The new voice of the Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society founded in 1971. We celebrate in this blog the history of the group using current research. We target the music back-stories the fans want to hear, and work to see all of the recorded material released and made available to fans.
So why are so many top artists selling their publishing rights to Major Investors and as we start 2022…[the latest being Bruce Springstein……..WHAT COULD THIS MEAN FOR FRANKIE VALLI AND THE FOUR SEASONS FANS? With the Primary Wave’s acquisition of the Publishing Rights of the group in late 2020 [for a 10 year Strategic Partnership] we awaited their approach while finalizing the WHOLE CATALOGUE Box Set with Snapper Music. Whilst we await the confirmation of a ‘release date’ for that 800+track collection in a limited edition 2500 set we know that is simply the beginning of a strategy that they should want to pursue.
Rolling Stone Magazine did an analysis of this last year and with NEWS of the sale of David Bowie catalogue it is a subject once again in the public eye.
“Of course, some artists want to sell their rights and receive an immediate lump-sum payment. That is where outside investors come in. The multiples that entire catalogs are being purchased for are high by any measure of an investment’s future value. That’s good for the artist. But it’s uncertain what it may mean for the investor. Mr. Ball, who competes with the funds that are buying entire catalogs, does not dismiss their strategy.
“Their goal is to grow their portfolio as large and as fast as they can, and when they get above a certain level, that value of all those catalogs is much greater than the sum of the parts,” he said. But he said he had more confidence in the funds run by people with music industry experience than those run by private equity managers. “They’re really smart people, but they don’t understand the nuances,” he said. Mr. Knowles said he considered it good to give the older artist the option of getting a lump-sum payment and be done with trying to manage different royalty streams. He also said he was confident that the music business would continue to perform in a way that justified the amounts being paid.“The growth in streaming has increased,” Mr. Knowles said. “It’s changed the dynamics of the music industry. It’s also reduced our overhead. We’re in a very good place in music.”
“Time is passing,” Neil Young explained to fans after news of his deal broke. “I want to cover my family and my art.… A good father plans on how to take care of his children.”. Many of these deals were put together after the pandemic brought the live music business to a complete stop, meaning many veteran artists were suddenly shut off from their main source of income. “Given our current inability to work live,” David Crosby said about the sales of his songs, who noted that it allowed him to pay off his house, “this deal is a blessing for me and my family.”
For Bob and Frankie given their age as the’ Four Seasons Partnership’ it is obviously a smart move for the next 10 years to Partner with PRIMARY WAVE and their children will obviously benefit now and during those years and it appears Shannon Gaudio will be clearly taking an interest in the catalogue management following his involvement in the evaluation and approval of the MOTOWN UNRELEASED in the forthcoming Snapper Music Box Set. Equally with Reid Crewe’s involvement [Bob’s niece] with Dan Crewe and the Bob Crewe Foundation it makes sense to maximize income now and promote and still achieve income in the future after their similar deal with Resevoir.
Again it is said by Forbes Magazine….”This scenario enables artists to participate in the upside growth that inevitably results from “active” management of their songs and recordings by sophisticated buyers who become real “partners” to maximize value in everything the artist does. Respected buyers carry deep expertise and sophisticated teams of specialists who actively promote the artist’s valuable songs and recordings. These are resources that most artists and songwriters simply can't match on their own. Active, significant attention generates real results. Period……So-called financial multiples on these rights and royalty streams (essentially a multiplier placed on current royalty streams) have never been higher. That means that artists can get a big cash payment right now - in one immediate lump sum - rather than wait for royalty checks arriving over many years that may never add up to the lump sum they can enjoy right now. …Buyout compensation (in the above case, the $6-$30 million number) may be treated as long-term capital gains in the U.S., whereas the feds treat continuing royalty checks as ordinary income. So, that gives artists even more money to enjoy right now. This is a significant, yet frequently not appreciated, factor to consider…
Buyers understand that musicians frequently “don’t need the money.” But getting paid top dollar right now is only one reason to sell. Perhaps even more important to many artists, “active” buyers’ deep expertise and resources grow new opportunities for songs, recordings and the artist’s overall "brand" and legacy.
These are resources that artists, bands and songwriters - no matter how “big” - can't match. Resources, that expand a song’s reach and artist’s audience (including to new generations of fans). Some buyers (those who take an “active” approach) have built significant teams of brand experts, marketing experts, digital experts - in addition to traditional synch and licensing experts - who proactively manage catalogs and create important and innovative new opportunities to maximize the artist’s “brand” and extend their legacy.
Not all buyers are massive nameless, faceless entities. Active buyers listen to the artist’s goals and give real attention and focus to the artist, songs, recordings and overall “brand.”
Sophisticated active buyers think of artists as partners in every sense of the word (and want the artist to feel the same way about them). They develop real strategies together with artists, and frequently share their vision and those strategies early in the deal process. They seek active input. They are receptive to the artist’s wishes. They crave active artist participation. That's why many of the top artists and legends of all time have entered into these kinds of deals.
For many artists, bands and songwriters, without active management, their "brand" slowly diminishes over time and their songs and recordings lose out on the critical opportunity to be exposed to (and enjoyed by) new generations of fans….For iconic and legacy artists, active management by a dedicated and passionate team of experts is especially critical.
And, don't forget about music reversion rights under U.S. copyright law.So long as songwriters and artists give sufficient notice, ownership of post-1978 music publishing rights - and potentially even master recordings (there is some debate here) - revert back artists after 35 years (assuming the songwriter or recording artist didn't originally own them outright). That means that, in most cases, songwriters should own all of their publishing rights - and recording artists potentially their master recordings - for all works created prior to 1985 (no matter what those deals looked like back then).”
This blog will continue to promote and discuss the forthcoming Snapper Music release…..and not only the research and finds soon coming to a fortunate 2500 fan collectors, but to promote and push for future releases….LIKE…..’The Frankie Valli and The Four Season Motown BOX SET’ which should include a full 5/6 CD Box of the Released/Unreleased/Alternate Versions that we have shown exist. A full analysis of our data will appear this year from us as Bob and Shannon Gaudio now have all the Multi-track Tapes from Universal Motown and a huge claim to their ownership. We will explore the limits of the current 13 ‘approved’ tracks and the barriers to this potential project….and others.
We will continue to create NEW STEREO MASTERS with DES and share these with you via You Tube….and explore the catalogue history in our ‘Seasons on Saturday’ podcasts.
Our policy of openness and transparency will bring our views on what still exists as UNRELEASED TRACKS and where we believe these songs are, so they can be found and released further promoting the ‘brand’ with fans.
Of course all of our aims support and complement the investors and the artists achievements and ultimately their ‘brand’ and future income……but we also want this to happen for ‘surviving’ fan generations and not just ‘future’ ones so our TELL ALL policy re the music will continue. We can’t wait for action….we want it now and so the CAMPAIGN continues….with our own“dedicated and passionate team of experts”
Ken Charmer – Music Historian for the Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society
Happy Christmas and a hopeful New Year for 2022 to all of our followers from us the founders of The Four Seasons UK Appreciation in our www identity.......George Ingram, Lynn Boleyn MBE, Ray Nichol and myself Ken Charmer[Happy Christmas from Spain].
So here is our Christmas 'music treat' of the original Four Seasons line-up 'Becoming the Four Seasons'
It is 60 years last month since the Four Seasons appeared on the record label – Gone 5122. Anyone who studies the Four Seasons catalogue will know their first recording was in November 1961 with 'Bermuda b/w Spanish Lace'.....an unedifying yet interesting beginning.....and even more so as they appeared as Billy Dixon and The Topics before and after that supposed NAME CHANGE. Firstly in October 1961 with 'Trance b/w I Am All Alone', and then in January 1962 with 'Lost Lullaby b/w Trance' both on Topix......and again as the Topics on a single side 45 on Perri 1007 with 'Girl Of My Dreams' in May 1962. So the road to success with Vee-Jay and 'Sherry b/w I've Cried Before' was up to this point in late 1961/early 1962 unclear in terms of the FINAL ID that they would live with and become famous as. They had been recording backing vocals for Bob Gaudio since 1960 and appearing LIVE still as The Four Lovers in the New Jersey area, before their eponymous 'Four Seasons Lounge' bowling alley appearance would lead to the name change as we see in the 'Jersey Boys' Show and film(s)
However Tommy DeVito's Tape Archive revealed how 4 songs preceded their ultimate ID change and led to three songs that would see release, and one that would be recorded three times but never be released at all. All three of these unreleased versions of a song called 'LIKE YOU' [in totally different arrangements] are included in the Snapper Music Box Set coming out next year, but one other song of the 4 DEMOS which was NOT APPROVED by Bob Gaudio for inclusion in the Box Set remains unheard by most fans [until now that is]. You will have to read about the other tracks in the Box Set Collectors Notes and hear the results there of the other salvaged and restored tracks that did get approval.
The four songs which survived as DEMOS on a cassette archive tape in Tommy's collection reached us via the late Rex Woodard who co-wrote the BIO that would inspire the 'Jersey Boys' script from his 1990 interviews with Tommy DeVito. 'Trance/I Am All Alone/Like You/I Still Care' were all recorded as DEMOS in the early 1961. Clearly they impressed Bob Crewe who recorded and released the first two under the Billy Dixon and The Topix 'moniker' on his Topix label 6002.
But 'I Still Care' was selected for recording by Miss Frankie Nolan with the group backing [and Frankie Valli's soaring falsetto vocal] on Paramount 10231 in April 1961 and can be heard below. It is a great 45 performance and song.
The Billy Dixon and The Topics DEMO has surprisingly been rejected by Bob Gaudio for inclusion in the Snapper Music Box Set. We sent it to him and he has heard it.....but surprisingly said NO.... We asked Snapper Music why?..... but never got an answer and they did not approach Bob Gaudio for an explanation!!!!. Maybe as the song by Miss Frankie Nolan appears in 'Jersey Boys', Bob did not want to confuse matters ?. Maybe the sound quality of the DEMO was judged too poor for Inclusion? He wrote it, so receives 'royalties' for it from 'Jersey Boys' but the version by the group that would within a year become The Four Seasons 'sensation' is a full harmony ballad treatment typical of many of their later Vee-Jay tracks. It should have been in the Box for Collectors. We think it is an amazing find.
However with the help of Casey Chameleon and DES Artificial Intelligence 'sound splitting' technology we are able to present and share this extra-ordinary performance in a Digitally Extracted STEREO Version as the only way to preserve this great DEMO. We hope you enjoy it and will form your own opinion if the Four Seasons that became the group we all love should have recorded it and released it at Vee-Jay. We think so!!!
Ken Charmer – For The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society
Finding the Four Seasons Master has been a four year task to ensure the Snapper Music Box Set contains all that has survived in the FSP Archive of Tapes.
Back in the early 60s tape recorders started to appear and my father’s obsession with new technology meant we were amongst the first people in Liverpool to own a Grundig TK5 reel to reel tape recorder in 1961. The Four Seasons plus many 1960s artists were recorded from radio by a teenage music lover......ME. The Germans invented the tape recorder during the Second World War and by the late 50s and early 60s it had taken over from the acetate as the primary recording medium for popular music and the basis for most of our records. Across the Atlantic the creators of the hits where squeezing every trick out of the sound engineers to give us our MONO singles using the most advanced tape recorders available from makers like AMPEX.
As a Four Seasons Appreciation Society Music Historian my interest is based on research by the late German Sound Engineer Stefan Wriedt in to Sound Engineering Quality and our aim was always to find the original Masters and have them properly re-mastered and issued in MONO and ‘good’ Stereo. Stefan and I started to critique the poor STEREO of much of the 6os period so I am always asking if we have the best possible recordings from the studios back then when 'Sherry' and the early hits were created by Bob Crewe?. As we have just had access to the Four Seasons Archive of Analogue Tapes with new digital transfers from 1962 to 1986 from the Partnership storage, we will soon hear what has been salvaged from those tapes for the Snapper Music Box Set for release next year. All the MONO and STEREO catalogue has been found and will be re-mastered to 2021 sound technology standards from new digital transfers by Bill Inglot's Studio with Mastering by Peter Reynolds of Reynolds Mastering on to CD.
Wikipedia tells us.....”Ideally, because of their high resolution, a CD or DVD (or other) release should come from the best source 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, under-utilization of Signal-To-Noise Ratio, etc. When the first CD re-masters turned out to bestsellers 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 re-mastered editions of fairly modern albums.
Theoretically, digital re-mastering 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 DES or 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....”
In this Box Set many of those potential problems will be tackled and we will all hear 'what has survived' of those iconic vinyl releases. I wanted to ask a sound engineer from the 60s about the process and to understand why we often don’t have the quality today from the early 60s recordings that we would like on CD's in the 'digital era'. Fortunately I got the chance to ask not just any sound engineer but one that worked with Bob Crewe and The Four Seasons. George Schowerer was a sound engineer who worked with Bob Crewe in the early sixties and, after a break in the army, again in the latter part of the decade as technology advances changed the quality of recordings.
George confirmed what Wikipaedia 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 25th 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, the engineer responsible for both the Rhino 25th Anniversary set and the current [then 2007] ‘Jersey Beat’ box-set, he acknowledged that in some cases, the record company involved would not release the original tapes...only a copy...and depending on 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 transfer 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 25th Anniversary CD album sounds (which were distorted) were due to the quality of what the record companies supplied to him.[in the FSP archive?]. 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 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 re-mastering. 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 master tapes... but then again, I'm one of those people who saves everything (much to my wife's distress).
Crewe indicated to me in April this year [2007] that he had lost some of the multi-tracks due to a studio going out of business (Crewe Records) and others by just being thrown out as well as some studios not doing a proper search for the parties who owned various recordings. 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 they sat so long in the studio libraries, I do remember many people not showing interest in picking up their stuff. 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.. But money is money...in whatever form it is created.”
A very true comment and perhaps saving money on storage all those decades ago means now there may be 'limits' [sound wise] to what they have on analogue tape and what can be achieved from the FSP archive. BUT 'money' is also the driver that has made this project possible as with such a high price box set, the research and HQ 2020 transfers have been possible. What we have found from this research of the FSP storage is that the tapes are ALL Safety Copies of the original albums as issued in MONO and STEREO with some copies of tracks from the Studios as DEMO mixes. So far the quality of these new transfers appears good and will be the best achievable as that is WHAT HAS SURVIVED.
I asked George if it was true that there was 'distortion' on some Four Seasons recordings…………” Up to and including 4 track,( to an extent) records were in essence a representation of a performance.” This approach was used by Bob Crewe at both Olmstead and Stea-Phillips in a focus totally on the MONO mix for 45 and album. George had his own approach when the group moved to Mirasound due to distortion problems [according to Charles Calello] that they were having in late 1966 at Stea Philips………. “Many of the Season's recordings that came out of Sound Centre 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 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 was only for the benefit of Frankie's headphones.”
“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 (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..only by 61/62 did we get into STEREO at Allegro. Keep in mind that none of the works in the early to mid sixties had anything but a 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. Following that period in Jan.62, when 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 67..the rest is history.”
