Save For A Rainy Day

Release: J&D Records J&D-101 - Year: 1966 - Produced By: Dean Torrence

Jan Berry had just had his accident, and Dean wanted to keep the Jan & Dean alive, so he embarked on quite an impressive goal... To produce and put together an album that sounded like a Jan & Dean album, but with Dean doing all the vocal work. Up until this point, Jan had been the leader of the duo, and Dean had not had so much input since the doo-wop days. However, Dean went ahead and set to work on what was to become a landmark album for the Jan & Dean name.

Yet again, this was a concept album. This time however, it was not about Cars, Surf or Cities, but about Rain, and the dreary feeling you get when it rains. The album was basically a cover-versions album, with some great new tracks such as Yellow Balloon and Save For A Rainy Day Theme.

Yellow Balloon was a track written by Gary Zekley, who was friendly with Dean. Dean recorded two versions of the album, and Gary liked the song so much he recorded it to and they both released the song at the same time. Jan & Dean's version was almost identical to the version that Gary released as Yellow Balloon by Yellow Balloon. With Jan & Dean's track record, they should have had the hit, however there was little or no promotion and Yellow Balloon's version hit the charts.

The album is a classic, and though it lacks the participation of Jan it sounds and feels like a classic Jan & Dean album. Every song on it is a brilliant version of the original. The album was sadly not released at the time but can now be found quite easily in an extended format. Probably one of the greatest Jan & Dean albums, and certainly Dean's finest moment.