That 'Four Seasons' Sound

Sound Tales and The Four Seasons – Part 5 – What we have and what can be done?.

Not every Sound Engineer embraces AI Digital Extraction and Re-Mixing and Bob Gaudio indicated he didn’t like some of the mixes we tried for the Snapper Music Box Set back in 2020 (he may well have changed his mind if he has since sampled some of my ‘amateur’ creations of the 60s tracks on You Tube) but one producer/engineer who is probably amongst the most respected in the industry today is Mark Linett. He has been working on the surviving Beach Boys Tapes for decades and has used all sorts of innovations to create ‘best mixes’ in STEREO . In interview he describes this evolution ….”The first job I was given was Pet Sounds [The Beach Boys] on CD. This is when CD was starting and after that, I was given the task of putting the whole Capitol catalog on CD. The next thing was a box set called Good Vibrations. It was a 5 CD box set tracing the Beach Boys’ entire career with outtakes, bonus tracks, all kinds of stuff like that. Then somebody got the idea of doing a big box set of the Pet Sounds album and I did the first true stereo mix of that. It had never been done in anything but Duophonic up to that point, largely because of the way things were recorded in the ‘60s. Then, in around ’66 or ’67, bands or artists started being interested in doing stereo records, but if you came from the era of AM radio and pop records and 45 RPM singles, it was mono all the way.

Your typical recording would be that you had the track in mono but then you’d bounce that to another machine and just keep doing that until you had everything you wanted and then mixed it to mono. The Beach Boys records were like that. Brian let the engineers spread the basic track out and do four tracks and then we’d mix that to mono onto one track of a four track, or he took it over to CBS Recording that had the first eight track in LA, bounce it over there and then he would have seven tracks to do vocals. 

So, the problem for doing a real stereo mix was that what you wound up with at the end was a mono track on the master tape, and whatever number of vocals. So, the question was, how do we sync all these different tapes up and it really wasn’t something you could do until digital recording came and by the time I did it, we had Sony Dash machines.

So, to do that record, I had to transfer the three-track backing track (I was using a 48 track Sony) then manually sync the overdub reels by playing with the varispeed speed and manually dropping it in using the mono track as a guide and try to get that phasing with the three track combine. When I got it close enough, so it would phase for 20 or 30 seconds, I would dump the whole thing over and then I would move the vocals (because you’ve got drift) using those two band tracks, then keep moving the vocals to keep the band in phasing and wind up with a master that had somewhere between eight and twelve tracks that I could then mix from.

I did it again 3-4 years later when we did a 5.1 mix, but by then we had DAWs (I used Nuendo for that one). Now we have Time Shift, I can sync up a bunch of tapes in half an hour, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do that. 

I’ve been using various AI extraction programs a lot recently to deconstruct the originals. Right now, I could deconstruct a mono band track or the component parts of a three track recording and I’ve got more stuff I can move around. It becomes really useful for things like mixes of The Beach Boys stuff, which I’ve done recently, because you’re trying to do something in 12 speakers. So, if I’ve got a mono backing track, you have the bass in the centre and the drums here… a little bit of spread makes a big difference rather than still dealing with the question of ‘where do I put this mono track’? It’s not too bad in stereo, but in surround it gets tricky.”

He even uses IR to recreate the ‘studio sound’. In the realm of audio, "IR" refers to an impulse response, a sound-file that captures the unique sonic characteristics of a specific environment, piece of equipment, or acoustic space. It essentially acts as a digital snapshot of how a sound behaves when it interacts with a particular object or location.

Mark Linett in the studio

BUT there are no multi-tracks surviving of the Four Seasons from the 1960s and I am playing with an AI extraction site that enables just a fraction of what is possible. But two things Mark Linett and I have in common are an in-depth knowledge of the artists work and a thirst for simply using the creativity the extractions allow.

 

As he says….”My attitude is similar to a lot of people. I would never want to go back to tape or, more importantly, big format consoles, and not mixing in the box. It’s certainly a little bit of laziness and a certain amount of market reaction in the sense that it’s now expected that if you do a mix and the producer or the artist says, ‘I like it, but get the tambourine out here’, or, ‘turn it down’, and you can do that in 15 minutes. So that’s a convenience because it used to take half a day to recall a mix and it was never the same anyway. But mostly, it’s because it allows for creativity in ways that were all but impossible. We’re in the digital age and mixing in the box there’s so many things that you can do – sub buses and side chains and, so forth that would be impossible on an analog console. But, above all, you can just put up a session and just mix. You don’t have to get hung up on the technology, or the method, you can just use the creative part of your brain.”

 

So if an Engineer with such a creative perception were to tackle the Four Seasons surviving 2 track STEREO Masters, what would he do and what results could we get?

The problem of the ‘ping-pong’ STEREO Mixes of the Four Seasons tracks since their first recordings has been obvious since the first CD issues and are particularly noticeable on headphones with the group firmly set in the far corner of the right Channel. As I have said this stems from the use of 3 and 4 track recording and the ‘bouncing’ process previously advised. But the surviving tracks do offer some opportunities for better ‘Mixes’. Whilst the surviving Vee-Jay ‘Delivery Tapes’ remain a pristine source in terms of Dynamic Range and Frequency Response, those STEREO Masters need correction using the same DES tools and mixing.

 

As in my Part 4 project on the ‘Dawn/Rag Doll’ albums my review of the subsequent mixing of the 1965 to 67 albums shows a continued discrepancy in the STEREO images on their albums. ‘Entertain You’ has most instruments in the left channel and the Seasons in the right with space between. Again another example of poor 1960s pop mixing technology, some would argue due to Bob Crewe’s ‘bouncing’ process previously described. But that contradicts what was achieved with so many mixes on the ‘Dawn’ album. On ‘Entertain You’ only ‘Little Angel’ achieves the desired balanced mix and this may be due to the harmonic vocal arrangement by Massi and Calello…….so all of the backing and lead vocal were on one of the 4 tracks available ? ...probably!

 

At the same time the single of ‘Girl Come Running’ was recorded and issued. The STEREO version of this with balanced instruments and vocals would not be found and issued until 1968 for the Edizione D’Oro [when Bob Crewe reviewed the Multi-tracks before they were lost by Bell Studio] This remains a different Take to that used for the 45 MONO release and the STEREO version from 1968 has become the ‘defacto’ version.

 

All of the ‘Working My Way Back To You’ album still has the unbalanced STEREO mix approach and this has been the starting place for my next project of Re-mixes using AI stems, with several You Tube uploads to date from my ‘I’m Gonna Change’ DES Project using the latest sound tools.

 

Whilst ‘New Gold Hits’ album was an assembly of mixes from several studios from late 1965 [at Stea-Philips to Mirasound ] and from (probably) 8 track to 16 track there are only two tracks mixed with centred vocals. ‘C’Mon Marianne’ is OK although the extreme width of the instruments from the vocals needs adjustment for a good headphone mix. However by far the best mixed track since the ‘Dawn’ centred mixes is ‘Goodbye Girl’…..simply superb work by George Schowerer.

 

Some earlier mixes simply need the group vocals moving centrally such as ‘Let’s Ride Again’[with maybe a few spatial tweaks to the sound stage]…...but some would maintain that ‘Beggin’’ is the definitive ‘call and response’ STEREO version….so why change it?. I will extract the stems and just see how it was constructed instrumentally with the vocals.

‘Tell It To The Rain’ needs major re-construction as basically all of the instrumentation is in the left channel.

 

All of these tracks would benefit from ‘forensic’ examination

 

So where did the Four Seasons move to next? Whilst Frankie Valli clearly stayed at Mirrasound for the Timeless album session, Bob Gaudio it seems moved the Four Seasons to another studio for the recording of what was to become The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette album . This was HIS production and Bob Crewe had NO INVOLVEMENT and Gaudio presented the completed album to Philips. There is no Studio Credit on the album and no clear answer on the internet. Well the clue is perhaps in the Master Tapes. The Safety Copy Master Box in the FSP storage has a hand written note that says the ‘original’ was returned to A&R Studios and an A&R Note exists indicating the Mix Dates which coincide with other paper records re the Master Registration Dates. Bob Ludwig is credited on the album along with Roy Cicala and Shelley Yakus on the Mastering and Engineering and all were at A&R Studios 101 W. 57^th Street NYC in mid to late 1968. The other notable change is that the sound quality of these masters [even on the surviving tapes used for the Snapper Music Box Set [Discs 16 and 17] ]is excellent.

 

The Valli SOLO and Timeless albums are another story and whilst some Masters are lost such as ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ 45 version, the tracks recorded at Mirasound are generally adequate in STEREO.

 

So it remains for someone to decide if having the pre 1967 ‘poor’ STEREO set of Bob Crewe’s presentation of The Four Seasons is adequate or if it would be a good investment to accept that AI can achieve ‘the way they should sound’ . In the meantime my own DES(AI) Remixes remain the best sounding versions of those tracks I have generated since the advent of the Moises software since 2020.

 

Next Time…….The STEREO version comparisons – ORIGINAL v AI DES

Sound Tales and The Four Seasons – Part 3 – Sound Technology 2025

And Then there was Artificial Intelligence!!!

 

It was 2020 and the Analogue Tape transfers from the Four Seasons Partnership’s Tape Storage facility were rolling in from Bill Inglot when I wrote in this blog about the problem with STEREO in the new decade and the new technology emerging after looking back at the way Stefan Wriedt and I had felt back in 2006.

 

And quoting my blog from back then…….“I was listening to the ACE CD transfers from the 1990s on my I-pod on headphones recently (2006) and …….I realised they were nearly all STEREO but were making me cringe! Why? Well..... nearly every track in STEREO from every album from 1962 to 1967 was in wide STEREO…...in many cases the instruments were across the park and the harmonies in my neighbours garden and Frankie Valli's vocal was in my head!!!! ….with all this headspace in between…...so I decided.....I've moved beyond this.”

Looking back it becomes apparent why it was this way from interviews and research. They show how things had developed in terms of Bob Crewe’s recording techniques in the Stea-Philips 4 track days and by the time he moved them to Mirasound in 1966.

George Schowerer again explains how…..”“As for the method used on the Seasons, in the mid 60s, we would record the basic session onto 7 of the 8 tracks available. Then the process of clearing room would start. Multiple channels of drums, horns, or strings would be mixed together (each group separately) and "bounced" to a single track. This would free-up several channels for overdubbing. Any further additions of strings (for instance), would be mixed again to a new channel so that, once again, all strings were relegated to a single channel...and soon! This is why the tapes of this era cannot make satisfactory updates, when the original intention did not allow for stereo spread of any string or horn group (rhythm included)”. [Ed...Well maybe ?….if an Engineer like Mark Linett was around as you can read in Part 4] “Since we only had one 8 track machine, this was the only way everything could be mixed for a mono hit record. If we had had two machines, then you could have gone back to earlier generations and recovered material in a straight-forward manner. We didn't have those options back then. I had pretty much imagined what Bob would want as a final product, and always kept that image in my mind while overdubbing the brains out the music. In many cases, he graciously let me do the compilation at hand and I know he felt comfortable with my work. I still cringe when I hear some of the Season's stuff (which was not my work) that was turned into stereo and the resultant selection of where they placed some [instrument and vocal] tracks in the mix (but then stereo was never the intention of the original producer).”

The Mirasound mixing desk used by George from 1967

Here is a retrospective re the background as to why this happened.....what the sound engineers tell of the times the first STEREO albums were created back in the 60s......”those early stereo mixes were limited by the technology of the time. The industry was still learning how to bring this new fangled thing into the world. It is really common to hear a ‘60s stereo mix where all the guitars are on one side, the vocals on the other, and the drums in the middle with absolutely no bleed-through at all. This is called “hard panning” and it can definitely make for a challenging listening session, depending on your room setup and personal preferences. It may or may not be fun with headphones too.!! At first, Stereo was something of a novelty. It wasn’t commonly listened to, and therefore was a bit of a gimmick. The first Stereo mixing consoles were typically 2 track or 4 track mixing desks. This meant you were limited to separating only 2 or 4 individual elements in the Stereo image. Using The Beatles as an example, the first two albums in Stereo were 2 track, so if you listen to them, you will notice all instruments are on one side, and all vocals on the other. This is what people mean when referring to ‘hard panning.’ This even continued when they started using a 4 track desk (I Want To Hold Your Hand), and even the incredibly dense sounding Sgt Pepper was made using a 4 track desk. Mixing huge instrumentation arrangements was possible on 4 track by using a technique called ‘bouncing.’ I won’t go into that here, but you can google it to find out more.

Because Stereo on commercial pop records at this point was a novelty, and a new exciting technology, and because engineers and producers of popular music were new to the idea, early 60’s music in Stereo generally sounds quite primitive. When you have only 2 track Stereo, hard panning is the only option to create a crude Stereo image, and is essentially redundant. But even with the advent of 4 track stereo, you will find that instruments were still hard panned (i.e the drums all on one side, vocals one side, guitars in the middle etc….) It is only towards the latter part of the 60’s, and with 8 track or 16 track becoming more common, that Stereo mixes started to sound like what you would hear [created] today, with instruments placed in a realistic and pleasing stereo image. One danger today is that I know that for one or two big labels, once Stereo became the standard, they thought their mono masters were now worthless, and they destroyed them (or wiped them and reused the tape.) So the mono 45's of these songs are the only way to hear the best-sounding mixes of these songs.” Hence the need for a MONO ARCHIVE and a set of NEW STEREO MIXES.

We now know the way Bob Crewe created these releases and Charlie Callello’s book…..’Another Season’ demonstrates what I have written in this series from George Schowerer and others. With the technology of the day in both studios and people’s homes MONO was the best choice….and what was sold to fans.

A BSN Forum member confirmed the detail of Charles Calello’s and George Schowerer’s descriptions. …..”For the tracks recorded on 4 track before "Dawn" (which was done on 8 track, so plenty of tracks available for overdubs), this was the typical approach in the 4 track days at Stea Philips/Olmstead studios:



 

1. Crewe records the musical backing tracks on all 4 tracks of the 4 track machine.
[Drums, Bass and rhythm guitars, piano, organ etc]

2. These 4 tracks are mixed down to mono onto a mono tape deck


3. The mono tape is now re-recorded onto Track One of the 4 track. This leaves 3 tracks open

4. The Seasons (with Frankie) record their background vocals onto Track 2

5. To double the background vocals, the sound on sound technique is employed. The Seasons sing along to their previous background vocals. The original background vocals AND the new double are both recorded onto Track 3

6. Track Two, with the original background vocals, is erased. This leaves two tracks open

7. Frankie adds his lead vocal onto Track Two

8. Frankie doubles his lead vocal using the sound on sound technique. Frankie's original vocal AND his new double are recorded onto Track 4


9. Track 2 is then erased

10. The final sweetening for the record, which could be Percussion, an added Organ, Foot stomps, etc, is recorded onto Track 2

11. All 4 tracks are now full, and the Single Mono Mix is made (with reverb, etc) to a Mono Tape deck.

 

This was very intelligent track management of the 4 track machine, which yielded, essentially, 9 tracks of music. Yes, there would be some hiss added from the sound on sound overdubs, but that was normal for the early 60s. Also, the cutting engineer would use some intelligent EQ to help minimize it on the record. So the whole production was geared to a MONO product. All the hits were made that way and heard that way....on record players and radio....throughout the first 7 years of the decade hardly anyone[fans] had a STEREO record player.....and as stated above that was the gimmicky alternative version. “

 

BUT my question remains…..”what is the 'Best Mix' in STEREO possible today, with the technology of Artificial Intelligence? “

 

It would seem based on the above that no-one will be able ever to overcome the deterioration of instrumentation mixed down to one track in the recording process[i.e.’bouncing’ loss]……..or can we salvage more...as we roll through 2025 with greater levels of separation within good digital sound files?

 

By the time CDs arrived from 1988 on, the stereo 'wide' mixes of most albums had become the “official”[defacto]mix.[now on CD, streaming and You Tube] As vinyl records went out of print, people were left with only this STEREO option when they bought a new copy on CD[apart from a couple of UK re-issues of their first 3 albums by a UK independent]. BUT that is the BONUS for AI purposes as some of these are in the main good transfers from analogue tape [STEREO Safety Copies] to digital and gathered in our archive.

 

With the extraction capabilities of AI, I have been researching, if it is possible to create a decent STEREO sound stage for the tracks that were never mixed to STEREO such as the MONO 45 versions of ‘Dawn’ and ‘Ronnie’ et al?. It has been possible to extract between 6 to 9 elements of vocals and instrumentation from the MONO 45 versions and with careful placement create an alternative to the surviving MONO mixes. Then with the separation possible on the two channel STEREO tracks from 1962 to 1967 it is possible to create 12 to 14 elements to create balanced STEREO thus overcoming the ‘ping-pong’ effect of the currently released and streamed original[‘official’] mixes. With the over dubbed instruments, the best possible possible solution seems to be to lift up the extracted bass, strings, chimes etc [bounced] in the mix so more of them can be heard with noise reduction and spatial enhancement on horns and strings which makes them clearer and more effective

So today my argument is we need top re-mastered versions of those transfers as the BEST STEREO baseline mix available. I have researched back through the 80s and 90s album re-issues to find the best Frequency Response and Dynamic Range copies to construct the NEW MIXES that can represent the LEGACY.

The process starts with a technical approach as my late friend Stefan Wriedt, a German sound engineer addressed the question...‘how do we as fans make our own assessment of what is a good stereo mix of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons?’,..................

“Stereo images are best assessed on headphones. You have to listen. Wide is 120 to 180 degrees, anything between 60 and 30 degrees is small[narrow], 60 to 120 is normal (90 degrees is usual). I haven't found any meter / display that can show this.[only our ears on headphones]”

So I started doing further research on the 'best mixes' in STEREO and the groups catalogue and realised all the 'best' sounding STEREO were recorded in the 1970s and obviously on vinyl. There are some rogue STEREO mixes that surfaced on 'special' vinyl albums during the 60s[e.g. Edizione D'Oro] and 70s [Frankie Valli ‘GOLD’] that are alternate mixes, but every STEREO version is different as the content is more detailed than the MONO and can be panned differently. Often the MONO versions on 45 were speeded up by Bob Crewe for ‘Radio play’ and have a different tempo altogether.

The 60s STEREO limitations are clear. CD's with this WIDE STEREO can sound normal to good on an 'old style' listening environment when the speakers are the right distance apart and the listener is in the 'sweet spot'. The STEREO then becomes just like ‘in the room’ MONO. This represents probably less than 5% of anyone’s listening experience today as we all listen on headphones/ear-buds/in-car or ‘on the go’ phones. And after spending 3 years collecting and restoring MONO mixes from vinyl [in the 2010s] it has become obvious how the groups PRIMARY catalogue elements should be delivered. In MONO as originally intended for both 45 versions and albums with new DES 'enhanced' STEREO versions as a bonus set. Unfortunately the Snapper Music Box Set did not achieve this for the period from 1962 to 1967.

This guide from the internet to assess STEREO sound stage design supports this idea. Mixing engineers should mix tracks with a live sound stage/concert stage perspective in mind . We found an audio blog that defines this.

However , it became apparent from Bob Crewe mixes in 1967 and also back on the DAWN album that when he had the technology and the right engineer to work with that he had a distinct idea for instrument and vocal panning for STEREO. On that album 7 of the tracks are mixed with the Four Seasons centrally set on either side of Frankie’s strong lead vocal. Drums are placed in the left channel with Bass enhancing that channel along with ‘pluck’ guitar. The right channel has piano/organ and rhythm guitar along with horns which can also be varied in placement to suit the song and vocals. The aim he had was always a balanced STEREO SOUNDSTAGE. From the Mirasound period of 1967 that was what he achieved with George Schowerer with 16 tracks.

In the best commercial audio production and using software, panning can be controlled between -100 to +100. Where mostly -100 is the leftmost part of the stage and +100 is the rightmost part of the stage.”

Stefan agreed…..”In the case of the Four Seasons recordings that we have[on CD in STEREO]……….. listen to any track on headphones and see how much these principles are adhered to. Many of the early stereo recordings fall short of this standard (with instruments and vocals panned far left and far right with acres of space between occupied by ‘nothing’).Today with modern recordings the listening experience is different, Everybody who bought a Four Seasons CD already has got the wide-stereo version[except for the tracks never mixed to STEREO by the Engineers] which again goes to the root of the original purpose.....a RADIO 45 mix.”

So we might as well have that..A MONO ARCHIVE.....well mastered with the punch and ambience of Bob Crewe's mixes....in the correct MONO 45 and MONO album mixes. They sound great when mastered well. However the problem has still not been solved by the FSP, Rhino, or anyone else…IN STEREO …...except for a few of us amateur sound engineers who have done it as a hobby.

So with today’s technology and AI, we can repair and enhance the past mixes. That is still what the fans need in 2025...But we need it with ALL the 60s STEREO in this enhanced form. The technology is here to do this for all our playing equipment and listening needs. A completely NEW set of DES Masters

As Stefan said and we found doing the MONO ARCHIVE......”. The fun is when you are re-mastering and you are trying different settings. Sometimes you suddenly find the groups sound just works better. That is such a ‘buzz’. ..a real adrenalin rush.”

As for the path to acceptable STEREO Mixes….?…..I have created over 30 ‘Models’ using AI on each of the salvaged BEST STEREO MASTERS and re-mixed up to 16 stems as new multi-track extractions. Some 15 of the results can be found on my You Tube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/MowestChameleon/videos

We are able now to fully appreciate the transition from MONO to STEREO and capture the punch and thrill of MONO and the 'performance simulation' of STEREO in a modern presentation of their music as it is now understood. So NO hard right/left panning STEREO for me....thank you.! I am creating the NEW Bob Crewe MIXES, as he would have done them if the times and technology had allowed him to.

Below is just one of the latest and clearest examples. It is based on the Bob Crewe model mix as analysed from his ‘New Gold Hits’ album which originally had all of the instrumentation in the left channel and the group in the right channel and Frankie Valli’s lead vocal centred.

In my amateur effort to re-construct the sound stage for ‘I’m Gonna Change’ and following the principles above the strong bass-line is in the left channel with the chimes along with the drums and the horns are in the right channel with the ‘pluck’ guitar. Frankie Valli is centred with the Four Seasons ‘double-tracked’ around him. This gives the track the punch as well as balance it needs. More in Part 4 as I compare the existing to new mixes

 

 

Studio Tales and The Four Seasons – Part 2 - In the CD Era

The CD Era reveals the Problems of Past Masters

Grabbing the best masters whilst we can!!

Over the last 3 decades since the emergence of CD and transfers from various source tapes by Rhino/Curb/Ace and others, sound engineer Stefan Wriedt and I were always asking if we have the best possible recordings from those early 1960s sessions.? We have seen the release of the ‘Ultimate’ Box Sets for Four Seasons fans with the Four Seasons Partnership[FSP] working in the past with Rhino/Curb and in 2018 with Snapper Music of London. However finding the Tapes in storage of reputedly ‘masters’ with Bill Inglot and his new transfers to digital files for this most recent issue, the process, has raised the question of what are the best available tracks re-mastered to modern CD standards?. We didn’t ask to hear or check the quality of the ALBUM master sets during the transfers and wrongly assumed they were/would be ‘the best’[given today’s mastering equipment and software]. The 1960s CD versions as issued in 2023 are below an acceptable sound engineering standard up to the 1968 album masters [Discs 16 and 17] and worse than earlier digital issues in many cases.

The Snapper Music Research Project showed due to poor QA that the 2020 transfers are inferior to the many 1990s STEREO re-issues based on ‘Pro-tools’ transfers during this period. There are no written records as to who did these further transfers after Bill’s initial work up to 1990. My CD Review on this Blog shows the results and the best re-masters that still exist. Fortunately I have been able to collate and salvage these in the Digital Library Archive as replacements for the Snapper Discs.

Remastering during the Digital Era

So what does re-mastering mean? As Sound Engineer Stefan Wriedt told me ….“Any ‘digital’ record collector needs to understand the process behind the creation of the hits they love before considering a purchase of such tracks!!”...or so it was back in the 1990s. Today in 2025 ‘streaming’ versions are not collectors items and just like radio consumption. They are ‘short term rentals’…...and if that is good enough for you then you can stop reading now!! But today with streaming subscriptions dropping very quickly, the music business is starting to push their ‘High Quality’ Audio streaming services to boost revenues…….so as has become clear the question is ‘which masters’ are they using? And is collecting ‘digital’ file masters re-emerging.?

The CD era destroyed the music business for them as owners of ‘masters’. Once they ‘grabbed all of our money’….we ‘owned the music'…(as long as our discs remain readable - but that is another story)..Back then Stefan and I asked ‘did we have the best mastered true versions?’. Well after being the ‘Master Track Adviser’ on the Snapper Music Box Set I can say…..not for all of the tracks from 1962 to 1967. Paper records from the Vee-Jay and Philips era are limited but what we know is collated here.

Wikipaedia provided a suitable baseline explanation re the confusion re what is a ‘MASTER’…”A master is the recording which is duplicated into other formats i.e. LP records, CDs, DVDs etc.[ed...including streaming]. Problematically, several different levels of masters often exist for any one audio release. As an example, examine the way a typical music album from the 1960s was created. Musicians and vocalists were recorded on multi-track tape. This tape was mixed to create a stereo or monauralmaster. A further master tape would likely be created from this original master recording consisting of equalization and other adjustments to the audio. More master recordings would be duplicated from the equalized master for regional copying purposes. Pressing masters for vinyl recordings would be created. Obviously, master is a fairly loose term, one that can be used for many stages of the recording process, however, all vinyl records would derive from one of the master recordings.”

Thus, mastering refers to the process of creating a master. This might be as simple as copying a tape for further duplication purposes, or might include the actual equalization and processing steps used to fine-tune material for release. The latter example usually requires the work of mastering engineers. The problem has been ‘STORAGE’. Someone placed a ‘reference’ copy of the album track or MONO 45 version on to analog tape and it has been retrieved 25 years later. My Post-Snapper research has been based on the quality of the versions NOW in digital (CD standard wav file) storage. That is ‘the holy grail’ for anyone who want a ‘collection’ of their own.

By 1967 and the advent of 16 track recording [for Frankie Valli/Four Seasons recordings] the tape quality was much higher and better masters have survived such as ‘The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette’ Safety Copy MONO and STEREO Master Tape, but the ‘Timeless’ MONO mixes are lost but for what we salvaged from a damaged tape in storage. The Motown Tapes from the early 1970s proved to be in superb 16/24 track tape copies and this shows in both the 2008 Motown Anthology and Snapper Music Box Sets.

The reason is that with the advent of top quality magnetic 16 track tape in the early 1970s and digital recording in the late 1970s, many mastering ideas changed. "Previously, creating new masters meant incurring an analogue generational loss; in other words, copying a tape to a tape meant reducing the signal-to-noise ratio, or how much "music" was on the tape versus how much "noise" (tape hiss, static, etc.) Although noise reduction techniques exist, they also increase other audio distortions such as azimuth shift, wow and flutter, print through and stereo image shift. With digital recording, masters could be created and duplicated without incurring the usual generational loss. As CDs were a digital format, digital masters created from original analog recordings became a necessity.

Ideally, because of their high resolution, a CD or DVD (or other) release should come from the best source tape possible, with the most care taken during its transfer. This does not always happen. The earliest days of the CD era found record companies using whatever tapes they had lying around to create their CDs, with frequently underwhelming results. An nth-generation tape equalized for vinyl frequency response might be deemed perfectly acceptable by a record company, and (importantly) might be much easier to locate than the "original" source master. Additionally, the earliest days of the CD era found digital technology in its infancy, which also aided often poor sounding digital transfers marked by dropouts, underutilization of Signal-To-Noise Ratio, etc. ….When the first CD remasters turned out to bestsellers-- [for example Rhino’s Four Seasons 25^th Anniversary 3CD box set ], the box set boom began as companies soon realized that new editions of bare-bones back catalogue items could compete with new releases as a source of revenue. Back catalogue values skyrocketed, and today it is not unusual to see expanded and remastered editions of fairly modern albums .

Theoretically, digital remastering in 2025 should solve some of these problems. Original master tapes, or something close to them, can be used to make CD releases. Better processing choices can be used. Better prints can be utilized, with sound elements remixed to 5.1 and obvious print flaws digitally corrected. The modern era gives content providers almost unlimited ways to touch up, doctor, and "improve" their creations and products, and as each release promises improved sound, video, extras etc, producers hoped these upgrades would entice consumers into making a purchase.”

That was the promose by Snapper Music back in 2018 to the UK Fan Club ‘resources’. But is there a market any more for either the artist or record company to make money?. Only vinyl release are creating enough of a return and Four Seasons fans are unfortunately entering the ‘passing away’ era for the  ‘baby boomers’

So re Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons in the 1960s…..there are NO ORIGINAL MASTERS.

The surviving ‘masters’ from the Four Seasons ‘early’ sixties hits are on this latest box-set release in mono and stereo but not in optimal sound for masters used pre 1967 and if the project had involved full ‘quality control’ then alternative ‘masters’ could have been found . Late 60s tracks onwards are in stereo [some MONO too] and adequately mastered for CD release. As I have said in Part 1, with the focus in the early 60s being on the sound of the MONO 45 there are tales of sound engineers not being asked to be careful enough to produce a decent STEREO version[e.g. Beggars Parade in Stereo]. Why was that? Well the studio technology at the time was limited, but surviving Masters from the ‘Delivery Tapes’ are pristine ‘two track STEREO but NOT the separately stored ‘album master Safety Copies’.

Questions arise re the music creation but no-one seems to take any academic or sound engineering interest in it. Questions such as…..”how was the classic sound created on vinyl? Where are the original multi-tracks.? Did they ever exist or were they wiped/dumped? What is left in the Philips storage and where are they stored? When did ‘good’ stereo come to the fore?

The questions are numerous and only partly answered. I have George Schowerer’s 2010/11 interviews to address some of the background. Back in 2010 I wanted to ask a sound engineer from the 60s about the process and to understand why we don’t have the quality today that we would like. But I felt it was worthy of putting it on record in 2025 as we no longer know if he is still alive.

George Schowerer confirmed what Wikipedia says and gave some reasons why we can’t always be sure that what we hear is closely related to the original recordings…….”When the old Rhino 25^th anniversary CD box set came out, I complained bitterly about the quality of the mixes I had done. They were not equivalent to the mixes that left Mirasound. Eventually, in conversation with Bill Inglot, he acknowledged that in some cases, the record company involved would not [at the time] release the original tapes [to the FSP]...only a [safety]copy...and depending who made the copy, you got whatever you got at that time.

Now, when I chided Rhino about the quality of some of my mixes, I quoted a CD I had (in my library) manufactured by Ace Records from England(CDCHD538) Solo/Timeless by Frankie Valli in which the transfers were the best I've ever heard of my material from Mirasound...so I know that good transfers do exist!

Bill Inglot indicated to me that the reason for the earlier Rhino 25^th anniversary album sounds (them being distorted) were due to the quality which the record companies supplied to him. [ed….actually the FSP?] He said that in many cases, the record companies destroyed the multi-tracks to avoid misuse ...remixes etc. I think that's crazy, but I haven't lived their life of problems with cover records in that era. I remember that the business was ripe with copy records which cut into sales of the original discs. And then there was plain bad remastering. I remember when the first CD of ‘Bread’ came out, I thought it was a "cover" record! The classic "sound" wasn't there...it was replaced by a very "sterile" mix sans echo...and it was obvious that someone had gone back to the multi-track masters and started mixing them over again without ever listening to the original releases that made them hits! I don't know what I would have done, if I was responsible for holding master tapes...but then again, I'm one of those people who save everything (much to my wife's distress). “

There are two distinct sets of Record Company Masters that we found in the Four Seasons Partnership storage in LA when Bill inglot was commissioned in 2018 to support our research [the late Bob Fisher and I]. It soon became obvious that some ‘cannibalisation’ had gone on to create suitable album Masters for 1980s release on CD. BUT the Vee-Jay Masters transferred to Crewe and the group when that company went bust proved to be high quality in what was a 70+ set of tracks of their albums[with some oddities] in both Mono and Stereo. These should have been used in the Snapper Music Box Set but the final CD output does not reflect this quality with less frequency response and dynamic range.

Secondly there was an assumption that the quality of surviving analog tape masters of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons recordings in STEREO from the Philips period in the mid 60s was good, given that we had the quality of ACE releases during the 1990s. That assumption was largely wrong. Recording with Philips certainly was not so easy on the 4 track consoles after the 8 track at Atlantic for ‘Dawn’ and ’No Surfin’ Today’. Sound quality issues were apparent at the time of the departure of Charlie Calello who was the primary arranger for them in late 1965

Charlie Calello has advised that they were experiencing ‘distortion’ on their efforts to create great sounding recordings at Stea-Philips and Olmstead on the ‘Working My Way Back To You’ album and there is evidence that Stea-Philips needed to update the facilities in 1965 with fund raising efforts by the company at the time. Bob Crewe and the group had to move……..and a critical period in their production process was about to unfold.

The possibility is that in 1966 that Frankie Valli ‘solo’ and were recorded at Bell Studios(as Crewe we understand was part owner) or Dick Clark Studios although there is no studio credits on any of the vinyl release for this short period. Researching this I found the following developments credited to Bell….” The studio's research and development team developed a new 12-track 2-inch tape recorder that offered higher-quality recording than the 8-track 1-inch and 16-track 2-inch recorders in use at other studios. Early adoption of 12-track 2-inch technology introduced an unforeseen challenge, however - as the only studio in New York City using a 12-track 2-inch device at the time, so recordings produced at Bell Sound lacked compatibility with other studios……...It was one of the first studios to allow engineers to specialize in mixing, and this could be requested by a client” As a result they had to accommodate final stage mastering for vinyl with added overdubs to STEREO Masters."

George Schowerer recalls his first recording of the Four Seasons at Mirasound was on ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ in Spring 1966 and Bob Crewe used Bell for his final mastering stages as we will hear from George. However, the real problem with the preservation of multi-track tapes from the Philips period pre 1968 may have been the ‘sale’ of Bell Studios in 1968 after the death of the owner Don Cronin in a plane crash [and a subsequent clear-out of the studio storage] which probably led to the dumping of the Four Seasons Multi-Track Masters in a skip after they were not collected and this connects with quotes from George and Bill Inglot. Whatever happened, we know that Bob Crewe did salvage a set of quality STEREO mixes from them for the Edizione D’Oro 2-disc set in 1968.

George Schowerer had his own approach to avoid distortion………. “Many of the Season's recordings that came out of Sound Center in New York had distortion due to the many numbers of overdubs that were a trademark of Bob Crewe's work. I believe the reason for the distortion was the fact that in those days, the playback quality in the "sync" position (in order to add tracks while remaining in sync), was god-awful! So were the consoles used in many of the famous hit records. That's why I pioneered(the use of normal playback during the addition of tracks. This was because of Bob's penchant for multiple, multiple tracks at any given session...the number never consistent, but could reach 20! In other words the small section strings might be overdubbed three times in the course of the session...same for the horns, etc. The only problem with that method is that all tracks would have to be overdubbed to maintain sync overall. But the quality remained first rate. The only track (or tracks not "bounced") were the final vocals, since playing back all the music tracks in sync position were only for the benefit of Frankie's headphones.”

So I asked George if our expectations of sound quality today[2010] from these early recording are too high. He told us…….

“As for the aspect of why many of those recordings cannot produce a current expectation of today’s mixes is very simple. Take "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" for example, by the time the overdubbing was bounced so many times, the mix of strings is down to one track of a multitrack ( 8 track master in this case). This is the same for each section of the orchestra. So, this prevents a nice spread of the orchestra in stereo...keep in mind that none of the works in the mid sixties had anything but a MONO single 45 rpm record in mind. That's why the stereo mixes coming from those days have such a ‘ping-pong’ stereo balance. We didn't have the availability of the equipment used today. The Mirasound mixing board had just twelve inputs and four output buses! That's why the photos at Mirasound show additional mixers. During the initial session, we used all inputs, sometimes even used the outboard mixers! Then, during overdubs, I switched the use of the console, using eight of the input faders to monitor (in stereo, since I loved stereo ahead of it's time) the eight channels of the recorder in use. I used the other four inputs on the console (and sometimes the outboard mixers as well) in order to feed the eight track Ampex with the newly overdubbed material. When you work with Bob, there were several channels of hand-claps and tambourines alone, which were all mixed together and "bounced" to one channel. I have no idea what was coming next on the sessions until Bob decided on the spot what to add...so trying to keep the overall picture was quite challenging. But I know what left the studio was clean because of the use of my playback method. As for the method used on the Seasons, in the mid 60s, we would record the basic session onto 7 of the 8 tracks available. Then the process of clearing room would start. Multiple channels of drums, horns, or strings would be mixed together (each group separately) and "bounced" to a single track. This would free-up several channels for overdubbing. Any further additions of strings (for instance), would be mixed again to a new channel so that, once again, all strings were relegated to a single channel...and soon! This is why the tapes of this era cannot make satisfactory updates, when the original intention did not allow for stereo spread of any string or horn group (rhythm included). Since we only had one 8 track machine, this was the only way everything could be mixed for a mono hit record. If we had had two machines, then you could have gone back to earlier generations and recovered material in a straight-forward manner. We didn't have those options back then. I had pretty much imagined what Bob would want as a final product, and always kept that image in my mind while over-dubbing the brains out the music. In many cases, he graciously let me do the compilation at hand and I know he felt comfortable with my work. I still cringe when I hear some of the Season's stuff (which was not my work) that was turned into stereo and the resultant selection of where they placed some [instrument and vocal] tracks in the mix (but then stereo was never the intention of the original producer).”

[Mirasound MONO 300 tape console 1966- Courtesy of George Schowerer]

 

So all we could do in the Snapper research was to trust that the engineering of transfers from the limited sound quality tapes that still exist in the FSP storage would exceed those done for past CD issues...but we didn't get a chance to check for the problem of time in ‘storage’. But as I will cover in Part 3, with modern PC based software it is possible to simulate a full spread STEREO mix now with AI creating multi-tracks as instrument/vocal ‘stems’ from the best surviving digital masters in that original ‘ping-pong’ two track CD Stereo. And it remains a question as to whether anyone other than amateurs like us would spend the time creating new mixes…..as George says…”it is a matter of cost…. But money is money...in whatever form it is created” …..and maybe someday the technology will enable other exciting alternative mixes to be created from the masters that have survived. It needs someone to see a financial return in finding and paying a good sound engineer to create the best possible AI digital re-masters.

And George confirms the reason why no 1960s Bob Crewe Valli/Seasons multi-tracks have survived…….”I have heard many engineers say that when libraries were full to the brim, studios would notify the various "owners" as to the need for retrieving their tapes. When no one appeared to come for those tapes, studios would then dump them, because they needed the space. Most studios in those days didn't charge for storage and the various companies took advantage of that fact! While I don't have the reasons why they sat so long in the studio libraries, I do remember many people not showing interest in picking up their stuff. If memory serves me correctly..Bob Crewe took most of his final mixes after our sessions, up to Bell Sound. When Bell went out of business, a lot of those tapes went into the dumpster if no one retrieved them after notifications went out.....this may be why some are missing. You wouldn't believe how many tapes went to the trash because of lack of claiming the items...I don't know if it was due to not having storage space in the record company offices...or what. But it did happen too often for comfort. Once the hit record got out, I guess there wasn't much demand for the tape because they were forever making copies of the master mono tapes for foreign distribution. I guess the original people must have felt that it was now the problem of whomever they sold the masters to. It was a case of the cost. It sure is different now that original masters are so highly valued[ed..for some artists but certainly not the Four Seasons partnership]. But money is money...in whatever form it is created ”

After the Philips ‘Genuine Imitation Life Gazette’- ‘failure’ when Philips subsequently lost confidence in their ability to create ‘hits’, from 1969 on, Bob Crewe paid for Studio time and presented the completed MASTERS[mixed to STEREO] to the Philips and that was shown by the ‘Half and Half’ Master Tapes which were found in the FSP storage mixed by Gaudio/Crewe to Mono and Stereo and presented to Philips for release.

And George concludes his feedback as the first sound engineer to master Stereo from a 16 track console…...“I hope this gives you some needed answers to the many questions about resurrecting the old material. The mono stuff is set in stone, while the eight track stuff will be ‘stiff’……..and the only thing that would allow for a good stereo mix is perhaps the 16 track stuff. I was fortunate to be the first mixer to use 16 tracks…….the very first session on that machine was "With This Ring" by the Platters, produced by Luther Dixon”

The research finds of ‘unreleased’ tracks and replacement of missing MONO 45 masters from vinyl dubs [e.g. ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine’] made the completion of the Snapper Box Set challenging….BUT with no input to the sound engineer’s strategy or control of his final selection and quality of masters, after Bob Fisher’s untimely passing…….. as a result for these discs the sound quality and anthology suffered [also with some tracks missed or incorrect versions used].

Bob Gaudio may have been happy with the outcome but sound quality collectors like me wanted …..and still want more….and suddenly AI comes along…...but in the FSP no-one is listening. WHY? Because the cost out-weighs any financial return. It is all about the money!!

So what can be achieved from the ‘best quality’ salvaged Masters?

Back with Part 3 re this example…...[previously on STEREO CD only available with Frankie Valli and all instruments in the left channel and group on their own in the right]

 

 

Studio Tales and The Four Seasons Sound Recordings – Part 1

This is a series of articles based on research of the 1960s recordings of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their context with the sound engineering technology of the day and the possibilities in 2025. It examines where the surviving recordings sit today compared with the emergence of AI and the abilities in sound engineering that could never have been imagined when they were recorded back in the 1960s. It’s history is partly informed by interviews with Sound Engineer George Schowerer [from 1966 to 1968 at Mirasound Studios in NYC] and AI .

[‘Is this the final Master tape , George?’ – Bob Crewe with George Schowerer 1967’]

The aim is to illustrate how getting the sound Bob Crewe, Charles Calello and the Fours Seasons put on to tape and mastered to the best quality is still an aim of sound engineer fans like me with today’s AI technology. AI extraction and re-mastering is the latest and greatest breakthrough in recording restoration since the start of the ‘digital era’ in the 1980s. Unlike groups like the Beach Boys and The Beatles no-one has done any in depth story [such as Phd Papers] re elements that make up their music such as song structure, rhythmic feels, instrumentation, chord progressions, lyrical themes, and vocals as they developed ‘That Four Seasons Sound’ through the three distinct periods of musical, personal and collective growth with quality writers and producers during the 1960s and 70s.

 

I have tracked the story of the known and quoted changes in my partially complete e-book – ‘The Rise and Fall of the Four Seasons’ and my current project ‘I’m Gonna Change’ is ensuring that properly mixed STEREO of their changing sound is available via You Tube which will become evident as I review and share Sound Engineer – George Schowerer’s recollections of the studios and how the sound quality we have on CD today was created. It builds on some of the research of surviving analogue tapes during the Snapper Music Box Set and the subsequent DIGITAL ARCHIVE I have assembled.

 

Jane Simone O’Regan 2014 in her Phd thesis on the Beach Boys attempted to define….”What is a “Sound”? Music is typically described in terms of its “sound”; record companies use the term to market albums, journalists use it to compare music in reviews, musicians use it to explain their work and listeners use it to discuss music. This idea of “sound” links together fundamental musical elements such as structure, harmony, melody, tonality and rhythmic feels. Additionally, it also links together specific musical equipment, instrument types, effects and production techniques that also contribute to creating a distinctive sound. Beyond the physicality of the music, more intangible, socio-cultural elements may also affect a particular sound, such as the time and place in which the music is made, and the historical backgrounds of the writers and performers. All of these elements – the music itself, the production that is used and the time, place and history of those who create it – contribute to a particular sound. “

 

This is not a socio-cultural analysis of their ‘sound’ or career or the changing membership of the group, but of the recording environment that they worked in and the surviving sound sources that will carry forward to future generations. It is a focus on the technical creation of all of the above in the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons catalogue of music during the days of 2,3,4,8 and 16 track analogue tape recordings during the 1960s. Their music created from 1962 to today was predominantly archived on Magnetic Tape[up until 1985], and the only reference source anyone has had access to for the past decades of the Digital[CD]Era has been the Four Seasons Partnership storage of Safety Copies. This was partially researched for the Snapper Music Box Set and will be considered in these articles. The current status is that ‘best sources’ of their ‘sound’ are not on many of the currently surviving Analogue Tapes[or this latest Box Set] – that has become clear for one period. The sources for the early to mid 60s tracks we know of, have inherent problems which today are still not fully addressed with proper research of tape sources and digital transfers over the past 35 years by the FSP or any Record Company. Magnetic Tape deteriorates over time and the transfer and re-mastering for the Snapper Music Box Set shows this deficiency . Rhino Records [including Curb] may have better transfers from the 1990s [with Bill Inglot’s tape research and transfers] and Bob Gaudio may have a quality set of masters in other ‘home’ storage but The Digital Library I have compiled is and will be a definitive sound quality reference collection until ‘whenever’?. No-one has researched CD sources over the past 3 decades in such a way as I have from a big library of the album releases on CD.

