|
Jan & Dean Band performed in
Huntington Beach for the Surf City
Festival sponsored by the HB Chamber
Huntington Beach, Calif.- I remember
when Jan & Dean performed together
in one of their final concerts
before Jan Berry's health declined
and he passed away.
In our series on remembering events
that took place in Huntington Beach,
we pulled out of the archives this
photo of
Jan & Dean
performing one of the come-back
together concerts and one of their
last performances as a group before
Jan Berry's health declined and he
passed away several years later.
The location was the Huntington
Beach Mall (it's now called Bella
Terra), and the parking lot became
the epicenter of community
festivities as Joyce Riddell of the
Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce
put together a chamber event called
Surf City Festival. A cute logo with
a woody and surfboard, vendor booths
with banks giving away key chains,
wine poured by
Diane Baker of the Huntington
Beach Conference and Visitors
Bureau, and an incredible audience
of Jan & Dean fans attended the
weekend event.
In the picture above you can see
Dean Torrence (left) playing the
guitar and Jan Berry standing next
to him singing his heart out. Jan no
longer carried a tune but the
audience didn't mind. This guy was a
legend and though you could see he
was not in good health, having to
sit down during the performance
several times, he was a showman to
the end. As people lined up to buy
souvenir T-shirts, CDs and clocks,
even, Jan Berry sat there patiently
signing autographs on these items,
seldom wavering.
Torrence held great respect for his
former music partner who at one
time, wrote songs that climbed to
the top of the charts, winning the
band status around the globe as
cultural icons, along with The Beach
Boys, who were friends of Jan &
Dean.
Today, you can catch Torrence's act
and songs of the group at special
events and corporate contract shows.
You can also see his original art
represented at The Gallery
in Huntington Beach and on display
at exhibits such as the Huntington
Beach Surfing Museum.
site |