By Scott Coner
Country
Singer-Songwriter
When I was
about 15 years old, I had eight dairy calves I bottle fed to get ready to sell.
(I went with dairy calves because I didn’t want my calves slaughtered.)
Anyway,
school started that fall, and a friend of mine told me about a television movie
coming on soon I might like called “Dead Man’s Curve” about Jan Berry and Dean
Torrence. Where I lived, we didn’t have but a few channel choices back then, so
this was kind of big news for a guy that was addicted to “Starsky and Hutch”
and “Battlestar Galactica”.
So, the
show came on, I watched it, and it was as if I had seen Jesus for the first
time. I became immersed in their music to the point of being creepy. I sold my
calves later that fall, but I found out that I could get a great reverb sound
when I sang into my empty milk buckets if I could get past the sour milk smell.
I actually played hooky from school one day so I could try to call them to let
them know what a fan I was of their music.
Most people
won’t believe this, but I actually had a conversation with Dean Torrence's
mother. I went through the information on the back of their “Anthology Album”
and spoke to her on our rotary dial phone. (I think her name was Natalie, and
she was very nice to me.)
Looking
back now all those years ago, I remember a kid stuck in "Nowhere", Ind.,
that loved all kinds of music. But, what I loved about the beach sound was not
only the harmonies, but the innocence. Those songs told me about a time and
place where the girls all had tans and blonde hair, and the guys all knew how
to surf.
A few years
ago, I wrote a song comparing my world to theirs called “Kinda’ Like Surf
City”. I had read that Dean Torrence was working with a group called The Surf
City All-Stars, and I wanted the song pitched to them. (Yes, I’m still kind of
a stalker after all these years.)
 |
| Scott... somewhere in "Nowhere", Ind. |
Well, the
song never got pitched, but I recorded it myself cause’ I thought it was kind
of cool. Jan Berry passed away, but one of these days I would love to tell Dean
Torrence what true joy he brought to my life. And when I get to Heaven, I’m gonna’ go bug
Jan with my milk bucket for eternity.
If you
haven't visited it yet, Jan and Dean's website is a lot of fun to explore. Take
a ride into the past at www.JanandDean.com.
(Country artist Scott
Coner has worked with legendary artists such as Tanya Tucker and T. Graham
Brown. To learn more about him or hear his music, visit
http://www.ScottConer.com.)
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