 

The Evolution of Sound Engineering

 

But first here is an introduction and a summary/overview of the history of music recording courtesy of several internet sources.[apologies in you know all of this?] Some conflicting dates have been raised in Forum Groups over the years but I have used best endeavours to reflect accuracy as far as possible. This data is from five and a half decades ago and both paper records and peoples memories may be flawed!!

 

The beginning of course was Thomas Edison by trying to create a device that could be used to record dictation for business purposes, not for recording music. Later (late 1880's) the Edison company came out with a wax cylinder recording device. About the same time they came up with a way to mass produce pre-recorded wax cylinders and that started the recorded music business as we know it. Wax was fragile and later flat resin and plastic based disks were invented and recordings cut grooves into the disks which were later duplicated into what became known as ‘records’. Several other recording formats were invented in the early 20th Century included wire recorders, which recorded magnetic pulses on steel wire. There were also huge steel tape recorders which were used by the BBC. If the steel tape got loose it could cut someone to shreds. These 2 formats were not very good and most recording studios still cut records on flat disks until the later 1940's when modern tape recording was invented. 

Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recordings from Denmark. Devices that use magnetic tape can with relative ease record and play back audio, visual, and binary computer data. I first recorded on a reel to reel tape recorder in 1961. Magnetic tape revolutionized sound recording and reproduction and broadcasting from the 1950s on. It allowed radio, which had always been broadcast live, to be recorded for later or repeated airing

The Germans invented modern recording in 1935 with the invention of the Magnetophone which used a revolutionary AC Bias system which produced very high quality recordings of propaganda speeches and music which still [amazingly] sound clear today. Modern recording condenser microphones were also invented in the same era in Germany by a guy named George Neumann.

The history of modern multitrack audio recording using magnetic tape had really begun in 1943 with the invention of stereo tape recording, which divided the recording head into two tracks. In 1948, Chicago's Armour Research Foundation announced that its staffer, physicist Marvin Camras, had produced a three-channel machine with "three parallel magnetic tracks on the same tape". However, stereo sound recording of two separate audio sound streams to two speakers from tape had been perfected in 1943 by German audio engineers working for the AEG corporation. Around 250 stereo tape recordings were made during this period (of which only three have survived), but the technology remained a closely guarded secret within Germany until the end of World War II. The big breakthrough for the music and radio companies was that when World War II ended, a guy named Jack Mullin took some of the high quality German tape recorders to America and the American company Ampex ripped off the German technology and started mass producing professional tape recorders. Mullin and the Ampex corporation pioneered the commercial development of tape recording in the US, and the technology was rapidly taken up by radio and the music industry due to its superior sound fidelity and because tape – being a linear recording medium – could be easily edited, by physically cutting and splicing the tape, to remove unwanted elements and create a 'perfect' recording. Two-track tape recording was rapidly adopted for modern music in the early 1950s because it enabled signals from two or more separate microphones to be recorded simultaneously, enabling both twin-track mono recordings (with the voices on one and music on the other) as well as true stereophonic recordings to be made and edited conveniently, which in turn facilitated the rapid expansion of the consumer high-fidelity ("HiFi") market. Stereo (either true binaural two-microphone stereo or multi-mixed) quickly became the norm for commercial classical recordings and radio broadcasts, although many pop music and jazz recordings continued to be issued in mono sound until the late 1960s.

The major development in multitrack recording had come in the mid-1950s, when the Ampex corporation devised the concept of 8-track recording, using its "Sel-Sync" (Selective Synchronous) recording system, and sold the first such machine to musician Les Paul. The American had the idea that you could record multiple tracks one at a time on tape and Ampex build him a custom 8 track machine [and the 1 inch Tape] which is now owned by the Smithsonian. The process involved using the record head as playback head so you could hear what was recorded on one track while you recorded on another. The tracks were then ‘mixed-down’ to a single [MONO] track

Eventually multi-track recording on tape was standard. First 2 track, then 3, 4, 8, 16 and finally 24 by the early 1970s. Notably Bob Crewe recorded Frankie Valli on 24 tracks at Motown in 1973 and those tracks still remain in the Motown Archive – UNRELEASED. New mixing boards had to be developed to handle all this. Eventually companies started making these boards, people like Rupert Neve (Neve), Bill Putman (Urei - Universal Audio) and API

Despite Ampex having created the first eight-track tape machines for Les Paul and Atlantic Records, multitrack recording was taken up in a more limited way in the industry first via the standard three-track recorders. These proved extremely useful for popular music during the early 1960s, since they enabled backing music to be recorded on two tracks (either to allow the overdubbing of separate parts, or to create a full stereo backing track) while the third track was reserved for the lead vocalist. Three-track recorders remained in widespread commercial use until the mid-1960s and many famous pop recordings – including many of Phil Spector’s's so-called "Wall of Sound" productions and early Motown hits – were taped on 3-track recorders.

A great many of those utilized multiple 3-track sources with the basic band being recorded on the first three, that being mixed down to mono and "flown over" to a second 3-track, leaving two open. The process was repeated for sidemen, soloists, background singers and any number of other elements before the last track on the last recording stage was used for the lead vocal.

The next evolution was four-track recording, which was the studio standard through the mid 1960s. Many of the most famous recordings by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were recorded on four-track, and the engineers at London's Abbey Road Studios became particularly adept at the technique called "reduction mixes" in the UK and "bouncing down" in the United States, described in the paragraph above. In this way, it was possible to record literally dozens of separate tracks and combine them into finished recordings of great complexity. There were limitations, however, because of the build-up of noise during the bouncing-down process, and the Abbey Road engineers are still justly famed for the ability to create dense multitrack recordings while keeping background noise to a minimum.

 

In the 70's-80's people began to experiment with digital recording. Digital audio tape (DAT) was introduced, offering a digital alternative to analog tape in the 1980s. Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) were used to convert analog audio or video signals into digital formats, often within transfer devices or computer sound cards. The huge breakthrough came in the early 90's with the invention of the Alesis ADAT digital recorder. Others followed. Finally popular computer based recording became standard using software such as ‘Pro Tools’. The transfer of surviving tapes for all artists has been managed through the last 4 decades to create the digital libraries we have today to replace deteriorating tape sources. This article from ‘Sound On Sound’ is an essential background to these articles

Individual Studio Multi-track recordings have in most cases not survived and only STEREO/MONO Safety Copy Tapes still exist. Although a good deal of The Beatles and Beach Boys catalogues have survived on Multi-tracks, we believe from an interview with Bob Gaudio in 2002 and confirmation by Bill Inglot during the Snapper Research that very little of Valli and the groups efforts on multi-track exist pre 1971. The failure by the FSP to recognise the value of past masters and the knowledge of the fanbase to recognise variations in released tracks or discovered acetates and to find nearly lost ‘only on vinyl’ masters was partly reduced by my work on the Snapper Music Box Set but the article above shows the error of their ways.

A detailed history of Sound Recording is available on Wikepedia and in published Articles

Recording With Bob Crewe and The Four Seasons

Although the Bob Crewe productions of The Four Seasons were done on 3 and 4 track consoles during the first half of the 1960s, this was to enable the multi-track creation of instruments and vocals which were all mixed to MONO for release. Their Record Company issues of so called ‘STEREO’ albums was confined to unbalanced channels that engineers pulled together with huge separation in many cases. Pseudo [Fake]Stereo using processing tricks was done in several cases to fool the listeners ears. This is apparent on the many STEREO re-issues from the analogue Safety Copies tapes transferred to digital storage during the 1980s and 90s. At Vee-Jay the studio Masters [known as ‘The Transfer Tapes’ surviving are in the main of high quality as research during the Snapper Music Box Set revealed. These masters were transferred to the group and Philips in August 1966 as the company went bankrupt. Although STEREO and MONO Safety Copies [not multi-track] the Frequency Response and Dynamic Range is excellent. These should have been used in the Box Set but clearly were not. The surviving Tapes from the Philips period have however clearly deteriorated from the Box Set issue results. The sound engineers who worked on the Mastering during this early to mid 60s period were Gordon Clark and Bill McMeekin.

[Stea-Philips Studio 1964]

As Charles Calello confirmed…..’the intention was always MONO’, and time has shown a lack of caring in research and preservation by The Four Seasons Partnership

Back when George Schowerer started working as a Sound Engineer with Bob Crewe he was working at Allegro Studios in 1958 pre the creation of The Four Seasons. “Now in my earlier days with Bob Crewe(59-61) done at Allegro studios featuring Freddie Cannon, Billie & Lillie, the Rays, and the Shepard Sisters, we had only two mono Ampex recorders which were used. You can imagine how much bouncing was done this way! Other sessions at Allegro (not for Bob),were ‘He's so Fine’ ( The Chiffons) and Mickey and Sylvia/Kitty, The Tokens, etc. Most of those sessions used only two Ampex four channel mixers combined to a mono output…….not until 61/62 did we get into stereo at Allegro. Following that period I was drafted into the US army till Jan 64, I was not active in the studios. When Bob found that I had returned, we connected again at Mirasound in 66/67……..and the rest is history.”

But not every studio back in the late 50s and early 60s had 2, 3 or 4 track recording. The second Ampex model 5258 eight-track was sold to Atlantic Records[at Tom Dowd's insistence in late 1957.[Atlantic was the first actual record company to use a multitrack (as opposed to stereo or three-track) recorder in their studio in 1958. Both Motown and Columbia (in LA) started to bring 8-track online in late 1964.

The Four Seasons famously recorded two songs only on the Atlantic 8 track consoles with Tom Dowd at Atlantic Studios in November 1963. The songs were ‘Dawn’ and ‘No Surfin’ Today’ [as far as we know – Charlie Calello thinks ‘Cry Myself To Sleep’ may also have been recorded there and maybe others that appear on the ‘Born To Wonder’ album?] and the Master Tapes were collected by Bob Crewe on the day JFK was assassinated according to the paper records. But then Bob and they [for monetary reasons] signed to Philips and moved back to 4-track recording of sessions through 1964 and 1965 [some at Stea-Philips and others at Olmstead studios] until excess distortion on the ‘Working My Way Back To You’ album[according to Charlie Calello] persuaded them to move to Mirasound Studios in NYC and 8 track consoles in 1966. There is no record of the engineer or studio on The Four Seasons 1966/67 recordings but ‘Opus 17’ and the Frankie Valli ‘solo’ tracks completed after leaving Stea-Philips/Olmstead studios at the start of 1966 were arranged by Herb Bernstein after Charlie Calello’s departure to Columbia Records. There are a number of Safety Copy Masters missing in the FSP storage that have been replaced by vinyl dubbed 45s to achieve a complete catalogue of released tracks in the Snapper Music Box Set released in 2023. The studio sources are unclear and clearly not tapes acquired by the Partnership at the time.

As a matter of interest other groups namely The Beach Boys[Brian Wilson] and The Beatles were experimenting extensively by the mid sixties. Because The Beatles did not gain access to eight-track recorders until 1968, their groundbreaking Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP (1967) was created using pairs of four-track machines; the group also used vari-speed (also called pitch shift) to achieve unique sounds, and they were the first group in the world to use an important offshoot of multitrack recording, the Automatic Double Tracking (ADT) system invented by Abbey Road staff engineer Ken Townsend in 1966. Motown too very much wanted an eight-track, so they were building one. It turned out to be fall, 1964 before the machine was installed. So Atlantic and Motown were the two majors Studios with eight track by 1964.

In 1967, Ampex built its first prototype 16-track professional audio recorder at the request of Mirasound Studios in New York City. This unique machine was the first of its type and used reels of 2-inch (51 mm) tape on a modified tape transport system originally built for video recording. The album Everything Playing by The Lovin Spoonful as one of the first examples using this console, was recorded on 16-track at Mirasound and released in December 1967.

[Ampex 16 track recorder on the delivery date - 1967 actual date unclear]

 

Having moved there in 1966 Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons were then able to take advantage of the additional elements to add to their mixes during 1967 and the clarity of surviving masters demonstrate this from digital transfers made from surviving tapes from this period. More on this as I explore past research by Sound Engineers George Schowerer and the late Stefan Wriedt in future posts.

Past Four Seasons Sessions and Masters

The Four Seasons Partnership[FSP] have always maintained that they own their Masters, but after four years of research for the Snapper Music Box Set the truth is their catalogue is a mess. Yes it has to be said. Despite years of re-issues on CD there is still no comprehensive record of what they recorded and no satisfactory collection of the mono and stereo tracks for the pre 1968 recordings for us to play…and still dozens of unreleased supposedly unsatisfactory tracks in the vaults.

In the ‘Both Sides Now’ sound forum several years ago TallPaul[Paul Urbahns] said of the catalogue.. “Bill Inglot has stated the Partnership does not have a mono single master of ‘Sherry’, and this could be true with other early Four Seasons hits. The mono single of Sherry contains echo on certain parts not on the dryer sounding stereo version. The mono single is also slightly longer. Bill told me all the Partnership has is basically singles and [safety copy] album masters so anything issued today is what was originally out in the 60s. He couldn’t remix much of anything..no multi’s of the early stuff. But obviously also not a complete set of singles masters.”

My Snapper Music Box set research confirmed this. There is also lots of evidence that several stereo masters now exist only on old 1960s vinyl which may sound different to the CD Masters in the Snapper Box Set.

But apart from bad housekeeping by Philips and the Four Seasons Partnership I have found, I have also asked, ‘Are there other contributing factors that make it difficult to find the original mono and stereo versions in decent sound in an anthology.?’

The set used in the Jersey Beat’s 3 CD box was very unsatisfactory with over compression and even the Rhino Anthology CD Box set back in 1987 was criticized by the sound engineer George Schowerer. But that was only with regard to his late 60s recordings which had not been re-mastered satisfactorily. And, it seems, our expectations of getting the original masters in good stereo is a pipe dream……as he told us.

“The older hits were never made with anything but mono in mind.

First of all, the smaller studios did not have multiple multitrack machines. Stea Phillips began with two stereo machines in their hotel studios. Mirasound initially had only two stereo machines for recording. They later added a 300 mono, and a three track ½” Ampex 300 with sel-sync. Even when we got an eight track Ampex AG-300-8, does anyone today have any idea how many tracks Bob Crewe needed on his sessions ??

Even with eight tracks, Bob used more channels than the orchestra members. When the genius engineers who would do the mastering tried to make stereo out of the final eight tracks, they were limited in what it could sound like.

So, that’s where we get the orchestra on one track and the vocals on the other....because the orchestra was never given enough tracks to be able to spread in the mix. In fact, in those days, no one ever thought about stereo.

Mirasound had a twelve input console with four buses. When we got the eight track recorder, I would use eight inputs to monitor the mix and use the last four to input all the overdubs...and I do mean ALL the overdubs!

[George Schowerer at the 8 track Mirasound console]

The idea was to leave one or two tracks open for vocal takes. On top of those problems, the sync response on the AG-300-8 recorder was terrible. It was so poor, that I would bounce each group of tracks using the normal playback preamps in order to retain the original quality. (this method placed the new mix track out of sync with the other channels...so eventually, I had to bounce each additional track using the same method, until I had those six tracks in sync. The last one or two tracks used for vocal were monitored using the sel-sync, since Frankie’s track never needed to be bounced. That’s why the quality on Beggin, My Mother’s Eyes, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Marianne, and all that group of songs sound as good as they do, so long as Rhino didn’t ‘bum them up’. However Crewe always went to Bell Sound for mastering to disc, and Bob would often add Bell’s live chamber to what I had used via the stereo EMT at Mira. This often caused the different amounts or type of echo to be so obvious. He would drive me crazy because I didn’t like Bell’s chamber...it’s bad enough that I can tell a record made at Bell because of the room leakage and the sound of their echo...I didn’t want that for mixes I made at Mira. I do believe we had a better sound at Mira. I used a modified RCA limiter which had the Columbia records mods, and at times used low frequency cut-offs to shape what leakage was inevitable at Mira. The problem in those days was simply that you had to have a good picture in your mind as to what the final mix would sound like. In the mono to mono overdubbing during the early days of mixing, it was imperative that you had a clear understanding of what the final product would sound like...you couldn’t always go back to correct the mix. So when Bob came up with all the overdubs (sometimes using three horns, - three or four times - you had to understand what was being asked for and make sure it sounded like a single group at one sitting.

The musicians often came back in an hour later, in order to avoid the union rep who might show up during the session (since overdubbing wasn’t in the union’s vocabulary). 

So now , when people are looking for the original multi-tracks in order to make stereo, they don't understand that the very thing they are looking for may not exist in the form they think-of as multi-track.... and if it did, it wouldn't be in matched pairs of tracks. Crewe even challenged sixteen tracks with all the ‘chachkas’ he would add. In many cases, I mixed live stereo two tracks during the session...most however, were quick mix-downs upon playback to the orchestra.

You can be certain that Crewe never thought of releasing in stereo on the early stuff at all. It wasn't until he rushed in one day to do ‘Girl Watchers’ as a cover record that he asked me for stereo because it was a live large orchestra session with very few overdubs. "What Now My Love" with Mitch Ryder was done for stereo during that time period. Don't forget that only the large studios like RCA and Columbia had deep pockets for multi-track machines...and even then, Columbia’s first eight track recorder was built with four model 354 electronics and a 300 deck...see my photos of that machine on my photo disc. Smaller studios couldn't afford the cost.

We got the first sixteen track recorder at Mirasound only because we were going to use a 2" video deck with AG-350 electronics which we already owned. We then asked Ampex to make us 16 track heads for it. They came back, saying that since it was going to have the ‘name’ Ampex on it...they wanted to build it and lease it to us. They gave us a good deal and we could then afford to purchase it without all of our own work in building it. The rest is history. The day we received the unit at 10 am., I did the very first 16 track session of "With This Ring" by the Platters at 7pm with Luther Dixon producing". We believe that George's first recording with the Four Seasons was 'I've Got You Under My Skin' in Spring 1966. Amongst the first 16 track recordings we know have survived on multi-track was ‘Raven’ with the Four Seasons which was found in the FSP archive.

What we have now on vinyl and some CD releases is as good as it gets, it seems, but as a starting point I believed that we needed to collate all we knew re the groups recordings and to lead to a comprehensive library of masters in mono and stereo. That the Snapper Music Box Set did not achieve this is down to the Company and the Sound Engineer not engaging in the ‘quality control’ of those early albums on to CD for the set.

Maybe someone will contact me and give me confidence that they can utilize my DIGITAL ARCHIVE and we [but mainly future generations]will someday be able to share these ‘the recovered Masters’ with Full Frequency and Dynamic Range in mono and stereo from my quality review of all major album CD issues

[A Full Frequency visual representation from SPEK software with sound up to 20Khz]

……or will someone re-mix them with today’s AI technology to give us something like an acceptable NEW STEREO remix.?

The original vinyl in mint condition may sound best to ‘young’ ears today….if you can find it!!!

More in Part 2

Casey Chameleon

Studio Tales and NEW Masters - Easter 2025

So Frankie …..What happened to the MASTER Tapes?

 

Whilst the popularity of The Four Seasons in the UK was confirmed at my local collectors vinyl shop in Chester [Bookingham Palace – Vinyl Ritchie on Northgate Street] with a rack of some 25 Four Seasons albums on sale…….it is the lack of engagement with the fanbase that has led me to retire to my past research base. They say that social media can gather opinion and change things, but control to change things comes with power and in my area of interest it is the creation and preservation of Master Tracks. As Master Track Advisor on the Snapper Music Box Set I learned so much and combining that with past vinyl and CD release research as a sound engineer[albeit an amateur] with regard to the recordings of the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli I find there is still much to document in this new era in digital sound engineering. But after many decades trying there is no way of ‘turning’ Bob Gaudio who assumes control of the Four Seasons Partnership[FSP] in all access to the recorded music. [and continued fan dis-engagement]

 

Whilst the UK Fan Club web site [www.seasonally.co.uk] last updated in 2018 continues to be funded and supported by Rik Williams and Northbrook Consulting, I have retreated to this, my free blog and my ‘You Tube’ channel [Mowest Chameleon] and these will remain my only output along with my personal FB page.

 

Some ‘stories’ remain re the creation of the music in the 60s and 70s and that will continue to be my focus. And more special Digitally Extracted Re-mixes to correct poor STEREO Masters in the catalogue. If you are not an FB friend then ‘subscribe’ here to catch the articles.

 

Happy Easter 2025

 

Ken Charmer [and sound engineer Casey Chameleon’]

The Role of AI and The Four Seasons Masters

Many of you know I have been researching the Four Seasons[and Frankie Valli’s] library of STEREO Masters since the dawn of the ‘Digital Age’ when they started to be issued on CD. For the first time, sound engineers amongst the fan base, not employed by the FSP or Rhino could evaluate and manipulate the Masters.

 

As I maintained in 2009 the Record Industry [and artists] would see their income plummet as we built our collections on digital storage.

 

In that blog post I quoted a record industry exec….."We didn't understand what the unexpected consequences of moving into the digital domain would be," one record company executive candidly said. "We thought we were doing this great thing of improving the sound and being able to make perfect copies and all that, and we just did not understand that we had crossed a line that meant we could never go backward. That's the realization that is finally dawning on the record companies --- there's no turning back. As long as we were in the analog domain, we had an advantage in the marketplace, but now we don't. As soon as we made it possible for things to be transmitted over the Internet and for copies to be pretty good or perfect, we could never go back."

 

Well technology has enabled them to re-align their control and get back a fraction of the income they got from us when they sold us the STEREO MASTERS on CD in the 1980s and 90s. They have now launched the ‘streaming’ platforms and rented the tracks out to us. Who would have believed it back in the 1990s and who would have believed I could RE-MIX the Fours Seasons in 16 tracks/stems in 2025….never mind still be here!!!!!!

 

Since the Four Seasons Masters were all on analog tape, the Transfer and Mastering in digital format can result in varying quality which is why we[Stefan Wriedt and I] decided to track the ‘best masters’ in our CD Library which was to focus on the masters before Stefan’s untimely passing in 2015……..and even in the Snapper Music Box Set I was unable to control the Mastering ‘quality’. Only 70% of that set can be considered ‘good to excellent’ mastering but the tapes used from the 1960s are 30 years older and analog tape deteriorates over time. Fortunately I have been able to salvage the best surviving masters in a Digital Library of the whole FV/4 Seasons catalogue from other sources [released and unreleased approved by Bob Gaudio].

 

What we hear on the recordings of the Four Seasons is an ‘illusion’. “A recording is nothing until it is decoded and what it decodes is an illusion.” said Greg Milner in his book ‘Perfecting Sound Forever’. Frankie Valli could not have been able to sing in the backing vocals and as the lead vocal at the same time….but he often did, but thanks to multi-tracks he could. It is what was created and manipulated in the studio for the final mix…...which was intended to be MONO anyway……..BUT in the case of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons evidence indicates that the only existing separate recording of instruments and vocals is on the Motown Tapes. No others ‘multi-tracks’ exist so any present and future adjustment to their MASTERS is via extracted ‘stems’ as discrete elements in the STEREO MIX…..not an exact replacement for multi-tracks but an amazing level of separation is possible with AI. It has enabled us to have our own control of the MASTERS.

 

If you listen to Four Seasons STEREO tracks from 1962 to 1967 you will find most of the time the Four Seasons[backing vocals] are mixed way over in the right channel….separate from Frankie Valli. If you believe, as I do, that Bob Crewe’s intent was to have them together-centre stage in the semblance of a LIVE performance as he would ‘imagine’, then that is currently adysfunctional MIX. As the 60s recordings have that perceived perfection of instruments but not of the vocal, their ability to re-create this in LIVE performances was ‘irrelevant’ and ‘impossible’. It is for all artists and fans ‘a studio illusion’.

 

Today everything has changed with AI, but the FSP have not[or do not want to consider] that it has. Bob Gaudio rejected any ideas re Digitally Extracted STEREO[DES] in the Snapper Box Set.

 

Mixing via ‘stems’ is a new way of bringing music to a new level of STEREO sound from recordings that could not be mixed as today with 16, 24 track or more. I have tackled this by seeing what ‘ever evolving’ AI can do today[and this is just the current snapshot]. Most AI platforms offer a subscription service to upload MONO or STEREO channels and to derive up to 5 stems of vocals, backing vocals, bass, guitar, strings, keys etc. Here is how I have approached the subject with the best sounding intentions. The track below ‘Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby’ is a complex arrangement with a dominant bass and drum line and counter playing horns and sax.

 

If as in my case your aim is staying true to the character and intention of the original Bob Crewe ‘model’ then you have to respect that.[as on several tracks on the DAWN album] Denny Randell had a big input into the elements within this mix and at this time he was showing his unique ability to add a Motown-esque element to the sound. But moving the Fours Seasons backing to the centre in early/mid 1960s mixes leaves a hole in the STEREO MIX….so how do you fill that.

 

Firstly AI gave me 5 left and 5 right stems of instruments and vocals. I also re-analysed the left-over [other] elements back to get another 5 stems.

 

Big question !!!!!. How to Re-Mix the stems? What are you hearing below in my You Tube video is what is in the left and right channels of this NEW 2025 DES Enhanced Re-Mix

 

1. Using the 0-70% spread in either channel on Audacity I keep the drums and bass wide left as the original

2. The guitar pluck was originally placed mid-left…...I retain this to complement the above.

3. The piano starts after the first verses but holds the rhythm track throughout so I move this to the mid right but mix in both channels but predominantly right

4. I keep the horns and sax far right but double track them to get a fuller sound

5. I move the Seasons backing to double track left and right of Frankie Valli’s centered vocal

6. I blend some instruments across the channels to separate them to reinforce the arrangement via ‘spatial enhancement’ tools.

 

I started with 20 stems with 16 being main elements and the rest sub-sets.

 

The result seems to me a balanced interpretation of what Bob Crewe would have wanted if he had the tools available today. Much of this approach and interpretation has come from over 2 years of experimentation following 60 years of listening to such tracks.

 

If nothing else this may give an interpretation of what is possible and I personally am happy this represents the proposed mix that would have come out if the technology of the day would have made that possible. To me that is ‘responsible restoration’

 

Another part of the ‘Changing Sound Of The Four Seasons’, this track does not have Nick Massi on vocals but Charlie Calello doing those bass harmony parts plus the arranging and conducting as necessary.

 

Casey Chameleon

The ‘Song’ as a Project – Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

In the recent interview with Charlie Calello by Anthony and George, Charlie said that each song and each album ‘was a project, and when completed, we moved on’.

 

As a former Project Manager I relate to seeing all of the catalogue we assembled in my big 4 year project with Snapper Records as mini projects in themselves.

 

And that has always been my approach since working with my late friend and Sound Engineer Stefan Wriedt. As he taught me how to use software to eliminate imperfections in the surviving recordings, as we poured over each album and the tracks within.

 

As with all artist in the analog age, these were mini opera’s put together from multi-tracks recordings. At first from 4 track up to 16 track by 1967 and 20/24 track by the early 1970s. Ever more complex sound and quality. Listening to Charlie’s recollections in interview and studying the arranging and production skills of Bob Crewe and later Bob Gaudio we can see how arrangements went from simple manufactured ‘pop’, with few instruments, to huge mixes on 16 and 24 track with multiple guitars, strings and horns.

 

By 1966 that was beginning, and just when the sound was changing and expanding with such anthemic elements…..the Four Seasons sound became ‘lost’ as Frankie Valli focused on his solo successes. By a strange coincidence the same thing happened 10 years later.

 

The 1970s began with the awesome arrangement of ‘Love Isn’t Here[like it used to be],a superb lush and complex arrangement, and finished with ‘Soul/Heaven Above Me’. However the decades story of creative music remains incomplete with the missing tracks with many ‘projects’…….NOT available for us to analyse or understand.

 

The recent Motown Unreleased CD shows just how 16 track recording and top production, sound engineering, instrumentation and vocal backing were available at Motown. We can study each track as a project before ‘they’ moved on…….but even Andrew Lloyd Webber bemoans the way Record Companies ignored artists wishes re a project and cast them aside…...after all the artists would pick up the tab for the studio and production costs. And that was the policy at Motown.

 

Mowest and Motown in the early 1970s were a ‘mess’. In his book ‘To Be Loved’ Berry Gordy speaks of his relationship turmoil not just in his personal life but in the corporate world. He says of the period 1971 to 1975…...’what had worked for me in the past was working against me’…..’the executive chain of command was fuzzy’.” He sacked Barney Ales and had to give Stevie Wonder an ‘open book’ contract to keep him at his most creative. He literally could not cope with the film-making process [he and his people ‘had no experience’ he says] for ‘Lady Sings the Blues’ and ‘Mahogany’ plus Stevie Wonder's near fatal road accident added to his woes. His ‘intimate’ relationships with Chris Clark and Diana Ross [both before and after she married another man and had a child], make his comment that these were ‘confusing times’, very apt. What chance did MoWest Records in LA have have?. ‘Smokey [and other main artists] refused to move to California. He[Smokey] was scared stiff of earthquakes’ he says in his book. His life as he describes it was ‘emotionally hurting’ when he signed the Four Seasons in October 1971 just months after Diana Ross gave birth to a child that was his!! Diana acknowledged this and told her new husband. Their intimate relationship would resume and run through the films and the next few years.

 

And Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were in the middle of this chaotic company with Berry Gordy's 'maelstrom' throughout this period with few singles and albums but dozens of ‘canned’ recordings!!!!. Berry Gordy’s landmark mistake with the group was to choose ‘Walk On, Don’t Look Back’, instead of ‘The Night’ for US release in August 1972. His in-house team, ‘The Corporation’ were chosen to keep the writing/publishing royalties, rather than Bob Gaudio and Al Ruzika on 'The Night'. At the same time Frankie had serious hearing problems and Bob Gaudio and Brit had serious personal issues. The 4 Seasons had their own personal and group membership issues but still created great music 'projects' and by 1974 Frankie and Bob found new ‘partners’ and had assembled the best group line-up since the original group and a world wide resurgence followed by the mid decade. A lesson in resilience which shines through on CD 22 of the Snapper Box Set.

 

And so whilst we can enjoy the superb detail and constructs within the Motown Unreleased that ‘escaped’ in 2023, we can’t see the projects and understand fully the ‘experiments in artistic expression of the period because so much is still unreleased.

 

All we can do is keep a focus on the Rare and Unreleased tracks and enjoy their superb productions. Maybe someday someone will convince whoever will be the Four Seasons Partnership[or it’s successor] that a full analysis of how, despite Berry Gordy’s ‘chaos’,  Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe and the group were gonna come back through this period to achieve success.

 

New ‘projects’ awaited them. But not all would get finished or released.......

 

 

The Four Seasons and Copyright in 2025

Who said ‘art’ is not about ‘the money’ . See the answer at the end.

Paul McCartney was on BBC UK TV this am in an interview commenting on the dangers of AI and the need to protect artists from AI creation and exploitation for money, via subscription services. He maintains there are AI copies on the www of him singing ‘God Only Knows’ and he has never recorded it. Well that is not quite correct as he did perform it with Brian Wilson Live at Century Plaza Hotel, LA (September 18, 2002) and an audience recording is on You Tube.

 

A quick search shows that there are more than 2 companies actually selling AI voice generators of major artists including him.

They say of their services….it “provides voice transformation services to its users. Our service allows users to transform their voice into any voice of their choice, including celebrity voices, for speaking, singing and rapping purposes. You acknowledge that our voice transformation services are provided “as is” and “as available” We do not guarantee that our services will meet your requirements or that they will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free. You acknowledge that our voice transformation services are provided using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. Our AI vocals are only trained with legal material, but we do not take any liability for the produced samples. We make no warranties or representations regarding the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of our voice transformation services.”

 

Paul justifiably complains that whoever makes money this way is stealing it from the artists. He believes the next year will see an explosion of such exploitation as such companies grow the base of creative sound engineers. That is perhaps one of the justifiable complaints re the power of AI whilst it’s benefits don’t get much clear publicity, just claims of benefits we have yet to see in healthcare and government as well as the services sector.

 

This article reviews some of the roots of copyright re the Four Seasons Music and how we as music consumers stand today and some of the issues that the Four Seasons Partnership[FSP] may face now and in the future.

 

The FSP have always boasted in interviews re the fact that they own their own MASTERS, which is only partly true. They have the Vee-Jay MIXED MASTER copies from the ‘bankruptcy clause’ in their royalties case which they were handed in 1966. They fought and acquired their Philips MIXED MASTERS in 1973, but in neither case did they get the multi-track studio masters, which we believe no longer exist.

 

The subsequent MASTER SESSION and MIXED MASTER tapes at their Motown period in the 1970s are the earliest multi-track recordings of their work still in existence and as you all know many remain unreleased. Subsequent MASTERS are only known to exist in the LA Storage and these were used in the Snapper Music Box Set released in June 2023. That is fans ‘landmark’ release and in 70% of the content the reference Master location for their catalogue work. So what of the source base for AI use?

 

AI use in music has been growing for a few years now and the algorithms for extraction of vocals and instrumental music from past recordings have exponentially developed since 2020. Previously software needed skilled sound engineers to filter each element which can now be done in less than a minute. It still needs the skill of a mixing engineer to create a NEW MASTER. This particular process was used by enthusiasts to take MONO only recordings to create STEREO that could not be created to this extent with 3 and 4 track recording consoles and many mixing desks up to 1967. However whatever the result the copyright still remains with the original artist. So when is this AI process [which continues to become more advanced] become exploitation of the artists and musicians on the track.?

 

Well if as a ‘creator’ on the www, you have 1,000 subscribers. 4,000 hours of public watch time within a 12-month period or 10 million public YouTube ‘Shorts’ views within a 90-day period, on average, YouTube pays between $0.003 and $0.005 per view. For 1 million views, you can expect to earn between $3,000 and $5,000

 

As an example of how well the Beach Boys videos do this site gives a profile.

 

https://socialblade.com/youtube/user/beachboys

 

Thanks to Paul Urbahns I was able to find a similar analysis today of Frankie Valli which shows a huge difference in popularity.

https://socialblade.com/youtube/channel/UCriObxa7ZsImmXTIpTc8QxA?fbclid=IwY2xjawIEhBhleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYQNevejaSHVqIwD95KboUFxChXaXqZujPplEKvGgxR55wrl4MAPuRmO2Q_aem_TqZm3TvdWZ9g0lmwhpfM7g

Frankie Valli has his own You Tube page and his peak track has 8.8M views. By comparison the Beach Boys have a few tracks in the millions with ‘Good Vibrations’ appearing to be the peak at 12M. The effort put in to sell the Beach Boys sound to a new generation is really focused. But what we can see is the income is there. Taking such models and without analysing unofficial posts there is clearly a current earnings model in play via You Tube without considering the streaming platforms as a way to earn with little work by re-using existing MASTERS

 

So amateur sound engineers like me who post Digitally Extracted STEREO Re-Mixes of past tracks are being approved with copyright in place because the artist is getting an accumulation of views and thus earning from You Tube. That is why such posts don’t get ‘copyright strikes’. And as the FSP do not have to get[and pay] a professional engineer to correct a lot of the early to mid sixties tracks that are badly mixed[as that was just what was possible or easy back then] they are getting the new mixes for free and the collective income from the title. As a You Tube poster I have no commercial interest nor would I ever reach a level of post to monetize my YT channel.

 

BUT in the future….. will music creators use AI to imitate Frankie Valli’s voice and /or The Four Seasons?. That is a legitimate question as such creators may find a way to sell their creations. We will see whether new legislation coming in will prevent such exploitation.

 

Creating new Mixes for fun is a different matter and will continue with Frankie Valli earning from my or others efforts. I am not clear if any musicians will benefit but publishers may be already earning.?

 

The problem for music consumers [like us] is that it is only previously released music that benefits from copyrighted earnings and the cost of releasing past unreleased tracks has no incentives.

Lets look at my major area of interest and the UNRELEASED tracks at Motown Universal. Firstly the licensing from the owners of the recording will want a recovery up-front on release. Then there are the songs writers and publishing company who will need their share and we can see the approval process is so difficult. [particularly with inherited estates….e.g Bob Crewe’s] There are stories of long delays at Motown Universal re individual unreleased and even re-releases. Each release is a unique process.

 

We as fans cannot investigate it but perhaps such difficulties and legalities and costs may have limited the number of Motown Unreleased tracks included in the Snapper Music Box Set? Whilst we rightly complain that in the long-term these track will be good earners within the whole catalogue, the need for an initial payment to all involved is a consideration.

 

But perhaps I am making excuses as we had the failure to get ‘Killing Time’ included in the Box Set until the 11^th hour of our research…..and Bob Gaudio did not offer anything from his personal collection and he has admitted to songs recorded around 2000 and never released. Motown did move to get the unreleased tracks to Bob Gaudio for his ‘artist evaluation’ and Frankie Valli was involved. So I suspect [from Box Set credits] was Shannon Gaudio in the mixing which is different in some cases to the alternate mixes we found.

 

So AI is not the fans problem and we will consume and discuss whatever we hear either artificial or re-generated by AI enhancement of the original effort. Paul McCartney himself agreed that AI enabled Apple Corps to extract and enhance John Lennon’s vocal for the release last year of the nearly lost ‘Now and Then’. Julian Lennon recently commented on them revisiting ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ from the 1990s release due to the advances of technology to clean up the tracks. With their fan base a re-release is possible.

 

In the last year or two several DES Engineers have Extracted and Re-mixed all of the Beatles early albums in great NEW STEREO Mixes but there are NO PLANS from the FSP to do this and it is a big task for an amateur like me…….so I am focusing on selected tracks from 1965 and 66 which I did recently. Songs and productions that trace the ‘Changing Sound Of The Four Seasons’ like this one…

 

 

 

Casey Chameleon

 

PS…..Whether the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Catalogue contains real ‘Art’ is a whole different debate……..this man thinks…….in his case the artist needs to see beauty in their work.

https://trevoranzai.com/making-art-is-not-about-making-money/

Seasons Greetings!

Seasons Greetings once again.   

The UK Four Seasons Appreciation Society, George Ingram, Ray Nichol, Ken Charmer and myself wish you all a very happy Christmas and a happy, safe and peaceful New Year, remembering those no longer with us and cherishing those who are.  Sending love to all family and close friends of absent friends with thanks for the joy, love and the music they gave to us.

 

Frankie Valli to Receive Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award

Congratulations to Frankie who will be honored with a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.  He will be celebrated at an in invitation-only ceremony at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles on 1 February 2025 one day before the 2025 edition of the Grammy Awards.

USA Shows

To book tickets for Frankie's 2025 shows click here!

Snapper Box Set

Another year almost over and we were pleased to see the release of the long awaited Snapper Box set which of course includes the Christmas album!  We would like to thank everyone who made this possible.  The Box Set is strictly limited to 2,500 copies worldwide so if you have not yet ordered yours you can do so here here:

 

 

Majesty In A Manger

Exciting news from Robby Robinson - "Majesty In a Manger" - a song he co-wrote with the brilliant and super-talented Andrea Hammond, has just broken into the Top 10 Streaming Christian Charts on Hypeddit.  Robby said "Working on this piece was such a joy, and Andrea’s artistry truly brought the song to life. If you haven’t heard it yet, it’s part of our growing collection of Christmas music on Robby's Records.  Check it out and explore more holiday songs that will lift your spirits this season". 

 

Watch the official video here:

 

You can also dive into the full collection of Robby’s Christmas songs on YouTube, with "Majesty In A Manger" right at the top of the playlist:

Robby's CHRISTMAS SONGS - YouTube

 

 

 

Have a magical Christmas everyone and a wonderful New Year full of happiness and joy.

Lynn E Boleyn MBE

24 December 2024

 

The Future Is Wide Open – Four Seasons Research - End Of Year Report 2024

The question remains…...is this the end of the research or will there be more?

Whilst the year for many Four Seasons fans has been based on the excitement of the Snapper Music Box Set and us researching all but the Motown Tape Boxes, it remains difficult to establish how many copies have sold of the expensive 2500 limited edition 44 CD boxes. Some complimentary sets or resells may be appearing on E-bay and Amazon. But whilst that catalogue collection in the main contains superb arrangements, productions and vocals and the music ‘timeless’, many fans remain unhappy at the lack of ‘connection’ or dialogue with fans at and since release. But music consumption and access is rapidly changing.

 

In our FB group, when I published our STEREO Mix of Frankie Valli’s recording of ‘Natural Morning’ Paul Breines lamented the lack of releases and promotion of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. The lack of follow on to the Box Set or further track research is something I am continually highlighting given the limits of the Box Set research. I felt that nearly a year and a half since its release and over 4 years since the main research, this subject warranted a further in depth response hence this blog post

 

In response Rick Ellis had commented that ……...”my sense from watching things is that The Partnership has a very different approach to the Four Seasons legacy than the various Beach Boys had to theirs. It's not that Valli and Gaudio don't really appreciate the legacy of the group. But for a variety of reasons, the "group" is less important to both of them at this point. They are ambivalent about focusing on it. You also haven't seen any of the obvious things, such as a "newer artists cover Four Seasons songs" tribute album.”

 

This is at a time when You Tube is awash with revisiting the music and videos of 1960s and 70s groups tracing their history in detail with new Digitally Extracted STEREO versions re working those mixes originally designed for MONO and now demanded in modern STEREO. So one thing is clear…...the music of the 1960s and 70s is alive and kicking.

 

As someone who has probably spent more hours than anyone researching the ‘legacy’ of the group and Frankie Valli’s career as a hobby [and particularly in my last 20 years of retirement] I can see a ‘variety of reasons’ why the FSP currently are feeling such lack of clarity….which probably includes age, health and family and estate issues[as we get older such things will dominate our lives to some extent]. And finding a financial partner to manage your ‘legacy’ as artists and songwriters/producers in this day and age can either be to ‘hand it all over’ or stay in some level of control and decision making. It wont be easy. Their ‘Strategic Partnership’ for 10 years in 2020 with Primary Wave has not produced any telling results as that company had no involvement in the Snapper Music Box Set. But they may be stuck with it and their deal with Rhino.

 

Another sad fact of our times is that Dan Crewe has never opened up on Bob Crewe’s own library which I know Crewe Studios compiled some 15 years ago on Pro-tools. In fact the web-site created after the publication of Bob Crewe’s artwork has disappeared. Dan has only ever pushed the artwork book from Crewe Studios and approved the vinyl sourced ACE UK CD which I co-produced a couple of years ago [see this link]

 

As we can all see in retrospect, signing up to the Box Set was an easy choice for Bob and Frankie. The financial model worked and a committed fan base made it the best release of all time for them. Whilst it suffered the sad loss of its producer Bob Fisher and as a result suffered some later production ‘quality issues’, it remains a great achievement.

 

But watching documentaries by both the Beach Boys and The Beatles you can see that whilst both of these well loved groups have a totally different background and time-line, the Four Seasons are only ‘connected’ almost totally through Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio as original members and neither can support or contribute to a documentary at this stage in their lives..as a result they never have committed to such a thing [c/f compare the message in ‘COMMITMENT’ on the ‘Streetfighter’ album….which was all we ever asked for from them!!] and they chose ‘Jersey Boys’ as their legacy vehicle in so many ways and by today have probably personallyforgotten so much and ‘not opened up’ on ‘the rest’. Notwithstanding what was said about Jersey Boys being ‘warts and all’ it remains to me ‘an historical distortion’….laced with ‘cover versions’ of their many great songs. But great entertainment…...if you love the songs.

 

But whilst my first thought on this blog [as during the Snapper Box Set project] was to just accept the lack of contact by the FSP with Bob Fisher and I [as the ‘fan group’s’ representative] and given the past history of lack of ‘connection’!!!! ……..…...close collaboration was not something we really expected. But to get NO collaboration or feedback re the Motown UNRELEASED [that WE were entirely responsible for ‘sourcing’ via our research] was and remains unforgivable. The lack of honesty and dialogue over the years has been heavily criticised by many longstanding fans and no-one within the FSP has ever supported the remains of the 1970s fan clubs, now amongst the Facebook speciality groups we have implemented. Somuch disenchantment towards the FSP remains with many fans, but not with me. I am past their ‘elitism’. I believe in freedom of choice for all. I had the FSP lawyer tell me that “One Man’ was not a recording by the Four Seasons???…..then he offered a ‘bribe’ to make the fan club ‘official’ provided we did not to speak to any former Four Seasons!!!!. And sent a ‘cease and desist’ notice to take down our first web site and domain name a year later to add insult to injury. As one dedicated fan since the 60s has told me the bond with fans has never really existed….or been respected. That is just life now.

