Search - Jan & Dean :: Save for a Rainy Day

Garage music at its finest

10/13/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Expect miracles and miracles shall come to you. That's the way I feel about this CD. I have spent many long hours scouring used record stores, garage sales and swap meets in search for this album. Finally, the long search is over and for the price of a CD you can own what I sought for these past 30 years.Technically "Save for a Rainy Day" is not a Jan and Dean album (in the opposite sense that "Pop Symphony No. 1" isn't, either). A few months after Jan's accident, Dean got together with some musician friends in bassist Joe Osborn's garage to pass the time and make a little music. Fortunately, when your friends are Osborn, James Burton and Larry Knechtel it's nearly impossible to come up with anything less than marvelous."Save for a Rainy Day" is to Jan and Dean fans what "Smile" is to Beach Boys fanatics. Although recorded technology primitive by today's standards, it is pre-psychedelic masterpiece. Dean layered vocals on top of vocals to produce an eerie, lush and at times quite melancholy concept album of rainy day tunes. Standout songs include "Yellow Balloon," "Here Comes the Rain" and the stunning instrumental, "Save for a Rainy Day Theme."Sundazed presents two different versions of the album on one CD. In addition to the original mono recording, they have created first-time-ever stereo versions and unearthed several outtakes and alternate versions. Mistakenly, they refer to the instrumental track of the "Folk and Roll" song "I Can't Wait to Love You" as "Rain Clouds Long Gone."With "Save for a Rainy Day," Dean has come full circle with the Jan and Dean legacy. What began in a garage, ended in a garage. Thank goodness for garages!"

Psychedelic Surf Pastiche!

Brian Chidester | Los Angeles, CA United States | 12/21/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dean Torrence has long been overlooked via Jan Berry's awesome writing and arranging skills, and also from the fact that he was not always used as a vocalist on many of the Jan & Dean hits (Tony, Vic & Manuel were first, followed by Sloan & Barri). The other vocalists have proverbially thrown it in Dean's face over the years, making it so that he ends up looking like a schmoe. Furthermore, notorious "re-telling" of events, various MOR releases with Mike Love (during the '80s) and mullett haircuts haven't helped Dean emerge as a serious artist. However, re-evaluation of his talent is in order, due largely to this fantastic release (and various 45s with the same band, before and after SAVE FOR A RAINY DAY).



Recorded in 1966 in Jan's wake (Berry was in a coma), and as an attempt to keep the Jan & Dean name alive, SAVE FOR A RAINY DAY has Torrence and band providing a moody/mellow sound that adds to the notion of its era. The album proper was linked together by the sound of rain showers (with each track being lyrically about rain, as well).



"Like a Summer Rain" (co-written with Gary Zekley) is not only the crowning achievement of RAINY DAY, but is amongst the best Jan & Dean songs ever. Dean's falsetto vocal is insane, the perfect inflection of a warm summer storm. His version of "Yellow Balloon" boasts a thick bassline behind a wall of vocals, making this psychedelic/surf arrangement echo-y and dense, reminiscent of the Pyramids and Chantays recordings from 1963-64. The high point of Sundazed's CD reissue is "California Lullaby"; recorded and released before the RAINY DAY sessions, it's a hand-in-glove fit with the rest, and an honest reflection of the Greater Los Angeles area's romantic geography. ("You can come with me to the mountain or the sea, if you want to/Everything that is mine, you can have it that's just fine with me now") Anyone living in L.A. knows that you can truly go to the mountain or the sea at any time (and with a keen sense of timing, you can still avoid the traffic).



Other highlights are: the exotica-influenced "Save for a Rainy Day Theme"; a Frankie Avalon-esque version of "When Sunny Gets Blue"; and an a-tonal take on the Lovin' Spoonful's "Rain on the Roof." I only wish they had included the earlier single take of "Like a Summer Rain" (titled "Here Comes the Rain"). Sundazed also released a 4-song EP containing instrumental versions of several RAINY DAY tracks not on the CD (and excellent liner notes on the back sleeve).



Unfortunately, this CD has too often been reviewed by smarmy journalists who don't like the material. A new aethetic might be to allow people who enjoy classic recordings to write positive reviews... not out of naivete, but out of honest-to-god insight. SAVE FOR A RAINY DAY is my pick for a damp Los Angeles afternoon. Viva Dean!"

A masterpiece!

tatumsfan@yahoo.com | The planet of Lindsay Lohan! hehe | 05/11/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Everyone remembers what a great talent Jan Berry was in the studio. Watching him cut records was, as Beach Boy Brian Wilson once put it, "a righteous trip". But after his disabling accident on 4.19.66, Dean Torrence took the production reins for this album, and proves himself every bit Jan's equal.Recorded in Joe Osborn's garage, with J&D session musicians dropping by to help out, "Save For A Rainy Day" is a real treat. Dean sings all the parts (a cool part is when he unconsciously mimics Jan's phrasings on "Yellow Balloon"!) and the album varies from rock-and-roll to ballads, and of course includes remakes of some of their favorite songs. To me, the revelation on the album is "Like a Summer Rain"; it is the best ballad ever recorded by the group, and should have been their biggest single ever. If you are a Jan and Dean fan, you owe it to yourself to get this CD! And extra kudos to Sundazed for their packaging, and mastering of the disc, both of which set the standard for all future re-issues by any group. Hey, you think Brian might let THEM do the "Smile" box set?....."