For most of the STEREO mixes up to 1965 the Four Seasons appear separated from Frankie in the right channel with all of the Drums in the left channel and instrumentation split in the right channel as a result of the limits of 3 and 4 track mixing possible in the studios at that time. It was the tape technology of the day. Motown and Atlantic had 8 track recording and the group were able to take advantage of that in November 1964 when they recorded 'Dawn' and 'No Surfin' Today' with master engineer Tom Dowd at Atlantic before signing to Philips and then back to 4 track and eventually 8 track.
So I asked George if our expectations of sound quality today from these 60s recording are too high?. Though the process of 'bouncing' is degenerative to sound purity and clarity, Spector used it as a key element in his "Wall Of Sound". George 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). Same for each section of the orchestra. So. this prevents a nice spread of the orchestra in STEREO... The Mirasound mixing board had just twelve inputs and four output buses! That's why my 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 its 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 handclaps and tambourines alone [ on many songs, like 'Beggin'], 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.
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.
As for the method used on the Seasons Sessions, 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 so on! 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 go back to earlier generations and recover material in a straight-forward manner. We didn't have those options back then. I had pretty much imagined what Bob Crewe 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 tracks in the mix (when STEREO was never the intention of the original producer).”
Many aspects of such mixing will in the near future be able to be corrected by the use of DES [Digitally Extracted Stereo] which uses advanced software to extract individual instruments and vocals into 'stems' [another name for music tracks] and then they can be remixed to create a true STEREO soundstage. BUT without the Producer alive how do you know where he would place them?. [We will return to this subject in a future blog asking.....'Is the Future 60s Sound UPMIXING?] Bob Crewe did go back to the surviving multi-tracks in 1967 and corrected tracks re placement in the mix which was the sound he wanted with the Seasons and Frankie together with a spread of instruments across the sound stage. These mixes saw release on the ALL STEREO 'Edizione D'Oro' Double LP in 1969. George was also achieving this with the 16 track recordings from 1967.
George again commented about the frustration of Bob Crewe adding to mixes before their final pressing to vinyl.......“The fact that Mirasound only kept a Gotham/Grampian/Scully acetate cutting lathe to basically do dubs (not the most sophisticated system), it did prompt Crewe to take his final mixes to Bell Sound for acetate cutting and that engineer at times would talk Bob into adding echo, etc. which I deplored. Bell had a particular "sound" to their chamber (live), and I certainly didn't like it at all! To this day, I can immediately identify a song mix that came out of Bell Sound. The funny thing is that at Mirasound, I used a mix of straight and delayed echo feeds to the Emt plate...giving a sort of Columbia sound to the echo. If you listen to some of Frankie Valli's songs, you can clearly hear the two different types of echo on some of the mixes. Bell Sound had their own live chambers, and as such, I can, even today, tell that the session was done at Bell Sound..”
So did bouncing still really reduce the quality of Frankie's and the Four Seasons recordings as this time was now 1967?...... “To help everyone understand the bouncing of tracks, let's use an example... The original session with musicians was recorded onto a maximum of six channels of an Ampex AG-300-8 recorder. The individual channels were perhaps ,1-drums, 2-bass, 3-guitar/s, 4-horns, 5-strings, 6-vocal (usually for reference, but sometimes final). Now after the musicians left...(a standard session for the union musician was four songs in three hours), the strings let's say returned a half hour later to avoid running into the union rep! Theywould lay down another string part (to build-up the sound of the strings - don't forget, in those days we didn't have emulators and computers to multiply thesound of four strings). So now we have strings overdubbed on track 7. We now must combine channels 5 from the original session strings and the overdub strings on 7. That combination mix will be "bounced" over to channel 8. Once the producer is happy with the "string sound" on channel 8, we canrecord over tracks 5 & 7, add perhaps more horns, or guitars, and so on...further mixing those added channels to an available track (5 or 7). This pattern continues until we have loaded 7 channels (in the case of Bob Crewe and the Season's sessions, this might have included extra overdubs of hand claps, tambourines, foot stomping, background voices, and more.... so you now have an idea of what it took to plan where you were going to place these items (and whatever else they managed to "cook up") on 8 measly tracks to make a "final" finished song. Any thoughts of STEREO were remote at best [until mid 1967]. Getting the MONO sound right was the only priority in all the bouncing. Remember that in my system of "bouncing", I couldn't use the sync position on playback because of the lack of fidelity off the Ampex unit. So each "bounce" placed the new mix, out of sync with everything else on the tape. That's why all tracks eventually had to be "bounced" and brought into syncronization with each other. For the final vocal track, there was no reason to have to "bounce" it...because all tracks (1 thru7 ),were already in sync, and at that point the vocal artist could care less about the fidelity in his headphones of those tracks, so we used the sync position of the sel-sync for playback...and the newly placed vocal would already be in sync. Understand that this way of working meant that all instrumentals portions of the tape were at least one generation away from the original session, if not more, when so much was added later. This called for meticulous levels, and absolute quality control during the many steps used, to ensure the final product was clear andwith a wide-range in fidelity. On the ACE dual album disc to which I compared the quality with the tapes that left my sessions with the CD quality, it clearly shows this was done with care.
I didn't do all the songs on that disc, however, I'm satisfied with my section of the works selected. That disc contains 6 or 7 different studios (at least), and each has a different audio character to their sound...the later material [Late 67] was recorded with higher quality consoles that featured an abundance of pan pots, and features used to record 16 or more channels, giving the engineer a wider array of channels to work with. As you could well imagine, once we got the first 16 track Ampex into the studio, we could offer even better sound by not having to "bounce" the living daylights out of the song/s. As I mentioned, the first session on the 16 track recorder was "With This Ring" by the Platters, which actually was done completely "live" with no overdubbing, a welcome change to the way we could now work. Add to that, we never had auto faders with memory for mixing. At Mira, I also used (at times on Frankie) the Columbia style of chamber, which was a mix of delay and direct echo...which helped thestrings in those days, since the strings were usually never more than 4 strings (orig session) and 4 strings (overdubbed). I was pleased to note that at least one other engineer of the later dates used the same delay on Frankie's voice, which I thought gave him a classier sound.
Working the way it did really meant that you had to always be alert and consider what the final mix will sound like because one mistake and your screwed. Once the 16 track Ampex came into the studio, we could then take into account the idea of STEREO spread on the final mix and the sound improvement was quite obvious.”
George would move on in late 1967 as would the group to record Genuine Imitation Life Gazette at Mercury Sound Studios, 110 W 57th Street in NYC but this snapshot of how they recorded all of their hits [and particularly as technology changed between 1966 and 1967] is the only record we have been able to find of their recording methodology and the equipment used with Bob Crewe. The descriptions re alternative echo and instrumentation spread will be audible on Discs 11 to 14 of the new Box Set as these cover Atlantic, Stea-Philips and Mirasound Studios and the [added] overdubs Bob Crewe did at Bell Sound as these vary from the album MONO and STEREO versions but are preserved as Bonus Tracks. This Box Set will enable fans to hear the evolution of the recording approach and how good the MONO mixes really were, and also how even in the late 60s the MONO and STEREO mixes have their own distinctive character. This is one of the most outstanding aspects of this Box Set not captured before in previous issues by the group. By 1971 at MoWest Frankie and the Four Seasons were working with some of the best recording and mixing technology and the most legendary engineers [e.g. Russ Terrana] and the Motown STEREO mixes in this Box Set are 'arguably' the best in their catalogue.
Ken Charmer
[All photos are courtesy of George Schowerer and our thanks go to him for his feedback re the recording process and his amazing results]
As our Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Project [with Snapper Music] to create a catalogue spanning box set enters 'Mastering' we are already looking around as what is needed to improve on it in future projects . As well as tape sources we know with potential unreleased tracks, there are some new approaches to the way we hear the sound of our favourite group. The technology of the first half of the 60s left the STEREO albums 'very' separate in terms of the VOCALS as Frankie became separated from the group on the STEREO versions of their albums.
But today there is a NEW approach which seeks to give us, now and in the future, a better listening experience, particularly on headphones. They call it 'Upmixing'........Experts are using Artificial Intelligence [AI] to pick apart classic recordings from the 40s, 50s and 60s, isolate the instruments, and stitch them back together in crisp, bold ways.
Well we are not experts but we KNOW the Four Seasons SOUND and the catalogue.
WIRED Magazine covered the approach being taken by STEREO enthusiasts and Engineers with new skills earlier this year....
Specialist work by dedicated DES Engineers on the BSN Forum has shown what can be done with The Beatles and Beach Boys Catalogue and many other classic 45 releases from the 60s. Our resident Studio Researcher Casey Chameleon has got involved and created several classic Four Seasons tracks as DEMOS until a project for a full REVISED set of STEREO versions is available. That will take much studio time and the use of a top DES Engineer and we know a few but as we can't wait for Bob and Frankie to spend the money on hiring one so we have created our own very interesting DEMOS. The aim was to emulate the single version with the Four Seasons centred vocally with Frankie, with drums to the left, and instruments to the right. This can be best heard on headphones in the results we have created as new mixes.
We will feature some of these on You Tube and in our FB pages over the next few months as rare and collectible versions for members. We start with a song never produced in STEREO. But here is an example of what the AI software can do to create STEREO from MONO in a way never before possible.
The magnificent single of 'Ronnie'. A nice NEW STEREO mix in the style we believe Bob Crewe would have done it if the multi-tracks had survived.
And in our research we have seen who lost the multi-tracks......Frankie Valli haha.....
[Photo courtesy of George Schowerer - Mirasound Studios 1967]
Since the arrival of our internet presence(circa 1997) and 2021 we have collected and collated a huge amount of data that can be found on our UK fan club web site that documents the musical recording history of Frankie Valli/The Four Lovers and The Four Seasons from 1953 to 2018. Back in the 1970s we were novices and knew only 60% of the story. Now we know so much more. And continuing touring by Frankie Valli and the success of Jersey Boys has kept the music alive. This research has come to a peak with the forthcoming Snapper Music Box Set, but that is not the full story and we can and will explain why.
Of course Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio are the 'bosses' and we are talking to their employees and not all of the stories will be happy and will uncover the fiction of 'Jersey Boys'.....which many of you know and does not detract from how great the show is. This is/was the music business and this was a 'band'.......and remember....they always break up. But Frankie Valli was the 'instrument' that delivered all but 2 Four Seasons HITS in the UK and is the main man to carry the group and sound.
Whilst research has revealed much some gaps in the groups music and history still remain unless we can collectively dig out unreleased music, articles and peoples memories: facts or stories they haven't disclosed or can even remember. On the face of it this did not seem realistically possible a few years ago. There has always been a reluctance to talk about or publish stories re the history of the Four Seasons outside a bland storyline, firstly because back in the 60s/70s the Partnership worried about negative connections damaging Frankie's reputation as a celebrity. But now we know so much and want you the fans what we have and what remains out there.
'Seasons On Saturday' is our further exploration of the history of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons via a series of podcasts and video through the medium of Mixcloud to entertain collectors and fans, and onto the next generation of fans. We are able to tell them what we can as the ULTIMATE[so far] collection of their recorded music is presented in the forthcoming Snapper Music Box Set.
Our first effort is a ZOOM interview with Lee Shapiro and John Paiva which covers their induction and development as Four Seasons in 1973 and 74 up to the recording of the 'Who Loves You' album in 1976. Joining us for this session are Dominic Paradise, Anthony Contratella and Chuck Walker along with me [Ken Charmer] and Mark Charmer.
Back is 2011 we published the research at the time re the 1969 release of the biggest and BEST EVER albums of the Four Seasons 1960s hits all in newly mastered Stereo mixes. That article can be found here
In conducting the FSP Archive research we advised Snapper Music that the inclusion of this Double Album was essential to the Box Set, if the original Master Tapes could be found ?. We had of course preserved via vinyl dub the 1972 high quality pressing versions and held these Re-Mastered in our own archive. But we have advocated and told Snapper that we wanted the original Masters.
Bill Inglot advised that two sets of tapes existed. A Scotch Tape Safety Copy and the same on Ampex Tape were found and transferred to the UK Sound Engineer for evaluation and Re-Mastering. The best sound quality versions will be selected for inclusion. Why these could not be found and supplied to ACE Records back in the 1990s has never been explained ?
Some fans were critical at the time of the past release of this album on CD by ACE Records of London in September 1997 as that was mainly Mono versions of their hits, but that was not really their fault as at the time the FSP could not find or provide these as the ORIGINAL FULL Master Tapes . Some doubted they had survived but we were delighted that 2 safety Copies do and Snapper's Sound Engineer has them.
Chuck Walker wrote the sleeve notes for that unfortunately 'inaccurate' release of the album by ACE on CD for the first time. Chuck has revised the information on the CD release here to create an accuratesummary of the original album tracks, there importance and highlights, especially those that were appearing for the first time in Stereo, and the other mixes used to create the vinyl album. The original Double Album reached # 38 on the US Billboard Album Chart. Chuck's notes.......
“The Philips Release of Edizione D’Oro in December 1968 marks the end of what some consider the Golden Era of The 4 Season hit single releases. It spans the years 1962-1968. Like many aspiring artists it took a while for the group to find their niche and unique sound which they became famous for.
'Edizione D’Oro' differs from the previous Greatest Hits Albums in both design and musical content. First pressings of the two record set came in a distinctive gold foil gatefold album cover along with a poster/calendar for the following year. This distinctive higher cost packaging was somewhat unique at the time for pop/rock albums, but became typical in later years. The album cover had their name and album title in gothic lettering which resembled a window in a cathedral. The album was released and first promoted during the 1968 Christmas season causing some consumer confusion as at first glance it appeared to be a Christmas album.
The Inner gatefold contained brief notes by Dick Clark explaining how he helped them promote “Sherry” and the group with an appearance on his nationally televised American Bandstand Show. Later pressings of the album changed the gold foil to a gold printed cover, the big 4 on the front from red to white and eliminated the poster/calendar.
The 4 Seasons, somewhat older than the typical rock record buyer, were finding it difficult to connect and having minimal commercial success in their later Philips years. They were playing concerts as the opening act for Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas. Youthful record buyers connected them more with their parent’s era than the youthful sounds of the late 60’s. This trend would continue to be apparent as radio transitioned from AM to FM Stereo stations. After the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969, it was clear younger people were into different styles of music than being offered by The 4 Seasons.
Record companies also made a dramatic shift in their marketing mid-1968. Historically nearly all singles had been issued in Mono. Albums were typically released in two versions Mono and Stereo. In 1968 production of Mono albums ceased and hence forward only a Stereo album with mono compatability was produced. Existing Mono records were dumped into the cut out bins by record companies and were available at deep discounts for several years.
This transition to all stereo may have been the reason Crewe and Philips decided on a new Greatest Hits Album. There was however, a problem. Bob Crewe, like many independent producers had focused on the Mono singles market. Mixes of singles he produced until 1968 were all done in Mono, and if there was enough success for an album it may have Stereo mixes or simply re-channeled mixes to simulate stereo. Actual true stereo versions were limited [particularly pre 1967 due to 4 and 8 track Studio Tape capability] and in many cases had a tendency to mix vocals primarily on one channel and instruments on the other. [and a separation of Frankie Valli from the 4Seasons]
Ten of the tracks are from the Vee Jay era (62-64). Seven were first issued as singles, “Peanuts” on an EP and later a single rerelease. “Stay” and “Alone” were released to take advantage of the market after the Group parted company and moved to Philips. Most are reworked mixes of various Vee Jay Stereo album versions. The only one with significant differences from the Vee Jay albums is “Ain’t That A Shame” which is missing Nick Massi’s vocals, which were apparently never included in the final [STEREO] mix.