 

Anthony Colatrella said in response to the FSP being ‘ambivalent’…..”to say Bob and Frankie are ‘ambivalent’ about the legacy of the group - I’d say that is an understatement! UNCONCERNED, INDIFFERENT, or APATHETIC are probably more suitable adjectives based on their actions dating back even to the 1970’s- starting with their total deception concerning the Motown unreleased which they shamelessly perpetuated [by denial] for years right up to 2019, then still in the 1970s continuing with the selfish(and disastrous)disbanding of the “NEW” 4Seasons, the worst mistake of their career, and following up with their rather uncaring mistreatment of both the extremely supportive US and UK(especially the UK) fan clubs. This attitude has continued right up to the present time with their inexplicable lack of support [or promotion] of the Snapper Box Set, a collection specifically assembled to advance their ‘legacy’ and which has been universally hailed by fans and music reviewers.….but accompanied by a failing somehow to generate much response from themselves [or their own archives which we know exist], or any feedback!! Bob Gaudio sought fit to mix/approve only 13 of the Motown Previously Unreleased from 16 track session tapes fans had identified, to create probably the most prized CD of the set, and for which others had worked so hard to uncover (against all odds- including obstacles from Bob Gaudio himself!), and it seems he even now persists in remaining deaf to the most loyal of fans calling for more of the unreleased - what purpose is served by this chilly disregard?—certainly NOT THEIR LEGACY!!!!”

 

The FSP clearly also don't see The Four Seasons as a ‘brand’[with Frankie Valli] …...as it is to us fans …….because in reality it is not like they were a ‘close-knit’ group as in The Beatles or the Beach Boys. It has always been Frankie Valli that was 'the voice'....and 'the sound' during the 60s with him and the Seasons harmonies. But later in the 70s they were happy to launch the concept of the Four Seasons as a ‘rock-band’ when Mike Curb wanted to sign them in 1975 with a view to separate identities. That whole concept was a ‘con’ during those ‘halcyon days’ and it would unwind to damage any hope of a 'new group' as the then best 'collective' set of musicians they had ever had were unceremoniously 'sacked'. John Paiva’s stunned reaction to thinking he was part of a ‘family’ in his biography speaks volumes. It was a decision soon regretted by Frankie Valli [as his solo career fell flat by 1979 and musical director Lee Shapiro left having been retained from the ‘sacked’ band]…...but it was a decision we as fans never recovered from [nor truly forgave as can be seen in Anthony’s quote] and with 50 years of suppression of the Motown UNRELEASED [apparent from the late 1990s] that feeling, I recognise, remains.

 

It is and has all been unnecessary, as the Box Set illustrates with the superb quality of all of the selected finds in the archive…... taken from the material recorded and released and discovered from that period.[so far]

 

Whilst the voice of Frankie Valli has survived and the box set shows his catalogue is under-rated, there is perhaps good reason for ambivalence by the FSP as they have made their mega-money from 'Jersey Boys'. Their always short-term and financially focused view has shown their priorities and disrespect for fans…...a lack of concert visits to the UK in the 1980s…...perhaps due to terrorist threats which may be an excuse….but only 2 UK Tours in the early 1990s until 2012??.

 

Whilst we as fans may hang onto the Box Set's importance due, in large part, to the 'previously unreleased' content.[contributed to and discovered in our partial tape access and research] The record companies do not see a market for the ‘unreleased’ whereas Beach Boys and Beatles fans have mass followers and a string of Collectors Box Set releases. In reality the music owners[FSP and Universal Motown] do not care enough [or are unable to respond?] to invest in more research and potential release. There is no viable long-term physical media sales income model left for them….all killed by the convenience of streaming.

 

So when you couple such ‘ambivalence’ with the profit focus of Record Companies on 'ONLY VINYL RELEASES' which is where the music business/record companies are stuck at the moment, the true area for the MUSIC [and collecting] is NOW on You Tube and that is where a fan group can create a ‘collective’. Our speciality Unreleased group on FB has focused entirely on rare and un-released tracks, including NEW Mixes of MONO or corrected ‘ping-pong’ STEREO versions updated via AI. I have created and published over 70 You Tube music videos of rare or unreleased tracks over the last year and the two volumes of Out-Takes from the Box Set are out there and notably without a single ‘strike’ over copyright breach. Every track was unique and collectible and can be downloaded or enjoyed in playlists. All, I maintain, as ‘fair use’ under You Tube guidelines. These and the podcasts attract at most 600 views in a year which is perhaps evidence of the lack of the group’s connection…. or PR with the fans.

 

Many fans are telling me that the FSP missed the boat on their 60^th Anniversary of ‘Sherry’ and we fondly remember when times were very different as they celebrated their 25^th Anniversary with both vinyl and CD Re-masters for the first time due to great work by Bill Inglot delving into the Safety Copy Masters[no original Session Masters appear to have survived except for the Motown Masters]. BUT that was BEFORE ‘Jersey Boys’ and the rise of vinyl and ‘streaming’[of incomplete catalogues of songs] Whilst the FSP have sold the vinyl and digital masters to us for many decades, we have paid for them many times over in cash plus given them free promotion/PR re concerts....especially in the UK with Lynn Boleyn's compassionate efforts on past tours to help the fans see the concerts, we still want the rest of the music.

 

We follow a group that weren’t The Beatles………... Michael Harrington correctly said ….”Brian Epstein said, "The Beatles will be bigger than Elvis.", and "The children of the 21st century will be listening to the Beatles." He was right about both. They pushed the boundaries of live concerts, studio recording, and how albums could be a complete piece of art. Over 60 years later their music is still being listened to, analysed, and revered around the world. We will never see anything like the Beatles again.” NOW all of their early albums are available in TRUE STEREO through FB and other fan based social media forums so small ‘fandom’ groups are creating the current music and video we want to watch.

 

Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe and Charlie Calello have indicated that whilst ‘Dawn’ was a brief statement in response to the 1964 Beatles take-over of the US Charts[and the teen girl population] they ‘did their own thing’ and the ebbs and flows of the Four Seasons through the 60s and 70s is a story of great resilience and creativity. And much is down to the UK fans. As Brian Brigham recently said UK audiences are ‘special’…..”and you had to be there to realise that”, he said. We in the UK found a responsive level and kept it as fans …….being a small country enabled us to be ‘united’ and expressive. The success there of ‘You’re Ready Now’ [1970] and ‘The Night’[1975] proved that and we showed it at LIVE shows since and in a surviving ‘fan club’ web site.

 

Although we have collected and curated the salvaged MASTERS to achieve the best ‘sound’ and included rare and previously unreleased in our UK Digital Library, I now still have plans for the music we curated and will hope more will turn up and be donated to our non-commercial interests.

 

Today there are not enough followers of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons on You Tube but NEW younger ones are surfacing, so gathering all in a true ‘collectors’ group is an aim…...as one recent new You Tube subscriber [LouLoudia11] says of the groups work …...”Frankie Valli. He was blessed with an inimitable voice and has always subtly adjusted to changing times. The man is a survivor and a musical genius. No other group has ever sounded like Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons; their individual sound emerged no matter what era was shaping them. Think about it. They have always had a singular sound mostly because of Frankie Valli's voice. He is the linchpin of this celebrated musical group. It probably does not need to be mentioned, but there are so few groups that belong in the rock and roll pantheon that had a sound all their own and could not be mistaken for another group. Among them: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys. You get the idea. Frankie and all the Seasons (from the beginning) as well as all the band members from the group's inception should be beaming with pride for hanging in this long while remaining relevant and delightfully entertaining. Frankie is one of a kind”

 

So clearly after our failed ‘reaching out’ attempts by network members through social media and e-mail contacts, we have realised that whilst there are new and dedicated fans emerging none of Frankie Valli’s or Bob Gaudio’s family are ‘able’ or interested in the legacy in the ways we are [through all elements of their previously unreleased efforts]. Both Bob and Frankie are and have been meticulous over ‘working vocals’ and early productions of tracks or partly completed work - not being ‘up to their standards’ – so they can sit on material we know they have [and we would argue – they are over cautious in sharing such efforts] The story is clear that they have denied or mis-informed fans over many decades re tracks finally unearthed in the Snapper Box Set and remaining at Universal Motown. That project left them with no choice. They knew we had proved the music existed and that what we had we would make available somehow.!!!

 

They can have their way for now. We know our path.

 

As Tom Petty once sang...’the future is wide open’

[‘In To The Great Wide Open’ - 1991]

[Well it is in the UK and Spain!!]

 

We remain….’rebels with just one choice’…...complain!!!!! till someone listens.

 

During the next year we will consider the context of the music gems of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons in each decade and comment on their ‘fit’ with music listeners and collectors using the tracks of the Box Set and NEW DES mixes to correct or improve STEREO masters from our library and beyond.

 

Below a link to just one of our BEST UNRELEASED salvages from MONO vinyl.[It wasn’t in their Storage Vault of supposedly – all of their tracks!! in either MONO or STEREO] Now it is on You Tube in AI created Digitally Extracted STEREO for the first time. A time to move on….and to create more with new fans. The story goes on. You Tube rules……..

 

Best wishes to readers for Christmas 2024. No matter how few you are…..you know what we both like if you have read this far. Happy Christmas from Torrevieja Spain.

Ken Charmer – Sound Engineer and Music Historian/Curator of a PRIVATE Four Season Motown and Unreleased International Collectors Group @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1049892628364291

December 2024

 

Dawn / Rag Doll - Four Seasons NEW DES Re-Mixes Digital Archive set

BOB CREWE’s intent as has been said…... back in the early 60s….. was always MONO[until the album 'Dawn' and his experience of 8 Track recording with Tom Dowd]. And as they were a 45 group Bob designed the vocal arrangements with Nick Massi/Bob Gaudio and the group for a close ‘open harmony’ mix and Charlie Calello has discussed this recently with us on podcast [and in his book ‘Another Season’.]

 

Apart from the Christmas Album which is ‘centered vocals’ with orchestra spread, [in STEREO] the Engineers at Vee-Jay and Philips were left to mix the STEREO album mixes from 3/4 track multi’s. Hence in most cases WIDE [ping-pong] STEREO with vocals of the group[together with Frankie on backing vocals] mixed on one track...way out right channel…with Frankie’s lead vocal centered….that is up until to 1967 [with notable exceptions] and the advent of 16 track recording consoles at Mirasound and beyond.

 

These early 60s multi-track tapes as Charlie Calello says were designed ‘purely for MONO’. To be mixed down and issued as 45s or MONO albums. STEREO was to all intents an afterthought and a ‘sales’ novelty sound. The CD age gave us the albums mixed to STEREO as the Engineer’s had deemed appropriate [largely unsupervised] and we have hardly ever had the TRUE MONO mixes until now on the Snapper Box Set. Mixing to STEREO back then was demanding for recording on mainly 4 track consoles and so what we got on 'Dawn' was a surprise....but entirely inconsistent.

 

HOWEVER this became the first return appearance of ‘centered vocals’ with instruments spread on teir STEREO albums...this is as it was released in STEREO.

 

DISC 6 DAWN GO AWAY & 11 OTHERS MONO/STEREO

Philips PHM200124/PHS600124 No.6 [3/64]

STEREO –

Big Man’s World E-31103 [EnhancedMONO/Pseudo STEREO]

You Send Me 2-31104 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

The Mountain’s High 2-31105 [Centered Vocals -Wide Instruments in each Channel]

Life Is But A Dream 2-31106 [Centered Vocals -Wide Instruments in each Channel]

Church Bells May Ring 2-31107 [Centered Vocals - Wide Instruments in each Channel]

Dawn(Go Away) E-30926 [EnhancedMONO/Pseudo STEREO]

Only Yesterday E-31108[EnhancedMONO/Pseudo STEREO]

Sixteen Candles 2-31109 [Centered Vocals - Wide Instruments in each Channel]

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do 2-31110 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

Earth Angel 2-31111 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

Don’t Let Go 2-31112 [Centered Vocals - Wide Instruments in each Channel]

Do You Wanna Dance 2-31113 [Centered Vocals - Wide Instruments in each Channel]

‘Rag Doll’ followed but with only one centered mix.

 

DISC 7 RAG DOLL MONO/STEREO

Philips PHM/S200146/PHS600146 No. 7 [7/64]

STEREO -

Save It For Me 2-32842 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

The Touch Of You 2-32843 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

Danger 2-32844 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

Marcie 2-32845 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

No-One Cares 2-32846 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

Rag Doll 2-32689 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

An Angel Cried 2-32847 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

Funny Face 2-32848 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

Huggin’ My Pillow 2-32849 [EnhancedMONO/Pseudo STEREO]

The Setting Sun 2-32850 [Separated Vocals Wide Stereo]

Ronnie 2-31178 [EnhancedMONO/Pseudo STEREO]

On Broadway Tonight 2-32851 [Centered Vocals - Wide Instruments in each Channel]

It is true that Bob Crewe would eventually return to mixing ALL group mixes to ‘centered vocals’ from 1967 when at Mirasound Studio on 16 track Ampex desks and he rescued some mixes in this form from past multi’s for the Edizione D’Oro Set in 1968.

Frankie’s unique blend with the group was always the way Crewe wanted them and the job of fixing the past STEREO Masters is long overdue given the power of DES. The failure to match the 1990s BEST CDs in the Snapper Box Set was disapointing with poor Dynamic Range and excessive bass added. I wanted to create mixes at least complement these facts with backing vocals alongside Frankie Valli. My late friend and German sound engineer had managed to attempt to salvage the BEST MASTERS available and transferred the ACE CD DAWN/RAG DOLL 2fer via DSD at 1 bit.

Taking this all a step further with AI technology and the power to separate mixes to create new multi-tracks became my ambition in 2022 and it took me a year to learn and create something that would at least demonstrate what could be possible. So I have personally using a PCM transfer from this DSD copy extracted either 4/5 stems from each STEREO channel or created 4/5 stems from the MONO only tracks. Re-mixing was done with Audacity and re-Mastering in Wavelab Elements and all of the above listed album mixes has been done to create the most balanced set of STEREO Mixes for the Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society MASTERS LIBRARY. Trying all the time to be faithful to Bob Crewe’s intent for the group in STEREO, as the 7 Mixes listed above from the original STEREO albums

I have put that Volume in my Mega storage and as the BSN Music specialist group is closing I am sharing this with you guys now. I had no wishes for a commercial release particularly as Bob Gaudio, Frankie Valli and Bill Inglot have no interest in AI creations even though they do in my opinion capture the group as they should have sounded in STEREO….but to each their own.

Hear are two examples of this set

 

 

 

 

 

I may find a way to share the full CD Set[with Bonus Tracks] someplace. The cover is below.

https://mega.nz/file/4uFEGayC#eMplAS8lMiXCzv1Pcp_LvqZ8LFWiMaSVC0kFK6Zbsa8

Other albums from the best album CDs of the 1990s such as the Vee-Jay Masters preserved as well as the other Philips albums up to NEW GOLD HITS need this treatment to the consistency of Charlie Calello’s balanced instrumentation with vocals together in a ‘center stage’ vocal harmony.

I am lacking any motivation to tackle these in this way and the closure of Both Sides Now STEREO Forum has only compounding that…..but it has been good being there and there may be ways to continue to discuss and share great ‘harmony’ based Digital Extraction Re-Mixes from the past catalogues.

Casey Chameleon

PS...I have updated my notes to reflect the US spelling but both 'centre and 'center' mean the same thing.......SINGERS TOGETHER!!!

Back In Action – The Future For a ‘Four Seasons’ CD Revival

It started in 1997 with this track…...and it isn’t going away.

 

Back in 2009 I observed in one of my blogs re The Four Seasons catalogue…….”To truly enjoy the music you need good masters and after over 160 plus re-issues [on CD] of the original vinyl material since 1987, it seems that the Partnership may have literally ‘lost’ their masters……to us!!

One record company executive candidly said."We didn't understand what the unexpected consequences of moving into the digital domain [CDs]would be. We thought we were doing this great thing of improving the sound and being able to make perfect copies and all that, and we just did not understand that we had crossed a line that meant we could never go backward. That's the realization that is finally dawning on the record companies --- there's no turning back. As long as we were in the analog domain, we had an advantage in the marketplace, but now we don't. As soon as we made it possible for things to be transmitted over the Internet and for copies to be pretty good or perfect, we could never go back."

So consider that maybe they have given us the masters by the multitude of releases on CD. All we have to do is identify the best mixes and you can gather them. The Four Seasons Sound Archive is perhaps how we (the fans) will take control of the music. The CD evaluations we have started will enable any of us to identify the best ‘masters’ on CD and to build our own ‘best of’ collections from past releases..

So I asked…….is there a genuine ‘master’ of the Four Seasons recordings?…

“Perhaps the best we can hope for is to see if amongst the vinyl and CD versions of the Seasons tracks we can find ‘the illusion’ that Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio tried to create.?”

In the last 2 years I and others have shown what is possible with new technology .

The centered vocals being created today with AI are as originally intended recordings [the ‘Dawn’ centered STEREO mixes from 1964] and as Bob Crewe might have done them if given the technology of today but…One commentator said back in the 1990s…...“A recording is nothing until it is decoded and what it decodes is an illusion.””. This is no illusion. PURE SEASONS……….PURE STEREO. I created this with AI and it it sounds great to me!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pJI1N1fRms

Well since the 1980s I believe I have found the best surviving masters in much of the catalogue of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons ……..from the beginning of their CD album releases and clearly now from the latest release of the Snapper Music Box Set…….But in that Box Set those 1960s tape transfers for the CD’s have not been found to be good on Dynamic Range to me and are not preserved by Snapper as they should have been [and therefore the FSP] in good clear sound. The 1990s transfers are better!!!!!

But what we have had on CD from 1967 on in the Snapper Box Set in the original 16 and 24 track Tapes [surviving as ‘Safety Copies’] is very good as I have sound reviewed all of it. And the BONUS TRACKS many of which we supplied from vinyl and cassette tape have been well salvaged.

Record Companies today know we now own the Masters given all of the CD releases of the CD era from 1987 to around 2010, [having paid for them over and over again] and today in the Snapper Box Set we have all of the hundreds of Bonus Tracks. For fans using the internet as a network there are a large number of ‘file sharing’ web sites that seem to allow for music to be seen as ‘free’ amongst ‘friends’ and many unheard and unreleased tracks have been gifted to me and others by fans who can share very easily. For me they have enabled me to build and add to the DIGITAL MASTERS ARCHIVE….thanks to today’s technology. social media and You Tube.

But most music listeners love to collect music and will still pay for a CD if the content and related support information involves top quality research re sessions and recordings and new ‘previously unreleased’ or rare recordings. And the easiest ways to collect Masters by me [or any] fans is on Solid State Discs[SSD] or CD’s and those of us who have bought the ‘massive’ Snapper Box Set know how much fun that set is with great design and great artwork/pic sleeves and memorabilia images…….and so easily stored if transferred on to SSD.

This You Tube video makes the case as to why the CD REVIVAL is inevitable. This is part of the reason. Previously never surviving in STEREO...until now.

 

These examples show there is a market for CDs from teens to older fans. Either second hand from the 80s and 90s or new releases. This makes it surprising that no follow up releases are being planned or considered by the FSP or Record Companies from the Snapper Box Set in this CD format but as cheaper ‘collectibles’. Not many people will buy vinyl at the ridiculous prices being charged. CD’s are so cheap to produce…...they just need the research notes and quality packaging.

 

Firstly ‘Social media’ provides for ‘the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.’

 

By focusing the interest of really dedicated Frankie Valli/Four Seasons fan collectors I believe we are creating not just a focus group but a range of collectors in all age groups…...and the key is the link to the biggest music listening service in the World – You Tube. So as someone interested in master tracks and sound quality I am focusing away from other FB fan groups of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and staying as the Four Seasons Motown Unreleased and Rare Tracks public group. A specialist group wanting to hear and enjoy all variations of the groups work over the decades. That is what the Snapper Box Set was about…..every decade and the delving down into the Archives.

 

I am simply reducing the dilution of general multiple fandom sites to focus on the most knowledgeable/interested readers and collector listeners of the music, who use it every day for their personal well being through their playlists and CD players. Yes we all love many other groups and artists but in the decades of music we as fans or collectors know…..The era of LIVE concerts are gone for Frankie Valli [whilst great for the likes of Taylor Swift or Oasis!!] and it is just about what we have…...on CD or in digital collections that help hold our mental health together.

 

To me it is as simple as that and whatever the key songs are, for you individually, or the times in your life when ‘the music got you through’…..we are all still here….Alive and Listening…..and everything I found in the Snapper Project research is a gem that I thought YOU might love as Bob Fisher and I did…….every decade since ‘Sherry’ was important in that compilation - It was apparent to me through to Disc 37 [when Bob and Frankie arguably ‘lost their way’]…….It was the late 1990s by then and the focus was shifting and no new music and only the Dance Remixes had held any music buyers attention by 1994/5……..so they moved on and created Jersey Boys ….once again by luck and timing [as Bob Gaudio has often stated]…...and a way of tapping in to our ‘conscious and subconscious’ memories of younger days……. A reconnection through a drama laced with many fave songs…….lots of fiction and into a huge ‘money-making’ project. More than ever before for the songwriters writers and original artist [i.e.Frankie Valli]. It was so big that the FSP could largely ignore the original fan base[and the unreleased tracks being uncovered]……..until a chance came to re-vive the fading income [from future ‘Gens’] after the stage shows closed….via a ‘legacy’ Collection Box Set…..re-selling the hits……..but then the FSP had to deliver something EXTRA….it was POST Jersey Boys and we had a chance to influence that. And we did.

 

That was when we in the fan base got lucky and got our chance. Maybe at a steep price for the final product for the primary collectors, but it came with ‘control’. At the end of the day and despite Covid delays…...we got 830+ tracks approved and issued with over 270 rare or previously unreleased. The UK Fan Group (network) contributed 82 of these alone. The FSP may think they OWN the ‘Catalogue’ but we achieved one thing and we have it…..and a lot more. Over 250 tracks we otherwise wouldn’t have. And there are at least 80 more tracks in our OUT-TAKES Folders.

 

Snapper knew that the gems in the set would be quickly shared as a result of Cloud sharing sites like WeTransfer and You Tube...so a high price and a low break even became the target for Snapper Music. That is my opinion of their approach.

 

But in accepting a major role in supporting the project, we [the fans] got what we wanted. Whilst we can’t get any more from the FSP and Universal Motown [at the moment] we can hold and use and share what we have wanted since the 1970s…….from the days of sharing cassette tapes of little known 45s…...we have it all digitally and can share and enjoy all of it.

 

Today I have called for the voices of the dedicated collectors [and ‘enjoyers’ of Frankie Valli’s vocal] to focus on the one FB group . I want this group to write about their true feelings about tracks and performances that have shaped our lives and the ‘Rare and Unreleased’ we have uncovered as never before. There are still tracks to be salvaged and released in well packaged CD mini box sets. Here are some examples we want…’The Early Years RARITIES and LIVE Tracks’….’The MONO 45s 1961-1970’....’I’m Gonna Change’ – The End of the Philips Era….‘…...plus ‘The Motown Sessions 1971 to 1973’…..all in high Dynamic Range Mastering.

 

We are seeing bootleg releases of TV show performances appearing as CD releases at the moment.

 

The CD revival will come via all of the above reasons if sellers will ‘package’ the media for the interest on social media with great collectors notes and artwork, label scans, session and recording data as well as alternative takes. Robust cardboard and plastic packaging will replace the old ‘crystal’ cases and the collection will be like a ‘Book’ that you consume as you listen.

 

For Four Seasons fans who really love this music …and bought the Snapper BOX SET...you have it all ‘plus’ the NEW MIXES[as much as could be found in the project timescale]…if you could afford up to $440 !!!!….but for those many who cannot afford that and have had to rely on You Tube there are uploads to hear the Bonus Tracks not previously available.....the ‘Out-Takes’ have been and are coming. There is much to celebrate….and hear. But eventually a distributor will come up with a package and price that suits the fans we all are ….BUT ON CD.

 

Thanks to the advent of CD we are in control of the WHOLE catalogue…as I started with…....but that format is NOT OVER. Well [we need what Bob Gaudio held back from his own and the Motown Tapes]more than 85% of it is there if you could afford the Snapper Set. But there is more with Bob Gaudio. Frankie Valli and Motown Universal and essential historic research to be done both in the FSP storage and the Motown vaults.

 

What we need now is mixed packages that tell stories with unreleased and missed opportunities and alternative released versions. The FSP and the Record Companies know I am right and cannot make any more money out of us unless they listen and design with us what we want and need and we will pay a reasonable amount especially if designed with us and our Facebook and You Tube subscribers. Rhino and the FSP may have ‘streaming’….but those with any sense…..already have the ‘music files’. Are the earnings from streaming enough for Rhino and the FSP? But it is past “being about ‘the money’…….it is THE LEGACY”…...There may not be many of us but we can be united around what has been achieved and get someone to realise that a CD revival is possible.

 

Ken Charmer – Sound Engineer and Music Historian/Curator

THE PRODUCERS and Frankie Valli at Motown – Part One – Michael Masser

 

In chasing the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Motown UNRELEASED tracks for over 25 years I have realised that partly as a result of a great songwriter/producers careers we can see how other producers worked their talents with him and we can now see it through his 3 year career started with at MoWest. The real focus of this series of posts will be how they and not Berry Gordy sought to find a hit for him, as has become apparent since the release of Disc 22 in the Snapper Music Box Set released last June.

 

In late 1972 Frankie Valli was looking for a HIT song and a new producer got a chance to do some sessions with Frankie using his own or co-written songs

 

Michael Masser, was a songwriter of the highest quality, though he was not quite a household name like Burt Bacharach or Lennon and McCartney. His speciality was the romantic ballad, typically featuring lush string arrangements and epic climaxes and his creations were recorded by many popular music greats

He first came to fame with the number one smash hit "Touch Me In the Morning" that he wrote and produced for Diana Ross in 1973. He followed that with the chart topping "Theme from 'Mahogany' (Do You Know Where You're Going To?)" and along with lyricist Gerry Goffin received an Oscar nomination for best Original Song.

In a musical career stretching from the 1970s to the 1990s, Masser enjoyed his greatest period of sustained commercial success through his work with Whitney Houston. But he had originally planned a different career altogether. He was born in Chicago and, after graduating from the University of Illinois School of Law, he earned a comfortable living as a theatrical agent and stockbroker in New York, before deciding it was not the life he wanted. He later claimed: “I left an office at the top of the Pan Am building, a nine-room apartment and a farm in Vermont because I was aching inside.”

 

Masser [surprisingly like Bob Crewe] couldn’t read music but saw himself as a songwriter in the Great American Songbook tradition, and received some expert guidance from the great lyricist Johnny Mercer in the early 70s. “The biggest thing I got from Johnny was ‘don’t rush a song’,” Masser told the Desert Sun newspaper. “And the thing I ran up against was everybody wanted a song so fast. It took me two years to finish Touch Me In The Morning.”

 

What we heard in the Snapper Box Set Disc 22 are 2 amazing productions which given the above comments makes you wonder…...how did he get such lush arrangements on these songs. And to fully realise this quality I have posted and included above the instrumental version of ‘After You’ on You Tube. And the one with Frankie's vocal below. The ‘ache’ that this song deserves belongs to Frankie’s vocal. But who is responsible for this amazing lush arrangement now, as you can hear on You Tube  in this my  Immersive Mix that matches  Disc 22 ?

 

Frankie’s heart-aching vocal really makes the song his own and it seem ridiculous that this version was overlooked and an [IMHO] inferior version by Diana Ross[with a different arrangement] became the preferred release. Lee Holdridge was the credited arranger for that and Michael Masser re-wrote the lyric to fit Diana’s vocal.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iRUqQZoVhM&t=164s

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi5Eu6WpieE&list=PLq7fGH03l_vL7ffXkyCoh8nQHqh5JtHfe&index=7

 

This was an unexpected find on the Master Tapes as no P Tape was listed for it although it was always on the LIST of songs Frankie had done at Motown. Obviously when discovered by Bob Gaudio and Frankie, it had to be released. They both knew and recognised the sheer quality having seen his subsequent success.

 

Two other tracks were listed from these sessions and again ‘Minute By Minute[Day By Day]’ is in contrast a joyful and uplifting but equally lush and string driven production. This was listed but its location was unknown.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1E3tqaYOy4&list=PLq7fGH03l_vL7ffXkyCoh8nQHqh5JtHfe&index=6

 

Written by Michael Masser and Kathy Wakefield this is a Michael Masser production with [as listed] Frankie Valli as co-producer [a rare role for him] . Michael also is listed to have recorded ‘I Can Get Away From You, But I Can’t Get Over You’ with Frankie but that remains unreleased although most certainly exists and is known to Bob and Frankie. The version that was released was on VIP and by ‘Tony and Carolyn’ from 1971. You can hear it below

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMpvJInq3fc

 

Michael Masser also co-wrote with Kathy and Four Season Al Ruzika and produced 'Last Time I Saw Him' by Diana Ross around this 1972 period, [and maybe a version with Frankie? As the tapes need checking ] before going on to have a stellar career. A musical cultural definition in this song.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYzlVDlE72w

 

 

Aren’t we lucky?..... now to hear after so many decades and sadly….. Michaels passing in 2015...... such great productions. Just one of the great producers who tried to help Frankie at Motown…….for what should have been a VALLI AT MOTOWN – Solo Album.

 

Ken Charmer – Master Track Adviser and Music Historian

Tape and Hard Disc Failure - From the Analogue to Digital Era’s

The Four Seasons Partnership don’t seem to have invested consistently in their Back Catalogue and another story has come to light which may make them have ‘Second Thoughts’ about this. The question I have asked since 2006 has been ‘Are The Masters ‘preserved’?’

 

Back in 2006, my now late Friend Stefan Wriedt [highly respected German Studio Sound Engineer] discussed with me the ‘preservation’ of the Four Seasons Master tapes from the early 60s on. He was had completed the first CD release of The Night - Inside You 1972 – 1975 in 2000 and just completed the pre 1962 Bootleg releases of Frankie’s 45s and all of the Four Lovers tracks from RCA masters.

 

Firstly we were concerned re the FSP’s own stored Masters but also for the many 16 Track Session Tapes we knew existed in the Motown Vaults stored by Universal at the Iron Mountain Storage Company in Pennsylvania. The alternative, back then for ‘preservation’ was STUDIO DUBS from mint quality vinyl, which was a huge project.

 

But we started with the MONO vinyl 45 mixes and I completed the MONO ARCHIVE back in 2015 after Stefan’s untimely passing. That is all stored in Volume 2 of our DIGITAL LIBRARY. But is it going to remain intact? I loaded it to Cloud Storage for the time being after watching the videos about the industry storage and the Iron Mountain Storage.

 

This video from last year showed the size and amazing facilities which is the location of the Motown Universal Tape Storage. Thousands of analogue tapes and Hard Discs stored in climate controlled caverns.

 

 

 

It is the only source of multi-tracks of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons catalogue and doing the Snapper Music Box Set research has showed the huge limitation in the stored quality of what is an amazing back catalogue.

 

It had long been reported that at the end of the 60s, Bell Studio had dumped their multi-track master tapes in a skip when Bob Crewe failed to collect them in time. Multi track Masters [3/4/8/16 and even 24 track] were generally stored at the studio they recorded at back in those ‘analog tape’ days and from the research during the Snapper Project when all album and other tapes were salvaged from the FSP Storage in LA and again transferred to ‘digital’ storage it soon became clear that the FSP stored only ‘back-up’ Safety Copies in MONO and STEREO….throughout their recording sessions up until 1985. There have been several Tape Transfer CD projects since 1986 according to Bill Inglot.

 

The only Studio to effectively maintain storage throughout Frankie and the group’s career has been Universal Motown from their period at Motown where the Tapes are stored from ALL of their sessions with the STEREO Mix-downs for single and album release. These analogue 2 inch Tapes are stored at Iron Mountain.

 

Back in 2011 when we realised from paper records what was there, we had comcernsthat these could deteriorate with age, or simply be mislaid.

 

But the Snapper Project gave hope that these Motown 16 Track recordings have been copied and transferred to Digital Storage so are ‘preserved’. The 13 approved ‘masters’ were superb STEREO flat mixes[ready for Mastering]. We’ve got them now in the Snapper Box Set. I am still researching where the rest are….the ‘unreleased’ tracks.?

 

Then ‘post release’ we heard that Andy Skurow at Motown Vault Services had been ‘let go’….and maybe his boss too and I now wonder if Vault Services had been completely disbanded?. That wouldn’t be a surprise as Iron Mountain have all of the facilities to extract tracks in a full studio of tape players and HDD controllers as the video illustrates. But perhaps the main reason for lack of investment in such work is the collapse of physical media sales and the lack of any commitment to letting out ‘unreleased’. The lack of resources I previously reported on ‘Clearance’ of tracks by Universal Motown with Independent Record Companies has added to this story and compilers concerns.

 

But this week we read a story which makes us even doubt the integrity of any storage medium over time and wonder how music is best preserved?.

https://www.mixonline.com/business/inside-iron-mountain-its-time-to-talk-about-hard-drives

 

We know from interview with Bob Gaudio in 2002 with the late UK fan club rep Stuart Miller that Bob Gaudio had started to transfer analogue to digital on Pro-tools but with Bob Sobo’s passing the question of whether this was completed remained unanswered and there are clear questions re the integrity of what was done. Where is the digital storage if not in the LA Store that Bill Inglot accessed to transfer the original album tapes for Snapper? And who is managing it?. Bob Gaudio did not give Snapper access to any other digital storage.

 

The Snapper Music Box Set transfer is not [I believe] an adequate base for preservation. WHY?

 

Firstly ‘Source Tapes’ integrity…..whilst the VEE-Jay Delivery tapes from 1966 [when they went bankrupt] are superb - as I have reviewed 3 of the dozen tapes and they were top quality transfers - and hopefully these are safe in a digital store. The Philips album tapes were [it appears] in poor condition and several have clearly ‘degraded’ as ‘Safety Copies’. The 1990s CD past masters of the STEREO albums are clearly superior from my Snapper Box Set Sound Tests Review.

 

The other reason is that the transfer standard described in the article above for ‘preservation’ must be 24 bit 192 khz…..and Snapper and Bill Inglot used 16 bit 44 Khz. The argument that human hearing cannot hear or perceive the difference has been well publicised but the few 24/192 transfers we found in the Snapper Research have greater clarity and dynamic range…...they just sound ‘so good’ [even with the odd tape fault]. Only the late arrival masters for the Snapper Box Set done by another LA studio are at the higher definition quality as wav files. Too much of the digital transfer of FSP assets into the Box Set is not to the best standards in my opinion.

 

So as far as we know and based on 20 years of ‘music detective’ work, no-one has the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Catalogue from the ‘analogue era’ in top quality ‘preserved format’ except for maybe Motown Universal who digitised many tapes of the 1970s contract and sent them to Bob Gaudio. But what was sent and what standard?….. we don’t know.

 

SO given the work in doing the Snapper Box Set as Master Track Adviser I made a decision to salvage and preserve the BEST available MASTERS from that research and past CD issues when better digital transfers would have been done. All of the ‘important’ album CD releases Stefan and I had jointly collected [as shown on our web site CD discography] have been reviewed and the most suitable masters for preservation re-mastered with today’s software for storage on SSD. Now we have to BACK-UP and share the set and effectively act as the FSP Digital Storage [unpaid] Contractors. But as always it is a labour of love for the music and it’s production.

 

We have also collected Out-Takes that are of interest to ‘collectors’ which didn’t make the Box Set Final Playlist and the DIGITAL LIBRARY is as below in 12 Volumes. For now it enables rare and new mixes to be shared via You Tube and maybe we will donate the LIBRARY to a ‘past music’ research focused University. But the lesson to all is ‘manage the masters’ and ‘manage the storage media’. Back-up...Back-up….Back-up

 

For now, you have the Box Set and 70% of it is OK/passable for most consumers today who still collect ‘product’. The Rest of the LIBRARY as I have compiled it is as you can see below.

 

We hope that Bob Gaudio and/or Motown Universal will preserve the 70s unreleased [which is unique as 16 track Tape ‘with vocals’] and the catalogue will be available in the future, in whatever format of release survives the ‘streaming age’ we are in now. Alternatively they could claim ownership and ‘commission’ Iron Mountain to collate all of the Motown Released and Unreleased of Frankie Valli and/or The Four Seasons into DIGITAL Storage. I cannot confirm that all of the P and T tapes on the microfiche Artists Cards and the Tape Index Spreadsheet have been recovered from analogue tape and are preserved. I have not had access. So one immediate question is obvious…..WHY NOT?

 

As the article says…..”artist’s estates, with little budget for asset preservation, are generally letting drives[and tapes...ed] sit in the archive.” Well the Four Seasons Partnership has the funds, but will it allocate them to preserve the assets?

 

Ken Charmer – Sound Engineer and Music Historian

Music Ownership and Collectors - The BIG problem re UNRELEASED

It is for me the same ‘broken record’!!!!! [or in our case CD].

Do the music owners care about the fans and collectors?…….Well that is perhaps one question. The first REAL question though is who owns the music? Especially when it has lain on session tapes in an Archive Storage for over 50 years. Knowing that, then you can properly blame someone for the tracks that remain ‘unreleased’. But WHO?

 

In the case of the Motown Unreleased they were said to be owned by Universal, the problem of ownership and licensing became very complex back in 2000. But not so now, I believe [whilst not being a music industry lawyer]

 

As most readers of this know I have been writing about the release of ‘previously’ unreleased recordings on analog tapes at Motown since 2000 by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. So the questions have been ……who owns them and …...is the problem Bob Gaudio for not approving the tracks …….or Universal Motown for not clearing them for release.? For fans neither should be a problem.

 

So how are things so different today than in 2000 ….apart from the fact that those still alive are 24 years older than when I received the Motown Tape Index……. of course the truth is out!!! Well we have 13 more tracks and 8 alternative versions/’takes’ physically released by Motown via Snapper Music of London in 2023 after 20 years effort….proving my claims since then.

 

So today ...who actually has ‘ownership’ or copyright and licencing rights over the Four Seasons Motown Unreleased tracks [the latest of which was recorded 51 years ago.?] Back in the noughties, I was told that the Motown Contract with the Four Seasons Partnership ‘did not exist’ or ‘could not be found’ [by the late Peter Bennett, the FSP lawyer at the time]

 

This is where legalities get complex…….Research reveals that for 1970s recordings…..”Under most exclusive recording contracts, the artist will assign copyright in the sound recordings to the record company. An assignment is a transfer of ownership for the full life of copyright. In the case of sound recordings this will be 50 years from release.” What is clearly the case with tracks that remain unreleased during that 50 year period is that Ownership returns to the Artist after 50 years have passed with them still stored.

 

 

The MoWest/Motown record company [now Universal] would claim[if no contract can be found found] that it was a standard contract and they paid for the sessions and so have the right to recover studio costs etc via copyright and publishing rights.

 

However the Artist may claim this right has expired!!! And research supports this.

 

Finds on ‘Detroit Soul Forum’ reveal so much lack of clarity re the potential claim of Universal re ownership by them of ‘unreleased’ tracks…..Nobody seems to be definitive about a standard contract back in 1971 in a search among past experts posts

 

According to Dean Taylor, Mike” Valvano and Mrs. Edwards, the original Motown contracts were based on list price of the records and nothing was deducted except for salary money advanced to the artist and AF of M scale for the musicians. No studio time charges, no producer's royalty, no promotion, none of the common things that artists get charged for today. The percentage numbers were low but the actual cash they received was better than most labels. Of course the lawyers had a field day with the smaller than Hollywood royalty rates.” Also I read another post saying…”as a rule studio time was not charged to artists, “

 

However one expert said…..”I was told unreleased tracks were charged back to the producers.”….and some say re the group and their producers at Motown that maybe this practice of ‘Track Dumping’ [recording the same track with many artists to claim costs] was happening with Valli and the Seasons?

 

Adam Whites piece on the subject of Stevie Wonder delves into the contract procedures at Motown in 1971 and them changing…..but maybe just for Berry Gordy to retain Stevie?

 

Generally, Motown had a good reputation according to some music historians….but as JoeyD says…..”recording contracts have long been debated in the music industry. While these agreements give artists exposure and financial support at levels they wouldn’t achieve independently, some argue they can harm their artistic freedom and long-term success. Labels are after all, businesses, and businesses need to profit to survive. One of the most significant concerns surrounding recording contracts is the potential loss of artistic control. Labels may pressure artists to conform to a specific sound or image that aligns with current market trends, potentially compromising their creative vision and limiting their artistic expression.”

 

That clearly didn’t happen with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at Motown as it is now clear after the Snapper Project that the songs with multiple producers are quite superb and it was the ‘release programme’ that was the problem with so many tracks ‘unreleased’. Only 22 of a potential 68 tracks are demonstrated to have been released. The exact number in total is unclear due to lack of tape data records being checked. Celebrated saxophonist at MoWest at the time…Dave Pell..[hired by Gordy to be "in charge of all MoWest's music, production and signings]places the blame clearly at Berry Gordy’s door during that period……..when he says….."Berry was involved in everything," Pell says. "He was a strong record man and I really liked him, but I fought him every day. He hired me to change things, then stood in my way. It was like, 'What the hell did you hire me for?'"

There was, feels Pell, little impetus from above to make MoWest work. Motown's marketing men and pluggers were constantly preoccupied with Marvin Gaye, or Stevie Wonder, or extending the Jackson Five's run of hits.

That was then, but after 50+ years in the vaults how does the FSP feel about these tracks?

What has seemed apparent for some years is that the FSP perhaps cannot figure out how to make ‘enough’ money from the catalogue, [having ‘leased’ the publishing of their catalogue of owned music] Many older groups and artists including Elton John have made such a decision…. ‘get the money we can NOW’ ….and hedge funds have seen the value in back catalogues…..it became an ‘in my lifetime’ solution for them both.

For fans reading this there are mainly two types of ‘royalties’ regarding a musical track relevant to it’s release….

• Sales/Streaming: These are called “reproduction” royalties for sound recording, and “mechanical” royalties for the composition. In either case, any time a song is sold in any format, or streamed, a royalty is due.

• Licensing: Music is often licensed for placement in TV shows, films, ads, videogames, CD’s, vinyl and so on. These licenses generate Synchronization (or “synch”) royalties and are a one-time payment negotiated between the copyright holder and the company licensing the music.

So is the practice of the latter with constant re-issuing/relicensing of ‘the hits’ by the FSP the main objective, thus getting payments of royalties upon issue of the product?. The Snapper Project and the CD era licensing program show evidence of this in our CD discography. The former would be a separate royalty, based on being placed in a streaming catalogue. Then probably at a very low rate that needs volume to bring in any reasonable return…...and we are not talking Taylor Swift here or even The Beach Boys!!

 

BUT the big problem being reported by independent record companies is ‘clearance’. For the last few years the problems of the time taken by Motown Universal to ‘license’ or provide ‘clearance’ of both previously released and unreleased tracks has become longer and longer taking 3 months to sometimes 3 years to complete as reported by independent Record Company’s like ACE Records of London and Real Gone Music.

 

Today anyone could start a record company so anyone could approach the Four Seasons Partnership for a release of their songs by Frankie Valli and/or The Four Seasons…I am told this could be viable.….but they/we would need guaranteed orders[to pay royalties to composers, and maybe the recording studios-even if a ‘Not For Profit’ project]….Maybe via a new form of ‘crowd funding’…..re-titled as ‘release funding’.? We could plan the project and do the research…..BUT could we deliver the product? Clearly the answer is NO……..but whilst new bands are doing this….’our band’ are lost.

 

To today’s artist that is a clear project plan and something that could be done as they see the future. And for us fans particularly with regard to recordings they have in their LA storage or in Bob and Frankie’s personal collections it could be so…..BUT it is the problem they have with ‘Looking Back’ .

 

To be ambitious and have belief in a back catalogue you have to know your customer base. Then you need people who know how to manage via projects.

 

 

So based on the Snapper Project we cannot be sure of Bob Gaudio or Frankie’s commitment to fight [certainly not legally] to get ALL of their recordings from Universal and to mix 16 track recordings to be able to be released[or to pay for this]. We believe many 16 track session tapes were sent to Bob Gaudio, but only 13 mixes were done for release in the Snapper Box Set. It was at one stage seen by him as ‘not worth the trouble’ and was ‘financially’ challenging. I have read in the past that it is how it has always seemed from his perspective regarding the Motown Unreleased. If Bob Gaudio wanted a contractual arrangement to happen re this music then he only needs to make a call to Harry Weinger then Harry would find a way and then independent RC’s and fans would make it work financially. That is what ‘music industry’ insiders tell me.

Amid all of the confusion re such tracks, it is pretty clear that the FSP could rightly claim ownership of the UNRELEASED tracks at Universal Motown, and then they would be free to license them to a Record Company of their choosing including one set up by us or with one set up by our industry friends. That is a solution that needs ‘One Man’ to relate to fans like us. Some say he never will. I simply ask the question…..WHY?

