Jan Of 'Jan and Dean' Dies
 

Jan Of 'Jan And Dean' Dies At 62
Duo Sang 'Surf City'

POSTED: 9:47 am EST March 28, 2004

Jan Berry of the duo Jan and Dean has died at the age of 62. The duo was a top music act in the mid-1960s until a car crash left Berry partially paralyzed.

Berry was also an innovative producer and arranger who worked with The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson until Berry's 1966 car accident.

Jan and junior high school friend Dean Torrence had a string of surf-music hits in the 1960s, including "Surf City," "Deadman's Curve" and "Little Old Lady from Pasadena."

His wife, Gertie, said Berry began having problems Friday at their Los Angeles home and stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Berry's hit-making career with Torrence was cut short by the accident in 1966.

Berry's Corvette hit a parked truck and he suffered severe brain damage that left him partially paralyzed and unable to talk.

His recovery was slow, but eventually he was able to resume singing and writing songs despite lingering brain damage.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.