Filet Of Soul Redux: The Rejected Master Recordings
Omnivore, 2017
REVIEW BY: David Bowling
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 08/28/2017
Jan & Dean are best remembered for their string of surf and car hits during the 1960s. Jan Berry may not have had the extended musical vision of Brian Wilson, but in the studio, he was able to combine the voices of the duo into a melodic choir. In concert, they were unable to reproduce their soaring sounds of the studio, so they mixed comedy into their act.
In 1965, they owed the Liberty label one last album. Filet Of Soul was a mixture of live performances, comedy, and studio sound effects. The label promptly rejected it for release. A year later, Jan Berry was involved in a car accident that virtually ended the duo’s career for over a decade. The label released Filet Of Soul three weeks after the accident to cash in on the Jan & Dean legacy. They removed the sound effects and most of the comedy. I was a big fan, but even I knew the album was terrible.
Now 52 years later, Filet Of Soul Redux: The Rejected Master Recordings has returned in all its fake crowd noises, studio sounds, and some of the lamest comedy ever to grace an album. And yes, it is still terrible. But at least for the hardcore fan, it is a slice of the 1960s that mercifully, in this case, will not be revisited.
The best past of the release are the liner notes by Dean Torrence. He gives a full history as to the why of the music. One other strong feature was the backing band on the true live performances. They are all introduced, so I assume they were actually present. The brass section is excellent, but how Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame drummer Hal Blaine got involved in all of this is beyond me.
The listener quickly learns that the duo should not sing The Everly Brothers (“Cathy’s Clown”) or the Beatles (“Michelle” and “Norwegian Wood”) and can’t sing many of the hits of the day (“Lightning Strikes” and “Hang On Sloopy”).
The truncated original release was in many ways not their fault, but this one was intentional. It is a release only for the hardcore fan. If you want their best and most enjoyable, seek out their greatest hits compilation.