 

Ken Charmer – Sound Engineer and Music Researcher

 

 

Footnote: If this subject is interesting to you well this ‘Sound On Sound’ article way back in 2007 may be of interest.

https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/recording-contracts-explained

It may have been overtaken by changes in the copyright laws since then but as Universal have offices in the UK and the Gov.uk copyright site makes it clear that copyright ownership in the UK on such ‘unreleased’ recordings remains at 50 years with reversion to the artist at that point. Then the question arises…...Does the artist have the right to release such recording there?. That certainly happened in 2023 when Snapper Music [in London]released 13 approved tracks and 8 alternate versions they had in their own storage as Safety Copies. That ‘clearance’ happened smoothly…...so the question remains for both Bob and Frankie….what is the problem?…..we are here to help deliver the project. Today it appears clear from our industry feedback that they are the only problem!! ‘The Motown Project’ is clear…...and deliverable. The blame for lack of release or even a plan, appears to lie with Bob Gaudio.

How did it all begin and now - why are we still waiting for more?

It fell to Oliver Twist to say “Please, sir, I want some more.” And I have asked and asked but with no response regarding the Motown UNRELEASED tracks from Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli[The Four Seasons Partnership - FSP].

 

I have in the 4 Seasons on Saturday Podcasts told the story of the ‘path’ to the 13 Motown Unreleased Tracks[plus 8 Bonus alternative versions] in the Snapper Music Box Set of the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Anthology. However I wanted to put on written record what Paul Nixon and I had tried to do over two decades ago, particularly now after the passing of Keith Hughes who also helped so much in gathering accurate research data to locate Motown tracks and help get as many ‘unreleased’ tracks as possible found[another ‘whistleblower’]. As of today’s date we have only achieved issue of less than half of the listed ‘unreleased’ Motown songs identified in paper records, and there are many alternative versions of released session tracks we believe could also be found and shared.

 

Since the Box Set release I have been asked lots of questions re the past and why only 13 previously unreleased tracks were ‘approved’ for release?. The answer is not one that fans generally want to hear but is a ‘reality’ of the FSP for decades. I just can’t tell you ‘why’.?

 

As a sound engineer and catalogue ‘curator’ since the start of the 21^st century I have been gifted with details from anonymous sources[former company people with one being a ‘whistleblower’ in 2000] re the internal paper records at Universal which have survived since the early 1970s re Frankie and the groups recordings. For this Tape List to exist it means someone must have listened to a tape since it’s recording or pulled together data that was recorded during the decades since as the Master 16 and 24 P [Production] track tapes and/or the T [Safety/Evaluation] Tapes in storage. So any checks of those tapes should have been thorough when ‘pulled’ from the Iron Mountain Storage. I cannot say with any confidence that this was done as information re the Snapper Music Tape review at Universal Vault Services is limited to a few e-mails when Covid had delayed the research process. Many questions remain and no-one is listening or opening up on the subject. That is the reality in 2024.

 

It was back in 2002 when Paul Nixon and I first felt that there might be enough Motown tracks that survived and were listed in a TAPE INDEX of P referenced tapes which listed the songs we knew had been released between 1972 and 1975 on albums and 45s and what hadn’t. At the time we did not know the significance of the 40+ listed tracks of which we knew nothing….they were all ‘unreleased’.[and Motown interns had confirmed over 40 were ‘probably completed’….if they still existed and the tapes could be found?] Further backtracking revealed a fan Press Release TCB Motown monthly Newsletter in January 1972. As a promotional piece on the Four Seasons at Motown it stated “The group has already finished recording an album with 15 tracks in all being cut at the Mowest studios in Los Angeles. It is thought that a single will be taken from these sessions. “ It went on to list the 15 tracks of which 50% remained unreleased by the start of the Snapper Music Project and several remain unheard still. Although Peter Bennett had maintained that such vocals by Frankie Valli were either ‘scratch’ or even ‘guide’ vocals we can see that many were not. As Wikipedia says “A scratch vocal is a vocal performance that a singer records to provide a reference track that music producers and audio engineers can use as they craft other pieces of the recorded song. Most of the time, the singer of a scratch vocal ultimately re-records the vocal performance after production is complete. A ‘guide’ vocal[or ‘working vocal] is a vocal performance that a singer records to provide a reference track for another singer or singers who will be performing or recording the song”. Only by listening to the tapes can anyone decide on the original intention.

 

I have always believed in transparency re my research and no-one fully knows what went on with any unreleased tracks between 1971 and 74 on Frankie and the group at MoWest and Motown. I am also aware this was a very long time ago. However as a researcher and a writer I have for many years collated the session information into my still relevant spreadsheet and this may be of benefit to future collectors. I feel the time is appropriate to tell my story in written form and to address questions, which will focus on what I know re the roles of Universal Music and Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli, as the Four Seasons Partnership, in the Snapper Project. I am aware that the period of these recordings was a very difficult one in the personal lives of both Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli and Bob has always said “it is sometimes difficult to revisit the past”. But as the Snapper Project was such a major product and a $700,000 potential income stream so ‘everyone’ in the ‘business’ signed up to it and the Motown Unreleased were the integral part.

 

‘Openness’ we believed was simply a part of the collaboration. Bob Fisher and I with Ian Crocket at Snapper worked that way re the FSP Storage with Bill Inglot but there was no arrangement with Universal and only Ian Crocket managed those communications. That was OK with Bob and I, we assumed, that we would be involved at some stage. We were always clear that it is Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli’s right to approve music[or not] in the set. The first problem nearly ‘killed’ the project as Bob Gaudio did not want to include the Bachelors III concert from 1974[a period when they were still at Motown Records – [although in the throes of leaving! - and provided by John Paiva on a cassette done by the soundboard mixing engineer]. Bob Gaudio eventually agreed to its importance and inclusion with some ‘edits’. But it was not a promising start.

 

Paul Nixon and I recently reviewed the path[our musical research journey?] to where we are today and below is a summary of the milestone events as I experienced them so you [the fans] know the route to the project and my role and efforts. In a world of so much conflict and disharmony it is amongst the ‘least important’ things in life, but depending on your view certainly an intriguing path.

 

• Around 2000 I received a Tape Index of around 30 tapes with track listings with over 40 tracks that appeared unreleased. What we had listed also coincided with a separate track listing via Mick Wilding of a separate Motown Yahoo e-mail group from a Motown ‘insider’. In 2002 Harry Weinger[HW] managing Vault Services at the time [following an enquiry from CD compiler/producer Paul Nixon] asked internally for a check re what existed?. Harry talked about speaking to Bob Gaudio re these tapes but we heard nothing back. However Bob Gaudio in a 2002 interview with our fan club rep Stuart Miller, spoke of a telephone conversation with Harry and at the time Bob did not seem averse to a project of unreleased tracks if completed or of adequate quality….depending on the ‘state’ of what was left. Paul noted in 2003….”I have talked to HW about this and he is now happy for us to pursue a Four Seasons at Motown anthology having spoken to Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio about it. I have a proposed tracklist but the UK branch of the 4 Seasons Appreciation Society are dead keen to make this as good as we can get it. Their suggestion is that HW pulls all the material from the vaults, transfer them to CDREF even roughly so that we could make a more informed choice of what to include. This would be the way to do all these tracks but I’m not sure that HW would either agree to it or have the time or the budget to do such a thing so we may just have to continue the old route”. But nothing transpired and by 2004 the development of the Jersey Boys stage play was becoming a reality. Such an ‘alternative’ project to that with our involvement seemed too expensive perhaps, and a distraction with the ‘Jersey Boys’ stage play priorities for all parties.

• But I never gave up and with the success of the Cellarful Of Motown ‘Unreleased’ 1960s CD releases which Paul ‘produced’, by 2007, he and I researched a potential Four Seasons Motown UK release based on the tape index and listing from the 1971 Newsletter from Motown which confirmed tracks ‘completed’. Of these tracks 50% remained unheard and by then we were sure they were on the Tapes listed as P Tapes which were the actual session tapes of all of the recordings the group did at Motown in either 16 track or 24 track. But when Peter Bennett [ FS Partnership Lawyer] heard of this he stopped it dead. Even though Paul Nixon had researched the vaults list………..Bennett scotched any hope of this quoting that there were ……”various concerns Bob and Frankie had about this reported 2-CD release, including some basic problems as to whether Motown still retains the right to the previously released masters and the basis upon which they would now assert the right to what were nothing more than demo vocal tracks by Frankie on musical tracks cut for other Motown artists for which Frankie was never paid and never approved for commercial release. Many of these "works"or "demo" tracks were not even in the proper key and they were never intended for commercial re- lease and would be embarrassing and harmful to Frankie if released at this time. I know this will not make you or other members of the fan club happy…..” And he closed by saying……”These are indeed exciting times for Frankie and Bob.[re Jersey Boys ed] They appreciate all the past support of their small but vocal and effective fan clubs and hope that support will continue. But you must trust that they have a definite business plan in mind to best promote Frankie's career, both as a concert performer and recording artist.” Harry Weinger spoke to Bob Gaudio and agreed to release the Motown ‘Anthology’ [released tracks – ie 22 of 68 listed in the tape index] and an original CD release of current recordings by Frankie Valli ‘Romancing the 60s’ in 2008. Bob Gaudio stated that NO completed tracks remained in the vaults…. and.. Harry Weinger said of the release………” As for unreleased tracks, there may be some tracks which were worked up, or tracks voiced by FV for demo purposes, but in no way were they slated for, or finished for, release. I respect that.”

Harry was correct. Motown had not ‘slated’ any of the tracks for release even though some were worthy of single release. And as for them being complete, well we now know that is stretching the truth. Misinformation? BUT in May 1974 two tapes had been compiled [P5084/5] of Final MIXED STEREO tracks for a potential album release by Motown in an attempt to keep the group. Bob Gaudio and Frankie both knew this at the time but must have ‘forgotten’. Then when the INSIDE YOU album was released after they had joined both Private Stock and Warner-Curb Bob Gaudio was rightly ‘annoyed’ that some were NOT the mixes he had completed with Bob Gaudio….but Russ Terrana’s ‘overdubbed’ versions of ‘inside You’ and ‘With My Eyes Wide Open’.

Fans had to accept in 2008 the Universal/FSP ‘playbook’ at that time although some have said since that this can now be seen as ‘disingenuous’ back then and for many years since.

• In 2010 I received a tape of 4 unreleased songs from Bob Crewe acetate ‘dubs’ that showed unreleased tracks existed. I put these on You Tube. It was total proof that they were completed recordings…..but did they still exist.? As Harry Weinger has said with Motown tapes ‘you never know with Motown Tapes, what is really there, until you play them’. But what was left behind where not incomplete tracks and demos. Some maybe, but Crewe and Gaudio were perfectionists and would not have left good work incomplete. Now we can prove this and re-examine the early and late 1973 sessions. Bob Crewe was back after an album for the late great Bobby Darin. Crewe and Gaudio started to write together in the studio after a more than 2 year break while Bob was in ‘rehab’[we are told]. But they could work together again and at the start of 1973 they did, with the superb results which are now clear in the Snapper Box Set Discs 20 to 22 .Bob Crewe was writing at his best again as 'Listen To Yesterday','Inside You' and ‘With My Eyes Wide Open’ demonstrate…….and we have found ‘alternate versions/mixes’ which show how they could produce together.[not the Russ Terrana mixed ‘Inside You’ overdubbed 1975 mixes].

 

After an album release MW788 was cancelled in August 1973, the Bob Crewe sessions of tracks for a new album in late 1973 were a re-convening of the old elements from the 60s to attempt to re-create success. Nick Massi returned to add to the vocals. Charles Calello returned to write the arrangements and Crewe went further to show Motown what he could do as he pulled sessions together in November 1973. The other new ‘Four Seasons’ group members were young and accomplished performers like Gerry Polci and Lee Shapiro. Lee then a musical novice straight from college recalls the sessions….. “Yes, I was on those fall 1973 sessions and I remember the songs. Nick Massi was our vocal coach on the sessions for Hickory and Charisma. He taught us all our vocal parts. He was an amazing vocal arranger. Bob Gaudio wasn’t there. These were ‘classic’ Crewe’s sessions. They were all completed sessions and we signed contracts, so any stories that the sessions were not completed is misinformation. I was only 20 and I was stunned at Bob Crewe’s aura. He was the most animated, in control, producer I had ever seen. And being at Media Sound, where every hit I knew had been made was overpowering. Valli’s voice was amazing and he was a unique vocal talent. I'm almost sure Charlie Calello, my mentor, was the arranger. Bob Crewe actually stood on the console during the playback, jubilantly dancing to the track.(on Hickory I think) He fostered a modus operandi that every track should sound like a hit. When he was in the room, everything did seem like it was a hit. He turned the analogue knobs up and boogie’d away. These tracks you have found are all from those sessions”

'My Eyes Adored You' would be the only track which eventually emerged and with Bob Crewe with a new writing partner from 'The 11th Hour' Kenny Nolan. There were stunning lyrics emerging [that we can now enjoy] like that and the previously unheard songs 'Hymn To Her’ and ‘Lovers’. These were on the Acetates uncovered in 2011.

• I received in 2011 Artists Cards from 52 Universal microfiche records found by Keith Hughes that perfectly aligned with all of the information in the Tape Index from 10 years earlier. It indicated the P Tapes and T Tapes listed as well with ‘Stereo Mix downs’[SMX] done at the time for evaluation and the many ‘Takes’ completed on the session tapes that could accommodate up to 90 session recordings and mixes

• I wrote extensively in blogs to inform fans these tracks [probably still existed] until in 2016 I started a Facebook group…..’The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign’ in an attempt to persuade someone to ‘be honest’ re this period and correct the misinformation of the past…..Tracks were completed and not just DEMOS or left unfinished…..

  I maintained.

• In 2018 Snapper Music of London approached Lynn Boleyn and I to join a collaborative team on a 40+ CD set of the Partnership’s album catalogue with as many ‘unreleased’ tracks as we and they could find. When asked what was essential we both stated ‘The Motown Unreleased’. I was not ‘contracted’ to work on this project financially but supplied many unreleased tracks from decades of collecting from my personal ‘fan based’ collection over the decades for inclusion.

• Bob Fisher and I were to liaise and review music for inclusion as compilers.[All would be subject to approval by Bob Gaudio.]

• Universal signed up to the project and Snapper supplied the Tape Index to Andy Skurow in Vault Services. I had supplied Snapper with a Project Review Plan re the Motown Tapes and the Artists Cards. I reached out to Andy directly and via Paul Nixon and Snapper to ask him to collaborate and that I would help him but Andy did not reply. He may not have been able to due to Universal ‘protocols’ but CEO Harry Weinger could have enabled this if he had been involved at the time.

• In January 2019 we heard via Snapper that Andy had found 19 tracks with vocals on the Tape Box data listings and a potential 11 others as a ‘work in progress’, by him during Covid closures and restrictions. Universal did not share the Tape Box scans with Bob Fisher and I which we had asked to see. [ Bob Gaudio wanted STEREO Mix-downs and was reluctant to accept 16 track Masters for review and to do the work needed in mixing.] After discussions with Snapper who paid for transfers to Bob Gaudio, [it appears] we heard no more until 13 tracks were supplied to Snapper as the set of Unreleased Tracks to be included in the Box Set. I asked Snapper to enquire as to ‘why no more?’ but they were unwilling to ‘rock the boat’ with Bob Gaudio and the project proceeded with Bob Fisher and I spending some 2000 hours of combined research into the Partnership LA storage with transfers from Bill Inglot. We got no tracks for review from Universal. Paul Nixon and I both believe that the research of the multi-track tapes may have been somewhat ‘superficial’. A read of the Tape Box may indicate a vocal was laid down as well as the instrumentation. But Tape Box records at Motown are notoriously unreliable and the work in listening to hours and hours of tape will probably have been curtailed to known titles and easy mixing. And ‘alternate’ mixes were clearly not considered by Bob Gaudio, but which existed as can be heard from the many sides we found as ‘listening’ mix-downs in the FSP storage. They had been there since 1973. Only Bob Gaudio was supplied any Motown Tracks by Universal for a discussion on inclusion. So I have been unable to explain ‘why so few?’ were found and approved when I know this is less than 50% of what still exists [in many cases ‘listed’ as completed tracks with their location known]. The quality of what was approved confirms my original research and belief these tracks would be of superb quality, and you fans out there who have heard them have confirmed this too and are now asking for ‘the rest’. Unfortunately Bob Fisher is no longer with us and so it was left to me to continue to campaign for more research and feedback. I did this since 2019 including asking ‘what was found on the tapes from ‘listening tests’.’ But who listened to what and what was found?….. was not fully shared. That remains down to Universal and Bob and Frankie.

• A list of over 820 tracks had been prepared by Bob Fisher and I in 2020 for approval by Bob Gaudio and 29 tracks supplied to Bob Gaudio for listening purposes. He approved all but 4. I found 8 completed alternative ‘takes’ of the approved Motown list in the 1973 Partnership Archive tapes and these were added to CD 22 as there was no chance Bob Gaudio could be persuaded to approve more of the identified ‘unreleased’ titles?. No action was taken and at no time did I have any e-mail contact with Bob Gaudio’s PA, Bob himself or Andy Skurow. That was controlled by Snapper, Bob Gaudio and Universal and excluded Bob Fisher and I.

• Covid delayed the start of Mastering and unfortunately Bob Fisher passed away in October 2021, by which time we were very close friends, Bob was just ‘the best’. At least he got to enjoy the 13 approved tracks.

• Snapper Music basically ‘cast me adrift’ as they pulled the project back ‘in-house’ and after several delays I was contacted for comment re final drafts. In mid 2022. I identified errors and missing Masters, and as I had not been involved in the final mastering or QA process I declined to be listed as ‘Co-producer’……..and I asked to be listed as ‘Master Track Adviser’

 

The Box Set was released a year ago last June and still contained errors and with ‘missing/incorrect’ tracks. I broke off all communications with Snapper as a result but continued to ‘campaign’ for further research and future releases of unheard tracks. I do not want to be critical of anyone involved in the Snapper Project. It remains a great ‘Compilation’ and a tribute to Bob Fisher and I in our dedication. It has been a difficult experience to recount these events but necessary to share with you as my close network after so many decades. I am too old for any form of historical suppression of information. As a former project manager in my working life I know what true collaboration means and so did Bob Fisher.

 

So in social and podcast interviews I have been sharing my experiences and disappointment that things could[and should] have been better. But at the end of the day Bob Gaudio and Frankie have the final decision on any previously unreleased music[and will have in the future]. It is to them a commercial matter and not [as we as fans see it] a ‘curation’. But I have demonstrated THE TAPES EXIST AND ARE INTACT and I have now reached the last stages of my work to salvage all that I can around the Box Set ‘research’ and have completed the LIBRARY ARCHIVE of what should be preserved [Master Digital Tracks] for the pre and post ‘Sherry’ periods of Frankie Valli’s career[excluding material still held by Universal Motown and the FSP]. A ‘next generation’ set for fans[or perhaps inheritors of the FSP Estate ] who may choose to take on this LIBRARY of DIGITAL MASTERS. However they will have ‘commit to ‘collaboration’ and release and to tackle the FSP and Universal on ownership and release with more unheard music.

 

The issue of free speech re sharing my experiences as ‘Master Track Adviser’ on the Snapper Box Set can be difficult with negative voices within the music industry. I have been experiencing criticisms of my writing and of my/our analysis of the music over the decades which remains an issue. I remain the only fan involved who can speak about the process and results as I have done above.

 

Whilst I still seek to share ‘out-takes’ and ‘re-mixes’, the publication of copyright music on You Tube to share on a ‘fair use’ basis remains a real risk re what remains in the my Archive and the risk of channel ‘close-down’ is something of concern[whilst I can clearly claim compliance with the rules of ‘fair use’ explained here]

 

So as an academic study, and re-counting the misinformation and suppression documented above …..the questions remain…….Will Bob and Frankie or their successors take on this Motown research ‘in-depth’ or review the 200+ Tapes remaining in the LA Storage? Here is just one of the example ‘development tapes’ of ‘scratch vocals’ that has survived from the session tapes. Frankie actually ‘changing key’ before the result became obvious….stay in your ‘high key’ Frankie !

 

This tape is not ‘mine’ and clearly a rehearsal for the ‘Chameleon’ album [but still very interesting] The development session tracks like this may remain on the P and T tapes at Universal as described above. Are they of interest to fans and do they have a commercial value…?…..It is not like they are ‘The Beach Boys’ demos.!!!! Are they recordings [whilst effectively…..rehearsal ‘demos’] that Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli would deem below their ‘judged’ standard and may regard them as something that could tarnish their accomplishments as performer/producer. [as the late Peter Bennett maintained back in 2007] Probably based on past experience!

 

At this stage of life though, they may not even care. And who owns the copyright re unreleased tracks? They got 70 years copyright to so much previously unreleased material via our fan network for the Box Set. Is this material [or similar] in honesty ‘damaging’ to Bob and Frankie’s career and reputation?. Will anyone want to hear more?. Under UK law, copyright will run for 70 years from the date of first release/publication, (or 50 years from the year of recording if not released during the 50 years) If only we had them and could share them with you as all of the Motown unreleased are out of copyright in the UK. So what about the rest? Answers on a postcard to…….The FSP…..c/o….????

 

Do you note a sense of ‘cynicism’? Well of course …….but not anger…...just disappointment….. And other questions remain…...Does trust exist of a solution to fans requests? Are there too few fans to make a difference? Should I maintain any level of ‘Campaign’ ?. If not me who else.?……..Well I made a decision. Whilst ‘passionate’ that such music could lift your spirits, it needs 2 men(or maybe just one) to want them released….not me so I am stepping back. It is the fans fight with the FSP.

 

The ‘fair use’ You Tube outlet remains the only way to remind anyone of ….THE CASE FOR THEIR FREEDOM that I made in 2016 and that is still valid today IMHO as we move on. There is one man to blame for the failure of the Four Seasons to have the success whilst they were at MoWest and Motown and that is originally Berry Gordy. And this article demonstrates it, as does the link within the article to our Newsletter posts ‘The Four Seasons at Motown’. But since then it is down to the ‘executives’ of Motown Universal [i.e.Harry Weinger] and the FSP[Bob and Frankie]. More soon re how to bring the music to us all. It needs to be ‘freed’ from the vaults. And there is a way…..as I will show…...but illustrates just who needs to act.

 

Ken Charmer – Sound Engineer and Music Researcher

 

How We Four Seasons Fans Are Responsible For The End Of Physical Media!

So how many fans of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons have broken the law?

 

Well probably all of us and many times over in the last 50 years. From copying vinyl to cassette and sharing rare vinyl 45s and albums to ripping CD’s to mp3’s in the 1990’s and since.

 

I read the book ‘How Music Got Free!!’ and now the story of the guys who made this happen can be seen and we can see how we have reached the end of physical media [and so it is suggested is ‘collecting’ digital files of songs – whilst vinyl is a ‘fad’!!] The story of the techies behind this cultural ‘melt down, has come out in a ‘docuseries’….via Paramount.

 

The UK’s Guardian Newspaper covered this in this article a few months ago.

 

and there is a trailer…..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYUKEiLGHpQ&t=89s

 

This quote partly sums up how the Four Seasons Partnership[FSP] and the 4 Seasons as a group got no recording contract and really declined by 1982 …...”Unsurprisingly, the year dual cassette decks became available, 1982, marked a low point in sales for the music industry. The subsequent creation of digitized CD technology not only gave the industry the lifeline it needed, but it soared their profits to unimaginable new heights. Two factors played into that: the companies’ ability to persuade fans to buy their entire collections again in the new format, and the sky-high prices they set for CDs, which often cost twice as much as vinyl releases or cassettes. Making the companies even richer was the profit margins on the new discs. A CD that sold for $15 cost less than $2 to manufacture. More, the companies kept raising prices on the discs through the 90s. Such extreme greed seeded a level of resentment among fans that came back to bite them big-time with the advent of file-sharing.”

 

Well this period saw the end of analogue recording and the rise of digital mixing in the early 1980s and then the invention of the CD. The FSP got Bill Inglot to digitize the library in storage as ‘safety copies’[as no-one had acquired and stored the original multi-tracks] and licensed them to Rhino, ACE and Collectors Choice[et al] in the late 80s, 90s and noughties…As is described above, subsequently, the record companies and Bob and Frankie made ‘loads of money’ by the 2000 as we bought all of the albums again in this new convenient form…...and we got CD players in our cars!!!. .. the result a distraction from recording new material and by 2000 …...‘market saturation’ and no further music…….just 2 original albums[1985 and 1992] and many ‘hit’ re-mixes in the 2 decades after the invention of the CD. It was a dire time for ‘old groups’. What a shambles for dedicated fans?.

 

Then the mp3 ruled and music became ‘free’. Napster died as Spotify rose and You Tube became another outlet that could not be controlled so a royalties/copyright deal was stuck to provide artists with income from plays via advertising revenue.

 

Some would say that without Jersey Boys, Frankie and the group would be long forgotten by music pundits. [and maybe GenZ]

 

But it is interesting how piracy has been with us as fans for most of Frankie Valli’s career with the group and by him ‘solo’, as whilst we had been buying their vinyl through the 60s and 70s, we had been copying it onto cassette to play in the car and on Walkman’s throughout these decades.[and sharing with friends] all eventually made easier with the dual cassette decks……[but who has a dual cassette deck now?]

 

Now the FSP have found like many artists that ‘streaming’ does not provide a strong income stream of your past successes and only LIVE concerts pay big money…….but even in the 60s this was the Four Seasons best income stream. So what do they today?…..lease the publishing rights to their catalogue [which is the biggest earner] as have most ‘oldie’ artists in recent years.

 

A good move it seems as collecting digital files or buying physical product has today almost died. Money streams for record companies and artists [and publishing] have shrunk as audio streaming has boomed. People who listen on the go….[.i.e. the kids and working generations] no longer collect digital files...wav, aiff or mp3. As this book and article says...’For the consumer, on the other hand, things have never been better. “For $10 a month you can have every song recorded in history,” ‘Effectively ‘renting the tracks over and over again’…... ’when will they ever learn’ [sic] as Frankie Valli sang on ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone’.

 

Well not quite EVERY SONG…...as artist catalogues on streaming services are NOT COMPLETE.

 

One convicted music ‘pirate’ from those noughty days says ….“Rather than relying on the biggest industries to tell us the answers to those questions, we should be looking in the nooks and crannies of culture to discover the answers for ourselves.” 

 

Well I have found the ‘way to go’, and I realised that as the ‘Master Track Adviser’ on one of the most comprehensive[and possibly last] CD sets of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. I contributed to the demise of physical media !!. Firstly with working on the Snapper Box Set….a gem for ‘pirates’…….and then with the ability of file sharing web sites, and You Tube. 

 

Music Collectors have found over the last decade and a half NEW ways to control ‘sharing’, with social media being the connection point as never before. Even Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli have not reacted to most of the ‘unreleased’ tracks in the Box Set being put on You Tube [not by me]. We had helped put an overpriced collection of ‘sometimes’ poorly re-mastered albums so as to share the ‘limited number’ of unreleased tracks with a fortunate 2500 collectors in a ‘physical form’.

 

Yes I contributed the unreleased and LIVE songs from cassette, vinyl, cd and acetate sources from a 25 year network ‘collectors club’ [which is an ever decreasing club over time as we lose our friends] Now the FSP have the copyright and rightly so. But there is no ‘quid pro quo’, with known ‘unreleased’ music still being held back by the FSP from fans.

 

But by us using music sharing practices and now with no money to be made from unreleased music by record companies we have ‘run out of road’…….and no-one is listening to our requests for more….…!! The last big ‘physical release’ money maker for the FSP has been sold…….by them selling it back to those who have bought it before….and have again ...just to get it in a nice big glossy BOX SET.? It really is a great Box Set though!!!!!

 

This new ‘docuseries’ will show the amazing talents of young people that helped us all share what we could find…...and it tempted a record company to license and re-sell the old and some of the unheard music by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons…….BUT will there be a ‘Last Encore’ of unreleased ?…...I very much doubt it….. let us just play what we have and turn the volume up.

 

As the late Peter Bennett said to me when I sent him a newly discovered copy Master of ‘One Man’ in 1997…..’this isn’t Frankie Valli’…...and of course….in 2007 he was clear that there were no completed tracks left behind at Motown.!!!!! what survived he said….. ‘were nothing more than demo vocal tracks’. Lies, lies and more lies. Now released from the archives as proof!!! Can ‘One Man’ change the world...haha…..We’ll maybe it did musically for the better for Four Seasons fans. And there is more to come.

 

In today’s world the ‘nooks and crannies’ for collectors and listeners exist and the main one is now a place called You Tube. Catch us there at…..

https://www.youtube.com/user/MowestChameleon/videos

 

More soon on the full story of ‘The Search for Frankie Valli at Motown’ and ‘Collecting Digital’.

 

Ken Charmer

 

 

 

 

 

Curating The Four Seasons at Motown - A sad loss, but many thanks

This week saw the sad passing of a great curator of Motown music who whilst an aficionado of 60s artists was fundamental in helping me to create the database of released and unreleased Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons tracks created at Motown during their 1971 to 1974 contract. As a result we have the 13 unreleased approved in the Snapper Box Set….and in achieving that we have now the full catalogue records and curated data their career deserved. But not the whole story as I will cover in a future blog.

 

It was Keith Hughes who was going through the Motown microfiche in the NYC offices when he came across Artists Cards of both Frankie Valli solo sessions their Master Tapes[P reference] and Safety Copies[Stereo and 16 Track – T reference]

 

As he knew of my work to check the Master Tape Index I had received by 2001 he scanned and sent them to me which enabled me to verify the stored and listed Tapes were correct and confirmed MASTER numbers in the 60000 series of completed Masters stored at Iron Mountain. But whilst we do not have all of the tracks that we know were unreleased…...what has been released has confirmed the accuracy of our Excel database. It took our research to the next level and would eventually mean that by 2018 Snapper Music would persuade Bob and Frankie to accept ‘unreleased’ completed recordings did still exist in secure storage even if the hunt for these would still be ‘fraught’.

 

I will retrace our journey from 2001 to today and the status of the only remaining ‘known’ 16 track/24 track recordings of Frankie solo and the group ‘still in existence as session tapes’. This will continue to make the case for further research and the big possibility that so much more could be discovered through ‘listening tests’

 

So acetates like this one could be released ‘officially’ which we had found on cassette tape in 2010.This recording does exist as a fully completed Master but it remains unapproved for release….which remains crazy as you can all hear it on You Tube….and download it as an mp3.

 

Thanks Keith…..we know more than Andy Skurow found out as he never found the Artists Cards in his job in vault services researching the Tapes for Snapper...you did for us.

 

Ken Charmer

 

More ‘reality checks’ for 4 Seasons fans

Who wants to find this Tape.? Clearly not enough of us to justify the cost of finding it !!

Back in 2008 I was writing about the academic studies on “Fandom, Blogging and the Internet” and how Jersey Boys Stage Show was creating a myth...”The events of the last 2 years culminating in the opening of ‘Jersey Boys’ in London last month appear to have created a kind of “Four Seasons myth”. As Joe Long said to me recently…."I have been following the goings on of the various fan groups. The only problem I've been having is they now seem to be "Jersey Boys" fan clubs, rather than Four Seasons. “ We took a view at that time and re-set ourselves as a fan club [as this linked article says] and we remain alive to say that today……..just look at what we have achieved!!

 

By 2018 the JB Myth was ready to be ‘buried’ as Snapper Music persuaded the ‘Partnership’ [FSP] and Warner/Rhino/Universal Motown to commit to a career spanning album and ‘unreleased’ gems Box Set. Then the pandemic and the delays!!! We sadly lost Tommy DeVito and Joe Long….but the fan base ‘hung in’. Then the reality of the world wide internet fan base came home to roost for us all.

 

Back in May 2022 I wrote this post re the fact that Beach Boys fans and their music have far more world wide support than the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli.

 

“Stealing a March???......

The Beach Boys continual approach to milking their catalogue as we still await the Snapper Box Set could be a bit depressing for Four Seasons fans who want the 44 CD Box Set from Snapper Music. This to some will be very frustrating when we read..of SOUNDS OF SUMMER as their latest release.......”The collection boasts 24 new mixes including two first-time stereo mixes, plus 22 new-and-improved stereo mixes, which in some cases feature the latest in digital stereo extraction technology, allowing for the team to separate the original mono backing tracks for the first time.”

As I have been showing such sound 'extraction' tools have enabled me to demonstrate how the Four Seasons best songs can sound with DES Re-Mixes. Such an approach will with our backing surely happen in a follow-on project in the next year or so on the Four Seasons HITS. I am in fact working on a complete STEREO RE-MIX of the Dawn and Rag Doll albums. I am hoping to find some interest in such a project.

And the future is ATMOS as the Beach Boys release states.......”All 30 tracks on disc 1 of Sounds Of Summer have been mixed in immersive Dolby Atmos, joining the group’s Christmas Album which was mixed in spatial audio and released this past holiday season, and continuing the initiative to present the group’s catalog in the enveloping and exciting new audio format. “

And obviously the strength of the 'BRAND' and how to market and sell as the web site shows

Obviously the Beach Boys with a dedicated tape research team and engineers are ahead of Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli, as they do not have a dedicated and well managed record company team [i.e Warner/Rhino !!!] that will market and collaborate with fans. BUT this Snapper Project will show them what is possible and the size of their potential market This Snapper Music Box Set will be 'incredible' and will inspire similar follow-on projects. [We hope..ed!] The 60s STEREO versions deserve such treatment with centred vocals and a spread of instruments.......and the MOTOWN Catalogue needs a 'special' box set as I have maintained”

The facts show the strength of the ‘brand’, with’The Beach Boys’ facebook group with 1.9 million followers whilst ‘The Ultimate Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Fans Group’ has a mere 30.2 K. So is it any wonder our voices as fans are finding little success or any response some 9 months after what was for us and the FSP a landmark release…..four years in the making…….over 15 years since the concept.

 

Whilst many of the Four Seasons fans world-wide continue to celebrate and enjoy the vast variety of great music in the Snapper Music Box Set released last June, the serious ‘Collectors’ Facebook groups [like our Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign - a mere 1.1k members!!!] continue to push for much better support for fans and collectors wishes. The aim of our ‘campaign’ group [as I set it up in 2016] was to get a reaction and we got one through the pressure of a very BIG BUDGET project......however reluctantly in the final list of tracks......but eventually once we got the product, we are grateful to Bob Gaudio, Frankie Valli and Snapper Music. It took a high level of exposure on social media within that group after the lies, deceit and misinformation over many decades re the Motown Unreleased and huge work by me in particular to prove what was there.....even Universal Vault Services did not know what they had. Nor did they collaborate. In a way the project was the FSP supposedly 'working their way back to us'.....with us paying big bucks for the privilege of a catalogue spanning digital collection on CD......with limited 'unreleased' from known or owned storage. [including our archive]

 

However despite my optimism that the release and marketing would bring a response in a meaningful way re the future, from the FSP, this remains both unlikely and the underwhelming response now, [by Rhino releasing ‘GILG’ on vinyl] is somewhat depressing. There are also around the world, it seems, too few people who want the Motown Unreleased FB group to be an effective 'campaign' anymore. So the question arises…..’is it a worthwhile title for those 'completists' who want more? ‘ I did plan to move it to be a 'Rare and Unreleased' interest group eventually once we had exhausted the Archives, but that is not going to be achieved in a foreseeable future. As I have said in blog posts the prospect that anyone at the artists level will take note of social media or be encouraged by sales potential remains remote. I personally have exposed all of the prevarication and lack of collaboration I can by the FSP and Universal Motown Vault Services over the decades and there is nothing left to say re the ways they have failed us all. It seems clear there is little hope [or interest] for any fan based network getting further results. The above tape with original Masters and an unheard song by Artie Schroeck, remains ‘lost’ in the FSP storage of un-marked tapes as it was not in its correct box. So from The UK Four Seasons Appreciation Society, I will focus on the ARCHIVING of remaining 'unreleased' tracks we have and in finding ‘a future generation host’ for the Masters Library I have compiled. All tracks are high quality mastered versions and complement and extend the Snapper Music Box Set.

 

Copies of the Box Set remain available at heavily discounted prices [over 25%] on Amazon and E-Bay and there are clearly too few ‘completists’ [Snapper’s primary target in the project plan] or those with the funds to acquire this great compilation. Bob and Frankie are perhaps valid in saying anything further is ‘not worth the money….or trouble’. Frankly there are too many barriers to retrieving more and without a funding ‘champion’, any optimism at Snapper’s launch has dissipated. Streaming remains the biggest barrier to both ‘innovative’ research and physical product, and some have said in our group’s...’let’s enjoy what we have rather than chase what we haven’t’. But we have always been more than just ‘accepting that’, when there is more to be found

 

The rise of fandom through the Internet over the last 20+years has been the subject of many studies re the relationships created between artists and fans through posts and blogging, and my presence with Lynn Boleyn here since 2006 has been used by the FSP as a promotional tool for concerts, and by Snapper in the promotion of the Box Set since 2018. With ‘fan groups’ [now substantially established on Facebook(FB)], the relationship between ‘experts’ sharing in depth data re tracks and releases has now become the fundamental connection point for news and opinion and FB groups can be easily administered to avoid abusive or bogus posts by non-fan people. These are public members groups that give us as fans ‘identity’ and a sense of community. But as for ‘the stars’…...they have no involvement…..and why should they?…...they have their personal lives to live. In the case of Frankie Valli he is deep into his ‘Final Encore’ Tour as he approaches 90…..basking in the loyalty of devoted lovers of both him and his music. Bob Gaudio has his interests in production and has been invested in the Neil Diamond Stage Musical. He and Frankie gave us enough time in the Snapper Music Box Set project to make it ‘unique’…..and we did the rest with the Snapper Music team of tape researchers, engineers, designers, writers and copy administrators to produce an ‘apparent’ complete Anthology of music and illustrated back-story

 

But let us not allow the FB groups to be a trivia question post box or just repeated last decade ‘audience recorded’ live concert’ repeats. There are more unheard and unreleased masters to be found including ‘unique’ LIVE non-hit versions from the 20^th century. Can we keep a focus on the sheer quality in the original music and its production? There are a small band of interested fans who will discuss such subjects on our social media. You Tube remains the best place to enjoy the ‘rare and unreleased’. …….and our in-depth Podcasts ‘4 Seasons on Saturday’ to find a connection. These sources, in the main, are what led to the Snapper Music Box Set…only your voices can bring change……..but in reality ….is anyone listening? For now..as far as the artists are concerned……..NO!!

 

We will however continue to highlight the recent finds and share some of the still ‘vaulted’ gems that we have on You Tube. More people may find us and also want more…...….miracles can happen…….they already have!!

 

But there is a ‘cliff-edge’ of change ahead. Bob and Frankie must realise that. The ‘road’ will end and that will leave a fan base without the LIVE experience. We will adapt and write as we always have through a network of information managers and hope enough of us remain alive long enough to persuade the ‘Partnership’[FSP] to get the tape research work re-started, recover the rest of the 'unreleased and a find a way to  a marketable outlet.

We won’t become lost……!!!! We are ‘The FOUR SEASONS CULTURE’…….”you don’t have to be embarrassed about loving the 4 Seasons”…….as Bob Fisher said back in 2008…...”we have been ‘validated’”…....again…..this time by THE BOX SET.

The Reality of The Snapper Box Set and Future Physical Releases

We are in a strange age…….To STREAM…...or ……..To COLLECT? Or BOTH?

It was summer 1988 when we first got our hands on a well mastered CD set on Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons 25^th Anniversary 3 CD Box Set and how lucky we felt. 26 years ago.

2024 opened with news of ever diminishing sales of Compact Discs….just as 2400 ‘world-wide’ fans bought the highly researched and highly priced ‘Working Our Way Back To You’ Snapper Music ‘career spanning’ Box Set of 44 of these little physical music storage discs in an age were everyone in the music industry is now focusing on the income from streaming. Music listening has changed, and as a result, the owners of past music have had to think hard about how to preserve a good income stream. Most fans of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons are not optimistic about getting more from the ‘Partnership’ on CD. Sales of CD’s generally reached a peak by 2001, but now sales are a third of that peak. The music pundits however see new trends emerging. The study of ‘generations’ and their life experiences is now big business in understanding how music income will be generated in ‘Future Years’[as Frankie Valli sings]. “Generations provide the opportunity to look at Americans [does the rest of the world really exist?] both by their place in the life cycle – whether a young adult, a middle-aged parent or a retiree – and by their membership in a cohort of individuals who were born at a similar time.”

How do Frankie and Bob and their music story, help their families cope with their legacy and the past with future generations.? Will the music that related to ‘Boomers’ have any impact on future generations of fans, now that the show that captured ‘Millennials’ with Jersey Boys extended the relevance of their catchy songs.?

 

This article is I believe essential reading for us all. It is “a reminder that generations themselves are inherently diverse and complex groups, not simple caricatures.” Many of us may be ‘Boomers’ but we are not yet ‘Silent’ and we have a right to voice our wishes re past music ‘errors’ and the correction of mis-information and suppression of art during our long lives. This has been the background to our calls for more unreleased tracks from ‘the vaults’. Too many have not had the sheer joy of hearing emotional and entertaining music by our favourite vocalist and his past collaborators. Rex Woodard, Frank Rovello, Stuart Miller and Stefan Wriedt are just some no longer with us that were celebrated in the box set as contributors who never got to hear the achievement. They are the ‘Silent’ generation who we will all eventually join.

But as my great-grandson reaches his ‘first’ birthday, I wonder if he will ever understand why this music was so important to me and why I campaigned so many decades for more? Four Seasons music may in the future simply be a catchy ‘streaming’ oddity with little relevance in the music revenue expectations. Perhaps the ‘tap has almost run dry’ for Bob and Frankie?

 

The readers of this blog will be ‘cohorts’[is that the same as ‘friends’?] that shared experience of the group across several decades and probably most are ‘collectors’ with physical product like the Box Set. But we see that we are now deeply in to a new age for music as after 35 years of buying/owning and playing the humble CD we see forecasts of its demise before our own!! With Vinyl sales now peaking in the age of ‘streaming’ ……...what will the future hold for our listening as our fave artist reaches his 90^th birthday.? He will be happy that his family and his partner in music [Bob Gaudio at 81] can feel satisfaction at the major achievement of a physical product of their music that is so comprehensive in the Box Set. Well almost!!!

 

As Master Track Adviser to the Box Set, I am happy that we achieved with the Snapper Team an amazing Collectors Item. My commitment was for it to be as comprehensive as possible, and perhaps, on the face of it that was achieved. But the reality is, as I have explained in these blogs, that barely 75% of the potential work has been reviewed and there are still unheard tracks to be released. My disappointment too is that not all in the Box Set is mastered to the best sound quality.

 

So are there reasons for the deficiencies, and is there a way to approach the problems that would help us as fans and the ‘Partnership’ and their successors.? I can only analyse and advise based on my experience as a former Project Manager and on the developing technologies for music sharing. World events and major government decisions may shape an uncertain future.

 

The key success of the Snapper Box Set Project was the collaboration and teamwork that the late Bob Fisher and I generated. Bill Inglot was commissioned and contributed to this as much as the financial structure supported his research. By the end of the research it became apparent that he would have insufficient time funded to identify all stored music, as 200+ unmarked tapes remained unheard. He did what he could with the funds available from Snapper Music. The network of fan collectors contributed over 5% of the Bonus Rare or Unreleased Tracks along with many ‘released’ songs not preserved within the Partnerships own storage facility. Decades of poor tape management since the 1960s became apparent.

 

Secondly the teamwork did not extend to Snapper, the Partnership and Universal Motown in terms of research and mastering. We were shut out of quality assurance.

 

I found a quote in old posts re Motown Unreleased and the man Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons fans relied on to help achieve the release of the unheard recordings by them in the Motown Tape Archive. He got a job that led to becoming the Vault Services Manager at Universal Motown and he has been there for over 20 years. A collector said of him, “On the Motown front, you have Andy Skurow. He first got involved with Universal by sending in suggestions for a series of compilations. Somebody liked the idea and used it without giving Andy the credit. Fortunately, Andy was offered a small job in the office from where he has used his knowledge and enthusiasm to get things done.” He has done sterling main research on projects such as the Bobby Darin’s retrospective Motown CD ‘Go Ahead And Back-Up’ in conjunction with Real Gone Music assembling 24 ‘Unreleased’ tracks from the early 1970s at Motown so we anticipated a full collaboration and review based on our offer to help. Snapper supplied our Tape Index List and I attempted to ‘reach-out’ to him as he ‘pulled’ tapes from Iron Mountain Storage for research. We had 52 Artists Cards from the Motown microfiche records but he did not ask us for these or find them internally within their data files[or even reply to me]. We only received, via Snapper, news that Tape Box Notes revealed 19 unreleased tracks with vocals listed and a possible 11 more. We received only one tape box scan and awaited further involvement and listening tests or transfers but Andy Skurow was unwilling to collaborate with Bob Fisher and I. Instead it was agreed with Bob Gaudio [who also did not communicate with our research team] that Snapper would pay for ‘a number of tapes’ to be supplied to Bob Gaudio for evaluation. We never found out what was supplied [or missed?] but some we were told had tape boxes indicating NO VOCAL. But as they have always said at Motown...’You never know what is there until you play the tape!!

