Jan of 'Jan & Dean' dies at 62

LOS ANGELES (60s website) - Jan Berry, who with Southland school chum Dean Torrence rose to fame singing surfer-rock songs in the 1960s, has died in Los Angeles.

Jan Berry - once described as the daredevil half of the Jan & Dean duo - reportedly died at a hospital after falling ill yesterday at his Los Angeles home. He was 62 years old.
Berry and Torrence met while both were members of a junior high school football team. Their most memorable hits included "Surf City," "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena" and "Dead Man's Curve."
Berry would have turned 63 on April 3.

In his younger days, Berry - who grew up in Los Angeles - was a hell- raiser who was expelled several times from school, People magazine reported in 1997.
"... he gave great party's up in Bel Air at his dad's house," actor Ryan O'Neal, another former schoolmate, was quoted as saying.

While still in his teens, Berry began to channel his energy into music and helped shape the Southern California sound with such hits as the 1963 "Surf City," a tune he co-wrote with The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.

Jan & Dean racked up a number of gold singles before a car crash on April 12, 1966, short-circuited his career. The silver Corvette Stingray he was driving in Beverly Hills plowed into the back of a gardener's truck. The crash left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak.
Berry's recovery was slow but he was able to resume singing and writing songs, despite lingering brain damage.