“It Ain’t Me Babe” taken from the LP | Jan & Dean – ’Folk ‘n Roll’ (Liberty LRP-3431) November 1965
Jan & Dean | “Folk ‘n Roll” | (Liberty) 1965 | The duo entered 1965 with a chart slump and in need of new direction. Sensing the end of the whole surf/car/skateboard conglomerate following the release of the Bel-Air Pops Orchestra Pop Symphony No.1, they sought to once again update their sound, and what resulted was a strange offshoot in the form of an album that they dubbed Folk n’ Roll.
The Sloan/ Barri ‘I Found A Girl’ is a typical Jan & Dean number and could’ve easily fit on their Little Old Lady from Pasadena album. ‘Hang on Sloopy’ is not a folk song by any standard, and while the Berry-Christian-Tipton-penned ‘I Can’t Wait to Love You’ is stylistically closer to the genre, it’s instantly forgettable.
Jan’s voice sounds woefully out-of-place on Barry McGuire’s ‘Eve of Destruction,’ and ‘It’s A Shame To Say Goodbye’ may be the best track on the album and is in a similar vein to ‘It’s As Easy as 1 2 3’ from New Girl In School / Dead Man’s Curve.
Jan & Dean | “Folk ‘n Roll” | (Liberty) 1965
Another Barri-Sloan number, ‘Where Were You When I Needed You’, has Jan’s signature arranging style all over it with bombastic drum fills, Dean’s falsetto, and tubular bells. Possibly the most infamous Berry composition (and one that forced Dean down the hall to participate in the Beach Boys’ Party track ‘Barbra Ann’).
‘A Beginning From An End’ details a mother’s death during childbirth in a very “well, ya know doc . . . ” kind of way similar to ‘Deadman’s Curve.’
Paul McCartney’s ‘Yesterday’ may be the most recorded song in history, but Jan and Dean’s rendition is definitely a contender for the worst. The trend of missteps continues with Berry’s malignment of draft dodgers in ‘Universal Coward’ – ironic considering his own refusal to honour his conscription.
In Conclusion
The Surfaris would also cover Dylan’s ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’ later in the year, but with better results. Following the duo’s playbook for signalling their move into new territory by releasing a ‘city’ song (‘Surf City,’ ‘Drag City’), ‘Folk City’ sees the group back in familiar territory and is essentially a rewrite of the former tune. The Byrds’ ‘Turn,’ Turn, Turn’ is passable at best.
Folk n Roll flopped for a couple of reasons. First, Jan’s highly orchestrated symphonic pop sound was in direct opposition to the stripped-back, acoustic guitar stylings of the very genre he was attempting to break into.
Second, neither Jan nor Dean carried the vocal chops to interpret these songs with the level of soulful earnestness required to elevate them above simply re-treading the vocal stylings of established singers like Dylan or Seeger.
Lastly, about half of the tunes featured on the album weren’t even folk tunes. (Discogs review)
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