Amazingly Bob Gaudio must have played the tapes as tracks listed as NO VOCAL were eventually found by Bob Gaudio and ‘approved’ and supplied to Snapper for inclusion. [eg ‘What Love Has Joined Together’]. It remained unclear with 11 tapes still to be reviewed by Andy Skurow just how many vocals would turn up but we eventually got approval to 13 with 2 tracks from the Michael Masser sessions [ ‘Minute By Minute’ and ‘After You’] which did not have a confirmed Master Tape. What great finds these are. Several tape boxes listed from the original tape index were indicated as NO VOCALS by Frankie Valli in Andy Skurow’s Tape Box review and were listed as for example, ‘re-assigned to ‘The Jacksons’ or ‘Suzie Ikeda’ or ‘The Commodores’ and some were listed as ‘working vocals’ which would indicate they were incomplete. That doesn’t mean the recording by Valli doesn’t exist. Notation on Artists Cards for several were listed with Motown Master Numbers which would indicate that they were complete and some had been copied to T Tape[Safety Copies] The whole review was in my opinion incomplete and remains controversial particularly as the Artists Cards were not checked. As a result the track information in the Box Set is incomplete. I have posted some of the additional track data in a past blog-post. Such a significant library of tracks clearly deserved better research and I maintain that Universal need to do more and complete and verify the search of all of the source tapes both Multi-Track and STEREO Mix-down copies.[including T Tapes where indicated by Artists Cards]

 

And finally whilst many will be happy with the sound of the Discs in the Box Set, there are 13 Discs below an optimum Mastering standard and all are from the early 1960s. But I have already fixed that with retrieval and re-setting CD Masters from the 1990s that have preserved the ‘original STEREO’ Masters in best sound quality. They and pristine MONO Mixes from our studio are in our DIGITAL LIBRARY for ‘FutureGenz’

 

But all this aside it does not remove the problem that there are no funds to complete any further research unless Bob Gaudio or his son Shannon commit to it, [Bob’s age and interest may prevent this] and given there is no avenue to a release the material as a result of the slowing of the CD market and any simple financial model for track release. The expected return on such tracks by both Universal and the FSP is just unrealistic for 50 year plus recordings or the recovery costs are not being ‘amortised’ over their sales life income stream.Some independent Record Companies are only interested in releasing on vinyl now and there will be no output from Universal. There are still respected 60s artists that still have unreleased tracks sitting in known ‘digital recovery’ in their Vault Services team but no pathway to release. This is important to us as we are ‘collectors’ more than ‘streamers’.

 

 

Clearly things will change as ‘streaming’ is not adequate sound quality for serious listeners and their catalogues do not contain the many ‘Bonus Tracks’ that have appeared in past CD releases. This is covered up as ‘unimportant’ by the streaming services. But GenZ collectors in our fan groups are increasing and as the above listed article indicates they will want physical product…….and the major publications are recognising the loss of great artists and recognising their catalogues.[most recently The Detroit Spinners]

 

Music consumption will evolve and access to tracks will change and it is the technologies, debates and events that will shape every generations needs as more respect for lost past music is continually revealed. The Tape holders have with-held these tracks for decades with casual curation and someone needs to act on our research and accept that not enough has been done. The FSP should want more respect for the full history and push the research. They have the resources. Collaboration brings success for artists and fans. We will continue to pursue a further review of the Motown Tapes and of the ‘lost’ unmarked reels sitting in the FSP storage. CD’s remain a viable outlet as vinyl is so expensive [and difficult] to manufacture and with streaming you still have incomplete playlists of the artists which are never comprehensive. I believe a CD based Motown Label Review of Frankie and the group with fully annotated session notes and top quality mastering is still a viable commercial product.[a 5 CD Box Set] There may only be around 3000 fans worldwide willing to pay a premium price for such a release but ‘Next GEN’ people are finding out what we have maintained for decades…...The Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons catalogue at Motown is a superb set of music and needs completion.

 

Ken Charmer

 

PS Checkout [and sound sample] this recently SOLD OUT CD from Ace Records of London which shows that unreleased tracks on CD are still selling…..and these are it seems all Charlie Calello productions

 

With My Eyes 'FULLY' Open - Motown Unreleased 'Mixes'

The Motown Unreleased remain the ‘Holy Grail’ of Four Seasons Collectors like me and others and whilst recently I have very much left it to Anthony Colatrella on our Motown Unreleased Campaign Facebook Page to analyse and extol the merits of the Snapper Music Box Set DISC 22. He has captured the sheer quality of production,writing and performing in the long unheard and therefore unappreciated LOST MASTERS in his daily Facebook posts on the tracks ‘approved’…...’lost’ that is until our efforts found a ‘patron’ and Bob Gaudio relented to long term pressure and allowed their release. That in itself is worth a well voiced social media thread re ‘how and why!!!!’ Over to you Anthony…...

 

Whilst Anthony has focused on the 13 tracks approved by Bob Gaudio for this set, little attention has been paid to the additional ALTERNATIVE Versions that make the Disc up to 21 tracks. There is much to be studied in the variation of these extra tracks and their quality and differences. They are not simply underdubs. But HOW INTERESTED are Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons fans in such alternate TAKES or MIXES? At present with so much in the Box Set to absorb, many will not know that some of these are the ORIGINAL MASTER mix which were finalised and copied for release on Master Tapes for an unissued album in May and June 1974. Bill Inglot found and sent transfers of Side Two of this proposed album but never found the Tape for Side One. It remains amongst the 200+ unmarked Reels unresearched in the Four Seasons Partnership Storage in LA. The original Master Album Tapes are P5084 - Side 1 and P5085 – Side 2 in the Motown Vaults. However I can confirm that they were copied as ‘listening copies’ and sent to Bob Gaudio, as he Frankie Valli and Bob Crewe were concluding that it was better to try to negotiate the purchase of these high quality MASTERS as they sought to leave the label. We all know from Frankie Valli interviews that the Motown Executives [and maybe Berry Gordy?] were uncompromising and wanted more money than was considered reasonable by Crewe,Valli and Gaudio. But Valli knew that one track had ‘hit’ written all over it and performance in concert in summer 1974 had shown the appeal to audiences. They had copies of ‘My Eyes Adored You’ on the listening tapes to model the LIVE version and it can be heard on Disc 43 – The Bachelors III LIVE Concert from mid 1974. As we all knew since then Bob Crewe negotiated as Producer the purchase of the MASTER for circa $4,000. Amongst the Alternate Versions on Disc 22 is the NEW MIX done on 25^th June 1974….as a listening copy showing that many alternates exist on the 16 tracks MASTER SESSION TAPES that I have documented as still existing in the Motown Storage at Iron Mountain, New York.

I will write more re these ‘alternates’ in due course but wanted to emphasise WHY a full research and curation project is needed on the tapes and to let you all know that I did not include all of the known ‘versions’ we have found during our research and included in the BONUS TRACKS for Disc 22. I had hoped that Snapper would go back to Bob Gaudio in 2021and ask would he consider approving MORE unreleased tracks we knew existed?. Snapper failed to do this despite Bob Fisher and I wanting them to. They felt they had enough BONUS Tracks we had supplied or researched to make the set attractive to you fans. Since 2021 we have had confirmation that many of the tracks in my FINAL LIST [See my previous blog re this] exist and [some] have been copied to Bob Gaudio by Vault Services at Motown, but not approved for release. The question “WHY?” remains unanswered.....and did all of the tapes get fully researched with listening tests?

 

The ALTERNATE Versions [8 Tracks] as BONUS TRACKS were found by Bill Inglot as part of the storage tape research as ‘half-track’ tape copies sent to Bob Gaudio back in 1973 and 74 for his ‘listening tests’. Snapper instead of asking for more decided to include the ‘back-up’ set I had compiled. The case for a properly ‘curated’ and engineered project is illustrated by just one of the tracks found but not included in the Box Set Disc 22.

 

The amazing story behind this track can now be revealed. ‘With My Eyes Wide Open’ was an unreleased track when the ‘split’ with Motown happened and was left behind to be lifted and released on the ‘Inside You’ Album [Motown M6-852S1] in September 1975 in the USA [Nr 203 in the BB album Chart]. That ‘released’ version is included in the Box Set on Disc 21. It is a bass,strings and echo laced mix which research has show was mixed by Russ Terrana [who had worked on the 'Chameleon' mixes] on 20^th August 1975, nearly a year after they had left the label and as part of Motown's decision to cash in on the success of ‘My Eyes Adored You’ and ‘The Night’[in the UK]

 

However this is not the ‘original’ mix. The Artists Card shown below indicates that 2 other STEREO Mixes were made way back on 2^nd February 1973 and the Master Tape Box Scan we were supplied [the only one but more of that later!!] shows the MASTER MIX Tape details of the 15 multi-tracks recorded dated 9^th December 1972. A MONO MIX and the two STEREO Mixes were found on the ‘listening tape’ of 2nd February 1973. I have all of these MIXES. All of these are very different to the released MIX on the ‘INSIDE YOU’ album. The You Tube video below will reveal to you how different this track was. Bob Gaudio had complained after the release of that album that he had NO INPUT on the final mixes included and this is clearly a claim that applies to this song. Both Bob’s had contributed to the tracks and there is a reference to LIVE ‘strings’…..but when these strings were laid down is unclear. Did Russ Terrana add these in 1975? And we know although listed as a FOUR SEASONS recording it did in fact feature Motown in-house backing singers…..but saying that they are quite superb.....and well mixed in these versions.

 

 

 

I have uploaded to You Tube the ‘second’ STEREO MIX found in the research for the BOX SET and it appears to be the pre-Russ Terrana mix as shown on the Artists Card. It excludes the opening ‘fade in’ strings intro BUT is dominated by two guitars in each channel competing with each other [listed as Dean P. and Mike D.on the Tape Box scan] and the vocal harmonies are mixed ‘high’ with Frankie’s vocal. The echo too is missing. Instrumentally it is a totally different version with a different ‘feel’. Frankie is ...well just Frankie!!!

I personally prefer this mix [titled the ‘Guitar Mix’ by me] but it demonstrates to me why the ‘curation’ and sound engineering research is needed…...and there should be a further release of this period of Frankie's career as the only time that has left behind in the analogue era 'surviving ‘multi-tracks'.

 

But whether there are enough fans willing to buy a compilation/box set based on these superb studio masters remains debatable?. It is down to contributors like you as readers to confirm your wishes and maybe there will be enough momentum created on our social media MOTOWN UNRELEASED page to persuade Bob Gaudio to spend the money on the research and for a deal with Motown[Universal] to release the tracks. Whilst there may be arguments re the ‘ownership’ of the ‘unreleased’ masters as reverting to Valli after 50 years in the vaults, the best approach would be a negotiated curation. Motown Vault Services have big questions to answer re the Snapper Project and their ‘lack of disclosure’ and incomplete ‘annotation notes’ re the tracks, but that is perhaps a subject to be expanded on in our 4 Seasons On Saturday podcasts.

 

I hope you enjoy this MIX as much as I do…….

 

 

Ken Charmer- Master Track Adviser – Snapper Music Box Set 2023

PS....

 

As a ‘postscript’ to this article it is important to remember the context for both Motown and Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio at the end of 1972 and Frankie having to cope with developing hearing problems[as well as personal circumstances]. Motown backed Crewe and Gaudio as writers and producers as they embarked on new recording sessions but they saw potential problems with studio production and we see in retrospect that they did not have confidence in the vocal capability of the group at that time to deliver in the studio. We believe they appeared on ‘Star’ and perhaps some of the unreleased tracks but by December 1972 they had commissioned Motown backing singers on the sessions and it is clear from this tracks superb studio musicians and vocalists that the group at that time [which Frankie Valli would sack in the spring] could not deliver songs such as this either instrumentally or vocally. Failure was obvious given the group membership, although the anthemic ‘How Come’ [with Motown backing singers] was released but not promoted. It was not until Lee Shapiro’s and Gerry Polci’s recruitment that the group were able to demonstrate their potential via the ‘I Wonder Why’ session. But there remains questions re the promotion by Motown of the Frankie Valli SOLO tracks during 1973 and the Bob Crewe productions of the re-formed Four Seasons in 1974 leading to their departure from the label. A good decision commercially by them clearly and it is all part of a story that is slowly falling into place and our understanding as to why such great ‘productions’ remained unheard until today…..and more remains ‘unheard’. The question of ‘why it remains unheard ?’does no credit to the current FSP and their only partial response to the Snapper Music contract and to the late Bob Fisher and I as committed compilers of the set. I personally feel it was disrespectful to us and the fanbase to not even give us clarity and feedback re the research we have done since 2000. But perhaps that is down to Universal Motown in terms of how much could be released in this set? Reliable sources have confirmed up to 15 tracks could also have been added. Why they were not included remains a mystery.

 

 

Frankie & The Dreamers - Cardiff, UK - 2 December 2024

Frankie & The Dreamers are playing Cardiff, UK on Monday 2 December 2024.

OK save the date!!!  We are so excited to let you know that Ryan Molloy will be bringing his excellent sell out show Frankie & The Dreamers to Cardiff this year.

The evening event will be held at The Village Hotel, Cardiff on Monday 2^nd December.

As this is a popular show to ensure you have tickets please e mail [email protected] to be added to the mailing list, confirming you wish to attend and how many tickets would be required.  We will keep you regularly updated with all the information regarding ticket price and release date.

To those who have seen the show before you know how much fun this is, and to all newcomers, please come along and enjoy a memorable fun filled experience from one of our finest artists Ryan Molloy.

To quote Ryan himself :

 “This is not a tribute show it’s the soundtrack of your life – are you ready?!”  

This is a fundraising event for Velindre Hospital our major Cancer Hospital and therefore we would really appreciate your support.

We look forward to hearing from you and would ask that you please share this post and spread the word.

 

 

By Lynn E Boleyn MBE

Ryan Molloy - Frankie & The Dreamers Show

This is a call out to all Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons Fans from Heather Amos!

Heather is bringing the show  “Frankie & The Dreamers”  to Wales, UK, this year.  Ryan Molloy who received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Frankie Valli in the West End smash hit musical Jersey Boys - receiving an Olivier nomination for best actor and winning the “What's On Stage People’s Choice Award for best actor in a musical - has formed the Dreamers as a continuing tribute to the music of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, in a highly entertaining show.

 

As well as enjoying the evening you will be supporting a good cause as this is a fundraising event for some of the major Welsh Cancer Charities in Wales. Ryan Molloy is looking forward to performing in Wales.

 

The show is scheduled to take place in November at The Village Hotel in Cardiff and we will be posting finalised date next day or so.

 

Please contact Heather at [email protected] to be put on the mailing list and confirm you would like to attend and please like and share this post.

Check out the following for a taste of what to expect:

Frankie and The Dreamers Show

Please contact [email protected]  to be put on the mailing list and confirm you would like to attend.   Heather and I will then regularly send updates re Date/Venue & Ticket Sales, etc.

Trailer link

https://youtu.be/YC1nIRN8JKA?si=epr-Uif5rTJ-6AkO

 

 

By Lynn Boleyn MBE

The Lure Of An Era - A tribute to our past and our present

 

Ellie Greenwich remains a long lost star and was clearly a close friend of Bob Crewe. I have struggled for over a decade to get the song ‘Be My Lover, Be My Friend’ by Frankie Valli [and possibly the Four Seasons] released from the Motown Archive from a late 1972 session when I have proved it still exists on 16 track tape. It was written by Ellie with Bob and Steve Tudanger [formerly of The Four-Evers]. Bob Gaudio should have been sent the tape as part of the Snapper Music Box Set, but did not find it or approve it for some unknown reason. We continue in the meantime to Campaign for its release as well as other Bob Crewe songs like ‘Time Will Tell’….and it will….but whether anyone is still alive from when it was recorded will be down to Bob Gaudio. In the meantime my video tribute to Ellie and her backing singers Jean Thomas and Mikie Harris and some words from Ellie.

This article was written over two decades ago for some great people at WCBS-FM in New York City "Lure Of An Era" (60's Music) By: Ellie Greenwich [It remains ‘totally’ relevant today 20 more years on and post pandemic and with war in Europe and the Middle East]

“It's 1963, and wherever you were, whatever you were doing, the radio was playing this song. (Drumbeat begins to Be My Baby, and the audiences went passionately wild...every time). This line opened my show Leader Of The Pack in 1984, and when the show is performed today at High Schools, Colleges and theaters, the reaction is the same...why?

I'll be the first to admit that when I first started writing songs professionally, in the early 60's, I never...not once, wondered what would be going on twenty-five, thirty years later. Oh, sure, I wondered how my marriage would be, how many kids I would have, where I would be living, and what I would be doing...but I never considered whether or not the music that was being created during this era would have longevity and survive.

Listening to the radio today, and seeing the number of revivals and "Oldies" shows, it's obvious that the music has lived and thrived. It has done that in spite of what would seem to be cultural changes and a more complex society. If you view the survival and prospering of 60's music from a somewhat psychological reference, maybe it's survival makes a lot of sense.

Being a grown-up...I mean a true fifty-ish/sixty-ish adult...who has had many cycles of good and bad times, illnesses, death of family members, etc., coming to terms with certain realities, and realizing and accepting that while we may feel eighteen and twenty years old, we are not, and we shouldn't try to be. Life today seems more violent, more complex, more uncertain and harder to hold on to than it was back then, especially the early 60's. Life was fairly simple and straightforward. There was a large degree of innocence, and flirting, courting and naiveté was the rule, not the exception. The music of that era reflected the simple life and easy times. It was a comfortable place to be, and people knew what to expect. JFK had people feeling hopeful. My generation was just graduating High School or College or moving on to the Trades or the Service. It was an exciting time, and people had a plan...or seemed to. There was something (intangible), to anchor yourself to. One of the biggest anchors was the music which was paramount in every waking hour of their lives...our lives...

Now, thirty years older, I believe that many of my generation have reached a new plateau and it's an interesting place. You can realize the fruits of years of hard work and you can watch your grown children slipping into the roles you are now leaving, but you also are painfully aware that you don't quite fit into society any longer. It's not the same world you knew. You are facing old age (oops!...I mean the "Golden Years"), and you really don't want to. It's a frightening time for many people. We feel somewhat scattered and directionless and we wish we were back in the 60's. We need to grab that anchor of stability once again, but can't find it...until we hear a familiar tune on the radio...you know, a song we listened to while our parents nagged and complained; a song we first-kissed to; a song we listened to with our friends while hanging out, sometimes pretending to be the groups themselves. And for those precious moments we can go back where we came from - go back to where it was fun, happy, safe, simple and comfortable. Need I say more?

And let's not forget the importance of the on-air personalities, none more prominent than Cousin Brucie. He is the reassuring figure you have always been able to latch onto...the older brother, the power that bridges the gap between yesterday and today; the person who keeps the music alive on the airwaves and in our hearts.

When you can squeeze hundreds or thousands of us into a hall or theater to see an "Oldies" show, there is a tremendous sigh of relief...of going home. Whether you experience the music live or hear it on the radio, the feelings are the same. These audiences are your friends and family. They are all as unsettled as you are, going through the same confusion, changes and pain, trying not to get pushed aside. Being together makes us feel better...more secure, almost back in our mother's arms. The music is the catalyst for bringing us together...and yes we do truly love it and can get excited and sing along and scream. We can all leave the show in our mini vans, station wagons, etc., and two or three couples go to the diner for coffee afterwards. We can talk about the show, how good or bad the groups were, etc. Many of today's youth are discovering, performing and loving this music now; it's in new movies and numerous commercials; and in speaking to the kids who have performed in many different productions of Leader Of The Pack, they all had fun - a taste of the innocence that we enjoyed - and a sincere yearning to know what it was like growing up and living in the 60's. Maybe their society has gotten too complex and confusing for them too. Maybe they're searching for what we had.

In any event, It's 2001, and wherever you are, whatever you are doing, the radio is playing this song. (drumbeat begins to Be My Baby, and the audiences go passionately wild...every time)...but the real reason for the success of the music will hardly be noticed. “

Not by us Ellie, and the Snapper Box Set proves it…..so what else can we achieve?

Ken Charmer

Photo of Bob Crewe and Ellie Greenwich courtesy of Mira-sound Engineer - George Schowerer

 

 

 

The Search For The BEST Masters – The Sound Test Results January 2024 - Re-issue

In a late 2023 blog I outlined how I wanted to review the sound test results with both ‘ears’ and software for the Snapper Box Set. Here is an update to that blog on how I tested all of the CD’s for Dynamic Range[DR] and Loudness[RMS or Lufs] and for clarity and separation in mixes. Well, the good news is that all CD’s from Disc 19 on are [Dynamic Range] DR10 or higher which is spot on the mark for an Archive of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. All but one Disc in these discs had ‘Full Frequency’ sound, whilst some varied based on the source quality of the ‘Masters’. Good to excellent ‘Re-Mastering’ from the ‘variable’ source tapes as we had hoped and planned for.

 

Also we found excellent re-mastering in 99% of the ‘Bonus Tracks’ throughout the compilation that have come out really well given that most were from a wide range of sources including cassette tape and not ‘full frequency’ versions. But unfortunately poorer results were found on several of the early era discs. Back in 1988 Bill Inglot had to ‘Re-Construct’ the Sherry album from the Delivery Tapes supplied by Vee-Jay in 1966 when there were liquidated and the HQ Masters were returned to Bob Crewe[Genius Inc]. The original Safety Tape was below ‘full frequency’ for CD re-issue.

 

 

The aim therefore has been to focus in on the 1960s tracks specifically Discs 1 to 18 and to try to understand any differences that have indicated a sub optimum sounding result.? This was because in several cases there are puzzling tracks with poor Dynamic Range and EQ results [i.e.DR7 to DR9].

 

Transfers from these ‘analogue’ age tapes were done in 2019 and 20 for re-mastering with modern software tools for the Snapper Box Set. Problems appear to be with ‘Safety Copies’ around 60 years old. They have only been issued previously in STEREO format on CD [apart from a handful of independent label issues of 3 albums and some hits in MONO – e.g. Real Gone Records and the Jersey Beat Box Set]. The STEREO tapes had been previously transferred in 1988 and later in the 1990s for both Curb and ACE Records album re-issues on CD, (so multiple transfers since the start of the CD era of 1988) and the original and oldest tapes may have suffered wear and deterioration. But in this box set we have for the first time transfers and inclusion of the MONO Masters from the original tapes. In some ways, it has provided a baseline digital set [like never before] of the original albums back in the 60s and we are able to hear them on CD for the first time providing a listening experience comparable with our original vinyl MONO albums. However, as a ‘first to digital’ MONO LP set of albums, it is not possible to compare the results in the Snapper Box Set of the MONO Masters with previous CD issues in a consistent or complete way. But we know that the MONO mixes from the original 4 track session tapes involved compression during mixing so whilst a DR10 is an optimum reading some mastering from the MONO tapes will inevitably only be able to achieve a DR9/8 reading on a proportion of the MONO album tracks.

 

As purchasers and listeners to the Box Set you may not notice this or perhaps just feel that the instrumentation is louder than you remember. [burying Frankie Valli’s lead somewhat?] This is a sign of compression.[i.e less distance between the loudest and quietest sound] which changes the relationship with the vinyl masters

 

In testing the Snapper Discs we used two reference digital sets:

 

• ‘Golden Hits’ of The Four Seasons – MONO album 1963 – studio digital dub [DR10]

• 25^th Anniversary Box Set – 3 CD STEREO 1988 [DR12]

 

They represent the best levels of sound [with full frequency wav files of 18/20kHz max]

 

I outlined these standards in my last blog post and have since used ‘listening tests’ to focus on clarity and separation and the output of the DR meter readings on a range of past CD album releases in STEREO to measure differences and to grade the results. The Tests rated the original album content from….

 

• ACE Records [1990s issues]

• Curb [1990s issues]

• Collector’s Choice [2000s issues]

 

….compared to the Snapper Box Set for these 18 albums. Results were graded as follows …..

 

• Best to date

• Good and Essential for Collectors

• Some tracks only OK and with minor flaws

• Problem Discs but still listenable

• Plain Badly Mastered

 

And I reviewed Snapper Music Discs in comparison, noting those with missing or wrong tracks to the approved listing. This is of partly a subjective evaluation but based on a recognized and accurate evaluation software tool as well as the listening tests.

 

Of the first 18 Discs in the Snapper Music Box Set 8 have ‘less than optimum’ mastering with 8 of the Discs at DR9 and even some tracks as bad as DR7. Only one Disc is classified as ‘bad’ and that is ‘New Gold Hits’. But we noted the Tape Box Scan indicated the MONO tape should NOT be used for Mastering!!!

 

 

However, both the MONO and STEREO versions of ‘Genuine Imitation Life Gazette’ [GILG] proved to be the ‘Best To Date’ and set a top standard. Of the remainder only 2 surpassed the ACE albums issues. It was disappointing that there was such a lack of consistency and although all but Disc 12 are listenable in acceptable sound quality this is all a big contrast to the rest of the Box Set

 

The findings of other past masters can be summarised as follows:-

 

• ACE Records - Of 16 original albums in STEREO covered during the 1990s transfers, ALL but 3 of their issues are ‘Good and Essential Collectible’ [DR10] with 2 with minor flaws and 1 with problem tracks.

• Curb – Criticised at the time for missing some tracks from original album titles we were only able to acquire 7 of the 18 Discs in the Snapper Set. Of these we found Discs 1 Sherry and Disc 4 Ain’t That A Shame to be ‘Best To Date’ and a very desirable Collectors Items.

• Collectors Choice – We tested 8 in comparison with the Snapper Discs and found that CCM provided the ‘Best To Date’ version of ‘Live On Stage’ [Disc 9]. Of the rest 4 Discs were an acceptable DR10 with 2 below optimum with minor flaws.

 

So if you have any of these ‘Past Masters’ rated as good and collectible then hold onto them as the equivalent Snapper Discs are a not so good a match. I am personally replacing the album Masters in the UK Four Seasons Appreciation Society ARCHIVE LIBRARY [which I will cover in a future blog] and in my personal Discs and ‘playlist’ with NEW STEREO and MONO Mixes based on the BEST MIXES from the ‘past masters’ CD album releases for the following album Discs in the Snapper Music Box Set – 1/2/3/4/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/15/18. A total of 15 discs with adjusted sound to achieve the best balance of STEREO sound and new MONO mixes all in full frequency sound. This is what Bob Fisher and I set out to achieve.

Work has started to replace the Masters with BEST MIXES of the listed Discs in the Snapper Music Set during 2024 and I will publish the sources and enhancements in mastering when completed. Why do I think this is necessary, you may ask. Well because Bob Fisher and I never had the chance to complete our work and I hope to pass the FULL ARCHIVE on this year to a sound storage for future fans as I said in my end of Year Report 2023.

 

Bob’s sad passing during the project meant that we had no dialogue with the Engineer regarding the tape quality issues nor of the final approach to ‘mastering’ quality. We did provide the list of Approved Masters after submission to Bob Gaudio locating the 830 plus tracks involved. If communication had been better with the Sound Engineer post the Covid period and we had known of how many tape quality issues existed we could have supplied ‘alternative’ masters from this library and corrected the somewhat disappointing results on some of the first 18 Discs in the Box Set. There are also 10 wrong Masters in the 44 CD Box Set and one ESSENTIAL track was missed by Snapper which cannot now be put right.

 

However most purchasers will be happy that 70% of the set is as good as we set out to achieve and were Bob still here he would agree that ‘we done good’. I am personally proud that we got the Motown Unreleased CD and created THE LOST DISCO ALBUM and were able to supply and include so many unreleased demos, acetates and LIVE tracks. It was a mammoth achievement and includes superb design work. As for more ‘unreleased tracks’…..well there are more alternative versions [The ‘Out-Takes’ Archive which we have] and of course the ‘still unreleased’ Motown tracks not included as ‘not approved’ by Bob Gaudio…….and the 200+ Unmarked Tapes in the FSP LA Storage. Campaigning for more track research goes on as I complete the archive as I listed it in my report.

 

The Comparator Chart of our findings is a download attachment to this post. If we get more past Masters of albums to compare we will update our chart but we believe this is the best anyone will ever find. CD re-issues are a small market now and do not justify the high cost of research as this project provided.

 

Download Snapper Disc Comparator Sound Tests Nov 2023

 

I will be continuing discussing the process and all of the major positive achievements on the catalogue in our video podcasts 4 Seasons On Saturday with our team of collector experts over the next few months as we also consider the ‘out-takes’!!! Next time will be THE BONUS TRACKS

 

Ken Charmer – Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society – Snapper Music Box Set ‘Master Track Advisor’

The End Of Year Report - 2023

Well…..Oh...What a year!!!!!!!….for me personally a milestone, with the birth of my first great grandson [to my 25 year old grandson]…..and the release of the Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Box Set exactly 25 years on since I first received an ‘unreleased’ track ‘One Man’ which set me on the search for the ‘lost’ masters wherever they may be. 25 seems to be my lucky number???

‘Working Our Way Back To You’ is an iconic release and now discounted by 24% is a bargain for any ‘true’ collector of the group and Frankie’s career. Those who have followed our ‘4 Seasons On Saturday’ at our MowestChameleon You Tube Channel will be aware of the campaign to get all of the tracks and the fraught ‘process’ with Bob Gaudio and Snapper Music. Notwithsatnding that the Box Set is loaded with ALL of their album releases and 30% of rare, LIVE, or unreleased tracks. But not everyone today appreciates or think it is good for an artists career of recording to be ‘trawled’.

In his Critic’s Notebook Jon Pareles of the New York Times ….today writes “Hey, Pop Stars: Think Twice Before Messing With the Past…….whilst, he says, there are good financial reasons to revisit old or released material [and new technology is making it easier]…...he thinks “most trips back in 2023 resulted in diminishing returns”.

Well although he uses examples….his argument is based on record company or owners choices rather than ‘fans’. He states that…..”Musicians keep getting tempted to revisit recordings they made long ago, and in 2023, flashbacks from The Beatles and Taylor Swift drew worldwide attention.” [Ed – Notably he did not notice our Box Set of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons , “Working Our Way Back To You’.]

He goes on to say…..”Some temptations are technological; others have business imperatives. Wielding the latest digital tools, some powered by artificial intelligence, musicians and labels have been busily exploring their vaults and hard drives, many of them thoroughly convinced that they now have a better idea of how their older music is supposed to sound. Do they? Recorded music is many things: an expression, a structure, a physical performance, a series of decisions large and small, an artifact of memory and emotion, a souvenir of a particular time. But all of those aspects end up as a waveform, which can then be treated like any other information. The digital era and its computer-engineering paradigms have made that information infinitely malleable: just a starting point for version 2.0, 3.0 and beyond. A.I. is only going to make things more complicated as it reconfigures all the information available online. But with music, an update isn’t necessarily an improvement. It might be an anachronism or a betrayal instead.

One of the hardest decisions for any artist is knowing when something is finished. That choice might be made after endless deliberation, on a deadline, on a whim, under the influence — who knows? In the vinyl era, that decision was usually final, give or take alternate mixes for singles, radio and clubs. Listeners reacted to, and bonded with, the music in its fixed form. Digital loosened things up — at first out of necessity, as vast analog catalogs were transferred to new formats, and then more innovatively, as musicians reveled in the possibilities of vastly expanded multitracking, sampling, editing and even glitching. Digital possibilities are only going to scramble things further, untethering artistic products from their original inspirations and proportions. Oil paintings are being remarketed as environments. Albums are getting a new round of spatialized Dolby Atmos remixes. A.I. will be generating countless variations, pastiches and fakes. But amid the flood of new versions, let’s not forget to identify, recognize and celebrate the originals.”

 

A very succinct analysis, but one that that doesn’t apply to our work and input to the Snapper Music Box Set. We related to such risks back in 2018 when we started the Master Tape research and how we selected and collected ‘originals’ and variations of them as originally ‘completed’ based on the access we had. Bob Gaudio did the same with the Motown ‘Unreleased’ but only gave us 13 of 30 completed. Artistic selection ….or a commercial decision? We may never know although we continue to ‘campaign’ on Facebook for the rest.

 

So in our forthcoming podcasts we will review the Bonus Tracks and why they were selected. But that was the past and we still want to access and research the 200+ Tapes remaining in the LA storage and the 29 Master tapes from the Motown Tape Index. We are the best at it and a ‘free resource’. BUT given our experiences, we need to preserve what we have…..and next year [2024] will be about archiving and passing on the ‘DIGITAL ARCHIVE’ we can access NOW. Our Plans for next year are equally ambitious.

We are compiling a new library of the ‘BEST MIXES’ of tracks for future generations of fans, and as no-one at the Four Seasons Partnership has made any effort to ‘engage’ with me re the work done over the last 25 years….or to accept and put resources into the preservation of their work, then we will seek a philanthropic source such as a University or a ‘NOT FOR PROFIT’ storage facility for preservation [as the FSP Tape Archive is in a ‘dire’ state and a partly ‘unresearched’ facility]. The NEW Digital Archive we have constructed is derived from Master Tapes and Original Vinyl Sources digitized to studio professional standards. Not all of the Snapper Box Set achieves the high standards I want for fans future releases [whenever] and so we have supplemented [replaced] inferior product with previous releases from the Master Tapes on previous CD releases[Re-Mastered for archiving]. Also within the Archive will be Digitally Extracted STEREO balanced Mixes of the originals of some of the 1964 Masters such that ALL of the album Masters are in BEST MIX STEREO. ‘My judgement’….accepted….but technically a best to date master of each track in TRUE modern STEREO, without damaging the ‘integrity’ of Bob Crewe’s originals.

 

The Archive Library currently includes…..[A Work In Progress]

Vol 1 Pre- Four Seasons Tracks [Original German Studio Dubbed Masters]

Vol 2 Four Seasons 45 Versions 1960s Mono Masters Archive [To be revised 2024]

Vol 3 Snapper Box Contents Essential Collectors Masters 2023 SET[as issued June 2023]

Vol 4 Edizione D'Oro - 29 Tracks Master Sets from Master Tape and 1972 Vinyl HQ Dub

Vol 5 Post Snapper Project 1960s Alternate and Out-Takes Masters [Re-Mastered]

Vol 6 Post Snapper Project 1970s Tracks Mastering [for Re-mastering 2024

Vol 7 Official FSUKAS Best Masters 2023 STEREO CDs [Snapper Replacements Discs]

Vol 8 NEW MIXES Dawn_Rag Doll Set DES 2023 - New Library MASTERS

Vol 9 - The Vee-Jay 'Delivery Tapes' [Best Masters -Part of FSP Storage Master Tapes]

Vol 10 – High Quality LIVE Shows [Board Recordings] – Ongoing

Vol 11 - The BEST of Bob Crewe Productions–The ‘Seasons Connections’ Masters- 8CDs

 

This Archive is 80% complete but could grow with more research finds

 

So HAPPY NEW YEAR to all readers and follow my blogs for updates and new finds. My thanks go out to Anthony Colatrella for his huge support during the year and for our plans for 2024 Seasons On Saturday Podcasts.

 

Ken Charmer – Master Track Adviser – The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society

Seasons Greetings!

Seasons Greetings once again.   

The UK Four Seasons Appreciation Society, George Ingram, Ken Charmer, Ray Nichol and myself wish you all a very happy Christmas and a happy, safe and successful New Year, remembering those no longer with us and cherishing those who are.

Another year almost over and we were pleased to see the release of the long awaited Snapper Box set which was released in June, and of course includes the Christmas album!  We would like to thank everyone who made this possible.  The Box Set is strictly limited to 2,500 copies worldwide so if you have not yet ordered yours you can do so here here:

Working Our Way Back To You

June also saw the marriage of Frankie and Jackie who exchanged vows in a private ceremony at The Westgate Hotel, where Frankie and The Seasons will be performing next year in January, April, July and October – see all dates here:

Frankie Valli Shows

We all send huge congratulations to Frankie and Jackie and wish them much love, laughter and happiness as man and wife.

Have a magical Christmas everyone and a wonderful New Year full of happiness and joy.

Lynn E Boleyn MBE

25 December 2023

Salvaging Tracks for STREAMING - The Partnership hold all the cards and have the money

STREAMING is the KING……...and before you read on click here and read this blog by SonoSuite.

 

This is a problem of our times and why there will never be another project like the Snapper Project on the Four Seasons Catalogue and their [still] ‘LOST’ tracks. Adam White featured this problem in his recent blog re Motown vaulted tracks and the ‘ticking clock’ we all face.

Paul Nixon and I have talked about this developing for nearly 20 years as at the start of the I-pod era when we first approached Harry Weinger re a Four Seasons at Motown ‘UNRELEASED’ CD issue. And finally this year after all my campaigning we got 13 tracks included in the Snapper Music 44 CD Box set released in June. Eventually Harry and Bob Gaudio had to give us something or a £750,000 project would have failed. Money talks and drives everything re our attempts to uncover the ‘art’ of others…..artists we admire. And ageism is rife…..as over 70 is not a music market to the music sellers…….so as for the rest of the 20+ tracks in the Motown vault and the 200+ unmarked tapes in the FSP…who cares…..??????? Just accept it is the Motown in-house ‘mantra’ and it seems it will be with the Four Seasons Partnership. We told them what was there and either Andy Skurow at Universal Vault Services or Bob Gaudio didn’t do enough in-depth research or think the tracks were good enough. So a question for Bob Gaudio…..’Why did you not approve tracks completed in early 1973 by Bob Crewe producing Frankie Valli of ‘Be My Lover, Be My Friend’, ‘Give Us This Day’ and ‘Turn It All Around’ which we confirmed existed to Universal Vault Services in 2019?’

 

Today every play of a track on the streaming platform earns cents, so a song is being sold again and again every time it is played. Hence physical media is less profitable. Collecting music is too unprofitable and a niche market as the Sono article shows. Streaming income is showing this and that wont change. But even the Motown ‘unreleased’ we could get would earn cents long-term

 

The fact is ‘streaming’ is convenient for most of the public and pays for every play whereas a CD release will only sell 2 to 3 thousand [at best]. It is simply ‘maths’ and the massive income from streaming has defined what is promoted and the big money. How much would it cost to search for lost Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons tracks? And how much would they pull in over time compared to their past hits. On streaming? Even if streamed who would find them or play them……..well there are over 2600 playing them since June this year…on You Tube...and that will only grow

 

There are small groups of fans on Facebook and maybe other services, but if you are a 60+ year old artist with a simple and curated catalogue [which is what the Snapper Box Set provided with our help] – then it is a steady streaming earner. Such projects to unearth lost tracks take time and expertise, research and written context, and the people who are left to do that are generally over 70. The only people who could help are Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli and it appears to quote Bob’s PA ‘not worth the trouble’!!!.

The barriers to research and access for music collectors are huge and we are ‘Crying In The Night’ to quote the song by The Monitors’ at Motown. But we will continue to make the case in our Four Seasons Motown ‘Unreleased’ Campaign Facebook group and glory in what we have achieved in the Snapper Music Box Set. But never forget You Tube and Sharing Platforms…….this is the Collectors domain now. We will be there with more collectible tracks.

 

Click Here for what we have achieved with our Campaign to date

 

Get it while you can.

 

Casey Chameleon – December 2023

The Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons ‘Legacy’ Project

Yes I know!!!…..the Snapper Music Box Set is a ‘landmark’ moment in the careers of Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio [the ‘FSP’]….and it was originally labelled as the ‘Legacy’ Box Set. Well, whilst it was a privilege to compile it with Bob Fisher with Bill Inglot’s Tape search and it may be good to have all the albums and Bonus/Unreleased material included in a nice shiny Box, but unfortunately not all of the mastering has the Dynamic Range and sound quality I would like, namely some of the 1960s material [which is for us all an important personal listening choice],

So I have a NEW project which is based on the legacy left by renowned but little known Sound Engineer Stefan Wriedt. It was Stefan who conceived of a NEW set of Four Seasons and Frankie Valli Masters back in the ‘noughties’ after his ‘salvage’ work with Bear Records and other EU ‘independent’s to digitize all of Frankie Valli’s earliest records The result of his work as a professional sound engineer was the release of the earliest of Frankie Valli’s performances on CD with the RCA Four Lovers Tapes with Bear Records in 1989 and the First Fantastic Years on CD in 1995. All subsequent CD releases of pre Four Seasons tracks are taken from [or are inferior to] these German Studio ‘Masters’. He also brought us the Motown Bootleg ‘The Night- Inside You’ CD in 2000.

So my project is probably the last ‘sound quality’…... ‘Chapter’ of the recording career of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. [Unless unknown Tapes surface….and they always do!] so I am starting my MEGA LIBRARY with those MASTERS salvaged from vinyl and the RCA Tapes to form my FIRST ARCHIVE Volume of the Pre-Four Seasons. But it doesn’t finish there.

"Discussing the CD Discography Ken Charmer and Stefan Wriedt at the Royal Albert Hall Concert 26^th June 2012"

The CD discography [in this link] is Stefan’s work and it takes a critical view of the releases and ‘sound quality’ of CD Mastering since the advent of CD releases of the groups work from 1988 up to 2011, on the majority of CD original album issues in the US, and then EU [which then included the UK].

Back in 2009 as Charles Alexander says in the ‘Jersey Beat’ booklet…….”Millions of people from all walks of life have bought 4 Seasons recordings and attended concerts for decades- as loyal a group of followers as any artist could ever hope to have”. I quoted this in my blog back then and said....”they deserve to know ‘what are the ‘best mixes’ 'and where to find them. Maybe someday the whole catalogue will be re-mixed to the very best sound standards?”

Well we now have the Snapper Music Box Set as an ‘anthology’ reference point for the sound of the group and Frankie as recovered from tape and re-mastered in 2023, and it has taken awhile since Paul Bigelow was quoted in our blog saying in 1997… “I have never heard anything on CD by them (The Four Seasons) that I would call superlative…..(sound quality) The ACE reissues sound OK and look good, but I think they’re working from the same tapes Rhino worked from - just mastered better.”…..and I asked …..’So who will find that ‘Definitive’ compilation of the 60s “Sound Of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons” and should it be in MONO or STEREO.?’ ….But the real question re the 1960s is…...DOES GREAT SOUND FROM THE MASTER TAPES STILL EXIST?

Well the answer is ‘NO!!!!…We have seen all of the Tape Box Scans as marked up, but there are no multi-tracks….’Superlative Master Tapes’ do not exist [apart from 2 that we found at 24 bit 192Khz] and now we have proof and know the surviving Masters both MONO and STEREO for nearly all of the 60s tracks and the rest of the ANALOGUE TAPE period up to Streetfighter are 2^nd to 5^th generation SAFETY COPIES.

STEREO MASTERS from the 1962 to 1970 for all ‘album’ CD releases since have been digitised since 1988 and derived from these analogue tape versions as copied to storage during that period. The best STEREO mixes on tape where created from 1967 when vocals were centrally placed in most cases. This was due to the earlier in the decade technical limitations of 3 and 4 track recorders whilst 8 and 16 track tape decks were used after studio equipment upgrades by 1967 and from then Bob Crewe mixed them that way[only 2 songs at Atlantic Studios had the benefit of 8 track…..but that is another story]

Balanced STEREO recordings and releases on vinyl took over gradually from 1967 and now we have a ’reference set’ by Snapper Music to enable us to understand the status of what has survived.[in MONO and STEREO]. As Sound Engineer George Showerer told me of his saved Masters at Mirasound Studio in 1967...“Bill Inglot told me that when he received tapes from all the songs [in storage], he noted that in some cases the record company had destroyed the multi-tracks, thereby causing only the famous mix heard on the radio to be the defacto recording heard by everyone.[and that was the MONO]’

So most of the STEREO versions up to 1967 do not have the ‘balanced’ sound of later in the decade. The Snapper Set has now also provided the MONO Album archive for the first time on CD. It is simply what has survived, but still it is the original Mix from radio and LP. But with no surviving multi-track the evidence of Bill and Georges comments was clear re the STEREO. So in my project I am going to examine and answer the question whether the tapes transferred and Mastered in 2023 are in the same quality NOW as was achievedback in the 1980s for the first CD releases of the albums in STEREO?. What are the best STEREO Mixes?