The remaining 18 songs are from the Philips era (64-68). Seven appear for the first time in true stereo.
“Dawn (Go Away)” is based on the version cut at Atlantic when they were trying to negotiate a contract in late 1963. It has a more prominent guitar riff and is missing Frankie’s vocal introduction which was later spliced to the single master by Bob Crewe.
“Big Man In Town” is a modified mix with all vocals centered for a more balanced presentation.
“Save It For Me” is clearly a different take or mix as the vocals are slightly different and the organ different than the single version.
“Girl Come Running” is an alternate edit restoring the [final mix] vocal introduction not present on the single.
Sadly “Ronnie” is only in Re-channeled form as no known Stereo master was ever produced.
“Rag Doll” finally appeared in true Stereo. All previous versions were either mono or re-channeled. Even today this version is rarely heard on CD.
“Let’s Hang On” is an alternate edit without the spoken vocal introduction heard on the hit single version.
“Silence is Golden”, the flip side of the Rag Doll single and originally heard on the “Born To Wonder” Album appears for the first time in a true Stereo mix. It is a powerful early message song and could have been a successful single on its own right. In fact it was in 1967 by the British group The Tremeloes.
Eight of the remaining ten songs are updated Stereo versions from previous album releases.
“Watch The Flowers Grow” and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” make their first true Stereo appearances, having not previously appeared on any albums.”
The benefits of the latter [post 1966] versions of the tracks 'Watch The Flowers Grow', and 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' shows in their overall much superior 'soundstage' as Bob Crewe was able to benefit from the 16 track technology at Mirasound Studio [NYC] and the mixing skills of George Schowerer. We will write more re these days in a future blog post with an interview with George.
By 1968 Bob Crewe was able to review with the engineer at the time Ray Ciccala, six of the surviving Stereo mixes . A note found in the FSP Tape Boxes shows the Takes found and reviewed and selected as UNIQUE mixes.. Here is a tape of that search through the surviving TAKES. The sound file accompanying it lets you hear that audio review. This was uncovered as part of the FSP Archive research. The tracks found in this review of the multi-tracks and mixed to new Stereo mixes were....
Dawn
Silence is Golden
Girl Come Running
Save It For Me
Big Man In Town
The mixes selected are different to any earlier releases and The You Tube video file of this research is below.
The result of our research will, we hope, be by far the Best Ever HITS Collection of the groups 60s successes on CD and a totally essential part of this BOX Set and something fans have been calling for for decades.
I have just lost my friend and collaborator who worked tirelessly with me to compile the tracks for the forthcoming Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Box Set. Bob Fisher, formerly of Motown Records UK as well as Sequel and Westside, passed away peacefully yesterday following a heart attack.
We embarked in 2018 with a commitment to check every source we could find to assemble an historic and career spanning tribute to Frankie Valli and all of his Four Seasons and say thank you for all the joy they have brought us and the rest of the fans.
We found what we believed was 90% of what has survived and committed to continue in whatever follows this box set to find the rest including the 20+ unreleased tracks still in the Motown Archive, the tracks hidden on 200 plus 5 inch reels[many unmarked]and on the 1970 stored 16 track tapes in the Four Seasons Partnership Storage. I'll keep the searching going Bob and get Bob Gaudio to give us the rest!!!!!.......He and I, have pioneered what we believe will be a resurgence and popularity in Frankie and the group after this 5 decade compilation is released next year to coincide with the NEW Jersey Boys TV Movie and Frankie’s planned UK Tour.
Bob worked at Motown Records UK and was responsible for the release of ‘Life and Breath’ on 45 in the UK in 1975. His Westside 2 CD compilation of ‘Bob Crewe Presents….The Dynavoice Story’ remains legendary.
His great friend Tony Rounce of ACE Records perhaps best sums up the fan he was.
“His first musical love affair - a lifelong one – was with the Four Seasons, ‘Sherry’ being the first record he ever bought. Bob has spent much of the last few years working on a 42 (that’s forty two!) CD boxed set of the Seasons and solo Frankie Valli’s complete recordings. It would have come out by now, had the pandemic not got in the way. It’s due out next year, and it breaks my heart that, having driven it over the finish line, Bob will never own a copy of what he regarded as the most satisfying achievement of his long career as a record man…”
But he was a great man and a music guru for soul, blues and pop music collectors. He will be missed by so many and our thoughts are with his family and friends. I have lost my best ever collaborator who has helped put together the best ever Four Seasons compilation which will change the view of their career for future generations. Thanks Bob….my dear friend.
With the failure of the Genuine Imitation Life Gazette[GILG] album, in early 1969, the direction and recording sessions for Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons of the time were in a state of disarray. But Philips knew they had an ace up their sleeve in the form of the 'Edizione D'Oro' Gold Edition of all the 60s hits in wonderful re-mastered STEREO. I will write separately re this most important release.
But sessions would develop during late 1968 even while GILG was being mastered for January 1969 release which included the song 'Natural Morning' which was found and included on Disc 14. But other Philips session notes revealed three tracks that would gain release on 45. The Master of the superb 'A Face Without A Name' [42858] is not the same as the May 1969 released version [44773] (apparently) but our search of the storage revealed that version [we thought] as listed in the FSP Archive on a 5 inch Reel along with the 'unreleased', 'Alone Again' [42861] and 'I Was A Boy' [42863] and 'You've Got Your Troubles' [42862] and 'To My Father' [re-titled eventually as 'To Make My Father Proud'] both in early versions. All remain unheard. Bill Inglot found the Tape Box and we were so excited, but the tape inside was the damaged MONO tape of 'Timeless' album tracks and not as listed on the Tape Box!!!!!!. With over 200 such reels, many unmarked in the FSP storage facility, there was little chance of finding the tape[in a wrong box!!!]. With the budget spent there was no chance of searching for more potentially 'unreleased' or alternate takes. Time and cost means that someone sometime will have to speculate the Engineers time to review all of these. Could they include lost gems?.......No-one knows till they are played. But other discoveries were made and included both vocal and instrumental. Unheard instrumental versions of 'I'm Gonna Change' and 'C'mon Marianne' being two examples.
Sessions in 1969 would produce superb recordings [all of which were found in MONO and STEREO] of 'The Girl I'll Never Know' [44815], 'A Dream Of Kings' [46111], along with 'And That Reminds Me' and 'The Singles Game', which Bob Crewe released on his Crewe Label[Crewe 333] before Philips took an interest and agreed to an album release which would go into production in March 1970. 'Half and Half' would be an eclectic set again but this time of half Frankie Valli and half Four Seasons. Finding the MONO album mixes in our FSP tape archive search was a brilliant album version to include with details of the session dates and the different 45 versions of the released tracks.
But this albums poor performance reaching just #190 on the Billboard Album Chart was taking the group into dark times. The debt problem that surfaced from Tommy DeVito's gambling also must have had an impact as well as Bob Crewe's alcohol and drugs problems recently revealed by brother Dan. Sessions and Masters and releases were few.
By the middle of 1970 the sound of the group was becoming more progressive with 'You Can't Take It All From A Man'......a precursor to 'One Man' with a different lyric and arrangement.'One Man' was the version discovered in the Mercury Tape Storage and shared with us in 1997. That version is what started our search for unreleased tapes of this period and are examples of 'unreleased' progressive songs, possibly too far from their former traditional sound and left for that reason.
But the group would have some final sessions for an album rumoured to be titled '1970' and the releases that happened showed their quality as a group. 'Where Are My Dreams' remains an amazing song and performance, and if it was to be part of an album and fans had heard it then maybe things could have been better at Philips.? The final single, 'Lay Me Down b/w Heartaches and Raindrops' is still an superb single and we have now heard part of the idea for the planned album. Our research uncovered 3 tapes [27 tracks] from the time of 16 track recordings from the Philips reels. Only two tracks would surface as MONO mixes for this box set, [as surviving vocals] 'The Goose' [a somewhat strange 'Beatlesque' arrangement and song], and the amazing Crewe-Gaudio song 'I Need To Get To Know You' . Along with a version of 'Just How Loud' a 1966 Northern Soul song penned by Artie Schroeck and Jet Loring this Rare Tracks Collection has a quite Northern sound. All of the above tracks are in a STEREO/MONO mixed set of alternative versions and unreleased tracks and they form a cornerstone of this Box Set and of this period of non-hits and experimentation ..........taking us from 'I'm Gonna Change' in 1967 and the discovery of the original DEMO of 'Beggin'........to the rock based 'Whatever You Say b/w Sleeping Man' on their 1971 UK tour.......this period of changing sounds and styles make these Discs collectors gems.
DISC 18 FOUR SEASONS/FRANKIE VALLI – HALF AND HALF(MONO)[PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED]/STEREO)
Philips PHS600341 No. 190 [4/70]
DISC 19 – RARE AND UNRELEASED 1967 TO 1971
These discs contain 29 Bonus Tracks to the released album of which 18 are previously unreleased tracks
Perhaps the most collectible vinyl album of this decade for Four Seasons fans is 'Genuine Imitation Life Gazette' [GILG] and definitely their 'cult' album being so different in style and sound at the time to anything heard from them before. And it included album artwork that was at that time totally original and unique.
It's concept for the group and Philips was a huge gamble but after the Beatles had turned album making on it's head with Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band, Bob Gaudio convinced the group and Philips they had to try something new. It has always been an anomaly to me that on 'Saturday's Father' the closing segment features the group in classic harmony as they had always shown since 1962, and yet apart from a Four Freshman style 'Idaho' later on the album the sound of the group is completely new. They could never escape the 'harmony' sound of Frankie's voice blended with the group. And they never truly did, notwithstanding the 1970s revival.[c/f 'Harmony' in 1976 on the 'WHO LOVES YOU album]
We tell the background to the inspiration, recording and release of the GILG album in the Box Set Collectors Notes but when the initial research of the FSP Tape storage revealed a MONO mix of the album, Snapper immediately decided to make this a vinyl insert and reproduce all of the album artwork and inserts.
Then the concept of two CD Discs for this album emerged and it meant that a number of tracks from MONO and STEREO sources from this period that we wanted to include could be accommodated. We have therefore picked up outstanding tracks from the mid to later 60s as BONUS Tracks.
As well as the MONO mix of the album which is previously unreleased we have included the two instrumentals from 1965, 'Sassy' and 'Night Hawk' plus 8 other MONO versions including the Wonder Who 45 versions and the 'non-album' versions of 'I've Got You Under My Skin' and 'Electric Stories' as the BONUS Tracks are focused on an all MONO Disc.
One other BONUS is the long known track recorded as a DEMO. 'Michael and Peter' was prepared for Frank Sinatra's 'Watertown' album sessions by Bob Gaudio. It features writer Jake Holmes on the intro then Frankie Valli's wonderful interpretation.
The second Disc features the STEREO album with 6 BONUS tracks of hard to find STEREO versions of single releases including the long lost 'Tell It To The Rain' which is the same TAKE as the 45 version. It was surprisingly found on the 25th Anniversary Reel for the 1988 'vinyl' release. 'Raven' is also featured in STEREO and this has only ever appeared on the Rhino 1990 Rarities CD. Four Takes in STEREO were discovered from the session tapes late in April 2021 during our final search. An alternative version will also feature on a later Disc.
Overall these are two exceptional Discs in the Box Set covering an eclectic album and superb BONUS Tracks from the mid to late sixties.
Whilst a critically acclaimed album it was not accepted by fans and was a commercial failure which was a huge blow for Bob Gaudio personally and would almost destroy the group as Philips now had lost faith in them and saw a lost fan base and also the group [particularly Bob Gaudio] saw no return was possible to the old sound. 'Raven' was their last return to that formula. How to go on in 1969 with a new sound was immense as was the debt Tommy DeVito had incurred for them.?
The remaining time at Philips was virtually unknown to many fans back then as the music industry had moved on to 'rock' and 'soul' and these sounds dominated the charts and the Four Seasons would get very little promotion and would become an 'oldies' sound.
These Discs comprise.....
DISC 16 THE GENUINE IMITATION LIFE GAZETTE – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED MONO[PLUS Album tracks only VINYL INSERT]
DISC 17 THE GENUINE IMITATION LIFE GAZETTE – STEREO
Philips PHS600290 No. 85 [1/69]
The Discs include a total of 17 BONUS Tracks, one of which is 'previously unreleased' [plus the MONO mix of the album on vinyl and CD]
In our next bog we scrape the barrel of the FSP Archive for this 'end of the 60s' period finding SOME of the lost classics that Philips paper records show were completed but never released and a wonderful unheard Crewe-Gaudio song.
From mid 1965 Frankie Valli was recording 'solo' tracks and due to a reluctance on the part of Philips to have the Four Seasons sound 'challenged', the 1965 45s appeared on the Smash Label. And whilst it would be 1966 before Philips took over such releases it would not be till mid 1967 that an album would appear with the release of the 'Solo' album in June 1967 after the huge success of 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You'.
Researching the Four Seasons Partnership[FSP] archive proved to be frustrating as not all the single releases had survived on Master Tape.......and the 'Solo' album had never survived as a MONO mix.
The PolyComp Tapes contained what had survived of the MONO mixes but we had to recover from vinyl dubs....
The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore (MONO 45 YW1-36622)
This Is Goodbye (MONO 45 YW1-36623)
You’re Gonna Hurt Yourself (MONO 45 YW1-37523)
The Proud One (MONO 45 1-38789)
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (MONO 45 1-40375)
Surprisingly the last song [a #2 hit] was not found on tape but an acetate of an earlier TAKE with an alternate and very relaxed vocal by Frankie did survive and is included with the above as BONUS Tracks.
In our research of alternate versions and MIXES we did find that This Is Goodbye and Cry For Me had survived on tape ONLY as Pseudo Stereo [or Fake Stereo as marked on the tape box] and these versions are the only ones to appear in the CD era. We also found that the GOLD album on Private Stock [PVLP1006] contained UNIQUE STEREO mixes on the vinyl album from 1975 that were worthy versions as BONUS Tracks. We salvaged four very well mixed STEREO versions here.
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (STEREO Gold 1975 Alternate Mix)
The following album 'Timeless' released in June 1968 attempted to establish Frankie Valli as a singer of 'standards' like his hero Frank Sinatra.
With 16 track recording Philips were moving albums to 'STEREO only' as the mixes were so good and phonographs of the day could play STEREO albums in MONO. Only ever released in STEREO we did not think it had ever been mixed to MONO. But in searching for a tape of 'unreleased' tracks from 1969,[more re these tracks on a later blog] we discovered to our disappointment that the tape was damaged ….and not the songs we had wanted. Further detailed work revealed it as two track and one was distorted and one intact. We salvaged the intact track and found it contained 9 songs in MONO from this album as studio 'out-takes' with intros and outro chat on some songs. A truly amazing and lucky find.
Adding to that we found an unreleased song from the same sessions 'Stranger in Paradise', and an unreleased song from 1968 called 'Natural Morning'. The details are revealed in our Box Set Collectors Notes.
Overall these two Discs give a wonderful snapshot of the the start of Frankie Valli's solo career.
