That 'Four Seasons' Sound

More Frankie Valli UK Tour Dates 2012

A further date has now  been added to the UK Tour by concert promoters Kennedy Street   Enterprises —Manchester Arena on 1 July.

The Special UK Fan Club link to order tickets to see Frankie Valli at Manchester Arena is as    follows :

http://www.ticketline.co.uk/frankie-valli-and-the-four-seasons?presale=rzlcqv2

The above link is for tickets right at the front of the Arena in Blocks A, B and C.

If you require tickets in another part of the arena then please use the general link below:

http://www.ticketline.co.uk/frankie-valli-and-the-four-seasons?presale=4oq6cdq

So now we have two Birthday parties where Frankie Valli will be playing —Ken Charmer’s 65th on the 26 June at the Royal Albert Hall and now Ray Nichol’s 66th Birthday at Manchester on Sunday 1 July (it is actually Ray’s Birthday on the Saturday but don’t tell Frankie!). 

Special thanks once again to Frankie’s Road Manager, Dean Egnater, and to Flick and Danny at Kennedy Street Enterprises for allowing the Fan Club to have such great tickets reserved for the Royal Albert Hall and Manchester Arena shows.  We are very, very grateful to you.  Just the hotels to organise now!

STOP PRESS!! 

We have just heard that another date has now been added CLYDE AUDITORIUM IN GLASGOW.  Promoters for this concert are D F concerts in Glasgow.  We know Ally Annand in Perth is delighted and is getting a big party together for this one!

Date:  Tuesday 3 July at Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow.  Tickets can be obtained by telephoning 08444 999 990 or from www.gigsinscotland.com

STOP STOP PRESS!! 

Keep an eye on the following venues who are also advertising Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons :

Newmarket Racecourse—Friday 29 June

www.newmarketracecourses.co.uk

 

Tickets for Friday 29th June - Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons available here:

 

http://www.newmarketracecourses.co.uk/concerts/2012-concert-dates/adnams-newmarket-nights/friday-29th-june-frankie-vall-ykq8jv2w/

 

and

Epsom Racecourse—Thursday 5 July

www.epsomdowns.co.uk/live

Frankie, of course, is also playing at the Hampton Court Palace Festival on Saturday 23 June—details here:-  www.hamptoncourtpalacefestival.com. 

Details to follow shortly for a big get together for all the fans in London.

Compiled by Lynn Boleyn   

www.seasonally.co.uk    8.2.12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frankie Valli - Unreleased

When you follow a 77 year old vocalist nearing the end of his career you don’t expect new singles and ambitious projects. But Four Season Frankie Valli has just stunned his fans by allowing the issue of a terrific song from a project in 2007 recorded at his home studio.

On ‘All Or Nothing At All’, Artie Shroek has done an arrangement of an accapela styled vocal backing with Valli singing lead and it has just appeared on You Tube.

Not available anywhere else this version of Frank Sinatra’s break through record from 1943 (actually recorded in 1939) is surprisingly good for three reasons. Firstly the arrangement of a Hi-Los type harmony background allows Valli to singer against a vocal background group sound once again. He has always sounded best in this vocal setting. Artie and his son have done a superb backing vocal.

Secondly Frankie’s vocal styling is excellent given the vocal range he now has at 77. It is reminiscent of his Solo/Timeless album work back in the late 60s.

Finally it is such a great song and works perfectly in this arrangement.

This song has a long history. A Sinatra fan filled in this background….” The three (important) studio recordings of this song epitomize the three stages in Sinatra's singing persona: The Harry James cut (1939) is Sinatra the Crooner, singing for a predominantly female audience; the Don Costa cut (1962) is Sinatra, the Sadder-But-Wiser-Guy singing for a predominantly male audience; the Nelson Riddle cut (1966) is Sinatra the Swinger, singing for ALL audiences, everywhere, for all time.”

Valli’s version provides a strong alternative appreciation in an appealing style. The best we have heard from Frankie in a long time. Thanks Artie for sharing this.

Here is Sinatra’s original.

More please say the fans and we will monitor developments and reactions to this track.

This comes amidst the news from our Motown research that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons have 31 ‘listed’ unreleased Masters in the 60000 series (60516 to 62217 and a total of 56 listed from research to date)which are confirmed on records as on 16 track tape in the Universal Motown vaults. We are reasonably confident that the tapes still exist. There are 11 mix-down on 2 track stereo tapes containing unheard recordings of some of these and many that may need mixing. This news also gives a new slant on the groups departure from Motown.

In March 1974 Valli did a (final)session of 3 tracks with Bob Gaudio which it now seems was destined for a NEW album(according to records). Tapes P5084 and 85 contain a number of stereo mix-downs from the 16 track masters designated for the new album. Records indicate this may have been for the listed, but we know, unreleased album ‘Inside Out’ MW788.

Tracks mixed down include…

My Eyes Adored You

Whatever You Want

You Can’t Hold On

Love Isn’t Here

Hickory

Lovers

Hymn to Her

Sun Country

The Night

Touch the Raincild

Inside You

Now we know that Motown had been promising the group an album release for over 12 months (since Feb 1973) and with the end of their contract and their unwillingness to believe Motown and to sign up re this album, their departure left the album shelved on stereo master tapes. Songs like the unheard ‘Whatever You Want’ and ‘You Can’t Hold On’ were all slated to appear but a year later when the group was riding high from their success at Warner Curb, only a few made it onto the hastily released ‘Inside You’ album MW852 (assembled on Tapes 5536 and 5537)

We will keep pressing Valli/Gaudio and Universal re an historic release for this unheard and unreleased material and hope to speak with Frankie re this situation in June…….. but for now enjoy Frankie from 2007 and look out for our forthcoming story of how Bob Crewe saved Frankie Valli’s solo career in 1973 and 1974 when he joined Motown as a writer/producer.

Casey Chameleon