Although 'incomplete', the Snapper Music Box Set 'Anthology' is a box set representing 98% of surviving MASTER transfers [to CD] that still exist [plus all of the salvaged 'unreleased' and LIVE shows we could find by 2021]. Now we have them re-mastered and presented in a beautifully designed and produced package with books and notes represents the best ever ‘comprehensive’ single box set of our fave groups work since 1961 when the Four Seasons brand was created. Re-mastering has been completed 'independently' by Snapper's sound engineer Peter Reynolds and we can relax and enjoy as consistent a set as is possible. Well maybe???. …...as indications are that the previous Tape Transfers for CD release in the late 1980s and 90s may be better masters of the 1960s safety copies.?.... Tapes deteriorate and flaws and mistakes happen and no mastering is the same.! Hence the need to collate and TEST the primary album releases on CD since 1988 in STEREO

So what should we make of the this important set of music given our sound tests analyses 12+ years ago in the midst of the 'Jersey Boys' phenomena?. Stefan’s CD reviews were always focused on an optimal Dynamic Range and this enabled us to set a ‘marker’ based on Stefan’s CD Discography and tests to verify what constitutes a ‘comprehensive library of the ‘BEST MASTERS’…[well…... as good as will ever be possible]….and I will collect them together in our FOUR SEASON UK APPRECIATION SOCIETY[FSUKAS] DIGITAL ARCHIVE

So in a series of Sound Tests these NEW RE-MASTERS and ALL of the album Masters I collected on CD over the period between 1988 and 2010 are being examined and tested against my own recently researched reference points[i.e.from both the vinyl and CD as much as is practically possible.] As Stefan passed away from cancer in 2015 the legacy he left is a method of testing CD quality. I am going to use these ‘digital’ sound evaluation tools and my ageing ears. My blogs since 2008 have been about the fans needs for a comprehensive catalogue including all of the rare and ‘unreleased’ and we have a lot now whilst still hoping we get to hear the rest of the MOTOWN UNRELEASED from Bob Gaudio and Universal Motown in the near future.

The evaluation through our METER TESTS can however can be seen by some as somewhat academic as ‘hearing’ experts know.....”Whereas a person in their twenties will be able to hear up to 17,000Hz or more, by their thirties this will have declined to about 16,000Hz. By the time an individual is in their 50s, their hearing range will usually have declined to around 12,000Hz. After 70 this will inevitably drop below 10,000 Hz. None of these changes are particularly problematic and are a normal part of aging.”

Therefore the full frequency of a recording as shown below is what should exist if the recording is a ‘true master’ [the brightest being the loudest/noticeable [red]

But in some cases much less sound exists due to the source limits...or poor mastering with sound cut-off at 16kHz or 11kHz so not reaching the as shown above FULL Frequency of up to 20kHz. Whether you can hear the higher frequencies depends on age and health. So we have taken a pragmatic view that whatever 'sound content' exists/survives we must use our ears and the criteria below.

Without getting too techy…...it is worth looking at these basics of ‘sound testing’ again even though re-mastering has moved on substantially since the advent of the CD and our expectations in 2010. Looking back we have found some clear definitions as we have always been the amateurs, relying mostly on Record Companies and as I have said [with other engineers in the past] not always with good results......”Basically, mastering is balancing, equalizing, compressing, and just trying to get the most out of a musical performance,” says Steve Hall, chief mastering engineer at Future Disc “It's smoothing out all the rough edges to make a polished, finished performance.” The idea, he explains, “is to make it as musical and exciting to listen to as possible. In the course of their work, mastering engineers have to do all kinds of sonic doctoring, including matching levels from song to song; adding shimmer to the top and punch to the bottom; adjusting the levels of individual instruments by using precise EQ (remember, they're working with a mixed master); goosing up the overall loudness; and much more.”

We used Steve Hoffman’s definition of a BEST Mix from 2009 as how we wanted the Four Seasons Catalogue to sound….

“Defining a good mix is ‘subjective’?......well perhaps but we think 80% of it……..is a mixture of technical…..and ‘feel’……”

Firstly the characteristics that make it sound great are……

1. Clarity – that sharp clear shape to each element in the sound

2. Content – the sound stage and it’s constituent parts

3. Separation – the difference or space within the sound between the elements.

4. Depth – the position of the sounds in terms of the distance they appear from the listener and each other. The last two can apply within both a MONO and STEREO mix

We believed back then that the definitive versions were being stored in the best digital form for future generations of collectors. Now in 2023, we know that has not been the case even though mastering has improved along with technology to process the sound. The Snapper project went back to the stored tapes in the clear hope we would be able to enjoy the Four Seasons sounding as never before? Well now we have our wish, with this reference set for Frankie and the group to compare with many ‘past masters’ that I own.

Back in 2010 we set up the CD Discography and our own SOUND TEST page on our web site. Stefan and Ihave added additional tools and tests since. The most significant achievement since the advent of CD releases in 1988, is that now we have new technology and software and both the MONO and STEREO albums from the 1960s to compare and assess the ‘BEST MIXES’. I am compiling the results of sound tests of dynamic range and loudness as was highlighted back in 2010…on everything whilst for others maybe ..”it is a case of your preference and mode of listening”. As one engineer put it….”A song that provides noticeable variations in level is almost always more engaging than one that stays pretty much the same from start to finish”.

It remains appropriate today to adhere to such standards as although technology and the change away from physical media storage continues, that is not for me and many music collectors. Streaming may be the easy and preferred mode of listening for many as listening has moved from predominantly speaker based listening to ear-pods and headphones…the resulting sound should be right for every output ...whilst for some it is back to vinyl for straight through ‘analogue’ sound. It is personal choice . Also ‘Digital Sound Processing’ [DSP] software is present in many apps today to enhance sound as individuals choose. The most significant test of all is human [your ears] and that is where you as readers can express your view via our blogs and FB discussion groups. You can share your own findings of the CDs available covering the original albums.

But MY ARCHIVE is drawn from the digital world of CD as a major ‘physical collecting method’ as we trawl the past for the BEST surviving WAV MIXES.

Bob Crewe back in the 60s had used the available compression tools to grab the listener on his 45 mixes [with big limitations as to what could be ‘squeezed’ into the grooves] on vinyl. With the advent of the CD format such limits were no longer there and as a result digital mastering by record companies [wanting 'hot' sounding discs] caused ‘abuse’ of such tools as 'compression' of Dynamic Range became prevalent. Such mixes became dominant in the 'noughties' and defined 'The Loudness Wars'.

In our search for the 'BEST' mixes of the Four Seasons we have always been looking for good 'Dynamic Range' [i.e. DR - the difference between the quietest and loudest sounds in a track]. From our sound test page we defined this using the 2009 software [Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1] which confirmed ‘a DR reading for 'pop music' of DR12 [as potentially best] down to DR9 [as adequate] with anything below DR8 too difficult to listen to for any length of time due to excessive 'compression' of the instruments and vocals. Major companies such as Yamaha have confirmed this general concept. Each track will depend on it’s style and musical content [dynamics] and the average for the 60s albums should be around DR10 or higher. Frankie Valli’s lead vocal should always be higher than the level of the instrumentation and the group. That is my reference point.

The other 'measure' essential to a CD set is the LOUDNESS [or RMS reading]. Experience shows that aconsistent level on all tracks should be peaking between -13db and -10db for easy long time listening.Similarly, sound volume [‘peaks’] must not exceed [on a minus scale] peak volume getting too close to -0.00db. Many CDs in the 90s and 00s hit this zero level which can cause distortion and/or ‘clipping’ of sound on some players.

The Peaks that the Snapper Music Box Set achieves is on average -0.75db which is a good level. Here is a link to one of Stefan’s evaluations of ‘Off-Seasons - Criminally Ignored Sides’ from 2001 which shows the problems we found and led to the Box Set we have today.

You can via our FB groups send us any comments re the past original albums[not the Hits Collections] as you wish as I continue such tests on ……

• the 25^th Anniversary Box Set Masters [which is for many fans still the definitive first CD of ‘hits’ digitized by Bill Inglot from the FSP Master Tapes] …….. and the original albums since on CD from…….

• Rhino

• Japanese releases

• ACE Records

• Warner-Curb, Rhino and

• Collectors Choice

…….along with the Snapper Box Set Masters. I will test all I have which involves different mastering and maybe different tape transfers from tape.

Listening Tests of our full library of CDs will be conducted in the foobar2000 player at 50% volume on headphones for clarity/separation and depth evaluation. It is always about what you hear and the 'feel' of the music. My personal focus will be on ‘how close to the original vinyl sound do we get on CD?’ with some level of modernity as a result of the greater frequencies we got from the CD era and digital sound. CDs are digital sound at 16bit sample rate and a frequency of 44kHz, and whilst other digital formats [24 or 32 bit 96 kHz and 24/32 bit 192kHz] have been promoted in the last 20 years, generally consumers and many engineers accept the CD format as adequate. However there are increasing numbers of sound enthusiasts who favour the latter HQ formats for clarity and separation resulting in richer sonic textures with increased clarity and enhanced dynamic range. But we only have what we have and the archive will be constructed on the basis of THE BEST ‘Mixes’ digitally. [that you can hear comfortably – as I said already] and CD quality[wav files] are the main content apart from a few High Quality Mixes from a few tapes.

The other test included in my project will be comparison with the 'approved' list of tracks back in the summer of 2021 for the Snapper Box Set as the agreed [with Bob Gaudio ] 'Master Track List'. There are I know some errors in production of the Box Set. So this analysis will identify all of the known Masters found since 1962 and with your comments will input to the structure of my FOUR SEASONS UK APPRECIATION SOCIETY[FSUKAS] DIGITAL ARCHIVE as over the next year I evaluate the ‘true story’ of the Four Seasons Partnership’s MASTERS on CD

More soon…..Casey Chameleon - October 2023

Lost Masters Searching - Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

The Lost Tape still somewhere in the FSP Storage

For those who have the Snapper Music Box Set and wonder how we found material for inclusion, and the problems we faced, then you should watch the Podcast below in which legendary Sound Engineer Mark Linett and Alan Boyd with Darren Paltrowitz discuss their role as ‘Music Detectives’ as they assembled the Beach Boys ‘Catalogue’ from all sorts of sources. It is a fascinating window into historical research and finding surviving Tapes and very reminiscent of our experiences.

Both Mark and Alan led the drive to find more sources of lost tapes for the Beach Boys and it has paid off. The message is that such research projects are not necessarily profitable in the short term, but history and museums are profitable in the long term if backed by the owners. But the Beach Boys ‘owned’ and ‘preserved’ most of their Master Tapes, and whilst the Four Seasons Partnership[FSP] owned most of their ‘masters’, the Snapper Music Box Set has been the first and only time a record company has committed the cost to do an in-depth research project of their catalogue. Back in 2002, Bob Gaudio indicated in interview that this was a big task…...and he has said before receiving the tape transfers of the Motown tracks ‘with no guarantee that Frankie is on them or in what condition, [he] believes this is not worth the chase.’ Well by now he knows the ‘Gold Mine’ of music he has….and he responed enough to give you 13 tracks.

He may be right regarding the rest [but I doubt it] and my aim in these blogs has been to get connections on the www to find us the tapes and videos in good condition [that fans want] and so maybe there is a way to spread the word and find the still ‘lost’ tapes. Listen to the experts here……

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlXZqM8XrCM&t=632s

Maybe this BOX SET is the best that will ever be possible as at 76, I don’t have enough ‘lifetime’ or appetite to keep pushing for the fanbase anymore without a 100% financially and emotionally committed team. My years in my chosen profession as a Project Manager have shown me this is what is needed. The achievement of the Box Set issue after over 4 years work and the many unreleased tracks included [at least 30% unreleased from fan sources] does not out-way the still missing Motown tracks. Also we experienced the decades of lack of empathy from the FSP during which time I lost several fan friends including close ones in Stefan Wriedt and Bob Fisher who missed out on this ‘overdue’ release. Decades in which millions were made by the FSP from re-releases and Jersey Boys. Universal Motown were ‘leery’ to supply us the Tape Box scans and only Bob Gaudio was supplied with tracks for review. Snapper would not even ask why we did not get more tracks when we knew they were with Bob Gaudio and complete recordings. But after 25 years of denial that they existed it was familiar treatment.

In compiling the Box Set, although the Motown ‘Unreleased’ was to be the cornerstone, Bob Fisher and I only had access to the FSP Storage in LA and we did not have the time to fully research all Tape Boxes there, as Bill Inglot had a commission to find the Album Tapes only and the potentially ‘unreleased’ tracks surviving. 98% were 2 track Safety Copies with only a few Multi-track tapes were found. As I now remain the FSP’s main ‘Archivist’…...more by accident than by intent…….I had an opportunity to gather nearly all of the released Masters as ‘Master Track Adviser’. I was able to discover and salvage and advise Snapper and now fans[via this blog and the Box Set ‘Collectors Notes’], in terms of what did and might still exist as ‘unreleased’ and where these tracks may be. There are still many good recordings which remain ‘unreleased’. Maybe a future Project Manager will believe the music is worth the trouble and be paid for the research.

Alternative versions and different ‘takes’ may not be on the FSP or many fans agenda’s now, as we follow a band that never had the surviving ‘charisma’ of the Beach Boys. I really think that without some level of support from the FSP, that seeking more is a fairly pointless ‘campaign’ now as the COST of research and engineering time is regarded by the FSP as an issue when the return on investment is mainly ‘reputational’. The research needs a tape researcher, transfer engineer, archivist/collator/historian and a re-mastering engineer and of course access to the tapes and the cost of buying or claiming ownership of the source recordings. If that sounds expensive then it would be. I did the Master Tape Research without any paid contract arrangement, but now, enough is enough, when the owners just want to secure an easy ‘copyright’ [as in ‘The River Runs Deep’]

‘Working OUR Way Back To You’ was an apt title by Snapper Music but will the FSP or anyone else in the Music Business regard the fan base as significant or the material recovered marketable? Snapper currently have to sell the rest of the 2500 limited edition sets with around 1000 sold nearly 3 months after release. But for them the hopes are it will prove a good Christmas present …...for grandparents from there grandchildren …..which it will...it remains a superb achievement!!! It was their investment and we are all grateful they gave us the opportunity to share it with you.

Recovery of the still unheard tracks for historical reasons seems unimaginable given that it has taken 20 plus years of campaigning to get what we got in the Snapper Music Box Set…...and that was short by 20 to 30 tracks available….BUT ….we couldn’t get them. We provided all tape and rare vinyl sourced and salvaged tracks that were original or unheard important recordings [including HQ LIVE only recordings] from our Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society Archive which has collected salvaged tracks since 1990 and Rex Woodard’s interviews with Tommy DeVito…...for ‘THE WORK’ [as their draft bio of the original Four Seasons biography was labelled by the Jersey Boys Court Cases]

So for those who want to know what are the remaining sources of ‘unreleased’ tracks here is what I know there could be as ‘historically important recordings’……

• The Motown Session Tapes – 16 and 24 track recordings of which at least 15 unheard and completed songs remain plus alternative versions. We still have a few that survived as ‘test’ mixes from the FSP Archive but Bob Gaudio, now, should have been supplied all of these and it remains up to him to judge if these can be heard. He already withdrew ‘I Will Love You Like A Man’ for reasons not disclosed but perhaps due to Bob being socially aware of feminism and a response to the ‘woke’ culture? None of the paper record researched unreleased tracks were shared with the Snapper Music Team during the project other than the 13 approved for release. The remaining BONUS tracks found in the FSP storage were ‘alternate’ mixes found by our team.

• Bob Gaudio’s personal ARCHIVE. This is known to exist from a 2002 interview with the late Stuart Miller re recordings transferred by Bob Sobo to digital storage, none of which was shared with the Snapper Music team.

• Frankie Valli’s Personal Studio - Recordings with Artie Schroeck and The Modern Gentlemen

• Bob Crewe’s Personal Archive. Bob Crewe did, before his accident and subsequent dementia, commission Crewe Studios team to digitize on Pro-Tools all of his remaining vinyl and acetates which may include tapes from past decades. Dan Crewe who inherited Bob’s Estate has never been prepared to discuss any access or research to this material despite requests, but he has not blocked re-release of any of Bob’s published/recorded material with royalties going to the Bob Crewe Foundation which supports young ‘local’ musician’s

• Drexel University – Sigma Studio Tapes Archive[NYC storage] This contains 2 tracks formally registered and copies of session tracks which became the LOST DISCO album. More recordings may exist including multi-tracks.

• The FSP Storage in LA – It is known that Bill Inglot could not complete any further ‘in-depth’ research of tapes which contained some 192kHz [HQ] reels and some 16 track ‘1970’ Philips reel transfers plus the 200 plus ‘unmarked’ 5 inch reels which would include the 5 lost ‘Philips registered’ titles marked on a Tape Box that contained the wrong tape.[See image above]

All of these sources would, I believe, reveal many ‘unreleased’ tracks and there are also ‘fan collectors’ out there that have never disclosed or shared tapes rumoured to have been salvaged from the 1960s and 70s. [e.g. The ‘Close-Up’ album session ‘unreleased’]. There may be tapes from the Vee-Jay and Philips sessions ‘smuggled away’ at the time but this seems unlikely to me after all of this time.

Perhaps the release of the Snapper Music Box Set will have satiated the appetite of the ‘core’ fan base for any more of this material.? If not the ‘OUT-TAKES’ collection left over from before and during the Snapper Music Project Research is over 60 titles and I feel confident this will be collated to salvage the remaining tracks of sufficient quality for ‘preservation’. If there are ‘Curators’ of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons tracks out there then they can maybe contribute to the MASTER DIGITAL ARCHIVE which is being assembled as the Fullest Preservation SET of the vinyl[and previously unreleased commercially] as a digital library of all recorded material. It will include the Snapper Music Set as DIGITALLY preserved but much more. This will be passed on to the next generation of fans…...my version of potential ‘succession planning’.

Our Facebook group as a Campaign for the release of the rest of the Motown Unreleased track will remain a research base as it has been since 2016 and you can have your voice heard there. I have completed the last 4Seasons On Saturday video podcasts and as the up to 2000 or so dedicated fans slowly absorb the reality of the Box Set, I remain satisfied we did as much as we could to bring all of the music to you. Enjoy the music folks …..wherever you are. As Frankie Villi sings ‘ come back and make the music play’. I know most will be available on ‘streaming’ some day….but as for the rest….in OUR archive…….I am passing the ‘baton’ on as the ‘relay’ teams do….but will the FSP drop it?…...or will they continue to be WORKING their way back to you all?

I will remain a rare and unreleased ‘blogger’ as information or tracks surface giving my own commentary on any NEW discoveries including a potential Northern Soul Mix previously unheard.

Ken Charmer

Iron Mountain's GOLD

For those who have covered my many ‘musings’ re the Universal Tape Storage and the Unreleased and Library of Masters of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons here is a chance to see just how they have survived for nearly 52 years to see another 13 released this year in the Snapper Music ‘Legacy’ Box Set[The ULTIMATE Collection]. Below is the link to ‘Tracking Angles’s’ visit to the facility in a unique and nearly 2 hour video tour. Here is what they say of their visit…..

“TrackingAngle's exclusive visit to Universal Music Group's Iron Mountain tape vault outside of Pittsburgh also includes a tour of Iron Mountain Entertainment Services' facilities. You'll get to go deep within the former limestone mine where Universal Music Group has one of its worldwide tape storage facilities and see how, with the help of Iron Mountain Entertainment Services, the company catalogues and keeps track of its vast audio and video tape holdings. The visit also includes a ride through other parts of the labyrinthian, underground facility where governmental agencies we can't identify also store data, safe from natural environmental damage as well as from acts of war. You'll see the process by which a licensee gets selected assets for a music album reissue, whether it's the tape for an all-analog reissue or a digital file for a digitally sourced reissue. You'll see the action from finding the tapes in the vast facility to cataloguing it and preparing it for reissue. The visit was like going onto a science fiction movie set, only this was real! For most people this will be a first and only opportunity to see this facility in this almost two hour long presentation. Watch as much or as little as you wish, but if you don't watch all of it, you'll be missing out on some amazing footage shot deep within the mine. UMG also prepared for TrackingAngle.com a series of displays showing existing master tapes that The New York Times claims were burned in the tragic 2008 fire atop Universal Mountain outside of Los Angeles including the Buddy Holly catalog, which did not burn—as anyone who's purchased Analogue Productions' AAA reissues cut from original master tapes of "Buddy Holly" and "The Chirpin' Crickets" knows still exists—I've seen pictures of the tapes used for the cut. The newspaper refuses to correct their mistakes. The visuals UMG provided will appear shortly on The TrackingAngle.com website. Watch for the story! Tracking Angle thanks Universal Music Group, Iron Mountain and Iron Mountain Entertainment Services for allowing us into the usually off-limit facility and for everyone's hospitality and cooperation. It was an experience I'll long remember! “

Some have said it is like something from the ‘Arc of the Covenant’ being stored in Indiana Jones movies (actually shown in this 36 mins in). The vault is said to house about 80% audio and 20% video with audio tapes stored upright and video flat.  There are film versions of all types, audio from cassettes to all the MANY different lengths, speed, widths, reels, no reels, reels with songs literally taken out over the years and missing from originals now. ‘The Tape Boxes as well as all of the audio AND video tapes are stored in a totally random order and can only be found by use of their computerized catalog system, which is great, but sure seems like a nonsense system to me’ says one commentator who has experienced it. “I know there are 100's of 1000's of tapes there, but just a BIT more genre organization would be great.” Early on, our host jokes of how he is seeing The O'Jays mixed in with classical tapes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxZPFNpB6yY

For me the video only needs a few ‘skips’ into the experience to realise how lucky we have been to enable the Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons MOTOWN Master Session Tapes to be salvaged as a result of our forensic research of the old paper records over the last 12 years, that guided the UMG Vault Services people[i.e. Andy Skurow and co.] to the material we wanted released. First we needed a project with enough money in it to fund the retrieval of the tapes. We had compiled since the noughties a list of 29 Master Session Reels with 16 track recordings and Mix-down’s to STEREO of the two ‘released’ albums from the early 1970s which along with microfiched Artists Cards provided and confirmed completed MASTERS existed of UNRELEASED TRACKS and somehow the records showed where these were as P [Production] Tapes. Andy did not seem to have this information as the Box Set annotation notes re the tracks only reflect the Tape Box info.

Although Andy was somewhat disparaging of my spreadsheet it enabled him to order the Tape Boxes [I had estimated potentially between 38 and 50 tracks remained unheard] and to have them sent to the Universal Motown NYC base from Iron Mountain for research and digitizing is an amazing achievement. Somehow the Iron Mountain TEAM found them [or most of them we hope??]. Whilst Bob Gaudio wanted mix-downs to STEREO for listening tests for him and Frankie he was initially provided with Tape Box Scans and this listed ‘vocals’ as being completed on 19 tracks with 11 still to be researched back in 2019. Snapper advised that Bob Gaudio was concerned that if there are no 2 track STEREO Mixes for him and Frankie to review, this would be a financial and time consuming problem. I had confirmation that there were 24 track titles found but with no guarantee that Frankie is on them or in what condition they were in. This was troubling Bob and at this point the whole project was in jeopardy. There were song titles that Bob vaguely remembered, with his and Crewe’s name as producers. However, these were16 track recordings and would require mixing down and studio time to listen to.

Bob proposed a way forward and whilst he wanted 2 track mix downs but I think the result was all of the recovered tapes being sent to him [ I hope so], but I have no confirmation of this. However I believe he must have had 16/24 tracks sent as that resulted in him listening to[and perhaps mixing] tracks only ‘rumoured’ to exist. Time and cost [and his involvement with the Neil Diamond Broadway Musical] may have restricted what was researched and approved as only 13 tracks of the potential 30 indicated as existing have arrived and Andy Skurow, we now know, found another 15 completed tracks still unheard and of the same quality as what has been approved. Bob however knew there was a world of fans waiting for these tracks and thanked us all for our interest and support in reviewing and approving the 13. We added alternate mixes copied into the FSP Storage in 1973 found during our tape research of their archive. We have a few more salvaged and stored for the out-takes ‘collection’.

So whilst the campaign to have all of the tapes researched remains in place, targetting to get more UNRELEASED tracks issued ……...we are all just happy that Iron Mountain….revealed GOLD…….and you will see from this video…..it is a treasure trove…...but clearly TOO EXPENSIVE to search for any more Valli/Seasons. We have what was researched and sent to Bob Gaudio……. What that is may never be revealed….but we hope he sees the value and comes through.

You can read more detail on the ‘finds’ in this link……

https://thatfourseasonssound.typepad.com/seasonally/2022/03/motown-unreleased-the-final-wordfor-now.html

And below is the latest spreadsheet data ‘edit’ re all of the tapes that we know about, for anyone’s interest…..and if you can add knowledge or information let me know.?

Download MotownTapeIndex Tapes_Credits_Locations Ver 6 Feb 2023

Ken Charmer – for The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society

The Snapper Music Box Set - Motown Annotation Corrections[ Re-post with Update April 2025]

As Master Track Adviser I supplied the additional data re the 3 Motown Discs as below but my additions were not included in the final production. They are provided here with Snapper's permission. A pdf copy is attached for easy printing. Download Motown - Annotations with UK Research Adds 7th Feb2021

Four Seasons Annotations – Additions to the research by Andy Skurrow [with additions by Ken Charmer]

[from the Motown Database and Artists Cards]

Disc 30: The Motown Years – Disc 1

Chameleon LP

A New Beginning (Prelude)

(Bob Gaudio-Bob Crewe)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Recording dates unavailable – Approximately January 1972 – Final Mix May 4^th 1972

 

Sun Country

(Bob Gaudio)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Track cut October 27, 1971; lead vocals October 28, November 10, December 8 and 9, 1971; background vocals November 1 and 4, 1971

 

You're A Song (That I Can’t Sing)

(Bob Gaudio-Brit Gaudio)
Produced by Bob Gaudio

Recording dates unavailable

 

The Night

(Bob Gaudio-Al Ruzicka)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Track cut October 28, 1971; vocals cut October 28, 30, November 5, 9, 10, December 8, 1971 – Final Mix for album by Russ Terrana February 1^st 1972 from Mixes 13 and 14

[43 Mixes completed between February 1^st and 20^th August 1975]

 

A New Beginning

(Bob Gaudio-Bob Crewe)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Recording dates unavailable - Approximately January 1972 – Final Mix May 4^th 1972

 

When The Morning Comes

(Bob Gaudio)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Recording dates unavailable – Final Mix February 1^st 1972

 

Poor Fool

(Al Ruzicka)

Track cut October 26, 1971; lead and background vocals October 28, November 2, 3, and 4, 1971; and January 5 and 14, 1972 –Final Mix January 19^th 1972

 

Touch The Rainchild

(Bob Gaudio-Al Ruzicka)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Track cut October 26, 1971; lead and background vocals October 28, 29, November 2, 8 and 9, 1971

 

Love Isn't Here (Like It Used To Be)

(Bob Gaudio-Brit Gaudio)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Track cut October 27, 1971; vocal overdubs October 27 and 28, November 2, 10, and 11, December 6, 7 and 8, 1971

 

 

Chameleon LP Credits:

MoWest 108, May 1972

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Arranged by Dave Blumberg, Charles Calello and Joe Scott

Recording Engineers: Joe Atkinson, Larry Miles and Art Stewart

Mixing Engineer: Russ Terrana

 

Singles Issued from Chameleon: USA

 

Love Isn’t Here (Like It Used To Be) b/w Poor Fool

Issued as Frankie Valli solo single, MoWest 5011F, February 1972

 

Sun Country issued as B-side of Walk On, Don’t Look Back, MoWest 5026F, 23^rd August 1972

 

The Night b/w Sun Country [acetate pressing only on Columbia Records Products, Santa Monica, California in August 1972] was scheduled as MoWest 5025F, then cancelled

 

 

Bonus Tracks:

 

Walk On, Don't Look Back

(The Corporation™️)

Produced by The Corporation

Executive Producer: B.G.

Arranged by The Corporation™️ and Gene Page

Non-LP US single, Issued as MoWest 5026F A, August 1972

First Mix by Russ Terrana August 4^th 1972

 

How Come

(Robert B. Sherman-Richard M. Sherman)

Produced by Bob Crewe

Arranged by David Blumberg

Vocal Arrangements: Bob Gaudio

Track cut April 11, 1973; lead recorded April 12 and 13, 1973; background vocals added April 18 and 28, 1973 - Final Mix – May 5^th 1973

Non-LP single, issued as Motown 1255F A, May 1973

 

 

Life And Breath

(George S. Clinton)

Produced by Hal Davis

Arranged by James Anthony Carmichael

Track cut January 31, 1972; lead February 3 and 7, 1972; background vocals April 6, 1972

First Mix February 2^nd 1973 – Mix by Russ Terrana March 26^th 1973-Further Mix 18^th August 1975

Non-LP single, issued as Motown 1255F B, May 1973

 

Hickory

(Bob Crewe-Kenny Nolan)

Produced by Bob Crewe

Arranged by Charles Calello

Recording dates - November and December 1973 – Mixed December 11^th 1973

Non-LP single, issued as Motown 1288 A, February 1974

 

Charisma (unedited version)

(Bob Crewe-Kenny Nolan)

Produced by Bob Crewe

Arranged by Charles Calello

Recording dates - November 1973 – Mixed December 11^th 1973

Unissued on vinyl and NOT INCLUDED in Box Set by Bob Gaudio

 

 

Charisma (single version)

(Bob Crewe-Kenny Nolan)

Produced by Bob Crewe

Arranged by Charles Calello

Recording dates - November 1973 – Mixed December 11^th 1973

Edited version issued as non-LP single Motown 1288F B, February 1974

Included in the U.K. version of Inside You

 

 

 

Disc 31: The Motown Years – Disc 2

 

Inside You LP

 

Just Look What You Have Done

(Frank Wilson-R. Dean Taylor)

Produced by Hal Davis

Track cut August 9, 1971; lead cut January 17 and 20, and February 7, 1972; background vocals cut January 25, 1972

First Mix for DJ promo single release August 2, 1971. Released in November 1973 Motown 124-10. Final mixes for this album February 22, and August 21, 1975

 

Love Isn't Here (Like It Used To Be)

(Bob Gaudio-Brit Gaudio)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Track cut October 27, 1971; vocal overdubs October 27 and 28, November 2, 10, and 11, December 6, 7 and 8, 1971

 

Baby I Need Your Loving

(Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Edward Holland, Jr.)

Produced by Jerry Marcellino and Mel Larson

Recording dates : November 1971

 

Inside You

(Bob Crewe-Bob Gaudio)

Produced by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio

Recording dates unavailable : First Mix February 2, 1973 [24 mixes completed by August 21, 1975]

 

Thank You

(Willie Hutch)

Produed by Willie Hutch

Track cut October 20, 1971; Lead cut October 22 and 25, 1971

Final Mix for this album : August 19, 1975

 

Hickory

(Bob Crewe-Kenny Nolan)

Produced by Bob Crewe

Arranged by Charles Calello

Recording dates : November 1973: First Mix December 11,1973

 

Life And Breath

(George S. Clinton)

Produced by Hal Davis

Arranged by James Anthony Carmichael

Track cut January 31, 1972; lead February 3 and 7, 1972; background vocals April 6, 1972

Final Mix for this album August 18,1975

 

The Night

(Bob Gaudio-Al Ruzicka)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Track cut October 28, 1971; vocals cut October 28, 30, November 5, 9, 10, December 8, 1971

Final Alternate Mix for this album by Russ Terrana August 20, 1975 [Mix 43]

 

With My Eyes Wide Open

(Bob Crewe-Bob Gaudio)

Produced by Bog Crewe and Bob Gaudio

Recording dates unavailable ; First Mix February 2,1973: Final Mix for this album August 20, 1975

 

 

Inside You LP Credits:

Motown 852, October 1975

Issued with additional tracks in the U.K. on Tamla Motown MW7007

Mixed and mastered by Russ Terrana at Motown Recording Studios, Hollywood, California

Production Coordination: Suzee Wendy Ikeda

Art Direction: Frank Mulvey

Design: Snyder & Butler Advertising

Photography: Jim Britt

 

 

Bonus Tracks:

 

You've Got Your Troubles

(Roger Greenaway-Roger Cooke)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Arranged by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe

First Mix May 5, 1973

Non-LP single, issued as Motown 1251 A, May 1973

 

 

Listen To Yesterday

(Bob Gaudio-Bob Crewe)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Arranged by David Blumberg

Track cut December 9, 1972; background vocals December 21, 1972, and March 2, 1973; lead January 11, 1973; overdubs January 12, 1973; strings January 18, 1973

Non-LP single, issued as Motown 1251F B, May 1973 and Motown 1279F B, November 1973

 

The Scalawag Song (And I Will Love You)

Working title: Silver Fishes

(John Cameron)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Arranged by David Blumberg

From the Paramount Motion Picture Scalawag

Non-LP single, issued as Motown 1279F A, October 1973

Issued in U.K. version of Inside You

First Mix August 13,1973 [16 Mixes made by August 30, 1973]

 

Listen To Yesterday

(Bob Gaudio-Bob Crewe)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Arranged by David Blumberg

Track cut December 9, 1972; background vocals December 21, 1972, and March 2, 1973; lead January 11, 1973; overdubs January 12, 1973; strings January 18, 1973

Alternative Version not released on vinyl : [22 mixes made during February and March 1973]

 

 

Disc 32: The Motown Years – Previously Unreleased

 

My Heart Cries Out For You 

(Mel Larson-Jerry Marcellino)

Produced by Lar Mar

Track cut October 1, 1971; lead October 21 and December 8, 1971; background vocals October 26, 1971; strings November 1, 1971; horns November 24, 1971

 

What Love Has Joined Together

(William “Smokey” Robinson-Robert Rogers)

Produced by Al Cleveland-Lawrence Payton

Lead cut January 26, 1972, all other dates unknown

 

Loving You, That’s My Thing

(Al Ruzicka)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Track cut October 26, 1971; background vocals October 28, 30, November 2 and 3 1971; lead October 30, November 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 14, 1971

 

Never Gonna Give My Love To You

(Bob Gaudio)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Track cut October 27, 1971; background vocals November 1, 3 and 4, 1971; lead November 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10, 1971; additional instrumentation December 9, 1971

 

Stop, Look, Listen To Your Heart

(Thom Bell-Linda Creed)

Produced by Hal Davis

Arranged by Gene Page

Lead cut, February 3, 1972; background vocals April 6, 1972; all other dates unknown

Final Mix August 10, 1972

Same backing track later used for Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, issued on the album

Diana & Marvin (1973)

 

Minute By Minute, Day By Day

(Michael Masser-Kathleen Wakefield)

Produced by Frankie Valli and Michael Masser

Track cut October 8, 1972; lead October 9, 10 and November 16, 1972; strings and horns November 24, 1972

 

After You 

(Ron Miller-Michael Masser)

Produced by Frankie Valli and Michael Masser

Track cut October 8, 1972; lead October 10, 1972; strings and horns November 24, 1972

 

Star

(Bob Crewe-Bob Gaudio)

Produced by Four Seasons, Bob Gaudio, and Bob Crewe

Track cut December 9, 1972; background vocals December 21 and 22, 1972; lead vocal December 29, 1972, January 3 and 5, 1973; strings January 18, 1973

 

Hymn To Her (When My Love Touches Me)

(Bob Crewe-Kenny Nowlan)

Produced by Bob Crewe

Recording dates : November 1973 : First Mix December 12, 1973

Mixed May 1974 for album release -cancelled

 

Lovers

(Bob Crewe-Kenny Nowlan)

Produced by Bob Crewe

Recording dates : November 1973 : First Mix December 12, 1973

Mixed May 1974 for album release -cancelled

 

You Can’t Hold On

(Robert John & Michael Gately) Correction April 2025

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Sax July 25, 1973; Lead and harmony January 25, 1974; all other dates unknown

First 5 Mixes May 24 and 25, 1974 for planned 45 and album release - cancelled

 

Whatever You Want

(Bob Crewe-Bob Gaudio)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Recording dates unavailable : Mix May 5^th 1974 for album release -cancelled

 

Future Years

(Tony Martin, Jr.-Guy Finley)

Produced by Bob Gaudio

Arranged by Dave Blumberg

Track cut May 30, 1973; demo vocal June 1, 1973; additional instrumentation May 31, 1973

Copied May 1974 for album release -cancelled

 

Bonus Tracks - No annotation - See Collectors Notes in the Box Set

 

Notes re authorship: Motown Annotations courtesy of Andrew Skurow/Universal Music Group

Addditional data in RED from Artists Cards by Ken Charmer – Master Track Advisor to the Snapper Music Box Set 2018 to 2022

 

 

The Snapper Music Box Set - The Post Project Review - Part Two

Having recovered from my own ‘grand opening’ of my Box Set with my son Mark, I have started to realise the ‘enormity’ of our achievement since 2018 in this ‘work of art’ by the team I assisted as ‘Master Track Adviser’ and what we learned in the process.

Last time in my first ‘Post Project Review’ I covered the concept and research work and how Bob Fisher and I worked with Bill Inglot to get a full list of tracks approved by Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli. Ian Crocket had convinced Snapper that this concept could be a reality.

In this blog I start to cover the written work and content as was achieved in the final issue. In many ways these blogs are a continuation and are complementary to my Collectors Notes…….and this remains the Box Set that keeps ‘giving and giving’ and those who have it are finding that. To some this review process may seem an irreverent and somewhat irrelevant commentary. But in the world of Collectors and curators facts are facts [unless told by ‘four guys’!!]

Paul Sexton ‘book’ included in the box set as a history of the Four Seasons has been long overdue and a superb effort. The Graphics and Design by Rachel Gutek are wonderful throughout, as are the photos, illustrations and memorabilia, many provided by our own John Pingree, Lynn Boleyn, Ray Nichol and myself but perhaps none are better than George Schowerer’s [Bob Crewe’s Sound Engineer] studio photos in 1967 at Mirasound Studios. The photos and memorabilia used are often very rare and outstanding throughout and it was pleasing to see all the full page album illustrations. Paul Urbahns who helped superbly on the project as one of our research team commented on the Book before we move onto the other blog reviews and comments across the internet.

“Paul [Sexton] puts a positive spin on everything, not really telling it like it was in Jersey Boys….and in the process some things fans and Paul may not know have arisen and been noted by the network of Collectors.

As was the original Box Set concept Paul does focus on the original albums, some have said a little too much as ….” we all know the 4 Seasons were a singles band and their albums were not generally big sellers. As Bob Gaudio famously pointed out they were not the Beach Boys or the Beatles. The various ‘Greatest Hits’ sets (Golden Hits, Gold Vault of Hits, Edizione D Oro, Story, etc) of the 60s are given the 'short shrift’. Those were their [and Philips] biggest sellers. Paul does admit Vee-Jay's Golden Hits, "which peaked at number 15 in the US, nevertheless spent 56 weeks on the chart - far longer than any original set in the group's entire history." From Paul Urbahns library of research we are told “the album remained a standard store stock item even after Vee-Jay ceased operation. ‘One Stop's’ around the country (that was the national record distribution network) had new copies in stock for years throughout the end of the 60s. In fact, two years after Vee-Jay closed, and Gold Vault of Hits had been issued, Billboard still listed Golden Hits of the Four Seasons in their ‘Guide To Basic Inventory’ for all record stores. The other Vee-Jay album that sold well after they closed was the ‘Best of Jerry Butler’. ‘Introducing The Beatles’ also outlived the label. But it was soon bootlegged. In fact most used copies available today are bootlegs.

The ‘Live On Stage’ (Vee-Jay album) goes largely unnoticed and unmentioned, except for a brief paragraph on page 50. [It is however put in context in my ‘Collectors Notes’ ed.] It is briefly mentioned that the group owing Vee-Jay an album and two singles in 1965 ‘to be issued 90 days apart.’ As one Collector noted…..”actually Crewe only provided one single (Little Boy in Grown Up Clothes) as for the second single Vee-Jay had to issue ‘My Mother's Eyes’ …..hacked crudely from the live sound album master. The very important mention of the Copa Club engagement in 1963 is in the Collectors Notes which is where the album came from isn't there. But it is so good to see the crazy ‘ad’ on page 33 for the June 27th Copa show. It looks like a Christmas show, complete with "Season's Greetings." The zodiac symbols in the background could easily be confused with snowflakes. But now we know the popular ‘Pat Cooper’ was the stand-up comedian on the same bill. It's too bad the Partnership did not open their files to Paul as there is much backstory they could have provided. The book is largely based on recorded interviews, as I understand it.”

“One thing that may mislead fans is reference to ‘Tommy Divito in playing excellent guitar on ‘Teardrops’. Collectors know from interview with Charles Calello and his book ‘Another Saeson’ that it was session player Vincent [Vinnie] Bell who used the same watery sound to make a big hit of the ‘Airport ‘Love Theme on DECCA in 1970. So apparently, he did not know that generally the 4 Seasons did not play on their songs. We know generally Bob Crewe hired NY session players and the 4 Seasons added vocals. There are a few places where individual musicians, mostly Tommy did play small parts. Primarily overdubs. Joe Long and Bob Gaudio clearly stated on the BB Saga Radio show, that the ‘Genuine Imitation Life Gazette’ was the first album the band actually played on.”

“There is almost no mention of Nick Massi leaving except what you would read in a press release and I learned more about Charles Callello's time as a "Season" from his book. No mention of three of the Seasons landing in jail in Columbus Ohio (not Cleveland as stated in Jersey Boys). So naturally no jail mug shot of Frankie Valli. It would be interesting to fans to see the mug shots of Bob and Tommy. As we all know Nick had left the group by then and wasn't arrested.”[notwithstanding the story in ‘Jersey Boys’]

There is one other mystifying comment which may have come from some old Philips ‘press release’. It is the assumption that Philips recorded and issued the Four Seasons song ‘Girl Come Running’ in four different languages, or that Philips issued their records through their 33 worldwide affiliates.(page 50). Paul suggests the group recorded the song in French, German and Italian. In 50 years collecting no-one as we know has ever found or heard foreign language recordings by the group, though it would have been a smart move for a company like Philips. In a five volume hardbound books re discography on Mercury and related labels which lists many foreign releases of US masters, there are no [foreign] listings. “Not even the Four Seasons Greatest Hits sets received any kind of routine overseas release. It appears to be very hit and miss,” one curator tells me. Basically Philips issued ‘Four Seasons’ material in English speaking countries/territories which number about 10 at the most….and in some countries like Spain, Italy and Japan, as their English recordings. Such information may clarify the ‘foreign picture sleeves’ in the 45s pics book.

“There are a few other mistakes but basically it is a well done and much needed book on the 4 Seasons which we fans have never had. There are several new excellent books issued every year on the Beach Boys and Beatles but the Four Seasons Story doesn't generate that type of interest. Probably why Rex Woodard could not find a publisher for his book with Tommy deVito. Now that is a book I would really like to read.”

There will be an attempt on the back of this Box Set release to get that book released as well as a book tracking the rise and fall of the group during the 1970s.

But back to the ‘concept’ that Ian Crocket ‘sold’ to Snapper. When we were asked to help Snapper back in 2018 it was clear that when the first album list from Bill Inglot arrived that once a MONO ‘unissued’ version of Genuine Imitation Life Gazette’[GILG] was found in the preliminary archived album list, they wanted to make GILG a focal showcase of the set as a vinyl insert. Hence, the inclusion of the vinyl copy, but after all our work, sadly a fan found the final vinyl pressing in the Box Set has a ‘speed’ flaw in the tape mastering process, that was corrected in the CD version. Mistakes can happen!!

it was also unfortunate that there is a supposed bonus from the ‘Close-Up’ album sessions of unreleased tracks. Do they exist? We later found that the ‘tape collector’ who had these denied they existed.

Snapper have spent so much time and money on this release (and it's been delayed several times due to Covid and production issues), but I am sure they are glad it's just out of the door. I am in a ‘review’ stage with regard to conflicting listing information and discs and the way forward re customers of a ‘very expensive set, at a time of a great cost of living crisis’. We will review and hopefully agree a process regarding the discrepancies later in the year for all customers, I am informed.

The Second Disc Review by Joe Marches drilled down into the highlights and the questions. But he recognises our main aim…...as Lynn Boleyn was asked by Snapper at our first meeting in London….’What do you want included?’…...’The Motown Unreleased’……..and as Joe says….. “The crown jewel of the box is Disc 22, premiering an album's worth of "lost" studio recordings from the Seasons' Motown tenure, all hand-selected by Bob Gaudio for the box”

The REVIEW continues as an expansion of my ‘Collectors Notes’ paying some high complements to the set as we work through our and forum responses of fan expectations and observations. Future blogs will cover facts not understood during the process of compiling and researching anomalies in the ‘masters’ as well as our ‘sound quality’ tests.

https://theseconddisc.com/2023/07/10/review-frankie-valli-and-the-four-seasons-working-our-way-back-to-you-the-ultimate-collection/

But we are all happy that we achieved what we have and Snapper have advised after only six weeks since release more copies have been asked for by Bob and Frankie with 25 delivered for family and friends ……..and sets have been delivered to Kenny Nolan, Charles Calello, Lee Shapiro and John Paiva who all helped make this set happen in major yet individual ways……..with Billy Joel, Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson wanting copies along with major label executives who know and respect Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons history.

[Brian Wilson about to open his copy of the Box Set]

The final word on our Part 2 review though goes to Bob Gaudio and his message to our team through Snapper…..”To anyone who made the remotest contribution to this legacy tribute that we are hopefully worthy of...I can only say “brilliance “ I will always have an undying respect for you. Thanks to all

Bob G”

The Snapper Music Box Set - The Project Review - Part One

When as as longstanding Four Seasons fan you get an invite to a Record Company in London with the offer to help with a Mega Box Set of their catalogue including any unreleased tracks you could find!!!!!…you are not going to say NO …...BUT it happened and we thought [Lynn Boleyn and I] we were in dreamland…..particularly when you have loved and collected the music for nearly 60 years.