It remains to be seen if the Tape Box scan above actually contains the tracks listed as 'pulled'. Whatever the sound engineer finds on this tape we will have all the STEREO mixes listed from other tape sources.
DISC 13 THE FOUR SEASONS PRESENT FRANKIE VALLI SOLO [STEREO ONLY]
1966 was a great year for music and it appeared to be for the Four Seasons as they toured continually with new member Joe Long. And they still had 45 hits with 6 Top 100 records during the year. But there was no 'original' album and Philips flooded the market with their past hits albums as a result of the return of ownership of the Masters from Vee-Jay's bankruptcy.
The Beach Boys and the Beatles were revolutionising the album market and music with their 'Pet Sounds' and 'Revolver' albums and the lack of an album by The Four Seasons till May 1967 would not help them after the loss of 4 important members of their writing and production team. Nick Massi, Charles Calello, Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell between August 1965 and early 1966 and whilst they kept the hits going this would prove a burden that was too much to maintain or develop a new sound and something would have to change as 1967 developed.
Whilst the very competent Artie Schroeck stepped in in January 1966 with his arranging skills it was still the Frankie Valli's falsetto trademark that Philips were selling and although he and the group wanted to move on they were a 'cash cow' for Philips. Despite the anthem of 'I'm Gonna Change'[which never saw an official 45 release but would become a dance floor classic by 1973 in the UK] it was a case of the more things change the more they remain the same and it would take until 1967 for Bob Gaudio to come up with a new direction which would prove to be pretty disastrous commercially for the group and their career.
The important part of the research of the Tapes for this period was to find the NEW GOLD HITS album in both MONO and STEREO which we did. For decades fans have known that the singles from this period were distinctly different mixes to the albums and the recording studios moved to 16 track from early 1967. They moved in 1966 because of distortion problems at Stea-Philips [Charlie Calello told us] and because the equipment at Mirasound Studios with Sound Engineer George Schowerer facilitated the ability to add dubs without 'bouncing' and sound loss as was necessary in the first half of the 60s and this change also led to much better STEREO mixes.
Some fans regard this album as their favourite of the group during the 60s and it certainly features a diverse set of styles and arrangements.
But the single releases were still MONO and for reasons best known to Bob Crewe and Philips at this time the 45 versions were different mixes and predominantly issued before the album in 1966 and the UNIQUE single mixes of 'Tell It To The Rain/Beggin'/Dody/C'Mon Marrianne' and 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' are featured on this Disc in these versions as BONUS Tracks. The post album 45 versions of 'Watch The Flowers Grow b/w Raven' are also preserved here and did not feature on any original albums at the time. We found all of these preserved on a set of five Mercury Compilation Master Tapes. 'Raven' would not feature ever on a vinyl album and saw it's first release [in STEREO] on the Rhino Rarities Vol 2 in 1990. That mix will feature on a later disc.
This is the MONO tape scan as it has survived.
More versions however from this period were found but space restricted this Disc and we have focused on keeping all the original MONO versions of 45s with the original [but alternate mixed versions on] MONO and STEREO albums. The other versions found will surface on later Discs in the set. The late 60s proved to be a more fertile period for our research as I will document in future blogs.
Whilst these tracks showed the variety of styles and songs the group were capable of, the same formula built around Frankie Valli's falsetto was still the dominant 'hit' sound that the record buyers wanted and moving away from this would bring a classic album but a financial disaster.
By the end of 1963 the Four Seasons were in 'breach of contract'.....but back on the charts.!!
Their dispute with Vee-Jay was in the courts and their earlier material was still being released by that label.
Their decision to record again was made in summer 1964 after over a year of conflict re royalies and ownership of masters. There was a new sound coming from the group and 'Dawn' and 'No Surfin' Today' were recorded at Atlantic Studio with now legendary Sound Engineer Tom Dowd. The story of that is told in the Box Set Collectors Notes and the location of those original 8 track Masters is not known. They may still survive in Bob Crewe's Personal Archive at Crewe Studios in Maine otherwise they are lost apart from the 'underdub' STEREO version mixed on the Edizione D'Oro album.
What our research of the Four Seasons Partnership[FSP] Archive revealed is that MONO versions of these two songs as issued on 45 had made it to the relevant Master Albums and are preserved on the Safety Copy Master Tapes. This faded Tape Box shows just how long ago that was and how time and the typewriters of the times notes have almost faded with the timings and Master Matrix Nrs hand written and some titles and the album Nr. incorrect. However the ANALOGUE MASTERS are intact in both MONO and STEREO of this album and are now re-transferred to Pro-Tools in DIGITAL FORM and will be Re-Mastered for this set. This tape of their first Philips Album is Tape Box titled 'Folk-Album' and PHS200-129 [it should be marked PHM] . It would see release as 'Born To Wander' and in MONO has never before been released on CD. Dated 9th January 1964 this is clearly a copy from the Production Master as the album came out the following month.
There has never been any evidence of other 'unreleased' songs from these sessions but an acetate of 'Millie' was found as an alternative version and the story of this is in the Collectors Notes and it appears as a Bonus Track. Also appearing as a Bonus is the earliest known LIVE Recording of the Four Seasons. Taped out of the Sound Engineers Board and in Tommy DeVito's Archive comes a set of four songs from an early 1964 show shortly after this albums issue[two songs are from this album]. It captures the amazing range of Frankie Valli's vocal falsetto at that time and remains a key find of their history as a top 60s group.
The albums that followed through 1964 and 65 were all found to exist in both MONO and STEREO Safety Copy Tapes but the singles from this period are in several cases different mixes. Also several tracks were only ever MASTERED in MONO. Such examples are 'Big Man's World', 'Only Yesterday' and 'Ronnie'.
We turned to a set of Mercury Compilation Tapes which contained many of the groups single versions preserved as Safety Copies. The clear and Full Frequency and High Dynamic Range copies included the UNIQUE 45 mixes of 'Save It For Me' and 'Silence Is Golden'. The other notable finds from 1965 included 'A Sunday Kind Of Love' in both MONO and STEREO and the distinctively different MONO version of 'Girl Come Running'[which would not surface in STEREO till 1968]
The Final album of 1965 'Working My Way Back To You' did not include the 'Let's Hang On' 45 version and no albums contain the special Mix for 45 of 'Too Many Memories' and of 'Opus 17' [for Spring 1966 release]. All of these have been preserved in this set.
The FSP Archive tapes however did not contain many of Frankie Valli single releases from this period from his first 'solo' studio sessions in mid 1965 on and finding and preserving these proved to be a more difficult task. The Frankie Valli singles that survive were preserved on Polygram Compilation Tapes, but not comprehensively. As we had believed and was proved correct, 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore' and the 'B' side 'This Is Goodbye' did not survive as MONO MASTER's and are preserved in this Box Set from high quality vinyl dubs The latter track from our research only survived on the Tape Copy marked in pen as....'Fake STEREO'..[otherwise known as PSEUDO STEREO].......and a Re-Engineered attempt to replicate TRUE STEREO at the time.
All such tracks are included as dubs where they are missing or as created on the Engineer's Tape copy and are preserved as BONUS TRACKS on the albums for this period. The Frankie Valli SOLO 45 tracks appear on the SOLO Album Disc which I will cover later. Full details will be in the Collectors Notes.
The albums for this period in the Box Set are......
DISC 5 BORN TO WANDER MONO/STEREO
Philips PHM200129/PHS600129 No. 84 [2/64]
DISC 6 DAWN GO AWAY & 11 OTHERS MONO/STEREO
Philips PHM200124/PHS600124 No.6 [3/64]
DISC 7 RAG DOLL MONO/STEREO
Philips PHM200146/PHS600146 No. 7 [7/64]
DISC 8 THE FOUR SEASONS ENTERTAIN YOU [With 'Toy Soldier]MONO/STEREO
Philips PHM200164/PHS600164 No. 77 [3/65]
DISC 10 SING BIG HITS BY BACHARACH/DAVID AND DYLAN
Philips PHM200193/PHS600193 No. 106 [11/65]
DISC 11 WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU AND MORE GREAT NEW HITS MONO/STEREO Philips PHM200201/PHS600201 No.50 [1/66]
When Snapper Music through Bob Gaudio commissioned Bill Inglot to create new DIGITAL MASTERS from the ANALOGUE TAPES back in 2018, it was at at time we had wondered if this would reveal a treasure trove of unheard material?. But label scans of Tape Boxes revealed all sorts of notes, anomalies and background questions re what were the 'original' album and source tapes and if some tracks were even there?. Even the album mix of 'Sherry' is not as the 45 issue.
The story of the groups contract at Vee-Jay as told at the beginning of our Web Site Sessionography page [HERE] showed that the contract dispute led to documentation and storage of Tapes during the 1960s being neither comprehensive or consistent re the highest quality MASTER Tapes. Past recovery of MASTERS for projects for CD issue from 1988 had achieved a SET of STEREO MASTERS......but no focus on the Original MONO Masters had been done. And what about the 'special' mixes done for 45 release which are different to the album? Did they still exist as MASTERS?
ALL the stored Tapes in the Four Seasons Partnership Archive of the early albums appeared as 15 ips Safety Copies in some form supplied by the Studios/Label and no 3 or 4 track tapes from the sessions existed. This would prove to be the case for virtually all of the Analogue Tape 'era'[ie 1962 to 1986]. For the previous issues on CD of the Vee-Jay albums full copies of the albums had been difficult to find and a UK Copy of 'Ain't That A Shame' was sourced from EMI as it remains different to the US being substantially the 'Big Girls Don't Cry and 12 Others' album. [for which no tape was found]. It was also necessary for Bill Inglot for previous STEREO issues for CD to 'Re-Construct' the 'Sherry and 11 Others' album from various Tape Sources.
In evaluating the risks to sound quality for this project, it was decided that, via listening tests, the best sounding source MASTER tapes for all the Vee-Jay albums [both MONO and STEREO] where the Tapes handed back to the Four Seasons Partnership when Vee-Jay went bust in 1966. Many of these tracks were subsequently released by Philips on vinyl albums like 'Looking Back' and '2nd Gold Vault Of Hits' in November of that year.
For this Box Set the Masters each album track has been identified and are being sourced from these 'Delivery Tapes' as they were transferred by Ver-Jay They remain the closest generation tapes to the 'original' studio masters and were clearly the best sound sources from listening tests. They will be NEW digital releases for every track recorded at Vee-Jay in both MONO and STEREO album sets, something 'unique' to this Box Set. So each Vee-Jay album is being re-created from the closest source to the studio session versions which [from our research] no longer exist.
Some stunning Bonus Tracks were discovered from this period including previously unreleased acetates of DEMO's, and alternative STEREO and MONO versions as well as the unheard BBC Radio broadcasts from 1963 of 'Big Girls Don't Cry' and 'Ain't That A Shame' whilst on their UK tour. A NEW first time in STEREO mix of 'I've Cried Before' [with the group backing Frankie] as well as the 'special' STEREO Mixes re-engineered for the 'Golden Hits' album of 'Sherry' and 'Peanuts' have been preserved. Perhaps the most surprising find again 'unique' to this Box Set was to discover 3 totally different versions of an 'unreleased' Bob Gaudio penned song 'Like You'. It appears as an original 1961 DEMO and then as versions first a year later with an organ backed arrangement and finally from 1963 with a trumpet backing. Frankie Valli's lead vocal on all 3 is impeccable.
The Box Set Collectors Notes will provide details of all single and album releases and sources for the 'unreleased'.
The Vee-Jay albums in their complete MONO and STEREO Versions included are.....
DISC 1 – SHERRY & 11 OTHERS MONO/STEREO
Vee-Jay VJLP 1053/SR 1053 No. 6 [10/62]
DISC 2 FOUR SEASONS GREETINGS MONO/STEREO
VJ VJLP 1055/SR 1055 No.13 on Xmas Chart in 12/63 [12/62]
DISC 3 BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY & 12 OTHERS MONO/STEREO
Vee-Jay VJLP 1056/SR 1056 No. 8 [2/63]
DISC 4 AIN’T THAT A SHAME & 11 OTHERS MONO/STEREO
Vee-Jay VJLP 1059/SR 1059 No. 47 [5/63]
DISC 9 THE FOUR SEASONS RECORDED LIVE ON-STAGE MONO/STEREO
Back in 2009 Casey Chameleon and Sound Engineer Stefan Wriedt wrote a blog for us re the status of the CD based Four Seasons Catalogue and the sources of some of the Mixes ….what existed still as the original vinyl?.... and what the definition was of a 'Best Mix' on CD?. That blog is still relevant [and can be found here] and as we enter the REMASTERING stage of the Snapper Music Box Set we are revisiting that in terms of what has survived and how it has been gathered from a wide range of sources and what we and Snapper are seeking to achieve in the Box Set. Much investment by Snapper Music goes into the artwork and memorabilia gathering and it's presentation which is their hallmark. But so too is the Mastering by Peter Reynolds and his very wide experience.
Our Mega CD DISCOGRAPHY on our web site[See Here].....attempted to track and assess the quality of the CD's by Frankie Valli and the group released from 1988 to 2010......including most in your collections …...and to take a view of their Collectibility[in terms of originality and sound quality]. Many of the links to purchase sites at the time still apply....some very cheap but others 'super' expensive. But with Stefan passing away and the rise of You Tube and streaming it has not been possible.......or worthwhile....... investing effort in such a difficult revision of the CD catalogue web page on our web site without his sound engineering skills. The CD has also become as rare as vinyl although still a viable music storage medium in 2021.
Our focus is MASTERING TODAY and a NEW reference point in terms of the catalogue. SO in this NEW COLLECTION from Snapper Music we have re-visited the ANALOGUE TAPES checking their 'authenticity' as the production intention of Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio and the other producers involved over the decades. This will probably be the LAST AND DEFINITIVE SET OF MASTERS on CD by Frankie and the group for future generations and for transfer to other media platforms[ie streaming etc].
The variablity of CD quality issues of FV/4S music in terms of MASTERING is so inconsistent since 1988 and of course the 1960s MONO releases have not been properly addressed as we will considered in forthcoming blogs.
Back in 2009 Casey and Stefan set a standard wanted for the catalogue as 'BEST MIXES'
“Firstly the characteristics that make it sound great……
Clarity – that sharp clear shape to each element in the sound
Content – the sound stage and it’s constituent parts
Separation – the difference or space within the sound between the elements
Depth – the position of the sounds in terms of the distance they appear from the listener and each other.
We believe the definitive versions need to be stored in the best digital form for future generations of collectors. As mastering improves and the technology to process the sound, we will be able enjoy the Four Seasons as never before. Their collection is too important to be neglected”
That has happened now thanks to Snapper Music and an 'enlightened' attitude from Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli. The process of finding and reviewing all potential sources for this project has taken 3 years and has been difficult. Over the next 6 months I will outline the search for rare and authentic tracks as recorded by the group with all of their albums and alternate surviving versions worthy of note. Duplication in the set has been avoided as much as possible with the MONO and STEREO versions recovered as they have survived. Acetates and LIVE show recordings have contributed much to the range and importance of the performances over the period and each 'decade' has it's pop/rock music context. Every track included is in the research team's opinion.....'UNIQUE' [ie being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else] The tracks that never made it to STEREO have also been researched too and the original MONO MASTER versions found, along with Pseudo STEREO versions[as produced at the time following MONO only recordings].
