Jan & Dean

They were the studio musicians behind some of the biggest hits in the 1960s and 70s. From Be My Baby to California Girls Strangers in the Night to Mrs. Robinson You've Lost that Lovin Feelin to Up, Up and Away and from Viva Las Vegas to Mr. Tambourine Man the group dubbed The Wrecking Crew played on them all. Six years in a row in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Grammy for Record of the Year went to Wrecking Crew member recordings. The talents of this group of first call players were used on almost every style of recording including television theme songs, film scores, advertising jingles and almost every genre of American popular music, from the Monkees to Bing Crosby. Notable artists employing the Wrecking Crew's talents included Nancy Sinatra, Bobby Vee, the Partridge Family, David Cassidy, Jan & Dean, the Mamas & the Papas, the 5th Dimension, the Association, the Carpenters, Glen Campbell, Cher, John Denver, the Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, the Grass Roots and Nat King Cole.

Here's an educated guess that road tapes are the second most popular type of homemade mix cassette. (One suspects that old off-road standard–the bedroom mix–would clock in at No. 1.) Hot Rods & Custom Classics is Rhino Records' big daddy of road mixes: four discs housed in an elaborate box that includes a scrupulously assembled 66-page booklet, a catalog of hot-rod accessories, a strip of decals, and even a set of fuzzy dice for your own resto rod. Musically, this collection is all over the road, ranging from selections that seem like they were written with one foot on the accelerator (Johnny Bond's "Hot Rod Lincoln," Chuck Berry's "Maybelline," War's "Low Rider") to more tangential tracks that might force you to pull into a rest stop (Hank Williams's mournful "Lost Highway," Rod Stewart's "Gasoline Alley"). Spanning multiple genres and five decades, Custom Classics is enlivened by film and ad snippets, including a public-safety message from high-speed-crash victim James Dean on, naturally, safe highway driving. –Steven Stolder

Above the album worked the 'Doo Wop The Rock & Roll Vocal Group Sound 1957-1961', and his release took place on 2012. The album has got songs with a total duration of more than an hour. A compilation is a compilation of original music.

The overflowing talent of a young man, the ultimate songbook is now available. All of Brian's works & followers & influences are included! The Brian Wilson Songbook has already been published by us (ODR6962-63), but we have reconstructed his fertile mind in a way that does not duplicate a single song. We have not only shed light on Brian's work and his followers, but have also taken a multifaceted look at the songs that may have influenced him. Beginning with Jan & Dane's M1, the first part of the album continues with Brian's work, followed by two good covers of Beach Boys songs, and then we come to his ally Gary Usher. The all-star cast is then introduced with M11 by Van Dyke Parks, M12 by Sagittarius, and M13 by Bruce & Terry. In the middle section, Brian's followers lined up, with the sad M17, followed by the hidden masterpiece M18, which also featured Ian Matthews, and a series of good tunes. M19.20, which talked about his affinity with the hilarious soul of the Philadelphia Soul, picked up Yellow Balloon and Sunrays from the many groups influenced by the Beach Boys, and the story came to a climactic conclusion.

With his chiseled features, effortless screen presence, otherworldly vitality, and striking blue eyes, Jan-Michael Vincent seemed destined for superstardom. However, the real Jan-Michael Vincent was a reluctant sex symbol plagued by doubt and low self-confidence, a perpetual misfit doomed to alcoholism.

By 1967, rock’s eternally restless spirit had moved on from Liverpool, the British Invasion and Swinging London and found a new place to dwell.