But for us, it had been an idea back as members of the Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society [FSUKAS] in 2006 to find a way to rescue the catalogue from vinyl. The Four Seasons Partnership at the time were totally locked into the success of ‘Jersey Boys’ and unfortunately the ‘Jersey Beat’ Box Set [June 2007] was not up to the sound quality we expected. I had agreed with the late Stefan Wriedt [renowned German Mastering Engineer] that the Four Seasons Catalogue needed to be 'salvaged' from either Master Tapes, vinyl or CD. The search by 2011 resulted in a plan…...but with Stefan passing away in 2015…..it was very much a ‘lost dream’.

https://thatfourseasonssound.typepad.com/seasonally/2011/05/the-search-for-the-masters.html

After the offer by Snapper Music in August 2018, the project plan we and they implemented (and supported by Warner-Curb, Rhino, Universal and the FSP) was to ‘interrogate’ the FSP tape storage to produce new digital transfers for Snappers UK based Sound Engineer to re-master based on selections conducted by Bob Fisher and I from transfers [analogue tape to digital] by Bill Inglot and his engineers. With John Pingree’s memorabilia, Rachel Gutek’s design and UK collaborators Ken Sharp and Paul Sexton, the aim was to get the BIG PICTURE on a big career of Frankie Valli and all of his Four Seasons since the year that name was settled upon for them[well almost!!] . They did appear again as Billy Dixon and the Topics between the release of ‘Bermuda b/w Spanish Lace’ and SHERRY.

The BIG picture regarding the compilation and sound quality involved 2 objectives for Bob Fisher and I, to assist Bill Inglot and Peter Reynolds, who has mastered the set.

1. To find and decide upon the BEST Masters to be used in the Box Set....for each of the albums. ‘Compilation’ albums were only ‘raided’ for ‘unique’ alternative mixes [except for the never before ‘properly’ released Bob Crewe Masters 2 LP set ‘Edizione D’Oro’ from 1968]. We had to check the tapes were complete with no tracks 'pulled' and not returned. Also with other non-LP tapes we had to establish if the versions were unique and alternative to the album versions

2. To find as many Unreleased Tracks as possible...from ‘sessions’, LIVE Tapes or ‘other sources’ so that the Box Set was sufficiently different to past releases....and was as comprehensive an Anthology as is possible

This was also necessary to justify the price as the aim was ‘top quality’ re both artwork and sound quality. A daunting, and some would have said impossible task given the years and sessions since 1961.

Obviously we did not completely achieve this given the fact that virtually all of the 1960s multi-tracks have been lost or destroyed. Also, of the number of tapes in the FSP Storage examined, 95% proved to be ‘Safety Copies’ at 15 ips, or lower [rather than the studio session tapes at 30 ips] and in some cases they were clearly 4th/5th Generation copies. With ‘tape baking’ necessary for many tapes it is a wonder that Analogue to Digital transfers were possible.

Then even scouring fan archives and the limited number of known 'other sources’, less unreleased tracks were found than we hoped for. No ‘studio based’ [e.g. Philips, Private Stock, Sigma Studio etc] ‘other sources’ could be researched [although we tried] and the rest of the content came from the FSUKAS Digital Archive of tracks salvaged from a network of Collectors. This included cassette tapes of former Four Seasons, now sadly no longer with us. Unfortunately, we did not get to interrogate the Motown period archive [1971 to 1973]. BUT we knew from over 10 years of searching paper records within Universal that this archive of 29 Multi-track session tapes contained potentially 30+ completed tracks and alternate mixes. These were the only ‘known’ remaining 16 track session tapes still existing from Frankie Valli’s whole career. The project involved getting copies of these to Bob and Frankie for review which we did, but they only approved 13 for release. These plus the ‘unheard’ Bob Crewe ‘LOST DISCO ALBUM’ remained our key finds for the unreleased content. Fortunately the quality of content and sound for these was the best we could have hoped for.

Adam White did a good review of the 3 Motown Discs here.

But what of the rest?

With the 60s album tapes being such a risky venture ‘sound wise’ we found that the BEST sounding quality tracks from the Vee-Jay era were on the ‘Delivery Tapes’ from the ‘Masters’ surrendered when the company went bust in 1966 and Bill Inglot had in previous work in the late 1980s created a ‘RECONSTRUCTED’ version of the ‘Sherry and 11 Others’ album in STEREO. We asked Reynolds Mastering to re-construct all of the Vee-Jay albums from these excellent Master Tape copies [both MONO and STEREO]. As for all of the Philips albums from the 1960s we discovered and also included all of these in MONO for the first time. We even replaced ‘lost’ 45 Masters from MINT collectors vinyl at high sound quality capture.

After 4 years work and 2,000 plus hours of track reviews and salvage work by Bob Fisher and I, a final list of MASTERS was approved by Bob Gaudio.

But then my good friend and co-compiler Bob Fisher suddenly passed away and with production delays, the project was at risk during Covid and pushed to its limits by the sheer size and licensing requirements. Inevitably in such circumstances some tracks were cut due to space limits and quality issues and ua handful of previously ‘unreleased’ tracks were accidentally omitted.

My ‘post project reviews’ will document these few ‘errors’ as well as final sound quality results/limits we were able to achieve as a team. And then there are the ‘Out-Takes’ DISC’s 45 and 46, which Bob Fisher and I started work on before his untimely passing. All tracks are fortunately digitally stored for the future. Whether ‘licensing’ and funding will ever see these released ‘commercially’ remains to be seen?

What we have however in the newly released BOX SET, is a massive achievement like nothing before…... celebrating a great career. Sometimes achieving 98% of your objectives in a ‘project’ has to be very satisfying given the problems the team faced. Happy listening and reading. The REAL story of the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli is here.

More soon.......Ken Charmer

 

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Valli

Wonderful news that Frankie and Jackie were married in Las Vegas on Monday 26 June 2023.  They exchanged vows in a private ceremony at The Westgate Hotel, where Frankie and The Seasons start a year long residency later this year.  It was just the two of them at the ceremony with Frankie’s 1967 hit “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” playing in the background.  How romantic is that? Frankie said "It's terrific to have found love once again at this stage of my life."

We all send huge congratulations to Frankie and Jackie and wish them much love, laughter and happiness as man and wife.

You can read more and see the stunning photographs here:

Frankie Valli Marries Jackie Jacobs in Las Vegas (Exclusive) (people.com)

Frankie Valli Marries for 4th Time at 89, Ties the Knot With Jackie Jacobs in Las Vegas | Entertainment Tonight (etonline.com)

Details of all Frankie’s shows including those in Las Vegas are here:

Shows - Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (frankievallifourseasons.com)

 

The Snapper Box Set

All those who pre-ordered the Working Our Way Back To You Box Set have now received their copies and everyone is delighted with this.  Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio were delighted to receive theirs and Bob has ordered more copies directly from Ian Crockett at Snapper Records so it is great to know that he approved of this massive box set.  He told Ian this was “An exquisite job of keeping history alive.”

So what is in the box?  Let's take a look!

There is a wonderful review of the box set here and more to come from Ken Sharp - watch this space!

The Four Seasons: A Massive Box Set Collects All of the Seminal Frankie Valli-Led Group’s LPs & More                      By Jeff Tamarkin

The Box Set is strictly limited to 2,500 copies worldwide so if you have not yet ordered yours you can do so here:

45 Disc Super Deluxe Limited Edition Box Set

OUT NOW

Sincere thanks to all who made this happen.  What a wonderful legacy.

By Lynn Boleyn MBE

 

Frankie Valli Way and Snapper Box Set Release

Frankie and Jackie at the dedication of Frankie Valli Way- Stephen Crane Village Newark NJ. Stephen Crane Village was a low income housing project in Newark where Frankie lived from the age of 6 until his early 30s but he also worked there as a janitor for a time , one of several jobs he took to support himself and his family.

Last week, the city of Newark, NJ and the NJ Hall of Fame unveiled the brand new street “Frankie Valli Way” – a dedication to the legacy  of the legend himself, Frankie Valli.  “It’s something to remember forever it’s just one of the greatest moments of my life, I can’t believe they named a street after me,” Valli said. “It’s been a wonderful day really, and there is so much sentiment in Stephen Crane Village for me, right up until I became successful I lived here…my mother lived here and died here.”

 

You can read more here:

Frankie Valli Way

 

Frankie was 89 on 3 May - Happy Happy Birthday Frankie - hope you had a wonderful day.

 

Read more here:

Frankie at 89

 

 

 

The long awaited Snapper Box set is all set to be delivered on 2 June - you can order your copy here:

Working Our Way Back To You Box Set

This Box Set was delayed due to production difficulties but all the boxes have now been made up ready for dispatch.   Ian Crockett at Snapper Records has asked me to pass on his profuse apologies for the delay in the “Working Our Way Back To You” box set.   He said “Although myself and the team would have liked the box set out sooner we were keen to check everything to ensure it was absolutely right.  This set includes 44 CD’s, 3 books and also a vinyl copy of Genuine Imitation Life Gazette and at £350 this is worth every penny and well worth waiting for, I am confident you will not be disappointed”. 

USA fans if they prefer can order the box set via Amazon:  

Amazon

And finally it was the Coronation of King Charles II on 6 May and he passed Jersey Boys in the West End which was great to see - about 30 seconds in on the video Jersey Boys below!  God Save The King!

Jersey Boys

Frankie Valli Fans Facebook Page

Frankie Valli USA Shows Including Las Vegas 2024

Westgate, Las Vegas Shows

Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign

By Lynn Boleyn MBE

TIM STONE - OUR SILVER STAR - 18 APRIL 1958 - 5 MAY 2023

We are so shocked and saddened to hear about the recent, sudden and unexpected passing of Tim Stone following a short illness and we send our sincerest condolences, love and hugs to his partner Jeff, Shelley, family, friends and everyone connected to the Four Seasons.  Tim was 65 and had recently been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.  He died surrounded by those who loved him.

Tim, of course, was part of our Four Seasons Family and we have now lost another legend.  He was an amazing, talented man with an incredible voice, so nice, so kind and one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet and he always made time for his fans.  He kept in touch with people he met and often wrote to his fans expressing his thanks and gratitude for their interest in him.  He will be very much missed by everyone whoes lives he touched.

 Ken Charmer said" Tim was a really special person and Four Season.  We are all saddened at his loss and he was part of the last GREAT line-up".

He was with Frankie Valli from 1991-1996 and played keyboards and sang, most notably "Silver Star" and "December '63" at those wonderful concerts and that music will live on with the Snapper box set "Working Our Way Back To You" due to be released on the 2 June 2023.

 

 

Thank you for the music Tim and for the love you showed all your fans across the world.  We will always remember you.

 

By Lynn Boleyn MBE

8 May 2023

Artificial Intelligence[AI] meets Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons!

As a music historian and researcher for a few decades now I have, with network colleagues, always looked for the next step and more stories from the past relating to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Whilst compiling the Box Set I started to explore AI. The world of sound engineering has for a few years started to experience AI tools that allow separation of music and vocals in songs and not just for the benefit of 'karaoke'.

Today there is now much 'furore' re the risks and dangers of the potential hazards whilst some praise it's ability to compile amazing text from simple questions. There is much more to it's ability to process and analyze data, but for fun I thought I would test it's ability to 'correctly' provide feedback re our favourite group. ChatGPT has recently caused a lot of reaction on the www and it has been banned in Italy. Frankie's influence....?....haha

Well we joined and asked it a couple of questions to test it out. We know it uses vast amounts of text data from internet sources and we all know that the Wikipedia data re the group and Frankie is pretty accurate. So we asked it a simple question......

“Define the core appeal of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons”

Its response was reasonable and what we would all expect.......

“Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were a popular American rock and pop band in the 1960s known for their unique vocal harmonies and catchy melodies. The core appeal of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons was their ability to blend different musical genres, including doo-wop, rock and roll, and soul, into a distinctive sound that captivated audiences of the time.

One of the main attractions of the group was the high-pitched and powerful vocals of lead singer Frankie Valli. His unique falsetto voice, which he used to great effect on many of the band's biggest hits, such as "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," and "Walk Like a Man," made him a standout performer in an era of memorable vocalists.

The band's signature sound was also characterized by their tight harmonies, intricate arrangements, and catchy hooks that made their songs instantly recognizable and memorable. This made them popular with a broad range of audiences, from teenagers to older adults, and helped them achieve lasting success and influence in the music industry.

Overall, the core appeal of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons was their ability to create music that was both musically sophisticated and accessible, with memorable melodies and lyrics that touched on universal themes of love, loss, and heartbreak.”

So far so good......but next we delved into the subject of our research to see what it knew about 'what we know' of the “Motown Unreleased”.........

“What is known of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Unreleased Tracks at Motown”

Its reply and the data collected was such complete 'garbage', that we can all see the weakness of this AI tool......

“Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons are a popular American rock band that rose to fame in the 1960s. While they are best known for their hits like "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," they also recorded several unreleased tracks at Motown, the famous Detroit-based record label.

Some of the unreleased tracks recorded by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons at Motown include "Angel Don't Fly Away," "When the Morning Comes," "Sun Country," and "You're the One." These tracks were recorded in the mid-1960s, but for various reasons, they were not released by the record label.

In 2019, a collection of these unreleased tracks was finally released as part of a box set titled "Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons: The Motown Years." This box set contains 52 tracks, including the previously unreleased songs and a number of alternate takes and demos.

The Motown recordings showcase a different side of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, with a more soulful and R&B-influenced sound. The band's harmonies are as tight as ever, and Valli's unmistakable falsetto shines on many of the tracks.

Overall, the unreleased tracks recorded by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons at Motown offer a fascinating glimpse into the band's creative process and evolution during a pivotal period in their career.”

The para's above in 'RED' are totally incorrect and show the danger of using such tools at present and the need to focus on the facts we have researched and presented in our FB Page....'The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign' and this blog. There is still much to discover as recent blogs show and the Snapper Music Box Set will establish more of this nearly lost music, which we hope will see further research and release in 'Future Years' [one of the songs on Disc 22].

In the meantime we will continue to experiment with AI ….BUT …...in the form of the 'Moises' Digital Extraction Tool to create 'new mixes' of our favourite artists. These tools have allowed us to create TRUE STEREO versions of songs like 'Ronnie' which have only ever survived as a MONO recording with the master tapes lost back in the 1960s.

https://moises.ai

You will find our efforts over the last year or so at the MowestChameleon You Tube site.......along with our Seasons On Saturday Video Podcasts exploring the history of the Four Seaons and Frankie Valli's recordings.

Here is one of our fave creations taking the original MONO only version of 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine' from 45 to create a new 'first time EVER version in STEREO' of the of the pre Walker Brothers recording by Frankie Valli.

The lesson of this article is as with any tool or search engine.......use human skills to test and fine tune the results so the data is accurate. But there is much more to come as we explore the DES AI tool further this year as it continues to learn and improve. ….....Never damaging or destroying any aspects of the original sound......but simply allowing it to be heard in a different 'mix'

Casey Chameleon

Lost and Not Found – Motown remains 'The Holy Grail'

It all goes back to 2011 and Bill Hollands article titled - 'Labels Strive to Rectify Past Archival Problems' in which he highlighted the problems of the Motown Archive in New York State.......but also to the shock of us finding 3 songs from a cassette tape of Bob Crewe acetates that showed that the Tape Index sent to us by an ex-Motown employee was totally correct......the tracks existed and were not all 'out of key demos' as Peter Bennett, the FSP lawyer had told us in 2008. As the Artists Card shows there are 43 SMX[Stereo Mixes.....all saved to safety T Tapes] of the Four Seasons biggest hit at the label and one of their most loved UK Hits, 'The Night'. They have certainly not been 'pulled' and supplied to Bob Gaudio as the Motown Librarian Andy Skurow hasn't found this Artists Card in Motown's Microfiche Library.

Legendary Motown Sound Engineer Russ Terrana mixed the first 14 STEREO Mixes on 1^st February 1972 and the last of those mixes was probably the one selected for the 'Chameleon' album. But as the need for a single release increased after the album release in May 1972, it was mixed 7 more times on 6^th June. Motown hesitated over a single release but did Mixes 22 to 34 on 8^th July and again Mixes 35 to 39 on 13^th and a demo/acetate was done. But MoWest chose 'Walk On, Don't Look Back' for US release and pushed the track to a UK release in October 1972. This would ultimately lead to it becoming a hit. Only 'we', can reveal this story from the above Artists Card. It's success was made as an essential playlist track at the Northern Soul Club, Wigan Casino [a former theatre] in 1974 which led to it's re-release in March 1975 and a Nr 7 UK Hit.

Motown asked Russ Terrana to revisit the Master Sessions and he found an Alternate Take featuring Frankie Valli's intro[instead of the Four Seasons] for Mixes 40 to 43 in August 1975 for their 'Inside You' album after the group had left the label. These various unreleased mixes although of interest to fans have not been recovered from Motown's vaults as I write this. Maybe it is deemed 'not worth the cost or trouble'. Just another track with alternative Masters we would like to hear.

Bill Holland captured the problem of Motown and other 'majors' back in 2011 when he said.......

“The Motown vault, now owned by Universal, is estimated to be about 30,000 tapes, and is "typical of a smaller company of that era," said one veteran whose first-hand observations were corroborated by other sources. A peek at the Motown vault serves also as a description of the holdings of other once- small labels that came to prominence in the '60s.

The good news in the case of Motown is that they have most of the masters and most of the multitrack reels, but engineers and producers taped over a lot of sessions. Tape was expensive. They'd get a master and then use the rest of the reel for the next session. So there aren't many alternate takes. There never were.”

That however isn't the case with the FV/4S tracks listed as 'unreleased' except perhaps for the ones with the same songs recorded by Michael and Jermaine Jackson or The Jackson Five. Many session mix downs from the Valli/Seasons sessions were copied to safety 'T' Tapes as was normal at the West Coast Studios......in Detroit these were DM tapes. Bill Holland again.......

"Also, there are safeties or copies of probably everything on so-called DM (lesser quality, backup) reels. They'd copy these copies off when they sent the production masters to the pressing plant. Some are on standard 1/4" tape, but 300 or so mono tracks are stripped onto three-track reels, like 36 songs, 12 squeezed on one track, end to end.

"Some of the mixed masters are missing or hard to find--I wouldn't say gone," said another source. "A lot of them have been recovered over the years, those left stored at outside mastering labs. Most acetates and metal parts (not as necessary in a tape-era vault) are long gone, though.”

“Other masters are just worn from use, so to get the best sound, you have to remix," said a source. "And the problem of remixing from the multitracks is that it's very hard to duplicate the 'Motown mix' sound-- they had their own custom EQ boards, custom reverb.

"If you look hard enough, though, you can find a substitute (of the era). Take Stevie Wonder's 'Fingertips': there might be like 20 mixes, done at five sessions, all stored in different places. They'd do a song until they got it right. The problem is finding the right version."

All the sources said that the Motown vault has many unreleased masters of both well-known and lesser- known artists, and many reels of live shows. "They used to bring a three track machine down to the Twenty Grand Club in Detroit to record on weekends for years."

Overall, the various sources said, the Motown vault is in good shape. "But trying to find the definitive master can be a problem," said a source. "Remember, the label has gone through four owners, three cities, and seven addresses, if you include Detroit."

"Other indies, especially smaller companies, had the same 'tape-over-it' policy to keep costs down," said another source. "But even RCA, Capitol, ABC, Mercury-Smash,[Vee-Jay] and Philips-Mercury had policies in place throughout the '60s and '70s of reusing, scrapping or not storing multitrack session tapes, and just keeping mixed masters.” This has been the policy for the FSP storage for all of the analogue history of recordings by 'The Four Seasons' and 'Frankie Valli' as our tape Research revealed with just Safety Copies from the Studios.

Stuff is just missing and no-one knows where it may be..but we found what we could with Bill Inglot. It is a common problem with many artists.

”Sony can't find some Bang label multitrack masters. On the other hand, somebody opened a mystery box at BMG the other day and found some unreleased 'Hot Tuna'. It happens all the time in the industry." ...said a Bill Hollands source.

There is no evidence the FV/4Seasons recordings as dentified as existing in the Tape Index were taped over but the tapes need research to find their efforts with the various producers. Also tracks not known to be completed [but were listed] have been found with producer Michael Masser. I did not get to share the extensive data I had found on Artists Cards with Andy Skurow when he ordered the tapes down for review from Iron Mountain based on the Motown Tape Index. Just some confirmation from his partial scan of tape box data of what should have been there from the index and a few surprise tracks with vocals like 'Chained' and 'Starvin For Your Love' being found[but not approved for release]. The fact is they all needed 'listening tests' …......but clearly Bob Gaudio did some as we got 13 approved although not the 30 plus we expected to be found. Such is life as a music detective!! Bob Gaudio did not share the findings of his review of the Master Tapes nor do we know if he received all we had listed.

We were however given full access to the tapes Bill Inglot was rummagind through and those he digitized for us...well almost!!!...we did not get any of the 16 track tapes that he found for listening....but in a last push he found the best of the pre-Motown 'unreleased' and sent them.

Also when searching the FSP Storage Tape Box Scans we found a 5 “reel Master can with five 'unreleased titles'.......but when we played the tape it unfortunately turned out to be a 'distorted' two track MONO version of the Studio Masters recordings of 'Timeless'.......so with one track still intact we recovered the recordings for inclusion as the only surviving 'Timeless' MONO 'LIVE' recordings....recorded before the final mix 'takes' used in past releases.

Of the original tape of 5 lost 'unreleased' tracks ????......maybe in another box or possibly 'stolen'!!!!!...and when did this loss occur....maybe back in the 1960s!!!!......we never got to search anymore. The budget for transfers 'ran out'....and there are 200+ unmarked tapes still there 'unresearched'.

So you have to find and play the tapes......Bob Gaudio said that he couldn't remember [the titles at Motown] we advised him of and he would 'go through them with Frankie at the weekend' …....Frankie of course has a great memory......as he was on all of the tracks with several different producers......some Stereo and Mono mix-down test versions made it to 'Evaluation Tapes' in 1973 and got copied to the FSP storage and we found them and they will no doubt appear in due course as alternate takes as they have slightly different orchestra and vocal...[hopefully in the Snapper Music Box Set as we asked]...but all are complete session master mixes. We even know of two whole albums mixed and assembled for release and abandoned at Motown. We know the Production Tape numbers .....Do Bob or Frankie know this ? The tapes just needed finding and none have surfaced yet.....but 'listening tests' are needed for all of the identified tapes and should be shared with the 'curation' team. We know the Tape Numbers......are they still there?

We have found 90% of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Catalogue.......but not all......and not the alternate takes and mixes..and 13 of a potential 30 unheard songs at Motown. As another collector said of the problems with finding masters: "I've found tapes in every imaginable place, not just vaults. In basements, even unheated garages. Unmarked boxes, no track sheets, the works.” There is more to be found.

Bill Holland again as he interviewed researchers......"We found the tapes for Leiber and Stoller's indie labels, Daisy, Red Bird, Tiger, Blue Cat masters, in the old Brill Building. In an unoccupied room on top of a file cabinet by an open window. Exposed to New York summers and winters since probably 1963. They were like linguini in the boxes. Believe it or not, once we re-wound them and worked on them, the tapes played fine."

The reason to act is because as Bill Holland put it.....”Most of the 65 experts interviewed for this article expressed concern about the future of archiving recorded sound. First, they were concerned that with the CD reissue boom of the late '80s and early '90s apparently leveling off, [and now receding by the 2020's as streaming and downloads grow in dominance].......funding for archiving and preservation efforts at some companies are already becoming a lesser priority.[this is now known to be the defacto situation post pandemic] And they are also worried about reliable preservation in a digital universe.”

And as was stated by 'Second Disc'....”With the end of every year comes 50th anniversary batches of classic past outtakes and ephemera surreptitiously dumped onto digital music services - all to preserve the copyright to prevent the 50 year European gray-market from taking advantage of lapsed copyrights.” Pink Floyd/The Beatles and The Beach Boys are all taking care to protect recordings with digital downloads as are many other artists from the 1970s. We have supplied many unreleased and salvaged LIVE tracks for the FSP now, in the Snapper Music Box Set from decades of collecting......and at Motown tracks like the unheard and unreleased 'Chained' and 'Save The Children' by Frankie Valli will have dropped out of copyright and more will as the year ends......but there is no movement from Universal or the FSP re more Motown so the question arises......who owns these 1971 to 73 'Unreleased' Motown vaulted tracks? The rest drop out of copyright for Universal as the original owners at the end of 2023.

We are still on course for the FSP and Snapper Music to deliver the NEW SET of the 'Whole Catalogue Masters' in April/May and for this eventually to be available also in the strengthening digital streaming/download age in time. And we look for more to be added as the 'Out-Take' CD' [Disc 46] of tracks salvaged that did not make it into the Box Set. We still have many tracks and by investing in SSD.......[Solid State Disc Storage for digital masters] ….....THE NEW LIBRARY of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons will be created from 2023 onwards by us[in the best sound quality avaialble] as we have collected since 1988 from our CD discography....

https://www.seasonally.co.uk/CDDiscog_files/Page685.htm

We are lucky to have had the opportunity to help salvage this music since 2018 for all of the fans.....it is a set curated by the fans and for the fans. We also already have THE MONO 45 Archive from 1961 to 1970 and have now recovered more MONO 1970 mixes........More Motown unreleased?????? Only Bob Gaudio can say YES!.....will he and Frankie invest in recovering the art for art's sake? The future beckons.......

Casey Chameleon

PS.....Our research enabled me to create a re-mix of an underdub recording of 'The Night' from the many mixes done. It captures more of the instrumentation and minus the 'dreaded' tambourine in the official mix. An interesting 'mix'.

Happy New Year everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgxYNbX7Scc

Seasons Greetings!

Another year almost over and here we were lucky enough to see Frankie “Back in Action” on tour again in the UK!  After nearly a 3 year wait the UK shows finally went ahead in the Summer with two fantastic shows at The Royal Albert Hall in London and we would like to thank everyone who made this possible. 

Check out this special Christmas Duet for Frankie Valli fans everywhere:

Lee Shapiro and Brian Brigham

To read more about the UK tour click here:

UK Tour 2022

For Frankie’s USA shows in 2023 click here:

USA Tour Dates 2023

The Snapper Box Set was due to be released this month but has been delayed to the Spring.  Ian Crockett at Snapper Records has asked me to pass on his profuse apologies for the delay in the “Working Our Way Back To You” box set.   He said “Although this was due for release this month due to production difficulties this will now be released in April/May next year.  Although myself and the team would have liked the box set out sooner we were keen to check everything to ensure it was absolutely right.  This set includes 44 CD’s, 3 books and also a vinyl copy of Genuine Imitation Life Gazette and at £350 this is worth every penny and well worth waiting for, I am confident you will not be disappointed.  I send you all my very best wishes for a great Christmas and a happy and successful New Year”. 

We thank you for that update Ian and very much look forward to this release next year.

For more information about the box set and to pre-order your copy please click here: 

Working Our Way Back To You Box Set

USA fans can order the box set via Amazon:  

Amazon

This Winter the UK Four Seasons Appreciation Society, George Ingram, Ken Charmer, Ray Nichol and myself wish you all a very happy Christmas and a happy, safe and successful New Year.  Also sending a very special Christmas wish and a prayer that the war in Ukraine will be over early in 2023.

Ukraine Appeal

Seasonally

Lynn

x

Lynn E Boleyn MBE

Facebook Page

Merchandise Available Here

 

The FSUKAS End Of Year Report – 'It’s CHRISTMAS'

Well another year gone and all a bit older but after previous FINAL TOUR visits since 2017 we had the joy of another UK visit and a chance to enjoy Frankie Valli [with his music, singers and band]. A final chance to see him perhaps, but also a broadcast PBS show at Mohegan Sun [which many have seen] was also a treat for fans.

Our aim has, since 2018, been to get the 'Unreleased' tracks and the issued albums and singles out in the LIMITED EDITION Snapper Music Box Set. The delay to the issue from December to [we hope no later than] April was a big disappointment. The confirmation of the content [as finalised and approved with the late Bob Fisher and I] has not been updated on the web site either. We did it all to celebrate the work of Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio in the studio with Frankie Valli. We even found a LIVE studio recording of 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' for inclusion as the photo below illustrates them recording [Photo courtesy of George Schowerer - Sound Engineer: Mirasound Studios].

But with so much income for the labels and FSP from this £875,000 project, it makes it the biggest and clearly the best ever presentation of their career......and maybe amongst their last CD based release as the music industry boast a major growth in streaming access?. Check out some of the forecasts here.

https://victrola.com/blogs/articles/what-is-the-future-of-music-in-the-digital-age

Global News tells us........”There is something very, very wrong with today’s music. It just may not be very good.” This is NOT actually correct as there are some brilliant new voices and stylists around today, but taken generally they make a good point........“Current” music 'is becoming progressively less popular' when measured by the number of streams and sales. Whatever is being released today just isn’t resonating with the public the way it did in the past. People are showing a growing interest in listening to older music instead. And there’s still more to consider. Cast your mind back to 1962. Music that was thirty years old then 'sounded' old. Not only was modern pop music still developing, but we’d barely begun to use things like electric guitars and proper amps. Effects pedals hadn’t been invented yet nor had synthesizers. Recording studios were primitive things compared to today, capable of only producing material in mono [like 'Sherry'...ed.] But then starting sometime around 1969, the sonic quality of recordings reached new levels. A song recorded in 1972 sounds every bit as good as something recorded this year. (In fact, you can make an argument that because of over-production, digital technology, and too much compression, older records sound 'better' than what we have today.)” That is certainly true of the coming Motown Unreleased in the Snapper Music Box Set.

Though streaming may provide 82% of the Music Industry income, with the massive number of tracks needed to maintain growth, it has work to do. The Hype Magazine says that, less noticed, are .....“the shortcomings of the music streaming market. A less known effect is related to the pay for the artists. It seems that the division of the fee does not favour the artists, no matter how frequently their songs are played. The streaming channels, the major labels and the most famous artists are getting a higher percentage of the fee. Smaller and medium size artists, even though popular, come last. This is because the fans don’t have a say in the way fees get allocated.”

But CD Box Set releases are the in-style releases on line but generally because they sell between £25 and £50 for mini sets of up to 6 CDs. To those used to owning a disc or download, the forthcoming Box Set will provide the Four Seasons Partnership and the fans with a new set of masters rather than waiting for them to choose to 'stream' them sometime in the future. But whether we consume our FV/4S music as files or as streamed consumption we want it when we want it via instant access now. Our role as 'curators' of the 'Four Seasons History' has been revitalised by the research we were able to do for the Box Set and it opened up so much information to introduce new fans to the music and as a source to find out more. Although we haven't updated our web site since 2018, [www.seasonally.co.uk] it remains an essential source re discographies and reference articles....so it answers many needs and our two Facebook pages offer places to post videos and You Tube tracks as well as regular discussion, blogs and videocasts. We intend to keep this flow of information as a free resource for all fans and collectors.

In the 'Seasons On Saturday' videocasts we will continue to explore with our panel of expert collectors/fans/former Seasons the research we have done into the 'real story' of the Four Seasons MUSIC..[NOT the 'Jersey Boys' one.].. ...focussing on how it was created.....how it succeeded [or failed] in each decade of the last century since the 1950s. We as the 'curation network' are predominantly the BABY BOOMERS......and whilst we do not have an infinite 'value', we are 20% of the UK population...we are as old as we are and want the product we want......we are tech 'embracers'...so in the UK 13.6m of us love music and if only 50% know and love Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons as they were 'enshrined ' as the Jersey Boys'.....then over 6m will be interested in a GOOD and INTERESTING product like the Snapper Music Box Set. Data showsthat boomers are active on social media, spending around one hour 48 minutes a day browsing Facebook and Instagram. They are 19% more likely to share content than any other generation, and 58% more likely than millennials to click through to a brand’s website from a social media post. and make up one of the wealthiest generations, with one in five classed as millionaires.[not in our network unfortunately....at the moment......well no-one is admitting to that!!!]

According to a report published in The Financial Times, it’s estimated that of every £1 of household wealth in the UK, boomers own 36 pence. Brands that offer high-quality products or services will win the hearts of baby boomers and will turn them into brand advocates. There’s already a whole host of baby boomers smashing stereotypes on Instagram, showing people they can be who they want and dress as they like at any age. Baby boomers believe their glory days are still ahead of them. Therefore, marketers must tap into these desires to effectively sell their services and products. Boomers are influencers.

BUT a 'lethargy' has developed in the Music Industry and it has stopped the Record Business!. For example majors like Universal Motown are taking several years to get projects to the Record Companies for their issue [and doing none internally] and so everything has ground to a halt. The Music Business 'Big Three'.....[Universal/Sony/Warner] only want mega video and sound projects selling millions of copies and short term revenue. The laws of the universe will change this as it is a short term fix to get annual revenues. It can't last. We see the big picture and what we have achieved in the last 12 years. Artists need to take control of their catalogue and copyrights.......and if it costs money then please invest.

We as a network of 'curators' have enabled Snapper Music to create the most in-depth representation of a 'brand' from the Four Seasons in 1962 to Frankie Valli up to 2010, in a unique and very comprehensive catalogue of music/pictures/memorabilia and stories, ..although the music will remain the same...just the original mixes [but so much more of it] will be re-mastered... in a CLASSIC ANTHOLOGY The FSUKAS world- wide network want to be 'influencers' with a knowledge base better than any through their career. We are continuing to push for more visionary 'projects' to bring what we know is unheard and unreleased music from the past into all futures. The Motown Tapes remain the biggest [and only known] set of 'session tapes' and mixes, but we know that other sources....including Bob and Frankie have unreleased music stored. Universal and the other two 'majors' are finding the costs of recovery and digitally re-mastering the stored 'unreleased' tracks even by classic established artists like Frankie Valli difficult to deliver due to the costs of extraction, mixing and re-mastering. It is unclear just how many of the Motown session tapes Bob Gaudio has been sent? We will keep asking to be told and have our research verified [as the Box Set shows] or proved wrong. We will not accept otherwise. BUT....The Snapper Music Box Set is coming out next year, after 4 years...... it is too close to GO!!! Collect your Box Set here.!!!!....the full catalogue.

With our own 're-mixing' efforts using AI we hope to deliver new ways to hear what exists on tape/disc and we will generate more Digitally Extracted Stereo [DES] mixes in the future. We don't do 'cover groups/versions' in our FB groups but are happy to hear previously unheard or live tracks including the creation of different ways to hear the original...[we hope to have the 'Dawn' and 'Rag Doll' albums in full and balanced DES next year]...... 'That Four Seasons Sound'...will live on and get stronger as more younger people want to know more re how this amazing music was made. Our focus remains on discussion/research and sharing the information and making sure all the very best 'mixes' are preserved and available. And we have the backing of one of the world’s TOP RESTORATION SOUND ENGINEERS willing to help us find ways to research and deliver new projects. It is an offer we can't refuse.

This is the essence of 'curation' in the 21^st Century, via the expert network we have developed. But as has become obvious from the Snapper Music Project, “the artists and followers will need to have a much closer and mutual interaction. They will be able to influence each other for the benefit of good quality music.”.....Hopefully Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli are listening. The days of'Alexa …..play me Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Rare and Unreleased?' are coming........!

Next year our Seasons On Saturday videocasts will cover the Motown period in the early 1970s and the second 'hit making' iteration of Frankie and the group through to 1980. How a misguided Berry Gordy lost control of his move to LA, to create the West Coast Sound of pop......or soul.....but created a 'goldmine of productions the world is demanding we should hear. We will keep 'Campaigning' for their release. Our message to Bob Gaudio is 'If you want to maximise profit?....Join the Record Companies, and wait for years”......but if you want to recognise 'art'.......join the 'Curators'. You know where we are. We can help you develop your own approach.....and maybe this is it?

So it has been a good year and hopefully next year’s release will be as 'big' as many of the long term collectors believe. A real platform for Volume 2 of the Music Detective work we want to help lead.

Our audience is growing and when they see and hear the results in the Snapper Box Set, the next phase will launch, as the fans will want more.

Here is one of our best DES mixes from 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpXHrDxcpM0

And the group's accapella version from 1992

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIfif0KOe7c

And this new DES Mix works so well with centered vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4QMPFAZ5-c

Join us on Facebook for news of rare recordings and the research......

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1049892628364291

and to catch recordings of LIVE concert clips from Carlos and Carmine visit the OFFICIAL 'fanzone' at.....

https://www.facebook.com/groups/frankievallifans

Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year to all readers and contributors via our Facebook pages.....from Spain.........Ken Charmer

 

The Four Seasons at Motown – The UNRELEASED Story in 2022

As we approach Thanksgiving, which is not a ‘holiday’ we celebrate in Europe, I recognize it is a time to celebrate as a family of fans what we have achieved in researching and finding the Unreleased work by Frankie Valli….AND The Four Seasons…..either as a group or solo entity and much of that research has resulted in the transfer of many 16 track Masters to Bob Gaudio [The Four Seasons Partnership – FSP] for his evaluation and for the approval of 13 previously unreleased tracks for inclusion in the forthcoming Snapper Music Box Set coming to release in 2023.

Even allowing for the delays, it will be the biggest and best release ever of their work after revisiting their analogue tapes. But it will not be the full story as I will document re potential sources of stored masters in the future from our research. For now, here is the latest known research of the Tapes at Universal [Motown] as we advised Snapper Music and the Universal Library Manager and Bob Gaudio [via Snapper].

There seems to be little in terms of paper records re the Four Seasons with the Universal Library Manager re this peiod apart from tape Boxes wheras we have Spreadsheet Records and Database Printouts as well as Artists Cards that detail the recordings done and the registration in many cases. We know that Tape Box research was done and Tapes Ordered from the Iron Mountain Storage for checking but only one tape box scan was supplied to the UK research team which confirmed what we knew of that tape to be correct. The issue of the cost of mixing down 16 track songs was admitted to by Bob Gaudio when it was clear the limits of visual Tape Box Review showed ‘listening tests’ were necessary. The budget issue arose. The songs that 'appear' [from the partial Tape Boxes inspection by the Library Manager] to have vocals.....were listed....BUT..... 'This is not a guarantee.  They could be demos or scratch vocals, or miss-marked.  They will need to be transferred and played to see if they do. [exist] ‘.  We had a Database and Artists Cards which coincided with these titles but our records of mixes and Masters were not used in this research.

Working through the Tape Index in numeric order now, this is the latest information we have of what UNRELEASED tracks MAY exist based on paper records and demonstrates what remains to be confirmed or not.

Recordings started in October 1971 on a contract for 8 potential tracks by Frankie Valli solo with various in-house ‘producers’ and a ‘self-contained’ group effort of 12 songs as confirmed by Bob Gaudio in interview in 1971. Below are our finds from paper records gathered over the last 22 years re the 16 track session Master Tapes for tracks identified as potentially complete and ready for release[i.e.with a Motown Master Nr] either from SMX [stereo mixes done at the time] or Mix-Downs from the 16 track Master. The Motown Master Tape Database indicates that there are 32 UNRELEASED tracks given Master Nrs as completed/registered tracks in sessions.  Tapes not highlighted below remain unknown from the Librarians Tape Box review. As far as we are aware Bob Gaudio was sent copies of 16 track tapes but we have no knowledge if he or the Universal Librarian have conducted full ‘listening’ evaluation or if Bob Gaudio has received all of these tapes. As was said...'Lastly, there are songs with possible alternate vocal takes, but it depends on if Bob Gaudio wants these alternates available'........Clearly some completed tracks have been found and mixed down and approved for release which we are all happy about. This current Motown Master Tape Review is solely based on my records and reported Tape Box lists.

The big benefit of the last 12 years work was to demonstrate a ‘goldmine’ of LOST tracks by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons at Motown and now both Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli know the inherent value of these tracks. They are in my opinion exceptional and well worthy of release in what I believe will be groundbreaking Catalogue Review. Whilst they did not get any royalties from their contract at Motown they have we assume gained some agreement with Universal for the release as expected of 13 tracks in 2023 as highlighted, and we believe and have been told that over 20 tracks as highlighted should exist in some form. The remaining tracks are listed in paper records at Universal Motown but have not been revealed as existing. However as I have said we have no evidence from Snapper that full listening tests have been done by either the Motown Tape Librarian or Bob Gaudio [and possibly his son Shannon]. This is not a complaint…just what we understand at this point in time. However enough have been reviewed for Bob Gaudio to have mixed the 13 approved tracks for inclusion. The rest MAY NOT be deemed good enough for release….but what about  any of the alternative or extended versions found on acetate or in FSP storage as evaluation copies.? We know of several such versions. We have been able to ensure knowledge of some of the above as acetate dubs on You Tube…just search …. Four Season Motown Unreleased You Tube.

Any issue of such ‘unreleased’ material is, of course, the right of the FSP but it is worth considering that any unreleased tracks at Universal Motown will drop out of copyright by December 2023 [under UK Law], although these would have to be purchased for anyone to release them and extend the copyright. The UK Government website says of sound recordings that copyright exists for …”50 years from the year in which the sound recording was made. If during that period the sound recording is published or made available to the public (e.g. by being played in public or broadcast), copyright lasts for 70 years from that year.”  That means that unreleased tracks due for release in 2023 start to fall out of copyright as ‘sound recordings’ this month.

This is our final listing of the paper records at MoWest and Motown and a listing for further review of the tapes stored at Iron Mountain regarding Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and a reference point for any ‘listening tests’ to see what has survived. This is an ‘aide-memoire’ for anyone wishing to do further research in the future.

Ken Charmer – November 2022.

Music Historian – The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society

The FULL and Final list of Unreleased Tracks and the known status can be downloaded here.

Download Final List at Motown Nov 2022 as pdf

The ULTIMATE Box Set is not coming soon!

An Apology.

I wrote a post back in June this year as I completed corrections with Snapper Music to both tracks included, and Collectors Notes which had been supplied a year earlier for the Box Set and I wrote with so much optimism as Snapper/Madfish announced the release date of December 9th 2022. This week I have had to completely re-visit the blog posts as we are told, with no explanation, that the release date has moved to 14th April 2023....after an unknown number of fans have ordered and in many cases paid full price in expectations they would stand by this promise. This sad position follows over 4 years of hard work by me and a network of fans in the UK and USA providing tracks and research to Snapper Music.

Back in August 2018 we were asked by Snapper 'what do you want to have in the planned Box Set most of all?'....and before I could think?.........Lynn Boleyn said 'THE MOTOWN UNRELEASED'........!!!!!.....In retrospect this is ironic as the Motown Unreleased Campaign has been going now since 2011, due to my research, but no-one related to Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli's music has ever asked us that question before....or been prepared for the answer …... ever!. And it was maybe painful for them to revisit that period in time. It has been 51 years this month, Frankie and the group signed to Motown and began recording sessions with at least 15 tracks announced as completed in a Motown Newsletter in January 1972 as they prepared for a UK tour. It remains the only record label storage of comprehensive Master Session Tapes found to date. But ….like it did not exist until I proved it did.!! It's existence was denied in 2008 by Harry Weinger of Universal and Peter Bennett, former lawyer to the Four Seasons Partnership.

Since 2018 I worked tirelessly with Bob Fisher to research and gather tracks from the FSP storage facility in LA and after nearly 4 years and a huge review of tape transfers, the memorabilia, photos, picture sleeves and paper records regarding releases from our fan network, we have the storytelling done and some of the unheard tracks found...with superb artwork...and a good bunch of UNRELEASED and LIVE tracks....and some of the MOTOWN UNRELEASED of the 30+ we demonstrated are there and complete.

Some US music historians/sound collectors on the Steve Hoffman Forum accused me of being somewhat 'anal' re wanting these tracks from a largely non-existent period in Frankie's career whilst at Motown. One top collector believes many US fans have little interest in this or even later periods saying......”It's obvious from the Partnerships reactions or 'non action' [over the decades] that they would rather forget Motown ever …."never happened" for them”. For me that also revealed the US/UK fan 'disconnect' with regard to the UK fan groups 'holistic' view of the career of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons...THEY WANT EVERYTHING and feel they deserve it.....and Frankie himself has come to realise that in recent years with the adulation shown by UK show audiences how important we have been to his career.

We revitalised his career in 1970 taking 'You're Ready Now' into the charts for the first time as we did 5 years later with 'The Night' thanks to the Northern Soul Dance scene. We also [as did other countries around the world] gave them hits with 'Fallen Angel', 'Silver Star', and 'Down The Hall'. The US market and record companies did not see the worldwide support they deserved during this period.