In the 2009 Blog Stefan analyzed how no TRUE STEREO version of 'Goodnight My Love' had ever appeared on CD and he tracked the vinyl sources. It took us, as an example, till April 2021 for Bill Inglot to find a tape source deep in the Four Seasons Partnership Archive and allocate it for 're-mastering'. With the delay of the pandemic more time has allowed intense searches such as this to uncover more 'original' hidden gems.
I will start from the beginning in our next blog and work through the very distinctive 'decade focused' sources of the MASTERS and how they have and are stored and what has survived and been 'rescued'. My conclusion overall is that this has been a major 'rescue mission' and but for this project much would probably be lost forever. I will document what we couldn't find or include.......and the 'rescue work' still needed . And although a huge achievement the research for this set has shown there is more to be found and released......some sources we know of whilst others remain rumours.
And one mystery source remains largely unknown......the 'BOB CREWE ARCHIVE' which remains in the hands of Dan and Reid Crewe at Crewe Studios in Maine.
It is all about 'Looking Back'......which was the title of a 1966 album by the group. But that is what we have been doing on your behalf as part of the Snapper Music Project. For the first time it has been a case of fan involvement in asking the Four Seasons Partnership just what still exists of the Four Seasons Master tapes?
It has been a long project for us as researchers in The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society on behalf of all fans worldwide.....and recently through a long pandemic....and it is deeply sad that we lost some wonderful people due to Covid. But life and music must go on and it is good to announce that through the collaboration we have had with Snapper Music and the research of the sources we were able to make some amazing finds. The research for their planned Box Set release has now been completed. We are advised by Snapper that Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli have agreed the content they can release for the fans almost entirely as we asked for.
The final search of tapes and acetates during April 2021 added greatly to the rare and unreleased and alternative versions that have been found. Bob Gaudio personally checked out 29 of the bonus track finds for the set.
It is now for Snapper to take the project forward into the Re-Mastering and Production stage, after the research of sources for the Masters from the Partnership Tape storage, the Universal Motown Archive in New York State and Collectors Archives. Each CD features Bonus Tracks as closely related to the career timeline of Frankie and the group as was possible and the selection for inclusion has sought to include every important recording both released and unreleased in a comprehensive collection.
This has always been the aim of the UK fan group.
The identification and selection of both original and stereo versions of tracks from the 1960s in particular was considered the most intense area for research. But the inclusion of 13 Unreleased and stunning productions from their time at MoWest/Motown with alternate versions together with ALL the released tracks from that period provides a core achievement that was what we in THE FOUR SEASONS UK APPRECIATION SOCIETY signed up for with Snapper Music of London back on 20th August 2018 . And then to our surprise the research team found the LOST DISCO ALBUM and the STREETFIGHTER album studio Tapes plus lots more. All will be revealed and put into context as the release date arrives.
Two objectives for us since 1997 have been finding the UNRELEASED tracks and getting the 1960s albums in MONO, remastered to modern mastering [now 2021] standards. We wanted confirmation of what had survived on tape and for this to be salvaged and restored. We can say that our objectives are 90% achieved [subject to re-mastering] and in our blogs I will up to its release explain what was found. [and what couldn't be found or included].
We and the Snapper Team believe this to be an awesome collection which fans will love. l will post more on our blog through the summer re the individual albums by the group and their background and will advise also as Snapper prepare their press release plans and pre-ordering arrangements. All of you will want to know the final details we know and with Snapper we will provide final details for the Box contents, price and release as soon as possible.
Ken Charmer and Lynn Boleyn
Next Time we will re-visit Casey Chameleon's search for the 'Best Mixes' in 2009 and what has been found in 2021
Fans and friends will miss the talent and warmth of Joe Long
By Charles Alexander
As a former editor at Time magazine, I generally write about politics and policy—particularly about things I consider wrong with the world. But this story is about something that was right with the world for 88 years—the presence of Joseph LaBracio, better known as Joe Long. Joe, who died from complications of COVID-19 on April 21, was one of the most prominent players in the illustrious history of the Four Seasons, the pop singing group immortalized by their harmony-rich music and the Broadway smash musical Jersey Boys.He is the second Season to lose a battle with the coronavirus, following the death of Tommy DeVito last year.
Those who know the group only from Jersey Boysthink of the Four Seasons as Frankie Valli, the lead singer with the golden falsetto; DeVito, the bad-boy founder of the band and its lead guitarist; Bob Gaudio, the quietly brilliant songwriter and keyboard player; and Nick Massi, the eccentric bass guitarist and vocal arranger. This was the quartet’s lineup when they burst onto the scene in 1962 with three straight No. 1 hits: “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like a Man.” Nearly 60 years later, Frankie and his latest lineup of Seasons are still touring. The music has been ubiquitous for decades: in dozens of movies from The Deer Hunterto Jennifer Lopez’s more recent Hustlers,and in countless TV shows, from The Sopranosto The Crown.
The writers of Jersey Boys, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, did a masterful job (four Tonys! more than 11 years on Broadway!), but they could not possibly cram the entire history of the Four Seasons into two and a half hours on stage. The musical is great as far as it goes, but it focuses mainly on the Seasons’ struggle to achieve their first breakthrough and the early years of their hitmaking. Dramatic necessity and convenience dictated that the play give Joe Long short shrift. But the fact is that Nick Massi stayed with the group only three years after “Sherry” hit the pop charts and was soon replaced as bass player and bass singer by Joe, who remained in the Seasons for 10 years—some of their most successful and creative years.
I became a Seasons fan at age 12, from the moment Sherry came out with her red dress on. Yet, growing up on a farm in rural Tennessee, I never saw Nick Massi in person. By the time I first saw the group in Nashville in 1967, Joe was as familiar as any of the Four, always smiling as he sang and played his unusual left-handed bass. I can’t make a personal comparison with the brief Massi era, but by all accounts from old-timers, Joe helped lift the Seasons’ live performances to a higher level, giving them a new personality and warmth. With a gift for stage banter, Joe became the group’s unofficial MC, introducing songs and kidding around with the other Seasons, especially Tommy. Joe was just as warm and vibrant offstage. While all the Seasons sometimes greeted fans after concerts and signed autographs, only Joe took a real interest in the fans and became friends with hundreds of them. He was the least pretentious and most approachable rock star you could ever meet. Without a doubt, Joe was the Season most beloved by the most loyal fans.
Joe helped make some of the Seasons’ best records, including “Opus 17,” “Tell It to the Rain,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “C’mon Marianne” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” In particular, he was on one of the Seasons’ most enduring classics, a Gaudio composition called “Beggin’.” With its emo lyrics and distinctive interplay of drums, bass and piano, the song was a modest hit in 1967 and apparently way ahead of its time. It became by far the Seasons’ biggest hit in the 21st Century, when a remix of the original version topped the British dance chart in 2007, a hip-hop treatment by a duo called Madcon became a sensation on several continents, and American Idolwinner Phillip Phillips sang the song on that must-see TV show. One of many anachronisms in Jersey Boysis that it shows Massi singing on “Beggin’,” even though he had already been replaced by Joe when that song was recorded.
The talented Mr. Long also helped create two of the very best Seasons albums. The first was an imaginative, musically diverse album of social commentary encased in a satirical newspaper called The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette. So different from the Seasons usual fare, it was not immediately successful, but it has aged well and been repeatedly rereleased on CD, minus most of the newspaper. The Rock Snob’s Dictionarylists Gazette as one of “Ten Lost Masterpieces.” A couple of years later the Seasons signed with Motown and produced the magnificent Chameleonalbum. It also started slow, but one of its tracks, “The Night,” later became a monster hit in Europe. English fans admired that Motown album so much that, when the Internet arrived, they created a website called Chameleon. Neither The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette nor Chameleon, showcases for Joe’s singing and bass playing, are mentioned in Jersey Boys.
In fact, in the first version of Jersey Boys, produced in California in 2004 by the La Jolla Playhouse, the name Joe Long did not come up at all. When Valli and Gaudio went to La Jolla to check on this pre-Broadway tryout, one of the changes they demanded was that the writers insert the names Joe Long and Charlie Calello, who was the group’s musical arranger and briefly filled in for the departing Massi before Joe came on board. So, when the play opened on Broadway in 2005, the Frankie Valli character let the audience know when Joe Long joined the group, and you can see him singing and playing on three songs toward the end of the play. But he has no spoken lines—not exactly a complete portrayal of the most talkative Season ever.
Jersey Boys was not the first time that history was unfair to Joe Long. In 1990, the Four Seasons were invited to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in only its fifth year of existence. Valli and Gaudio requested that both 1960s bass players, Nick and Joe, be inducted with the other three original Seasons, but the Hall didn’t want Five Seasons and flatly refused. So, as accurately shown in the climax of Jersey Boys, it was Frankie, Bob, Tommy and Nick who were inducted. Seasons fans were absolutely outraged at Joe’s being left out and they remain so to this day. Decades of protests and petitions to the Hall have been fruitless. It’s an injustice that has never been corrected.
But Joe was not at all forgotten. He may not have had a big role in Jersey Boys, but the huge success of the play focused attention on the Seasons’ legacy, and the resulting spotlight could not possibly miss the giant contribution made by Joe Long. In the last decade of his life, Joe racked up as many honors as the rest of the Seasons. He finally began to get the credit he had always deserved. And maybe this tribute of mine will help a bit to give Joe his due.
Joseph LaBracio was born on Sept. 5 in the tough Depression year of 1932 in densely populated Northern New Jersey just across the harbor from New York City—also home turf to all the other early Four Seasons except for Gaudio, who was born in the Bronx and moved to Jersey as a teenager. Joe’s birthplace was Elizabeth, just south of Newark. Unlike Massi and DeVito, who did stretches in jail for stick-ups and other petty crimes, young Joe never got into trouble with the law. As was the case with many kids of Italian heritage, Joe loved music, and he was classically trained on the piano. But his father fell ill when Joe had just finished high school, and he had to get a job to help support the family. While working in a factory, he had a run-in with a milling machine that badly damaged his left hand.
This accident would have a major impact on his future musical career. Playing keyboards was now out of the question, and the electric bass became his instrument of choice. It may seem counterintuitive, but the injury to his left hand led him to take up playing the left-handed bass. That’s because he needed his more nimble right hand to play the neck of the bass.
Thus it was that Joe would eventually became the American counterpart of Paul McCartney, the left-handed bass player for the Beatles. McCartney has been a big fan of the Seasons since the 1960s and even owns some of the publishing rights to several of the group’s earliest hits. When McCartney first met Joe, he declared, “It’s Joe Long, the second best left-handed bass player in rock and roll.” Always quick with a comeback, Joe replied, “What do you mean second best? C’mon now!”
Joe didn’t originally see himself as a rock star. The bands he played for in the early ’60s were more into jazz and blues. He had of course heard of New Jersey’s very popular Four Seasons, but wasn’t much of a fan. That changed soon after Massi abruptly quit the group in 1965. A search for the best possible Jersey-born replacement bass player turned up Joe Long, and it was an offer he couldn’t refuse. Charlie Calello, the group’s musical arranger, had taken Massi’s place in concerts and on one hit single, but he was more interested in producing records for a variety of artists. Although he agreed to teach Joe all he needed to know to be Massi’s permanent replacement, Calello was so busy that the lessons never happened. Here’s how Calello described the sudden transition in his memoir Another Season: “The Seasons took a job in North Carolina, and I just couldn’t make it. On that night, Joe was called to fill in for me cold. He had never had a full-scale rehearsal with the group and didn’t feel at all comfortable with all his bass and vocal parts. Fortunately, his talent and experience got him through, and the performance went smoothly. Anyway, the crowd was screaming so loudly that no one could hear mistakes. Joe says that, feeling greatly relieved, he approached Frankie after the show, expecting a pat on the back. ‘How’d I do?’ Joe asked. Frankie said simply, ‘You could have sung louder’.”
However shaky Joe may have felt at the start, he fit right in and became a mainstay of the group for the next decade. He was a star in the recording studio, a star on stage and a star in TV appearances. During his tenure, the Seasons enjoyed heights that few rock and rollers ever achieve. They headlined several sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, and played the Los Angeles Coliseum, Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall and the London Palladium. Their TV credits ranged from Dick Clark’s Where the Action Is to England’s Top of the Pops.
But success never lasts forever, and the 1970s brought a period of turmoil and change. After the lukewarm reception of The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, radio stations stopped playing new Seasons records. Tommy’s gambling debts caused a financial crisis, and he was bought out of the group by Frankie and Bob, who years earlier had agreed with their famous “Jersey handshake” to be partners for life. Tommy’s departure meant that Valli and Gaudio were sole owners of almost all the group’s recordings, and their enterprise was ultimately reorganized under the name of The Four Seasons Partnership. Gaudio stopped performing with the group, but kept on writing many of the songs and producing some of the records. Joe had never been offered a share of the business. He and all subsequent Seasons were just employees.
Through it all, Joe stayed loyal to Frankie and the group, but his future was increasingly uncertain. Frankie had always harbored an ambition to grow old gracefully, not as a rock and roller, but as a solo singer of American standards in the mold of Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett. Back in 1967 he had begun recording solo albums and had a few hit singles, most notably “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” But he kept recording with the group also.
After a dry spell Frankie suddenly topped the charts again with his 1974 solo hit “My Eyes Adored You.” And in 1975 the Four Seasons returned to the Top Ten with “Who Loves You.” It would be the last Seasons hit that Joe Long sang on. The plan was for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons to go their separate ways and produce two separate income streams. Frankie would be the sophisticated solo singer he always wanted to be, and the Seasons would keep rocking and rolling, appealing to teenagers. The only problem was that Joe was much older than the other newer, younger Seasons. He was already in his 40s after all—seemingly an appropriate age for a rocker to retire—and thus Joe got a pink slip. Frankie continued to appear on some of the Seasons’ recordings, but, increasingly, they recorded separately. At concerts, Frankie would leave the stage part of the time, and let the Seasons do their own thing. The formal separation and “Farewell Tour” of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons came in 1977.
History shows that getting rid of Joe was probably not such a good idea. The fountain-of-youth plan didn’t work. The fabulous Four Seasons, one of the greatest groups in rock history, had only one more big hit, “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night),” after Joe left. The young post-Joe Seasons—Gerry Polci, Don Ciccone, Lee Shapiro and John Paiva—were very talented and recorded lots of songs without Frankie, many of them written by Gaudio. But they never had a big American hit on their own, and only one Top Ten record in Britain.
Meanwhile, Frankie’s solo career had another brief revival with the No. 1 hit “Grease,” but then went nowhere. He needed the name “Four Seasons.” After two years of faltering fortunes, Frankie and Bob assembled a new Four Seasons, including some former band members and some new ones, for a “Reunited” tour. “Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons” have been successfully touring ever since, singing the golden oldies. But you could argue that after Joe left, it was not a real group any more. It was a brand name and a business. It was Frankie Valli and an ever-changing supporting cast of employee Seasons. The only constants over the last four decades have been Frankie’s still-magical singing, Bob Gaudio’s behind-the-scenes business acumen, and fresh new arrangements of old songs by Robby Robinson, the enterprise’s keyboard player and musical director.
