berry’s and Jan & Dean’s pre-accident contracts with Screen Gems remained in effect, and the company still presided over the duo’s music career. Thus Dean did not have the legal authority to make music or business deals on behalf of the act, and he could not use the “Jan & Dean” name . . . See Entries for February-March 1967.
• September 1966 — “Fiddle Around” peaked on the national charts: #73 Cash Box and #94 Billboard.
• October 1966 — Liberty released “School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell),” a track that originally appeared on the Dead Man’s Curve / The New Girl In School LP in 1964.
• November 1966 — Reaction Records released the Ready Steady Who EP by The Who, featuring “Bucket ‘T’,” co-written by Jan Berry. Recorded in August 1966.
• December 1966 — The Ready Steady Who EP by The Who, featuring “Bucket ‘T’,” co-written by Jan Berry, reached #1 on the Record Mirror EP charts in the UK.
© Mark A. Moore. All rights reserved.
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