Frankie and Bob Gaudio's commitment to this Box Set we believed was testimony and trust that the UK fan group.....now over 51 years old.......could tackle such a project with Snapper Music. And we worked hard to deliver after a difficult 4 years and the loss of our ex-Motown set producer Bob Fisher who sadly passed away before its completion. Unfortunately despite requests for reconsideration we could not get more of the Motown Unreleased Tracks we have researched...other than the 13 tracks Bob Gaudio chose to approve..nor could we get access to the tapes to confirm their suitability or verify our more extensive paperwork than was found by the Library Manager at Motown....or any inclusion in the tape research process. It was for Bob Gaudio and Universal Music a no-go area for the research team.

What was to be included always was and remains the choice of Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio who own the music and the rights to release it or not. The fans network knew that but contributed some 50+ tracks from decades of sources which the FSP now have copyright and total control of....as is there right. We, the fans, made that happen. The rest came from delving into the FSP archive as far as we were able to achieve within the funding of this project.

Whilst no music set can ever be truly ULTIMATE ....Certainly this is not final as to what exists [we know there are more tracks]....but this is pretty good ....but it is 'the best of its respective kind' and more comprehensive than ever before, thanks to many dedicated [and patient] 'music detectives' over the decades.....and in both the UK and US. Even Tommy DeVito's archive has been 'mined'. Classic sounds and stunning finds abound through every decade of the 'analogue' tape era from 1961 to 1986 and some we found. All of the subsequent CD era original albums and 'special' re-mixes of the CD and Dance Mixes are collected up to 2010.

In June we had a release date given of 9^th December and pre-ordering started, with the design of the package complete as far as we knew. This is now delayed to 14^th April 2023. A sad and unexplained delay.

I have been asked to show 'integrity' and not criticise anyone involved in the project. But my integrity is to the fans as they are the 'customers' but also to the quality of the 'curation' process. I personally apologise to all readers for the delays in getting our research to completion as we had planned but it is not down to the commitment and work of me or Bob Fisher and those in our 'collectors' network who helped us so much. Everyone in the Snapper production team, I believe, worked hard to achieve release including the engineer, designer, writers and admin.

I believed in the commitment of Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli in this compilation and believed and told many fans this could be the start of a series of Unreleased and LIVE concerts as has been done with the Beach Boys Catalogue and career. However the experiences over the last 4 years has left me feeling dismayed, disappointed and disenchanted by the Four Seasons Partnership and the senior management at Snapper who promised Lynn Boleyn, Bob Fisher and I so much back in 2018. This is not a criticism, just how I feel.

As a former Fellow for the Association for Project Management and having completed several multi-million pound projects during my working life, I know that of the 3 objectives of a project [TIME/COST/QUALITY] .......the one that must be maintained is QUALITY and that is is based on the record and reputation of Snapper Music. It will/has been a long wait but the quality is/will be unsurpassed if the content remains as we agreed with Snapper and Bob Gaudio in June 2021 and as the promised sound engineering standards.

We do deserve an apology for the delay and an explanation, given the love for the music we, the fans have shown.[and the pre-orders placed, many on my recommendation]. I know I have done all I can to make the project successful.

However, as our resident music historian, I will in our FB group continue to publish research of known sources of quality tapes and maybe as with the Beach Boys and Beatles, more will be funded to bring rare and unheard tracks, demos or rehearsals to the fans. [possibly in our lifetime]. I will enjoy The Beatles 'Revolver' Box Set this Christmas instead.

The Seasons On Saturday podcasts will continue the 'panels' views on the career of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons as we reach 1970 in the next few weeks and we will move through the 1970s over the next few months. And I am also using the research and collated information to re-write and update my former e-book, The Rise And Fall Of The NEW Four Seasons and eventually to publish this.

And as the the rest of the unheard catalogue and LIVE sound board tapes show more recordings are out there. As I have said ….the Campaign goes on.

Ken

 

The Lost 'Golden Era' of Crewe – Gaudio

Ellie Greenwich loved Bob Crewe.

George Schowerer captured the magic of their relationship in dozens of studio photographs when they worked together in 1967 at Mirasound Studios and his production of her 45 sides 'I Want You To Be My Baby b/w Goodnight, Goodnight (What's So Good About It?)' on United Artists 5015. He also wrote the latter song for her using Jean Thomas, Mikie Harris and Valerie Simpson on backing vocals in March 1967 the same month he recorded 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' with Frankie Valli. See the background video here

That relationship would strangely later spark the start of Bob Crewe's recovery to a new 'golden age' of songwriting and production and a re-union with past writing and producing colleague Bob Gaudio that would see them both achieve Number One Hits and go on to Crewe also collaborating with Jerry Corbetta and the writer, Ellie Greenwich, in producing the original cast album for Greenwich's Broadway musical, "Leader of the Pack" in the early 80s.

The contribution Ellie would make to his recovery in 1972 was after Bob Crewe had suffered a career collapse at the end of the 60s. Dan Crewe, Bob's brother had been with him in establishing Genius Inc in 1962 and they were Chairman and President respectively in the CGC Group of Record Labels that collapsed in 1970 and he does not have kind memories of his brother who overstretched himself when they were effectively partners. “He was the biggest pain in the ass I ever had to deal with in my life,” Dan Crewe recently said of his brother, whom he described as a narcissist “who did everything to excess. He was a real drunk. He could get out of hand. It’s the story of his life. It’s racing to the moon and then crashing. …” Dan was taking care of the business......“We were incredible together before the drugs and alcohol,” Dan Crewe said. “We were zooming. We had so many god-blessed hits, it was one right after the other. In the early days of the Seasons, we had three Top 10 records all the time. We were always on the charts. It was endless. We had so many different acts, all the time.” Eventually, alcohol gave way to pot, which led to cocaine. “And once cocaine came into the picture.........” Dan Crewe said, without finishing his sentence. “With my brother, you always worried what was going to happen.” But not everyone saw Bob Crewe so negatively and he consistently made good records like no other producer of the 1960s and 70s, although he had problems with Bob Gaudio and Mitch Ryder which have been anecdotally made public. Ellie Greenwich had a good relationship with Bob Crewe and commented on his ability and on how they first met in an interview before her untimely passing in 2009....."I'm not exactly sure when I met Bob Crewe, but we always saw each other around the business from the very beginning. (We) had an affinity for each other (and) still do! He was a joy to work with on all levels . . . he's a perfectionist, he's open to any outside ideas, he really knows what he wants and gets it, and most of all, he is passionate about what he does. He puts all of himself into everything he touches . . . I always loved and still do love Bob! I can go on and on about this talented gentleman, and he is just that: A 'gentle man'." But as they were siblings and Dan Crewe was jointly managing the business decisions, perspectives clearly differ, and drugs can create big issues within families.

Although he still held it together into the studio to produce great 4 Seasons songs by 1970, they became very diverse but always interesting. 'Lay Me Down, Wake Me Up' [originally titled 'Let This Time'] would be his last writing and production work in the studio with Bob Gaudio and the group in August, before his financial and addiction related break-down. His final recording at this time with Bob Gaudio will surface this year with the sublime 'I Need To Get To Know You', which they wrote and recorded together and he would co-write 'A New Beginning' with him which was done as an unreleased rock 'demo' in 1970 before it would emerge in full harmony by the Four Seasons on the 1972 'Chameleon' album with Bob Gaudio producing.

Bob Crewe would be in 'recovery' until 1972 when brother Dan helped him get back into writing and production with a contract at Motown Records whilst Frankie and the group were signed to their LA based 'MoWest' label. He quickly adapted in September 1972 with the commencement of productions with Bobby Darin. One of the key tracks was ‘Happy’ , the Smokey Robinson – Michel Legrande penned theme to Berry Gordy’s movie with Diane Ross, ‘Lady Sings The Blues’. He also created some very harmonic ‘Seasons’ styled backings on ‘Another Song on My Mind’ and ‘ I Won’t Last A Day Without You’ with Bobby Darin. [allegedly also recorded with Frankie Valli and in the Motown Archive]. Unfortunately a heart operation resulted in Bobby Darin's tragic and untimely death and the album was finished with infill songs and released in Feb 1974. ( Bobby passed away on Dec. 20, 1973)

Bob Gaudio had signed Frankie and the group to Berry Gordy's empire in October 1971 with a deal for 8 tracks with in-house producers and 12 stand-alone full group tracks with Bob producing. Only one track, from the May 1972 album release 'Chameleon', would get US single release and a 'Corporation' production of Walk On, Don't Look Back' in August 1972. Notwithstanding this lack of promotion and releases, Bob Crewe's return would change their lives and paths as they started to write and produce, together and separately in November 1972. Bob Crewe would start to write again with Alan Shatkin, and Bob Gaudio and both Bob's set aside past differences after traumatic periods in both their lives, to pen new songs.

And whether it was a favour returned or not, we don't know, but by 2^nd November 1972 Bob Crewe was back in the studio with Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. We still haven't heard it as it remains 'unreleased' but Bob Crewe's first registered and completed Master Nr 61633 at Motown on 16 track [Tape 2414] was a song contributed by him writing with Ellie Greenwich and ex Four-Evers member Steve Tudanger. 'Be My Lover, Be My Friend'. It would be a magic tribute to Ellie [and Steve] to hear it released.

Very soon the sessions and tracks were rolling and over a 5 month period some of the 'Bob's' best work together and in their own right as producers since the mid 60s were emerging from the mixing booths as completed recordings. 'With My Eyes Wide Open' was amongst the first of powerful driving songs which would not appear until post departure from the label on the album 'Inside You' in 1975. That title track was strong enough to interest the Motown Management and would eventually warrant an album release but only 'Listening To Yesterday' from these sessions at this time would be selected for single release [strangely twice!]. This song would also be mixed in two entirely different versions by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio as classy examples of this period and their ability. The latter previously unreleased version did not appear until the 2008 Motown Anthology.

Another song from these collaborations which will be released in late 2022 is 'Star'. A complex and innovative arrangement combining rock and harmony in a stunning production. By May 1973 Bob Crewe had completed the song from a movie [Tom Sawyer] 'How Come' [Motown 1255F] with soaring studio session vocalists and not the Four Seasons group which had temporarily been disbanded by Frankie whilst he recruited new members. Gaudio did the vocal arrangements with Crewe producing.

The video is here

Bob Crewe also in the Spring recorded Frankie Valli solo on tracks which have not yet been released by 2022. 'Give Us This Day' and 'Turn It All Around' with arranger Dave Blumberg remain unheard which is criminal given the commitments made in preparing the Snapper Music Box Set. However Bob Gaudio's return to producing Frankie Valli in the middle of the year has produced three unheard tracks in that set as approved by Bob Gaudio. Previously 'You've Got Your Troubles' and 'The Skalawag Song (aka 'Silver Fishes') saw single release from those sessions and now we have 'Whatever You Want', a 1962 Crewe – Gaudio composition, 'You Can't Hold On' and 'Future Years' appearing this year. But for some unknown reason Bob Gaudio did not include 'Getting Over You” from the same Tape P2678?

Again lack of promotion and disarray at Motown meant the cancellation of a planned album MW788 [provisional title 'Inside Out'] and it is little wonder that all involved thought they had to find a way back to getting someone in a record company to believe in the music and promote it.!!

Motown made one final promise as a NEW Four Seasons group line up were signed up with a never before range of musicianship that would lead to two additional lead vocalists within the Four Seasons. The 'execs' at Motown committed to Bob Crewe sessions in November and December 1973 on new songs Bob Crewe had composed with '11^th Hour' group member Kenny Nolan. He used the NEW Four Seasons with Nick Massi returning and Charles Calello arranging. 'Hymn To Her', 'Lovers', 'Charisma', 'Hickory', 'My Eyes Adored You' and 'Make Your Tomorrow Tonight' were completed and two released on Motown 1288F. 'Hickory b/w Charisma' got to Nr 96 in the US chart and an album was gathered from the 1973 sessions, but all too late. Bob Gaudio had his own new compositions registered at Jobete , the publishing arm of Motown and all of their contracts were running out. Bob Crewe was rolling too as Lady Marmalade hit Nr 1 with Crewe's production of 'Voulez Vous Couchez Avec Moi Ces Soi' in November 1974 and he subsequently bought himself out of his writing contract with Motown. Bob Gaudio appears to have waited for his to lapse and so left the publishing with Jobete for 'Who Loves You' and other tracks.

Only 'My Eyes Adored You' could be bought back when they left the Motown label with Bob Gaudio's unrecorded compositions The rest is history as they set up the contracts at Warner-Curb and Private Stock. Bob Crewe's production and writing effort with Kenny Nolan achieved the long wanted Nr 1 for Frankie Valli, with the 'TAPE SOLD BACK TO PRODUCER' song as their Artist Card records. The success for Bob Gaudio, who with co-writer Judy Parker had adapted and devoted his writing and production skills to the band, recorded and produced the songs that would hit the heights with 'Who Loves You' and 'December 1963(Oh What A Night).

Bob Crewe's production and writing effort with Kenny Nolan had at last achieved the long wanted Nr 1 for Frankie Valli. 'The Night' from the 1972 'Chameleon' album would also soar into the UK Top Ten upon it's re-release in the UK. A belated Motown success.

The 'Lost Era' would conclude finally with Bob Gaudio's success with the 'Who Loves You' album. However Bob Crewe's joys at the magnificent 'Swearing To God', and 'In My Eyes' for the 'Close-Up' album was ended by a hit and run driver, who nearly killed him in 1975 leaving him in a body cast for a year, and Bob Gaudio had to finish the album. Ironically this was as Crewe walked to an AA meeting [now titled NA(Narcotics Anonymous)] There are we were told by Bill Inglot other 'out-takes' from these album sessions but so far these have not surfaced.

So ended the LOST 'second coming' of Crewe – Gaudio. They never quite re-found that magic again although the 'Heaven Above Me' album and now the salvaged LOST DISCO ALBUM with the unreleased 'Back In Action' by Crewe-Corbetta will surface this year. 'Soul/Heaven Above Me' and 'Let It Be Whatever It Is' looked like being their last collaboration as Bob Crewe substantially retired by 1981 that is until their last effort, the prophetic 'What About Tomorrow' on the 1985 album 'Streetfighter'.......but Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan take pride of place in our full restoration of those sessions with the unreleased 'Killing Time' in the Box Set. Bob Crewe however did not participate in the production of the album.

If justice could be done we would have all of the music from the 1973 Motown sessions and in particular the unheard productions by Bob Crewe [along with alternate versions and 'takes'] to demonstrate the road to what followed in terms of success in the 1970s post Motown. Bob Gaudio has the power to give us this and set the record straight. As he says....'if you believe ….you receive'. 2023 beckons and another project is 'believed in and awaited'.

Casey Chameleon – September 2022

The titles shown in RED indicate previously unreleased tracks with some available in the Snapper Music Box Set this December

The Limitations Of 'Four Seasons' Fan Club Life and the Catalogue

We only got to see this one Tape Box scan from the Universal Motown Storage but it tells us what we had told Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli and members of this group existed . Although we have researched and provided tape source information for over 10 years, we never got to see the rest of the 29+ Motown Multi-track Tape Box scans from Snapper during the project. You could ask why?....as we did. But we moved on and finished the full catalogue research based on what we had access to.

Taking a breath on a sad day and now waiting for final production and issue, some of our team members think...”This is only the beginning!.......'A NEW BEGINNING' …..in terms of the Motown Catalogue perhaps. Thanks you to all our readers for your comments and support for the Snapper Music Box Set to date, via social media and personal communication with me. It really was a labour of love from my perspective, both for the range and creativity of the music and of course Frankie Valli's awesome voice, but also for the relationships amongst fans and collectors we have developed since the 1970s and working with the late Bob Fisher, a dearly missed friend.

I was talking with an 'iconic' sound engineer recently re how he has achieved historic 'curated' projects with major artists and I was sharing with him the long and frustrating 'life' of 'Seasons' fan club members who have in the experiences of the Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society [FSUKAS]been both 'joyous' yet 'limited' and in terms of releases often left us feeling 'disappointed' and frequently 'let down'. Not however by Frankie and his commitment to tour and entertain the fans. Frankie spoke in interview about his love for sharing his music 'LIVE' but also the magic of creating in the studio and this box set will reveal that more fully than ever before. But what we have gathered is not enough, particularly in comparison with the legendary Beatles and Beach Boys. The passion and obsession of some of their fans and their large fanbase numbers has meant that their 'brand' has become a major commercial project. Feeding the fans every conceivable mix and bit of studio chatter has however been an expression of their 'art' and an important part of music history. The difference is of course that they retained their 'multitrack' session tapes. We found none in the FSP storage.......only at Motown do such 16 and 24 track masters survive.......and we scraped the barrel to find all we could of 'out-takes'

As we await the Snapper Music Box Set release it is with some frustration that after the release of the Beach Boys 'Surf's Up/Sunflower' Bonus CD Box Set and the 'Sounds Of Summer' set we are told.....”All 30 tracks on disc 1 of 'Sounds Of Summer' have been mixed in immersive Dolby Atmos, joining the group’s 'Christmas Album' which was mixed in spatial audio and released this past holiday season, and continuing the initiative to present the group’s catalog in the enveloping and exciting new audio format.“,..........we now have to see the announcement of another step in exploring the back catalogue of The Beatles with the forthcoming release of 'Revolver'......”The new special edition of 'Revolver' album from 1965, complete with tons of bonus tracks and alternate takes, comes out on October 28, 2022. The super-deluxe version will be a 5-CD set. You can pre-order that set for $139.00 at the official Beatles store.” This package [it has been revealed] will contain a 'restored' Mix of the album using AI powered digital extraction[DES] from the old four track tapes plus alternate Takes as Bonuses. This is restoration not previously possible and enabled by ever improving technology. Even I have been able to demonstrate how this type of AI software can provide enjoyable alternatives versions of the 60s Stereo Tracks on my You Tube Channel with some of Frankie and the groups classic recordings.

What these Beatles and Beach Boys releases reveal is that if you are regarded as a 'legendary' group, you develop a huge and generationally renewing collectors base. The Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Full Catalogue release was always a major way for us fans to catch up [with everything].......but even now to still be left behind by other 60s groups [unfortunately by understandable delays].

As you will all know this set has been designed and built around 'rare and unreleased' sides, both MONO and STEREO'. But as I have said from a collectors and fans perspective it is not enough and is only levelling up to some extent the catalogue of the 'mega groups'. 'Working Our Way Back To You' is a very apt title for the set. As fans, many of you have trusted my commitment with the late Bob Fisher to the content, by ordering the limited edition. We both said we would see this production through to final mastering but with his passing and other pressures that has not been possible. We always planned to check the final mastering.

I have always been open and transparent with the fan base as my allegiance is to the network that helped us so much to achieve the set we have gained approval to. That is limited in a number of ways and the content does not include as many completed and unreleased Motown [and other]Tracks as I and you would have wanted. I am not angry or negative re what we achieved [at long last] but only asking a question many have asked me......."as you have evidence that more tracks are there and completed and in good sound quality why could they not be included"?. Time and cost pressures and particularly the pandemic made the planned approach impossible. The problems of getting 2 track Stereo versions of 16 track masters from Universal Motown during lockdown made it difficult to get songs to Bob Gaudio for approval and his commitment to the Neil Diamond stage production limited the 'mixing' he could do for this set. But lack of communication at times particularly since Bob Fisher's passing has meant that I am only 'Track Advisor' although I did contribute the Collectors Notes with the help of key knowledgeable music detectives. Snapper accepted these with little edit which I guess I should be grateful for and I hope they explain the release history and meet your approval but I have had no opportunity to collaborate with the Sound Engineer or check the sound quality of the final product. Hopefully the final quality [from 'best available sources' Snapper say] will meet all our expectations and the huge investment in the research of tracks Bob Fisher and I did........ Not least helped by the 'memorabilia' and photos of John Pingree, Bob Crewe's Sound Engineer George Schowerer and the superb design work of Rachel Gutek.....and the Snapper team.

There is, we all accept, the urgent need to release this set and then to take stock re the size and spread of the fan base [the market for product beyond the 'hits']. I would like to think that 2500 copies will sell by mid 2023 and we as fans can look ahead [to more]. Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli need to decide if they want to sell further product from their past by researching tape sources and build a future as 'legendary' artists with those that got them there. What do Four Seasons fans want?.......We in the FSUKAS want to celebrate all that they have achieved with the group and their co-creators such as Bob Crewe and Charlie Calello[to name just two...et al]

There are further sources and tracks to be found by the FSP but the first step is understanding and engaging with the fan base and past collaborators. Our FB presence shows the people are out there with the interest. Finding an 'investor' Record Company and Top Engineering led team of researchers is what the other 'legendary' groups have done. Frankie and Bob could do that too.....No !!!...need to do that. You cannot achieve it by simply selling your 'publishing'. You may own [most of] your 'catalogue' but you need to 'invest' in research and 'curate' it as 'art' and as a path to a future income stream for future generations. Perhaps the forthcoming 'Jersey Boys' TV Movie will trigger the next step and we can see our Campaign for the review and release of all of the Motown material and more.......complete its mission. Your comments and expectations can be voiced in our FB groups.........Ken

The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign

Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Fans

 

In the UK there has been no greater demonstration of the importance of what we have lived through and shared as illustrated with the recent passing away of Queen Elizabeth II. An illustration of one thing the British do well is respect history and commitment as we [in the UK] have shown for her as the world has seen this last week. In an emotional week for us in the UK, it struck me when I recalled as a 5 year old her Coronation on 2nd June 1953 and our Garden Party, it was the same year that Frankie Valli started his career recording 'My Mothers Eyes'. UK fans also showed and shared our respect and love for Frankie Valli on his visit to the UK this summer working hard to entertain us at 88.

In remembrance today of Her Majesty as Ken Charmer – Former Civil Servant with Lynn Boleyn – MBE , Dr George Ingram and Ray Nichol, The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society – Core Team.

 

 

Motown and the full Four Seasons Story - Rex Woodard:The Legacy:The Myths!

Rex Woodard – Music Detective was one of the first fans to make a difference and tell the TRUE Story of The Four Seasons and in doing so he may have created a myth. That of Jersey Boys – The Musical.

To modern day fans of the Four Seasons it may seem amazing that there was a time when we were scrambling around for news, backstories and lost tracks on cassette tape. There was no internet and a quarterly newsletter [delivered by 'snail mail'] was all we had and the group were regarded as an oldies group with no future. It's easy to forget how hard it was then to get information and even released music on vinyl or cassette..

But then in the UK came 'My Eyes Adored You', 'The Night', and 'Who Loves You' before their biggest ever success as a group 'December 1963(Oh What A Night)'. Back then during the early 1970s Rex was gathering research that would decades later lead to the record breaking show 'Jersey Boys'. Rex Woodard was a champion of today's Four Seasons 'music detectives' still gathering information and seeking out more 'lost' music by them than we could ever have imagined existed.

So it was with a degree of pride in music historians that I read of his widows success in establishing his contribution to the show 'Jersey Boys' was finally recognised. 'Then and Now' the jointly written bio by Rex and former Four Season Tommy DeVito was judged to have contributed to 10% of the shows success and for his widow a share of his royalties from the show and film. It has never been seen by the fans except in it's interpretation in the stage show. When will Rex's joint work finally go public? Possibly never as that was maybe part of the legal settlement with Tommy and his estate. And Valli and Gaudio have escaped any liability for copyright breach. Rex's widow failed to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling that the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” infringed his unpublished autobiography in 2021. Perhaps after the forthcoming TV film a published book may be possible.? The new film is probably needed to pay for all the lawyers involved.!! But it will not be the full story. The forthcoming Snapper Box Set will be a major step nearer musically.......and we battle still for the rest.

Rex's contribution was based on years of research and 'foundation' articles that resonate today When he persuaded Tommy DeVito to 'dish the dirt' back in 1989 it should have been a coup for Four Seasons fans but back then their 'brand' was low key and no publishers were interested. After Rex's premature passing in 1990 the draft understandably didn't surface. It had lost it's champion. But we are all to be grateful that Tommy DID make it available to the stage shows scriptwriters. We got 'Jersey Boys' and history made The Four Seasons 'iconic'.

But Rex also anticipated the continuing battle to recover the Motown unreleased without realising what we now know. Rex wrote in Goldmine in August 1981[A Lesson in Survival].....”The myth must die! For several years now, almost every rock and roll encyclopedic source has faithfully instructed it's readers that the legendary Four Seasons bit the dust sometime around 1969, only to be resurrected as an entirely new group in 1975. Lies!”

Well the 'myth' is dead BUT no-one [in the Four Seasons Partnership or Universal Motown] wanted us to hear the truth even as 2017 began......and since then our Four Seasons Motown 'Unreleased' Campaign Facebook Page has achieved the breakthrough of another over 25 unreleased tracks showing the brilliance of Frankie and the group's achievement between 1969 and 1974 in the forthcoming Snapper Music Box Set.

In Rex's 1980 article he documented the history of those intervening years and the groups creative work during that time. Today with the inspiration of that work and data from some anonymous Motown connections, we have, by 2022 extended his work with subsequent research, to reveal the deliberate suppression of between 30 and 40 tracks, completed and left in the Universal Motown vaults unheard by the fans since. Rex's research was at the heart of our campaign for their release.....and in the release of 13 and 8 alternative versions we have achieved partial success. And to follow that in June 1982 he published what is regarded as the definitive article detailing the history of the Four Lovers in the same magazine.

As we enter the post 'Jersey Boys' era.....now the shows in New York and London are potentially closing [leaving the national touring shows to carry 'the sound'].......we are still hoping the bio that has been the subject of so much legal time over the last 12+ years will finally be published. The recent PBS concert by an 88 year old Frankie Valli probably heralds the end of the 'LIVE' concerts, but maybe the forthcoming Snapper Music Box Set will herald a new period of documenting and restoring the history of the group and their music over the next few years.? Rex's legacy should be the cornerstone of that objective. And our battle to get the music left in the vaults will continue. He'd want us to fight for that.

Ken Charmer

 

BACK IN ACTION - UK 2022 TOUR - DREAM ON!

After nearly a 3 year wait the UK shows finally went ahead and we would like to thank everyone who made this possible.  We are so glad that Frankie and the gang were able to make it especially bearing in mind that Frankie is now 88 and had been very poorly at the end of last year with pneumonia but now fighting fit and still going strong and putting on fantastic shows - Back In Action!  Special thanks to Robby for pulling all the shows together, especially with the orchestra in London, Danny and Dean for arranging front arena seats for the UK fan club and to all the UK fans who have supported Frankie as it says in the tour brochure "since bell bottoms were in fashion"!

After arriving in the UK on Thursday 23 June the shows kicked off in Scarborough on Saturday 25 June at the beautiful sea-side venue Scarborough Open Air Theatre.  Nothing, not even the British weather, could dampen the crowds enthusiasm - they were on their feet for most of the show dancing the night away!  As you will see here:

Getting The Party Started In Scarborough

 

In pictures "Oh What A Night" from the Scarborough News:https://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/in-pictures-oh-what-a-night-frankie-valli-and-the-four-seasons-wow-at-the-open-air-theatre-3745686

Welcome back to the UK!

 

Hello Birmingham!

The following night the band were in Birmingham and rocked the place again!  Songs were the same as at Scarborough: Working My Way Back To You; Save It For Me; Beggin; My Eyes Adored You; Dawn; Silence Is Golden; Tell It To The Rain; I've Got You Under My Skin; The Night; Opus 17; Fallen Angel; Swearin' To God; Stay - intermission - Grease; My Girl; Groovin'; Who Loves You; December '63; Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You; Sherry/Big Girls Don't Cry/Walk Like A Man/Bye Bye Baby/ Rag Doll and Let's Hang On.

We had a fan club get together with Robby, the singers and the band after the show at the Hilton Metropole Hotel and we all had a really wonderful time.  Fans from the UK, Brazil, Michigan, Spain and Holland were arriving for various shows in the UK.  Robby filmed some of our get together for his Jam 'n Java programme (to be broadcast live from Liverpool the next night) and as he says "it was quite wild"!  He also filmed the breakfast they served at the hotel although he did not attempt the black pudding (blood pudding)!

 

 

Frankie Goes To Liverpool!

Liverpool was the next show at the M&S Bank Arena on Tuesday 28 June.  The last time Frankie was in Liverpool was on 12 May 1963 and I note Kennedy Street Enterprises were involved in the promotion back then - so they have been around for longer than Robby and me!  This show was just so fantastic as I guess everyone was now over any jet-lag they might have had!  Robbie and some of the crew, singers and band took the Beatles Magical Mystery tour and later paid a visit to the Cavern Club  - a must do when you are in Liverpool!  Robbie talks about this in his Jam 'n Java show  "Live From Liverpool":

 

 

Live from Liverpool!                            

There was also a fan club get together after the show at the Pullman Hotel in Liverpool.  Thank you to Robby, all the singers, crew and band for making this such a special evening for all the fans, especially our younger fans.

The next night the show went to Nottingham.  Another fantastic show - where Suzie Quatro was in the audience - see for yourself here:

 

 

 

 

Royal Albert Hall, London

Probably one if not the best place to perform in the world and certainly a favourite of Frankie and Robby.  Frankie and the guys did two shows one on the Friday evening and the last show of the UK tour on Saturday 2 July.  These shows were made even more special as they were playing with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.   Frankie added one song "Let It Be Me" sung so beautifully at both shows.  Ian Crockett from Snapper Records was also at the show on the Saturday night with his wife and guests who said it was the best show they had ever seen!   I agree!

Oh What A Night At The Royal Albert Hall! 

Check out this great video of Oh What A Night and watch the bass player, Alfredo Lopez, at the end - such a passionate bass player!  Amazing show!

Oh What A Night At The Royal Albert Hall

Thank you again to everyone who made this tour possible - Frankie, Robby, Aaron, Ronen, Craig, Noah, Basil, Carmen, Rick, Alfredo, Andy, Dean, Allan, Redford, Mike, Rob and all the crew and, of course, Danny Betesh, Flick,  and everyone at Kennedy Street.  Thank you so much we are all so very grateful to you for all that you do.

Highlights of the UK Tour by Robby Robinson:

More UK Memories from Robby Robinson:

Robby's dressing room a the Royal Albert Hall!!

For lots more photos and videos of the UK shows please check out Royal Albert Hall July 2022 Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/768565614144698

and on our Facebook page here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/frankievallifans

Merchandise available here:  https://frankievallifourseasons.com/shop/

Snapper 44 Disk Box Set

Just days before the tour we were advised by Ian Crockett of the release date for "Working Our Way Back To you" the long awaited Snapper Box Set - 9th December 2022.  L'Eredita! Banners advertising the release date and details of how to pre-order were at all the shows.  This legacy box set includes Motown unreleased material from the early 1970's - my favourite is "My Heart Cries Out To You" and also the lost Disco Album including the wonderful unreleased "Back In Action" from 1979.  Full details are on our Blog.  Many thanks to Ian Crockett, Ken Charmer, John Pingree, George Ingram, Ray Nichol and the late Bob Fisher for your hard work and dedication and finally getting some of the Motown unreleased material out there.  More on the Motown Unreleased Campaign here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1049892628364291/?ref=bookmarks

Pre-order your copy here

 

Frankie and the gang are, of course, still touring in the USA and Canada and the tour dates for the remainder of this year are here:

 

Finally, On A Sad Note

I am so sorry to end this blog on a very sad note but thought you would wish to know that Dave Quick – known to many on Facebook as Francis Castellucio – passed away recently.  We lost touch with Dave just prior to the UK tour and so guessed something was not right.  Dave ran the UK fan club with Malcolm Grace and Adrian Rondeau in the early 1970’s after Stu Miller left in Summer of 1973.  As a teenager I was a member of Dave’s fan club and corresponded with him on a regular basis. Dave's first Newsletter was February 1974 and his last one was June 1976.  After the 1976 tour, our group took over from Dave and our first Newsletter was June, 1976 just after the UK tour.  Dave was passionate about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, had a wealth of knowledge about them and was an avid collector of anything to do with the group.  He was such a fun guy and will be very much missed by everyone who knew him and we send our sincere condolences to all his family and friends.

Adrian Rondeau said "I spent many a memorable evening with Dave in the early 70s helping him assemble the fan club's magazine.  I subscribed to Billboard at the time so we would trawl through it for news of the Seasons to add to the newsletter.  I enjoyed helping him and admired his vast knowledge of the subject". 

Malcolm Grace sent me this which just about sums Dave up: 

I had a phone call one evening and the caller said "yeah Dave Quick here you don't know me but I'm taking over running the 4 Seasons Fan Club and as your address is the nearest to me I'd like you to help me".

I had 4 or 5 years of helping Dave and it was a lot of fun from spending hours in his bedroom getting to grips with an ancient Gestetner printing machine to get the newsletter printed often helped with supplies of sausage sandwiches made by his then girlfriend and mum to some of our ambitious excursions. 

He decided to arrange a club meeting at Geoff Sheards House in Birmingham. In the days before sat nav we had to stop three or four times to ask for directions but unfortunately he couldn't grasp the Brummie Accent. Eventually we found a Police Station and he went in to ask directions only to come out despondent saying "blimey they talk like that in there too"!

Another time we used the car to meet our third partner Adrian Rondeau. I didn't know Central London other than by bus routes so Dave navigated and I soon realised he was doing it by tube stations because that's all he knew.

Finally we went to a number of the Southern concerts on the Who Loves You Tour in 1976. Heading back to London from Bristol rather late and with the prospect of an early work start the next day I had wound up my Cortina to well over 90mph on the M4 when two Daimler Limos passed us as if I was on a Sunday drive. A few miles on they were on the hard shoulder and we pulled over. Dave knew one of the drivers who explained Frankie was making a phone call to the States. A little while later they passed us again and as they did so Don Ciconne gave us the "Royal Wave". I'm not sure how Dave thought I was going to fit them in the car because that's what he offered.

Like many others I lost touch with Dave until very recently on Facebook when I realised he was Francis Castellucio when he made a comment on those car journeys. When I told him I still had the car he said he would put it in the 4 Seasons Museum when he set it up.

Sadly we had just got around to arranging a get together when he stopped posting on fb."

Written by Lynn E Boleyn MBE

UK Four Seasons Appreciation Society

www.seasonally.co.uk

16 July 2022

 

The Snapper Music Box Set - Final Content Corrections

The confirmation by Snapper Music on their Madfish on-line ordering site is a welcome sight for Collectors of The Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons catalogue. We did not expect the publication of the track listing so soon as this was still being edited a fortnight ago, but it gives everyone the chance to see what we uncovered in 3 years of research of all available sources with Bill Inglot, past Four Seasons and the fan network.

But in the rush to press a few tracks got missed off the list and publicity, and which Snapper have confirmed to me will be in the final release. So this blog confirms the revisions to the track listing provided on the Madfish 'official' site. Firstly the UNRELEASED Tracks.....

• 'Killing Time' – the Crewe-Nolan penned recording missed off the 'Streetfighter' album in 1986.....somehow it got lost!!.[ I have my ideas as to why back then]....but thankfully found now in time for the Box Set and to be included on Disc 33[or 34].

• 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' – Alternate LIVE studio version from Acetate – currently missed out of the list for Disc 13, but now restored. Given the information from Artie Schroeck, this is a very special version, as he says....."The version of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You was his performance on the session. At that time the American Federation of Musicians made the artists sing on the live session. I had the acetate of that performance and made a tape for Frankie. It was a great performance. Because it was Frankie singing live with a big band which he always wanted to do. I was pissed when they made him sing it over. ". Fortunately a superb previously unheard and original MONO version of the song has survived and is being included.

• 'Michael and Peter' - Frankie Valli/Jake Holmes DEMO MASTER for the Frank Sinatra 'Watertown' album recorded in 1969 – Currently missed out of Disc 16, but now restored.

Then there rare tracks not previously available in digital form included.

• 'Deep Inside Your Love' – Rare 45 'B' side1986 – Currently missed out of Disc 33[or 34], but now restored

• 'September Rain' as a 45 issue was an alternative recording and mix to the later album version running 2:58 rather than the 3:16 album version and with slightly different and some would say more jazz influenced orchestration.

• The 'Swearin' to God' 45 edit which was the hit version is also added as a BONUS Track to the 'Close-Up' album

• Also to make it clear, both the the previously 'unreleased' MONO MIX version of the 'Half and Half' album is included as well as the STEREO.

However there are always hits and misses in a set as big as this and there are several Out-Takes which Bob Fisher and I had wanted to be left with the count-ins and outro chat by Bob Crewe, but these have been edited out by the engineer, and fans will get 'edited versions and have to wait post release for Bob Crewe's PRICELESS comment at the end of 'Watch The Music Play'.......as before he stops recording, he says.......”Thank You Gentlemen.....that was 'lovely'”....and there are other 'Raven' session Out-Takes 1-4 of which 1 and 4 are included in edited form. However ALL of the 'Timeless' MONO Takes included appear to LIVE session masters as Artie's description.

All were in the Final List agreed with Bob Gaudio, and as Bob Fisher and I drafted it.

Now with the Book detailing the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and special Collectors Notes done, and with these tracks confirmed to me as above, it will allow Snapper to finish the set and complete 'production' targeting a 9^th December 2022 release date

The final Mastering has not been sound quality checked by producer Bob Fisher due to his premature passing last year, or by me in any way to make comment so we all have to await release and hope all goes to plan. We said back in 2021 what we wanted in terms of sound quality based on research of all of the CD re-issue catalogue since 1988.

https://thatfourseasonssound.typepad.com/seasonally/2021/07/the-four-seasons-best-mixes-our-past-blog-re-visited.html

This set has been re-mastered based on NEW transfers and we are hoping for so much.

There is always with such research, threads that could have been followed up, but would have needed more expensive Engineer's tape research time and so a 'coulda …. woulda..... shoulda' list is inevitable. Other tracks were missed due to various time and compilation decisions or not judged alternative 'takes', where it was felt the differences between album and 45 was not sufficient to justify inclusion.......and there may have been other takes and edits we just couldn't find in time. The Extended Instrumentals of 'Beggin' and 'I'm Gonna Change' could not be included due to space issues around the late 60s finds.....and there may be some unreleased tracks remaining in the Mercury Philips storage as some 16 track transfers from the Philips Reels were found but not fully mixed down other than 'Need To Get To Know You' and 'The Goose'

In retrospect, I would have liked to include the 4 songs by Don Ciccone and the band 'on their own' from a sound check recording in 1977, but these are on You Tube …......and a search of the Drexel University donated 'Sigma Studio' tapes could have donated two more tracks 'Can't Be Too Much Music' and 'Stagger Lee'....but we did find  the unreleased 'Back in Action' and the LOST Disco Album set from those 1979 sessions. Obviously the REST of the Motown Unreleased is still wanted and will be campaigned for until Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli allow us to research all of the 29 plus tapes recovered from Universals storage for a future 'release event'

Some material was clearly unfinished and of poor quality, and some LIVE concerts suffered from Frankie having flu, so decisions re omission were based on historical importance and sufficient sound/performance quality for preservation.

Credits are included to all who helped Bob and I with tracks that we could identify as Collectors sources and the Four Seasons membership list was completed thanks to Musical Director, Robbie Robinson.

What remains is for us now is to get our own thoughts together on the influences that define the Catalogue tracks: the albums and 45s and the constraints of the various Record Companies......together with Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli's decisions on their career objectives.......and much will be discussed in our 'Seasons On Saturday' podcasts from July to the release date [and beyond] and then you will all be able to react to your purchases. Next will be Part 6 and a review of the 1966 to 69 period and the influences and history of recordings now uncovered in the context of this tape research.

It has been and remains a great honour and real fun reviewing the past music of this legendary vocalist and all of his recorded Four Seasons and much easier for us to evaluate and compile than for Bob and Frankie with perhaps many painful connections with their private lives and business decisions. Ours is the joy of fans......and before you ask I am already planning Disc 45 – The Snapper Box Set 'Out-Takes' for 2023....haha

I am sure some kind soul will make this information available to the music collectors forums.

Ken Charmer – for The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society Box Set Team [Lynn Boleyn, Dr George A Ingram, and Ray Nichol] and our US associate Paul Urbans

The ULTIMATE Box Set is coming

We were asked by Snapper 'what do you want to have in the planned Box Set most of all?'....and before I could think?.........Lynn Boleyn said 'THE MOTOWN UNRELEASED'........!!!!!.....In retrospect this is amusing as the Motown Unreleased Campaign has been going now since 2011, due to my research. But no-one related to Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli's music has ever asked us that question before …... ever!.

Since then and after nearly 4 years and a huge review of tape transfers, the memorabilia, photos, picture sleeves and paper records regarding releases, we have the storytelling done and the tracks found...and superb artwork...and we have a good bunch of UNRELEASED and LIVE....and even some of the MOTOWN UNRELEASED. Some US music historians/sound collectors on the Steve Hoffman Forum accused me of being somewhat 'anal' re wanting these tracks from a largely non-existent period in Frankie's career. One top collector believes many US fans have little interest in this or even later periods saying......”It's obvious from the Partnerships reactions or 'non action' [over the decades] that they would rather forget Motown ever "never happened" for them”. For members of that group the Box Set should have been out a year ago for many as all they wanted was the 1960s albums in MONO and 'Edizione D'Oro'!!!! …a feat not possible with the pandemic!!.......but this to me also revealed the US/UK fan disconnect with regard to the UK fan groups 'holistic' view of the career of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons........and Frankie himself has come to realise that in recent years. We revitalised his career in 1970 taking 'You're Ready Now' into the charts for the first time as we did 5 years later with 'The Night' thanks to the Northern Soul Dance scene. We also [as did other countries around the world give them hits with 'Fallen Angel', 'Silver Star', and 'Down The Hall']. The US market and record companies did not see the worldwide support they deserved.

Frankie and Bob Gaudio's commitment to this Box Set is testimony and trust that the UK fan group.....now over 51 years old.......could tackle such a project with Snapper Music. And we will deliver after a hard 4 years.

Now at last we have a release date and the design of the package is complete. December 9^th [world crises permitting] will be the date this 44 CD Box Set will see release. Whilst no music set can ever be truly ULTIMATE........this is given the history of pop music and the ebbs and flows of a 60 year career since 'Sherry'.....more comprehensive than ever before, thanks to many dedicated [and patient] 'music detectives' over the decades.....and in both the UK and US. Even Tommy DeVito's archive has been 'mined'. Classic sounds and stunning finds abound through every decade of the 'analogue' tape era from 1961 to 1986. All of the subsequent original albums and 'special' re-mixes of the CD and Dance Mix Era are collected up to 2010

We think that this is an iconic set of music by a true legend of the music industry......L'Eridata

https://burningshed.com/store/madfish/frankie-valli_four-seasons_working-our-way-back-to-you_boxset

FRANKIE VALLI UK TOUR 2022 AND FAN CLUB GET TOGETHERS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              O2 Arena, London 2 December 2018

Nearly time now at long last for the long awaited UK tour!

Details for the Fan Club Get Togethers during the tour are as follows:

Birmingham – Sunday 26 June – Show Start 8.00 p.m.

Meet before and after the show at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, NEC, Pendigo Way, in the Gild Lobby Bar which is just a short walk from the Resorts World Arena.

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/bhxmetw-hilton-birmingham-metropole/

Liverpool – Tuesday 28 June – Show Start 8.00 p.m.

Meet before and after the show at the Jurys Inn, Keel Wharf, in the Oddsocks Bar.  This is directly opposite the M&S Bank Area.

https://www.jurysinns.com/hotels/liverpool

London – Royal Albert Hall – Friday 1 July and Saturday 2 July - Show Start 7. 30 p.m.

Meet before the show from 5.30 p.m. in the Arena Kensington Gardens Bar which opens 2 hours before the show.  Basement Level Doors 1 – 6.

https://www.royalalberthall.com/plan-your-visit-essential-safety-information/food-and-drink/food/arena-bar-kensington-gardens-bar/

Keep a note of my mobile number in case of any changes to the above – Tel 07747 563623

Unfortunately it is highly unlikely that there will be any backstage passes due to Covid and due to Frankie being so poorly earlier in the year which is quite understandable.  I have also been told that Frankie does not now shake hands with the audience at the end of the show so please understand if he is not able to shake hands during the tour.  We are so lucky that the tour has been able to go ahead and Frankie is still able to perform at the age of 88.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Leeds,UK 28 November 2018

There are still some tickets available for some of the shows and these are detailed below.

Tickets Available:

Birmingham Resorts World Arena – Sunday 26 June – 2 Tickets £85 each.  Block B.  Row A.  Seats  5 and 6.

Contact:  [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Birmingham Resorts World Arena – Sunday 26 June – 2 Tickets £68 each.  Block B.  Row YM.  Seats  17 and 18.

Contact:  [email protected]

Liverpool – Tuesday 28 June 1 Ticket £85 – Block B, Row E, Seat 19

Contact:  [email protected]

Liverpool – Tuesdsay 28 June - £75.00 each Block B, Row C seat 18 and 19.

Contact: [email protected]

Royal Albert Hall Saturday 2 July Block F, Row 2, Seat 26.  Face Value £85.

Contact:  [email protected]

See you soon!

Seasonally

Lynn

Lynn E Boleyn MBE

07747 563623