Joe was hurt, of course, but leaving the Seasons was hardly the end of the world for him, and he never talked much about his exit. He had a parallel real life to return to. He married twice and had two children, Joey and Kimberly, whom he loved dearly. And he continued to create music. Joe put together his own bands, making several excellent recordings with a pop group he whimsically called Joe Long and LaBracio and a jazz ensemble named Jersey Bounce. He also took day jobs, including doing computer work for Dun & Bradstreet, to support his family. He was fine with being an ordinary Joe LaBracio. He almost never told his co-workers that they were sitting next to a former rock star.
I didn’t get to meet any of the idols of my teenage years until 1986, when I interviewed Valli and Gaudio for a story in Time magazine about their enduring partnership. We kept in touch, and after I left Time and Jersey Boys was mounted, I did freelance work for the Four Seasons Partnership on several projects, helping to produce CD collections, and writing liner notes and publicity material.
I met Joe Long in an entirely different way. Until he died a few years ago, my best friend in the world was Frank Rovello, whom I met on an online Four Seasons message board. Frank was the ultimate fan, and in the early 1970s he often talked his way backstage to hang with the Seasons. Everybody liked Frank, and many Seasons—especially Joe Long—remained his friends after they left the group. Frank was proud and happy to introduce me to Joe and cut me in on the benefits of knowing the former Season. He would give us copies of rare on-stage recordings made by the Seasons themselves and demo records that no one outside the group had ever heard. He was so humble, so generous, so much fun to be around. Thanks to Frank Rovello, Joe was the only Season I could call a friend. Valli and Gaudio talked to me when they needed something, and they usually responded to my requests. But Joe was the only ’60s Season to ever call me just to say “hi” and ask how I was doing.
Joe was kind enough to attend several Four Seasons fan confabs—sort of like Star Trek conventions without the weird costumes. Sometimes an adventurous trio of fans would gather around Joe, and together they would try to recreate the four-part harmonies of their favorite Seasons classics.
The arrival of Jersey Boys on Broadway in 2005 was an exciting time for us Seasons fans. Gaudio gave me and Frank and our wives Opening Night tickets on the second row! The Partnership invited Joe, but because his whole family couldn’t be there that night, he decided to skip the event. During the curtain call the real Seasons joined the cast to take their bows. But there were only Three Seasons because Massi had died in 2000. Valli and Gaudio had not been on the same stage with DeVito in 15 years, since the Hall of Fame induction. It was a thrill to see them together, but not quite ideal—because of the missing Season.
The play took off like a rocket, and several of us fans were determined to get Joe to the August Wilson Theater, where every night was a sellout. We consulted with Joe, and eventually figured out a date when he, his children and a close friend of his could come to New York for the evening. Frankie Valli made his house seats available to Joe and his family. Before the show a dozen or so fans and Joe’s group gathered for dinner—at an Italian restaurant naturally. Toasts and tributes were offered, and greetings to Joe from Valli, Gaudio and other Seasons were read. But the high point of the event was when Joe’s son Joey stood up to give a toast. He said he had always loved his father and knew he was in the Four Seasons and had hit records and all that. But he had never understood how important his Dad was to so many people. Seeing the admiration and love and devotion displayed in that room that night, he said he was now even more impressed by his Dad than he had ever been before. It was an emotional moment for Joe and everyone around the big table.
After dinner, we escorted Joe to the theater and from our seats in the back tried to gauge Joe’s reaction in the fifth-row house seats. When the show was over, he seemed uncharacteristically at a loss for words, as if he had seen his life flash before his eyes. He finally summed up his response in one word: “Powerful.” Joe then took his family backstage to meet the actor who played Joe Long and the rest of the cast. Oh, what a night indeed.
Our Joe Long Night on Broadway went so well that our little fan group asked if we could get together with him regularly, and he readily agreed. After a few years of gatherings, we called ourselves the Elders, since we had all passed 60, except for a guy in his 40s or 50s whom Joe dubbed The Brat. We called Joe the Chairman of our Board. In the early days we would meet Joe near his home on the Jersey shore for a Saturday or Sunday brunch at a seaside restaurant. Joe could tell Seasons stories for hours, and we never tired of them. Over the years, our group expanded geographically, including members who lived as far away as Louisiana and South Carolina, and our “meetings” became more elaborate affairs, lasting a whole weekend. Yes, there were fans who regularly traveled hundreds and hundreds of miles to spend a couple of days with Joe. On one of the weekends Frankie Valli and the latest Seasons were playing Atlantic City, and I asked the guys if I should get them tickets to see Frankie. No, they all replied—it would cut into their time with Joe.
In 2007, a few of us fans brought about something we had been hoping for ever since the Opening Night of Jersey Boys—a full reunion of FourSeasons. A big party at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS gave us our chance. The four main Jersey Boys cast members would be there, and we lobbied hard for the real Seasons, including Joe, to be there too. It worked! They all showed. How fantastic it was to see the four of them together again for the first time in 37 years—smiling and laughing as cellphones flashed and fans crowded around for autographs. The picture above is from that great night. The credit for it goes to David Cace, who later became a member of Joe’s Elders and was also a personal friend of Tommy DeVito.
The next big tribute to Joe came in 2014, when the city of Elizabeth decided that part of High Street, where Joe grew up, would be renamed Joe Long Way. Hundreds of fans lined the streets to see Joe unveil the new street sign and then joined him for a gala dinner in his honor. All the luminaries in Seasons World sent their congratulations. Tommy DeVito concluded his message this way: “The City of Elizabeth could not have chosen a finer man to honor this day than Joe Long.” Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio’s joint message began: “Joe, we are extremely happy this day has come. It is a wonderful honor from a city in a state that we all love. You are a musician who has contributed to the legacy, and, more important, a man with integrity and a great heart.”
None of this adulation ever went to Joe’s head, though. If you looked at his email address or Facebook page, he was still happy being just Joe LaBracio. One time I asked him how it felt knowing that the name Joe Long was spoken eight times a week on Broadway. “But that’s not my name,” he replied.
Yet his Joe Long persona kept providing new opportunities. In 2019, his close friend Al Nittoli, with whom he played in bands both before and after his time in the Four Seasons, made a movie called “Does The Band Eat” in which Joe plays himself. Available on Amazon Prime Video, the movie features Joe, Al and several of their old bandmates sitting around a lunch table reminiscing about the old days when they were trying to make it big (Joe was the only one who actually did make it big). Flashbacks with younger actors show their youthful adventures. It didn’t win an Oscar, but it took a certain boldness for Joe to start a movie career at age 86.
More successfully in recent years, Joe was the musical director of a Four Seasons tribute band called The Jersey Four. They play just about every Seasons hit, and toward the end of their show, Joe would join the group for a few numbers. What a treat it was, after all those years of missing Joe’s performances, to see Joe on stage again singing songs like “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Stay.”
Joe even took the Jersey Four into a studio to record a new version of “I Wonder Why.” This was the only Seasons song co-written by Joe—during the Motown years—with other band members. They recorded it with Frankie singing the lead as usual, but Motown somehow lost the master, and it was never released. All we fans had for decades was a rough copy from a cassette tape. Now, thanks to Joe, we have a beautiful new rendition by the Jersey Four. They will sorely miss Joe, but their shows will go on. If you ever want to see how much Jersey people love the music of the Four Seasons, head down to one of the night clubs on the Jersey Shore when the Jersey Four are playing. To quote a line from Jersey Boys: “The crowd goes wild!”
I’ve left the best of Joe’s late-life highlights for last. On a glorious night in 2018 at the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, Joe, along with the rest of the Four Seasons, was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. I was there, and, believe me, it was a big deal because this Hall of Fame is not limited to musicians and includes some pretty impressive people, from Thomas Edison to Frank Sinatra to Meryl Streep. At the 2018 ceremony, the people introducing the inductees, often already Hall of Famers themselves, were as famous as the new inductees. Bill Bradley inducted novelist Anna Quindlen. Buzz Aldrin and Whoopi Goldberg inducted the twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly, Mariano Rivera inducted Buddy Valastro of TV’s Cake Boss. Steven Van Zandt was inducted by, yes, his pal and band leader Bruce Springsteen. I could keep going on with my list of inductees, but you get my point. What an assemblage. In all my years as a journalist I had never seen so much human accomplishment represented in one room at one time. For me, without a doubt, the high point was the induction of the Four Seasons by Tommy James and Mark Ballas, the last person to play Frankie Valli on Broadway. Joe was there alongside Bob and Frankie, and Tommy was represented by his daughter Darcel Collins and his grandsons (“I ain’t flying thousands of miles for no statue,” Tommy reportedly said from his home in Las Vegas.) Frankie made a brief bow to Nick Massi. As always, Joe was the most eloquent Season. “To be honored by your home state,” Joe said, “is the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon someone, and for that I thank the New Jersey Hall of Fame. I left New Jersey to move out West for a number of years, but I kept feeling that Jersey tug, ordering me home. And I finally gave in and moved back. It was the best thing I could have done. So I guess, officially, I’m a Jersey boy once again! Thank you.” Here’s what I was thinking: Joe didn’t need to be in that Rock Hall of Fame in Cleveland, sometimes referred to as “the mistake on the lake!”
To sum up Joe Long and his place in the Four Seasons, I’ll quote my late friend Frank Rovello, who wrote the following in the liner notes for the group’s Jersey Beatbox set: “If Frankie Valli was the frontman and soul of the Seasons, and Bob Gaudio the songwriting genius, Joe became the heart of the group, especially on the road. Laying down the essential bass groove, creating the perfect vocal harmony, and forever trading hilarious quips with his good buddy Tommy DeVito, Joe had an unmatched stage presence that radiated warmth all the way to the last row.”
The Four Seasons Partnership will keep thriving as before. Frankie’s latest tour of the United Kingdom, postponed twice by the pandemic, has been rescheduled for 2022. As his partner, Bob will get half of whatever Frankie earns on tour. Jersey Boys is already slated to reopen in London, and other revivals won’t be far behind. Meanwhile, “Bobby Businessman” Gaudio, as he is called in the play, is producing a Neil Diamond musical for Broadway.
But the virus has taken Tommy, the Four Seasons’ founder. And now the virus has taken Joe, the Four Seasons’ heart. So the Four Seasons are no more. There will be no more glorious reunions.
Joe’s friends and fans can rejoice that he lived 88 very rich years and brought us so much joy, and that he was showered with so much honor in his final years. We just wish it could have gone on for a few years more.
Charles Alexander
Many thanks to Charles Alexander for this moving tribute to Joe Long.
Check out this wonderful tribute to Joe Long by Robby Robinson and Friends which includes interviews with Joe on Reach Out with Ray & Steve, remembering Tommy DeVito, and some really great pictures of Joe with the Four Seasons. Check out Warren Ham singing "Humble Heart" and Travis Cloer singing "Walk". Warren, a former Four Season, is now with Ringo Starr's band.
Charlie Calello also sent this message: "Our candles are lite for a very short period of time. If we have had an opportunity to live our lives making music and found joy in doing it, when we finally close our eyes, we will have known we left behind a smile for people to enjoy forever. We will miss you Joe!" - Charlie Calello
Such sad, sad news to report that Joe Long passed away on the morning of 21 April age 88 and I know everyone reading this will be devastated by this news.
Frankie Valli told us “I spoke with Joe Tuesday and he sounded terrific. His passing is a big shock. He was a good friend and truly great addition to the Four Seasons family. I will really miss him”.
Joe had been in hospital with Covid and had been quite poorly but it did look like he was turning the corner and we were all optimistic that he would pull through. He was delighted to receive so many get well messages that were sent to him by his friends and fans and they really cheered him up.
Our sincere condolences and prayers go out to Joey, Kimberley, his family, friends and fans across the world.
He will be very much missed by everyone whose lives he touched.
Bob Gaudio sent this message:
“Joe personified a great musician and a loyal friend. His bass playing on “Who Loves You” is as memorable as he was. Rock on, Mr. Joe Long.” Bob Gaudio
This message was sent from Des McAnuff and Rick Elice:
"Joe Long made an extraordinary contribution to the Four Seasons during the group’s heyday. He is a huge part of their story and his loss is felt by the many fans of the Seasons and all of us who love rock n’ roll. Those of us who worked on Jersey Boys thought very highly of Joe and did our best to portray him in a respectful, loving way. In addition to being very talented, he was a truly nice guy. That means a great deal in Jersey and beyond. We miss you, Joe.” Des McAnuff and Rick Elice.
A message from Charlie Calello: "Our candles are lite for a very short period of time. If we have had an opportunity to live our lives making music and found joy in doing it, when we finally close our eyes, we will have known we left behind a smile for people to enjoy forever. We will miss you Joe!" - Charlie Calello
Joseph LaBracio – Everyone’s Favourite Season
Joe was born Joseph LaBracio on 5 September 1932 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the son of Joe Labracio and Mary Picaro. They were born in America but Joe’s grandparents were born in Italy. He went to Thomas Jefferson High School in Elizabeth. He got involved in music when he was 6 years old after his father bought him an accordion and he also played piano. His father fell ill when Joe was 17 and so he had to forego college and go to work to support the family. He suffered a severe accident to his left hand when working at Singer Sewing Machines when a machine malfunctioned and his hand got caught in the machine. He spent 2 weeks in hospital waiting to see if the reconstruction surgery got back the circulation otherwise his hand would have to be amputated. Fortunately, he was able to keep his hand but with very limited use meaning he could no longer play the piano. So he bought himself a double bass and started formal lessons with Alfonse Strazza, the first bassist for the New York Philharmonic. However, his hand was not strong enough to play classical music and he switched to fender bass playing in his first band The Rockets and then The Accents.
He worked with Al and Jet Loring in 1965 in Vegas and it was then that he got a call from Tommy DeVito saying they were looking for a replacement for Nick Massi. Tommy had been told Joe played bass and had a gruff voice like Nick’s and “sounds like he has a cold all the time”! They met up in Belleville, New Jersey and the following week met up with Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio and they offered him the job.
His first show was at a University for around 6,500 people in West Virginia and on the day of the show Joe said he hadn’t had one rehearsal with Charlie Calello who was going to teach him all the parts and the songs but was told to “do the best you can”! Joe said he went out there “practically wetting my pants and did the show”! From that point they went into very serious rehearsing. There was always a lot of fun in the shows and Joe and Tommy formed an astounding relationship bouncing off each other with their ad-lib routines and the comedy in the shows got enhanced from that point on. Opus 17 was his first recording with the group followed by many more hits. He recorded four albums with the group “New Gold Hits” in 1967; “Genuine Imitation Life Gazette” in 1969; “Half & Half” in 1970 and “Chameleon” in 1972.
Joe played the UK for the first time in 1971 and said “The UK audiences are great. I just can't remember when I felt so much warmth coming up from an audience. I love the people, I love the country, I love the accent. I love the UK and if the weather wasn't so bloody awful, I'd probably be living there!”
Joe replaced Nick Massi in 1965 and sang and played bass guitar with the Four Seasons until 1975. After he left the Seasons he formed his own band LaBracio and also went to work as a programmer for Dunne & Bradstreet. He remained close friends with his former bandmates including Frankie Valli, Demetri Callas, Tommy DeVito and Bill DeLoach.
