"Dead Man's Curve" is a 1964 hit song by
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean were an American rock music, rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf m ...
whose lyrics detail a teen
street race gone awry. It reached number eight on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart and number 39 in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. The song was written and composed by
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...
,
Artie Kornfeld,
Roger Christian, and
Jan Berry at Wilson's mother's house in
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
. It was part of the
teenage tragedy song phenomenon of that period, and one of the most popular such selections of all time. "Dead Man's Curve" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.
Premise
The singer goes out for a leisurely drive one night in his Corvette
Sting Ray, when a driver pulls up alongside in his Jaguar
XKE and challenges him to a drag race. According to the song, the race starts at Sunset and Vine, traveling westbound on West Sunset Blvd., passing North La Brea Ave., North Crescent Heights Blvd., and North Doheny Dr. The original
Schwab's Pharmacy was located just east of Crescent Heights on Sunset. The North Whittier Drive curve, a nearly 90° right turn traveling west on Sunset Boulevard just past North Whittier Drive, may have been the "dead man's curve" in the song, but there is debate on the actual location of the curve.
Coincidentally, Jan Berry, of Jan and Dean, would himself later be involved in a near-fatal incident in 1966, when he crashed his own
Sting Ray into a parked truck on North Whittier Drive near (but not on) Dead Man's Curve.
The song ends with the singer relating his last memories of the ill-fated race to a doctor. Sound effects of screeching tires and crashing are also heard in the song. ''
Deadman's Curve'' was used as the title for the 1978 biographical nationally televised movie about Jan and Dean,
[ starring Richard Hatch and ]Bruce Davison
Bruce Allen Davison (born June 28, 1946) is an American actor who has appeared in more than 270 films, television and stage productions since his debut in 1968. His breakthrough role was as Willard Stiles in the 1971 cult horror film '' Willard' ...
respectively portraying Berry and Torrence.
Versions
Three versions of "Dead Man's Curve" were released:
*Version #1: Original version from the 1963 ''Drag City'' album
*Version #2: Single "hit" version with added horns, strings, additional backing vocals, and sounds of a car skidding and crashing; from the 1964 ''Dead Man's Curve/The New Girl In School'' LP
*Version #3: An earlier rejected studio mix from the 1966 ''Filet of Soul'' album.
Live versions appear on the 1965 ''Command Performance'' and 1971 ''Anthology'' albums
There are a few minor lyrical differences between versions #1 and 3 and version #2 listed above:
*Versions #1 & 3 – "my frenched tail lights", "the strip was deserted", and "pulled her out and there I was"
*Version #2 – "my six tail lights", "the street was deserted", and "pulled her out and there we were"
There are two basic versions:
Version one: Lead and backing vocals: Jan Berry
Background vocals: Jan Berry, Brian Wilson, Gary Usher. Released: on Drag City LP, Liberty LST 7339, Jan and Dean
Jan. 6, 1964 Side one, cut five – 3:01
Also on Filet of Soul LP, Liberty LST 7441, Jan and Dean, April 25, 1966, Side two, cut three – 3:01
Version two: Jan Berry, Roger Christian, Artie Kornfeld, Brian Wilson
Jan Berry: Lead and backing vocals. Dean Torrence: Backing vocals
Released February 17, 1964 Liberty 55672 45 RPM (B-side: "New Girl in School") – 2:28 (2:21 listing on actual disk—Wiki says 2:27)
Released May 4, 1964 "Dead Man's Curve"/"The New Girl in School" LP Liberty LST 7361, Jan and Dean Side one, cut one – 2:28
Also re-released on several compilations (the 1984 Rhino
A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...
LP '' Teenage Tragedies'' lists the song as a "re-recorded version"), anthologies, and 45 RPM records (some timed 2:39)
At least one version of the song features The Honeys on backing vocals.
Cover versions
The song was covered by The Carpenters
The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...
as part of their oldies sequence on their album '' Now & Then''.
The B-side " The New Girl In School" was covered by Alex Chilton
William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950March 17, 2010) was an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops ...
on his 1995 album, ''A Man Called Destruction
''A Man Called Destruction'' is a studio album by American pop rock musician Alex Chilton, released in 1995.
The album consisted of six songs written by Chilton, and six cover versions including Jan and Dean's "The New Girl in School", which ha ...
''.
The song was covered by the Belljars, whose version plays over the closing credits of the 1998 film, '' The Curve'' AKA ''Dead Man's Curve''.
This song has also been covered by Cleveland proto-punk band electric eels, Blink-182
Blink-182 is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California, in 1992. Its current and best-known line-up consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though its so ...
, and Canadian musician Nash the Slash
James Jeffrey "Jeff" Plewman (March 26, 1948 – May 10, 2014), better known by his stage name Nash the Slash, was a Canadian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he was known primarily for playing the electric violin and Electric mandolin, mandol ...
.
References
External links
Google Map of the route described in the song
Google Map location of Jan Berry's accident
Listen to it on YouTube
{{authority control
1963 songs
1963 singles
Jan and Dean songs
Teenage tragedy songs
Vehicle wreck ballads
Songs about cars
Songs written by Roger Christian (songwriter)
Songs written by Brian Wilson
Songs written by Jan Berry
Songs written by Artie Kornfeld
Songs about Los Angeles
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Liberty Records singles