Dead Man's Curve and Back: The Jan & Dean Story

PROLOGUE

Only hours ago, he had been singing before an audience in New York City. Thousands of people he had never before met were screaming in adoration of him. The only things that mattered to him were his fans and the music. He was on top of the world. Now, he was in anguish.

The wind whipped furiously through his hair as he floored the accelerator of the Corvette Stingray. He weaved through the afternoon traffic in Beverly Hills at almost 80 mph, and agonized over the series of events that had brought him to this point. The break-up with his girl friend, the deteriorating relationship with his best friend and his being drafted by the Selective Service board all consumed his thoughts.

Annoyed by a slow moving vehicle in front of him, he swerved to the right, speeding up even more in an attempt to pass it. But directly in his path lay a parked truck! Horrified, he slammed on the brakes and felt the car swerve, --- he had lost control, like as with much of his life. No escape! Then came blackness, --- nothing else mattered to Jan Berry anymore.

Oblivious to his whereabouts, Jan lay in his hospital bed surrounded by the people to whom he was closest. His mother Clara; his father Bill; his music partner Dean Torrence; his fiancée Jill Gibson; his best friends Lou Adler and Don Altfeld. Each in his own way prayed for Jan's recovery and worried over Jan's uncertain future.

What strange twist of fate had occurred to lead Jan down that road to tragedy?

PART ONE: 1940-1958 "IN THE BEGINNING--THE BARONS"

William L. Berry waited with nervous anticipation in a Los Angeles, California maternity ward. His wife Clara had been admitted some time ago and Bill still awaited word on her and the child's condition. Memories of nearly five years earlier still haunted him when his first wife had died during the birth of their daughter Luana. Despite physician assurances, Bill could not help but worry now. Finally, he received word, ---his wife was fine and he was now the proud father of a healthy baby boy whom Bill and Clara Berry named William Jan Berry, born on April 3rd, 1941.

Jan's father had been born and raised in California. He had studied for four years at Cal Tech in Massachusetts, earning both a Masters and Bachelors degree in engineering, but after graduation, Bill decided to enter the glamorous world of show business instead. In 1934, he was hired by Warner Brothers studios in Burbank and began work in their sound department as a microphone mixer on the sound stages. This was enjoyable work for Bill as it enabled him to meet all of the Warner contract stars of the time including Erroll Flynn, Henry Fonda, Jane Wyman, Olivia DeHaviland and Ronald Reagan. One of the highlights of his job was doing the playback work for the Busby Berkely musicals of the mid-1930s.

By 1937, Bill Berry's thoughts had turned towards settling down with a family and career. He left Warner Brothers to work for the famous multi-millionaire Howard Hughes. Bills' duties were as multi-faceted as Hughes himself. Officially, he was Projects Manager for Hughes Aircraft where he put his engineering degree to good use. However, at different times, Bill was also responsible for many of Hughes' restaurant holdings in Las Vegas, most of the Hughes Airport facilities, much of Hughes' bookkeeping and often acted as Hughes' Press Agent. Bill also helped design, build and test the famous airplane The Spruce Goose. Many looked upon Bill Berry as one of Hughes' most reliable and loyal right-hand men. Even years after Hughes' death, Bill never gave any "tell-all" interviews that journalists sought from the inner circle about the eccentric multi-millionaire.

After the tragic death of his first wife, Bill married a pretty Norwegian girl named Clara Lorentz in 1940. Clara was a special young woman. Not only because she was willing to marry a man who already had a small child, but for her seemingly endless patience and genuine love for children. Both of these attributes would be put to the supreme test because Bill and Clara had decided to have a large family, ---a VERY large family! A year after Jan's birth came another son, Kenny. After World War II came Brian, Bruce, Carol (who tragically died in the family swimming pool at age 2) and Aleta. However, the Berrys did not stop there. The years 1958-1962 would bring three more children into the family - Steve, Billy and Melissa, bringing the total children Bill and Clara would raise to ten. A very large family indeed!

Bill Berrywas in an excellent position to raise such a large family. The prestige and financial security that accompanied working for Howard Hughes enabled all of his children to grow up in a grand house overlooking a scenic valley in Bel-Air, one of the most exclusive communities in Los Angeles. Bill worked hard for that security, putting everything he had into his job, often working late hours and traveling out of town on short notice. When he was home however, Bill would leave work behind. So much so, that many people had little knowledge of exactly what he did for a living since he talked so little of it. Most of Jan's friends thought his father was just another of the many industrial engineers working for Hughes Aircraft.

Jan had an interest in music almost from the beginning. When Jan was about three years old, Bill Berryset up a phonograph player and disc presser in his study. Bill often listened to phonograph records while he worked at home. The records were mostly the popular hits of the 1940s along with a smattering of classical music, but regardless of the style, little Jan loved to sit in the room and hear his father play them. Jan was so intrigued by the phonograph player that he couldn’t wait for his father to come home from work and be in the mood to play it. One afternoon, while his father was at work and his mother was busy with his younger brothers, Jan sneaked into the study and moved a stool over to the table on which the phonograph sat. He carefully climbed the stool, which was at least as tall as he, and began playing his father's records. A short time later, Jan's mother found