Another James Dean Story

The second in my mini-series of James Dean exploitation records (and the second to be called The James Dean Story) is this paean written and partially narrated by Steve Allen. The other narrator is Cleveland DJ Bill Randle, whose concept this is.

What we have here are a number of Dean exploitation singles ("Jimmy, Jimmy," "His Name Was Dean," "James Dean" and "The Ballad of James Dean" - I think they have most of the possible titles covered), music from his films, and a poem written by a teenage fan, stitched together by narration.

Amazingly, the poem is not the worst thing on the record - the dreadful choral rendition of "The Ballad of James Dean" takes the prize of dishonor. The other ballads are done by country/pop singer Jimmy Wakely.