Joe was inducted into the New Jersey Hall Of Fame in 2018 and in 2014 was honoured at a street dedication ceremony where he grew up with High Street, Elizabeth being re-named Joe Long Way. On the day Joe said “You can take the boy out of Elizabeth but you can’t take Elizabeth out of the boy”. He lived at 230 High Street. A true Jersey Boy.
In recent years he was the Music Director for The Jersey Four, a Four Seasons tribute band.
Joe married twice, Laura in 1967 and Pam in 1978. He leaves two children Joey and Kimberley.
A life well lived by a man so loved. RIP Joe Long. Thank you for the music and thank you for the wonderful memories.
Who Loves You Live 1975:
Best Story Of Being With The Four Seasons By Joe Long "Come Fly With Me":
Tributes
“Joe was a total class act. This is a sad day in the Four Seasons Family.
Brilliant gentleman, class act, super talented, those are some of the words that come to mind when I think of my friend Joe Long. Truly one of the good guys in the music business, truly one of the icons in the history of the Four Seasons. I had been in touch with him the last few days, it looked like he was turning the corner and we were all optimistic. My sympathies and my prayers go out to his family, friends and fans. He will be missed”.
Robby Robinson
“I was saddened to hear of the passing of Joe Long. He was one of the earlier members of the group and his passing represents a big loss to the legacy of the Four Seasons. Condolences to his friends and family. Rest in peace, Joe”.
Lynn Hammann
“Sorry to hear about Joe’s passing. My condolences to your family”.
Richie Gajate
“He was the most gracious and kind man there was to us younger guys. A true gentleman and wonderful musician. RIP to Mr Joe Long and prayers go out to his family and loved ones”.
The Modern Gentlemen
“I wrote Joe when you wrote a few days ago that he was ill. He immediately answered saying he was good and sent his love. This is awful”.
John Paiva (former 4 Season)
There have been so many lovely messages for Joe’s family posted on the Facebook pages. You can read and leave messages here:
“It is with great sadness that we learned that our dear bandmate, Joe Long, has passed away. We send our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and fans. We will miss Joe”.
Frankie Valli & Bob Gaudio
“Joe Long left us today.....time will show what he was and what he meant to us all. Without doubt our favourite Four Season for reasons that will become evident as we move forward. I have plans to celebrate aspects of how he was the man he was this summer. I feared such a happening and was glad I shared with him his first Motown recording with the Four Seasons “My Heart Cries Out For You” on which he performed. The forthcoming Box Set will feature his bass guitar lines like never before in both MONO and STEREO. A dear friend lost.
RIP Joe”.
Ken Charmer (UK Appreciation Society)
“So sad to learn of Joe Long’s recent passing. That virus is very bad and we all had hoped that Joe would survive but not to be. I recall seeing Joe once at the Sheffield Fiesta Club back in 1972 with his on-stage banter and jokes; the fans loved it. He was a key member of the group for 10 years and was associated with many of the group’s recordings and hits from 1965-75. May Jackie and I express our deep sympathy and condolences to Joe’s family. May he rest in peace”.
George and Jackie Ingram (U.K. Appreciation Society)
“I received this very sad news by my Facebook friend Lee Shapiro. This is really so sad, say goodbye to one of the great “Seasons”, wonderful musician, a true gentleman, class act, kind and sweet person. God bless him and his family and friends”.
Carlos Etzberger (Brazil)
“Further news in a sad day for the music world. Joe Long (born Labracio), who was the bassist in the Four Seasons from 1965-1975, passed away after a time in the hospital. He was with the Seasons throughout the final years of their first period of success and then through their Motown years and through the time they started to record the "Who Loves You" album. Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio decided to reshape the band during that period and Joe was squeezed out. He was a great musician. Listen to the bass line on tracks like "The Night" to see what I mean -- and a very nice guy with lots of time for those who enjoyed the music. Again, alongside Jim Steinman (who died two days before Joe did) we mourn a favourite musician’s passing.
Darren Hirst
“How sad is this news, a great man and a great guitarist. A posthumous induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame would be a fitting tribute to a man who played such an intricate part in the Four Seasons’ legacy”.
Peter Williams
“It's hard to find the words to say how one feels on Joe's passing. I always found him very obliging in any correspondence I had with him and will never forget the warmth and kindness he showed towards us at the Raleigh convention. May he Rest In Peace”.
Ray Nichol (UK Appreciation Society)
“I only saw Joe Long on the front cover of the ‘Genuine Imitation Life’ Album. Covid-19 is now catching people, in music I love. My condolences to Joe’s family. I have just learnt the Joe was a classically trained musician. Amazing”.
Keith Stevenson in Cornwall UK.
“Joe’s wonderful contribution to the Four Seasons’ story will always be treasured. A great musician and a fine human being. When I asked to meet him in Las Vegas in 2011 he not only agreed but insisted on coming to the hotel where Barbara and I were staying as we were strangers to the area. How thoughtful. We stayed in touch and never failed to exchange Christmas greetings. Truly a big man in town. Cherished memories. RIP”.
Philip Elms (England)
Happy memories of the times Joe spent with his fans in Raleigh and Las Vegas:
As some of you will know Joe Long has been in hospital with Covid and has been quite poorly. However, we understand that he appears to be over the worst and is feeling a little better today. Joe advised that his son Joey also had been diagnosed with Covid and he has been in quarantine at his home but now waiting to visit his Father in hospital.
Robby Robinson is in touch with Joe’s very close friend Vinnie who is keeping in touch with Joe via text. Robby sent this email this morning (Saturday)
“GOOD NEWS!! Good morning ☀️ everyone! Sorry for the early text, but I couldn’t wait to let you all know. I got a text from Joe at 5:49 am saying he had a good night and all his vitals seem normal, and to pass the news on. Let’s pray that maybe he finally is getting well”!!
Thank you for that really good news Robby.
Joe has also been in touch with Demetri Callas’s sister, Maria, who tells us that:
“Joe texted me twice this evening (Friday). Short texts and I told him that so many friends in the U.K. are praying for him so he had both sides of the Pond covered for positive thoughts and prayer. He is such a special and lovable guy. To my mind, he is a "Miracle Man," as I told Vinnie. He has had his own illnesses over the years and soldiers on. We all hope that he continues to soldier on yet another time. As I previously wrote to you, his doctor said because Joe had received his second Moderna shot (unlike poor Tommy, who had no opportunity for a shot last year), he should survive”.
Thank you for the update Maria and let’s hope he pulls through this OK.
And Now For Some Personal Messages For You, Joe
Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli have sent this very special message to you Joe:
“Just heard about this and we're wishing you a faster than light recovery. We hear you are in good spirits, but that’s normal for you. A bright spirit always surrounded you and it won’t leave you now. You’ll be up and out soon.
Who loves you!”
Bob and Frankie
Joe -Brilliant gentleman, class act, super-talented…those are some of the adjectives that come to mind when I think of my friend JOE LONG. Truly one of the good guys in the music business, truly one of the icons in the history of the FOUR SEASONS.
I had the great pleasure of chatting with him a couple of days ago in the hospital…he was his usual humble and witty self, though I know that he was struggling. My prayers for healing continue.
Robby Robinson
Hey Joe, Rex Robinson here. Hey buddy, heard the news, wishing you the best. God bless you and lifting up prayers for you to get better. You got this!
I was fortunate to have worked with Joe in the very early 70s. Back then we were still billed as The Four Seasons at many venues. One of the most amazing shows we played was at the LA Coliseum where we shared the stage with Stevie Wonder, The Bee Gees, and Sly & The Family Stone among others. Joe and Frankie had a great chemistry on stage and the timing of their back and forth banter was always spot on. So glad that Joe and I got to spend time together while he lived here in Las Vegas and we have continued staying in touch. We texted yesterday and I’m very much looking forward to our next conversation.
Bill DeLoach
JOE LONG took Nick Massi's place as the bass player and bass singer in the FOUR SEASONS in the 60's and made a lot of the classic records we all love. The FOUR SEASONS SOUND lives on, thanks in great part to his style of playing. Praying for God's healing touch over Joe!
Richie Gajate Garcia
So Joe we send hugs and much, much love to you for a speedy recovery and all your fans on both sides of the Pond and across the world are keeping you and Joey in their thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. Let's Hang On.
Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus, as expected the Summer 2021 UK Tour will now be moved to 2022.
The new dates are as follows:
Liverpool will now be on Tuesday 28 June 2022
Nottingham will now be on Wednesday 29 June 2022
Royal Albert Hall shows will be on Friday 1 July and Saturday 2 July 2022.
If you had tickets for the Friday show this year they will be valid for the Friday show next year; if you had tickets for the Saturday show this year they will be valid for the Saturday show next year.
Unfortunately Kennedy Street have been unable to get a 3rd date at the RAH and so if you booked tickets for the Thursday evening you will be contacted directly by Ticketline and be offered tickets for the Friday or Saturday (subject to availability) or a full refund.
An additional show at Birmingham has been added on Sunday 26 June at Birmingham Resorts World Arena and special fan club tickets for the front arena seats are available via this special link:
General tickets for all shows are available here: https://www.ticketline.co.uk/frankie-valli-and-the-four-seasons#bio
Shows, I am sure, well worth waiting for.
Frankie told us:
“I’m so disappointed I’m not able to perform in the UK this summer…for obvious reasons it was neither safe nor practical. But I’m looking forward to seeing you all in 2022. Stay safe, be well and go get your jab.”
Thanks once again to Danny and Flick at Kennedy Street Enterprises and to Dean Egnator for arranging the special front arena fan club tickets for us and for sending us the great photograph of Frankie (above) at the Royal Albert Hall in June 2012. Stay safe.
Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, as we expected, the UK tour scheduled for July 2021 is being re-scheduled for next year.
Frankie has sent us this message:
“I’m so disappointed I’m not able to perform in the UK this summer…for obvious reasons it was neither safe nor practical. But I’m looking forward to seeing you all in 2022. Stay safe, be well and go get your jab.”
We are in close contact with Dean Egnator and Kennedy Street Enterprises and as soon as we have the new re-scheduled dates we will let you know.
We are so sorry to bring you this news but know you will understand the reasons why. Things are now really starting to look much brighter and we can look forward to seeing Frankie and all the gang next year.
VIRTUAL CONCERTS
Whilst Franke has not been able to tour we would like to say a massive thank you to Frankie, Robby and all the guys for coming together virtually to record some wonderful videos for the fans which have been greatly appreciated during the pandemic and the various lockdowns. With all shows having been cancelled these virtual ‘concerts’ have kept us going and kept us all smiling, being able to see everyone if only virtually.
If you missed any of these videos check them out here:
Silence Is Golden
Let’s Hang On
Grease
Harmony
Hopefully there are more of these great videos coming our way soon.
BOB'S NEW BOOK
Published on the 26 March 2021 Bob’s new book is dominated by his artworks which in themselves are quite stunning, and it gives a window into his flamboyant nature as well as his life and the highs and lows of being a top producer and a bisexual man during the less accepted times of homosexuality in society during his career. It documents his personal love of art and how he developed that which is well explained and illustrated in beautiful plates of his best work. Andrew Loog Oldham's recollections are perceptive and sum up the relationships and respect Bob achieved in the music business over the years and his major hit productions are documented.
The Snapper Box Set will hopefully be released in the Autumn, having been delayed due to the Coronavirus resulting in Motown Universal in the USA being closed for many months. However, work is well advanced and Ken Charmer has recently completed the notes on the music to be included in the box set. Paul Sexton has also completed the story/history to be included in the coffee table book along with rare memorabilia.
RARE & SCRATCHY ROCK 'N ROLL_130 – "THE COMPLETE HIT SINGLES HISTORY OF THE FOUR SEASONS – PARTS ONE AND TWO
It is not often that we come across programmes so well researched and told by top DJ's in an entertaining and engaging podcast that you can enjoy or download.
It is not often that we come across a programme well researched and told by top DJ's in an entertaining and engaging podcast that you can enjoy or download. Last week Part One of this two Part Series hit the internet and it is highly recommended to all Four Seasons fans. This is their introduction.
“This is part one of our two-part salute to a group whose incredible career has been celebrated on stage and screen in “The Jersey Boys.” They’re the Four Seasons. We’ll chronicle all of their hit singles, as we track their tunes – collectively as a group – and individually as soloists from the 1953 to 2020.
On this episode, we’ll cover their music through the year 1966. We’re joined by one of our frequent guest experts – Nay Nassar – a leading authority on 1950s and 1960s vocal groups. And our resident Rockologist, Ken Deutsch, has sage perspectives on how the Four Seasons developed their distinctive sound. Plus, more of Ken’s customary factoids, including the Four Seasons unique connections with the Beatles and the Beach Boys. And Radio Dave will have more of the greatest rock and roll stories on record. Including some truly rare and scratchy answer songs by other artists who pressed platters in response to some of the Four Seasons greatest hits. Then there’s also the genesis of Frankie Valli’s solo career while simultaneously serving as the lead singer on almost all Four Seasons hit singles.”
The punchy DJ and Factoid experts fire facts from the early years of their career and feature all the hits in context as well as elements of the backing work pre Four Seasons and the key work of the members. The Unusual Instruments feature focused on Bob Crewe production style is really good
The Guys who research produce and deliver it have good credentials. "Radio Dave” Milberg is the host according to his biography, since 1965 he has worked as a DJ at stations 9n Detroit, Ann Arbor, Cincinnati (hence the reference to WLW-AM on this podcast), Chicago, Sarasota and Bradenton. He is also a lawyer. Ken Deutsch is a former disc jockey, former TV director and former owner of a recording studio that specialized in radio jingles.
As Music Detectives and collectors ourselves we have our own observations that are not criticisms, but just observation of the sound and factoids presented. It is not easy to assemble so much specialty knowledge in such a format and get everything right. We found only one error and that is that the Four Seasons-Beach Boys 'Duet' of 'East Meets West was a 1984 release and not 1980.
The presentation of so many works they backed artists on in Bob Crewe's collection of artists is really well summarised with great tracks as is the well presented 'road from 1953 to The Four Seasons birth' [but not in it's timeline in the presentation]
And it would have been good to have had the Four Seasons 'HITS” samples in MONO instead of STEREO [as they were heard in MONO on radio at the time]. But as these are not generally available except on the Jersey Beat Box Set from 2007[and these are poor quality MONO versions]......so STEREO was probably the only choice possible until the Snapper Box Set comes out later this year.
The only major factual error is that Tommy's debt problems with the Mafia did not arise in 1965 . They were uncovered in 1968/69. Frankie Valli going solo and creating the Wonder Who to pay the bills is not correct. Frankie always wanted a solo career and Philips were reluctant......so he and Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio started recording him solo on Smash Records. Also the Wonder Who concept was an accidental novelty track during recording and Philips wanted it released but not to compete with 'Let's Hang On' in 1965 when it was flying high into the charts. Hence The Wonder Who.
Don't miss this, it is highly recommended. Click this link.
We have for many years researched the musical work of Bob Crewe with all of his musical recording artists but more intensely with The Four Seasons and Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Charles Calello and Artie Schroeck. The fact that Bob never got the biography done he was planning was always a disappointment to me. His fall in 2012 and subsequent deeply sad passing in 2014 prevented that from happening, and the lack of a portrayal of his music production career apart from the long deleted 'The DynaVoice Story' was simply criminal.
