Jan & Dean. Summertime b/w California Lullaby. NM- Surf Rock 45

$

23

Jan & Dean. Summertime b/w California Lullaby. Magic Lamp Records(ML-401-S). 1966. 45rpm.

• There’s no clear indication of what’s supposed to be the A-side, but my ageing (1997) edition of Jerry Osborne’s “The Official Price Guide to Records” lists the release under “California Lullaby” without mentioning “Summertime” and has the year of release as 1966.
  
  However, I think “Summertime”, a cover of The Jamies 1958 hit, was meant to be the A-side. 
  
  Let me tell you—“Summertime” is a classic Jan & Dean release somewhat in the same vein as “The New Girl In School” with a deep, Jan Berry bass vocal, a double-tracked falsetto lead by Dean Torrence, and a rich, thick bank of harmony vocals probably provided by Sloan and Barri (The Fantastic Baggys) underpinned by a great, big Spectorish instrumental track.
  
  “California Lullaby” (aka “Lullaby Of The Rain) is a moody, acoustic piece recorded by Dean Torrence and may have been intended for his “Save For A Rainy Day” LP.
  
  A little context – 1966 was a messed up year for Jan & Dean, to say the least. After Jan Berry’s horrific accident, Liberty Records decided to raid the back catalog for new releases of old material with very little common sense. A cheapo comp (Jan & Dean Golden Hits Volume 3) was released with a random, haphazard tracklist of album cuts and one recent hit (“Batman”). “Popsicle” was re-released as a single and became a out-of-left-field hit, and an LP of already released album tracks was released in a goofy cover showing a picture of some record exec’s daughter eating a popsicle. Liberty even took out ads in Billboard and Cashbox promoting the release of “Fiddle Around”, a chestnut from 1962 which sounds all right for 1962 but most have sounded kind of ridiculous for 1966. In all of this, with Jan Berry in the hospital and out of it, you have Dean Torrence working on keeping the Jan & Dean name alive and doing something cool like getting this Magic Lamp release out. I know nothing about the label…whether it was a real record label or vanity, release your own records deal.
• 
  

Conditions Rated: Sleeve: (NA) Generic White Sleeve///Record: 9 or NM- black and shiny. 

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American Charles Lloyd is an Afro-American jazz saxophonist, living in Santa Barbara, California. He also plays