- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfin’ is their first studio album and features “Linda”, “Mr. Bass Man”, and “Let’s Turkey Trot”, plus several nice covers of recent hits.
Jan & Dean – Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfin’ (1963): Most people view Jan & Dean – Jan Berry and Dean Torrence – as the Beach Boys’ lightweight competition in the surf era; but actually, the Beach Boys were originally the copycats of Jan & Dean’s formula. On the other hand, Jan & Dean cover two early Beach Boys classics on this album, “Surfin’ Safari” and “Surfin’ ”, referencing one of them in the album title; but maybe they didn’t have any other surfing songs lying around at that point. The only Gold record by Jan & Dean, “Surf City” came along on their next album, Surf City (and Other Swingin’ Cities) that came out three months after Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfin’. Since the Beach Boys had the surf scene cornered, Jan & Dean became known more for songs about cars, beginning with “Drag City” that was on their fourth album released by Liberty Records in 1963, Drag City.
Jan Berry is a recording studio wizard, lending their music additional interest; and he was a match for the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson in prowess, if not entirely in range and talent. Their early years as a doo wop group before the surf era (between 1958 and 1962) generated enough songs to fill a retrospective album for Jan & Dean called Golden Hits that featured their early songs like “Jennie Lee”, “Baby Talk”, “Heart & Soul”, “Palisades Park”, and “Barbara Ann” (“Barbara Ann” was later a hit song by the Beach Boys). While Golden Hits is their first album on Liberty Records (also in 1963), Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfin’ is their first studio album and gives some of the duo’s early surf-era recordings like “Linda”, “Mr. Bass Man”, and “Let’s Turkey Trot”, plus nice covers of “Rhythm of the Rain”, “Walk Like a Man”, “The Gypsy Cried”, and “Walk Right In”. Jan & Dean are also well known for being a featured act as well as the hosts for probably the first rock concert film, The T.A.M.I. Show (1964), with the initials variously shown as standing for “Teenage Awards Music International” and “Teen Age Music International”. Jan & Dean also sang the theme song for The T.A.M.I. Show, “(Here They Come) From All Over the World”.