So the news of the forthcoming Monograph book, Bob Crewe – Sight And Sound [Compositions In Art and Music] is very welcome.
Published on 26th March 2021 [see the Press Release above] it is dominated by his artworks which in themselves are quite stunning, and it gives a window into his flamboyant nature as well as his life and the highs and lows of being a top producer and a bisexual man during the less accepted times of homosexuality in society during his career. Donald Albrecht's essay particularly shows the life of a 'queer' [as he is described] as this was how society generally in mid 20th Century times identified his sexuality and labelled him, and others. His rise above this is well portrayed whilst his sensitivity to it stayed inside. He worked and mixed in 'gay' communities and was accepted and respected by singers and musicians he worked and associated. He made careers for many artists throughout the 60s. His battle with personal crises is documented as is his sobriety as he turned to art again in his post 1980 years.
The books documentation of his personal love of art and how he developed that is well explained and illustrated in beautiful plates of his best work. Andrew Loog Oldham's recollections are perceptive and sum up the relationships and respect Bob achieved in the music business over the years and his major hit productions are documented. It gives a more rounded view of a very special man and corrects the perception portrayed of the 'gay' producer in Jersey Boys. Bob's reaction to that is also made clear.
Of course as long-term fans of Frankie Valli and the group we have always known Bob's unique talent in delivering the groups hit sounds, and our in-depth research has published many aspects that made his contribution a cornerstone of their success. Much in the past has focused on the relationship between Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio and perhaps a lesser role Bob Crewe had in that partnership. As the essays point out it was a perfect match. Opposites attract they say, but it was Bob Crewe's perception that facilitated it much of the time as producer as well as co-writer on many songs. I had learned this from an interview with arranger Charles Calello some years ago.....
“Bob Crewe was more then capable and was a brilliant producer. Not to minimize my involvement, I just made his ideas work! Later on, with experience under my belt, I was able to do more and more and eventually became "Charlie Calello."(i.e. As arranger and producer on hundreds of pop records). In the beginning we needed Bob Crewe because he knew how to make "Hits." He taught us well and the records tell the story. Also, the songs were much simpler to record and there were usually a few people around that would help Crewe if he ran into trouble.......... a lot of things took place after the arrangements were written. When we went into the studio and we recorded the music, a lot of the things that would happen, would happen as a result of Bob Crewe, who would hear something, where somebody made a mistake, or somebody hit the wrong chord, or while they were tuning up they got a funny sound, and he would create something from it. And he added the element of the bizarre. What he taught us was not to be afraid of going beyond what was normal. And some of the things that took place on the record, although we all had our dominant part within the process, in the studio you never knew where that ingredient was going to come from that created the thing that caught the attention of people. It’s been well chronicled over the years that the creative process in the studio, certainly between the two Bob's was often volatile, there was a lot of arguing....it’s a very interesting subject in itself because if you understood the personalities, the differences between the two Bob's. Bob Gaudio was very mechanical and methodical and Bob Crewe was being off the cuff. You put those two elements together and there was always going to be some kind of friction. Very early on, I learnt from this from Bob Crewe. Bob asked me to do something and I said, "You can’t do that Bob". [It was not musically correct!] He said, "Charles; if you can’t, someone else will". So we did it and it worked. There was no musical thought that Bob ever had that I didn’t try to create to give him what he wanted in a particular area. So if I went into the studio and he said, "Charles, the strings should go down" , and I thought he was going to make a mistake, we tried it anyway. But eventually after making a lot of records with him, I realized that he really had a direction and I would try to help him accomplish what he was hearing. And whilst doing so and watching Gaudio and Crewe work together as I said, : [Gaudio being extremely inflexible and Crewe being somewhat flexible], Gaudio (also knowing that this was primarily his 'melody' brain child) if he thought the idea was working he’d let it go. Bob Gaudio did not have the most positive outlook on any kind of change. So it took him a while before he’d settle into an idea and if he thought the idea was working then he’d back off.“
These essays capture this essence of Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio and this quote by Charles helps show how they became arguably the most consistent and successful songwriters of the 1960s, after Lennon-McCartney, creating a lifetime result for both men and their talents that they may not have achieved on their own.
Jersey Boys did not portray Bob Crewe as we the long-term fans see him and this book is we hope the first of several projects to portray his superb talents as it focuses on his art and it's context in his remarkable life. Our own forthcoming Box Set with Snapper Records of London will illustrate even more his superb musical creations in the form of unreleased gems from the 1970s and 80s written and produced by him and matching in quality his best released work. And as we have maintained in The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign – on Facebook, there is more of Bob Crewe's work still to be uncovered and heard. Much of his work remains unpublicised in music collections/playlists/releases and is little known....and often hard to licence.
“When my love touches me and takes me to her skin, she melts my soul in her and loves away my sin, my very own Madonna I love to lean upon her and feel the glory of the reason of my own existence.”
My own tribute to Bob Crew on You Tube is the Next Generation medley never released but sent to his friends as part of a Celebration CD as a Christmas gift. It seems an apt complement to this book review.
There are so many reasons to play this album in 2020 as we in the Snapper team review the Tape Transfers from the Four Seasons Partnership to Final Mastering. A No.13 hit on the Christmas Chart in December 63 it had been released a year earlier. It resonates and warms the heart and we need that in our socially distanced lives this year more than ever. Held together by friendships and social media we are determined to fight the invisible enemy and get the BEST EVER release of Frankie and the group out next year.
As we send best wishes out from the UK Fan Club to all of you, we are working hard to get you the Snapper Box Set as soon as possible next year.
The set now runs to 44 CDs. Genuine Imitation Life Gazette needed another CD to accommodate the MONO and STEREO versions[whilst the MONO version will still also be in the vinyl insert.] We have checked all the Bonus Tracks and have been able to locate and include alternative MONO 45 versions in both the 1960s and 70s like the DJ PROMO version of 'I've Got You Under My Skin' and a TRUE STEREO version of Frankie and the group on the lost 'B' side to 'Sherry'.......'I've Cried Before'.
We have located ALL the original VJ Masters in MONO and STEREO for all their albums at that label[rather than the album Safety Tapes] and Master Tapes of the Philips albums are mostly in both too. Rare versions and Unreleased gems sprinkle the CD's as Bonus Tracks to the albums and the 13 Motown Unreleased are brilliant songs and performances.
As 2021 begins we will have all tracks located and ready for re-mastering. This is the first time since 1988 that a comprehensive analogue to digital transfer has been done of the FSP vault and the whole catalogue included here will be everything that has survived.
The MONO Tracks from the 1960s are a revelation and on CD in album and single form for the first time. All the UNIQUE Bob Crewe 45 mixes appear as many are different to the album versions and whilst no STUDIO Master Tape multi-tracks have survived it was nice to discover the STEREO of the 45 version of 'Tell It To The Rain' was there all the time.....so now we have 4 versions of the song. And of course we have the specially collected Edizione D'Oro 29 Hits selection with the UNIQUE STEREO versions of 10 of their hits.
We have tried to make the set everything both fans and collectors would want and with the help of Bill Inglot and Bob and Frankie it will be. More in 2021. Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year
Ken Charmer and Lynn Boleyn for The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society – December 2020
We have recently been informed that all Yahoo Groups will be closing down, including ValliSeasons and FrankieValliAndTheFourSeasons, and so Dean Egnator has set up a brand new Official ‘Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons Fans’ Facebook page to replace these two groups so that fans can keep in touch and be kept up to date.
Ken Charmer and I are still working closely with Ian Crockett at Snapper Records in London on the massive 42 disk box set to include some of the Motown unreleased material which has been approved by Bob Gaudio. We have incurred some delays due to the Coronavirus as Motown Universal in the USA is closed until January and the box set is now scheduled for release in August 2021 which will tie in nicely with the UK tour which is scheduled for July next year – we are still keeping our fingers crossed that the tour will go ahead which we are told is still 50/50 at the moment. All contracts are in place and the transfers from the Four Seasons analogue tapes and collector sources are with the engineer. The Partnerships recent deal with Primary Wave re publishing doesn't impact the Box Set release process and shortly we expect re-mastering to start and the quality checking of final versions for the previously published draft CD listings will begin. We continue to review versions on the analogue tapes to ensure accuracy in terms of the original albums and singles mixes particularly those from the 1960s. An enquiry re the Sigma Sound tapes donated to Drexel University is being pursued re potentially unreleased tracks left on the Studio tapes in 1979 and we will advise further re any opportunity in due course. We also have the option of including new stereo re-mix masters of the Bachelors III Live concert [from 1974] which the engineer will review.
You can keep up to date with the Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign here:
And to finish with, some good news that Jersey Boys is to return to London’s West End in April 2021 at the Trafalgar Theatre. Cast still to be confirmed. Details here:
There comes a time when you have to ask …...'Is it enough?' A time to reflect on the process of how we got this far and how much we have missed out on.....particularly in such dreadful times when our very existence is at risk from an invisible enemy.
The excitement of the opportunity to review all of the Four Seasons Partnerships[FSP] Archive has been the driving force for the design and preparation of the forthcoming Snapper Box Set. All the released and unreleased by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons from 1962 to 2010. BUT not quite!!
A project over 3 years old but one that really started back in the 'noughties' when collectors like me and sound engineer Stefan Wriedt questioned what has been given to the fans to date as we dreamed of the ultimate collection based on access to the 'Archives' and modern technology sound engineering. Stefan himself organised the bootleg issue of 'The Night/Inside You' because neither the FSP nor Universal Motown would look back and issue on CD what had been released on vinyl by the label in the early 1970s.
I started to research the Motown vault information and the list started......and grew......
Could there be up to 30 unreleased tracks in the Motown vault? [as that was what was indicated] The evidence built and we found acetates of some of what had been done and left behind when they left the label in 1974. We put them on You Tube as proof. The case for a project of the 'Unreleased' at Motown was made. BUT that was never going to be enough. Ask Paul Nixon about getting 'approvals' for tracks known to be in the Motown Vault and he will tell you how it took 5 years after his highly successful 'Cellarfull Of Motown Series Volumes 1 to 4' and this week sees the release of Volume 5. ….....5 years on!!!!!! He found it was like trying to move mountains.....but persistence and belief prevailed.
Then with the concept of the Snapper Box set and the amazing news that Bob Gaudio would review and approve unreleased tracks from every decade ????......we believed a change of heart was happening to set down a 'library' of the career so many of us have supported since the 1970s fan clubs . Many of you have helped and searched for lost recordings and live shows. That contribution was as much part of the exercise of research that resulted in the LIST. BUT Bob Gaudio only approved 13 tracks from the 29 multi-track tapes supplied by Motown. Even though Motown's Tape Library Manager Andy Skurow admitted that at least another 15 could have been added being complete and of a similar quality. Such news is somewhat disillusioning to fans and makes us doubt the FSP commitment.
And what about Frankie and Bob's personal collection? No contributions were offered or made. And so much remains missing or not researched.
It is from the fans work over the years that I have pushed to Snapper to include unique finds.....and most of them have been accepted.......some could not be licensed but if anyone says 'This is NOT ENOUGH' I will agree. The FSP vault did not reveal the expected 'unreleased' and much of what was 'rumoured' to exist was left behind in Recording Studios. How could the music owners do this you may ask?......a good question. Take for example the superb 'Killing Time' , a superb left-over from the 'Streetfighter ' album sessions.......despite 3 years of searching the original studio tape has not surfaced......only a Larry Lingle cassette copy. And of the LIVE shows......only group members copies on cassette have survived of 3 shows.....plus a few tracks Tommy De Vito had from 1964.
Of around 818 track included around 60 could be classed as 'Unreleased' and around 40% are fan/former Four Season contributions. Why didn't Frankie's Tour Manager record more shows???
The UNIQUE Motown Vaults Mult-track Tapes could have contributed at least 20 more tacks with alternative mixes of tracks like the extended version of 'Hickory'. I have done all I can to get them but will never stop asking[Snapper, FSP, Motown Universal] for more. But as Lynn Boleyn and I have continuously supported this project we have had to be realistic!!!!!
Whilst there have previously been reasons for suppressing such releases by the FSP we had hoped this could be the ultimate collection. I started working with compiler Paul Nixon back in 2005 to try to get some of the then 1990s list of unreleased tracks at Motown released. Frankie Valli's lawyer stopped that saying any work was 'incomplete demos'. Of course at the time the build up of Jersey Boys was the main attraction.......and back in 1975 of course the Warner-Curb album 'Who Loves You' was the main focus. The FSP didn't want 'old material' competing....no matter what the quality!!!
This time with the Box Set research we had limitations to sources and time for contract approvals and Bob Gaudio assessed the Motown Tapes....NOT US!!!!! We are maybe 90% happy that the catalogue will move to its next Stage of NEW and SALVAGED Masters of great 'art' by August next year......that will make it a 4 year project due in large part to the pandemic.
Some fans have been questioning the value of this Box Set and Snapper tell me their artwork and collectible photos and picture sleeves will be superb......but it is the music that counts for most of us.......Fans will rightly ask.....'Is it all about the money the music can make? Or is there a genuine appreciation at all of the work as 'art' that should be preserved?' I can't ask Frankie or Bob but I can pass on the message that this ISN'T ENOUGH. In reality it is only us fans that care 100% about the art. But we still want this project and it will be good value for money. We will work with Snapper to bring the best sounding set of Four Seasons and Frankie Valli music to the fans.
It can't happen soon enough as we fight this pandemic and get some solace in the music we love.
We will keep pushing for more and will be calling for a Box Set based on a review of ALL the Motown Tapes.......give us the access to assess to review the material and we ask you to look in to your personal archives [Bob and Frankie]. You need to work with us to maximise your catalogue value for future generations. We are best equipped through our 'network' to achieve that....We are already planning fan based release of material not included in this package......this is how we see at present it will have to go.......Digitally Extracted Stereo[DES] is coming too and our aim is to develop NEW TRUE 21stCentury STEREO Masters.
…........so STAY SAFE and LIVE LONG........the Box Set is coming......but it shouldn't have taken this long. However we are getting nearly as much as we wanted/hoped for in 2005, when Stefan and I said.......'it has to be preserved'. But it remains 'bittersweet'. As such close friends [like Stefan and Frank Rovello] have passed away and wont experience it. It also comes at a price that is known 'true' collectors will pay but which will unfortunately put some fans off.
Other projects will follow. There will be more..........Ken Charmer
We were very saddened to hear the news that Tommy passed away on Monday 21 September 2020 at 9.45 p.m. in Las Vegas. He had recently been admitted to hospital after contracting Covid 19 and was making a slow recovery but died from complications of the Coronavirus. Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio have expressed great sadness over the death of their former bandmate. We understand that a service will be held in Tommy’s native New Jersey. We send our sincerest condolences to Tommy’s daughter, Darcel, all his family and friends from all his fans here in the UK. A truly sad time for everyone who knew and loved him.
Born Gaetano DeVito, 19 June 1928, the original Jersey Boy was one of the founding members of the Four Seasons who had great talent and taught himself to play the guitar and he became a baritone vocalist and lead guitarist in the group. He grew up in Belleville, New Jersey, the youngest of nine children. He formed The Four Lovers with Frankie Valli in 1956 and, after various other names changes, became one of the original Four Seasons along with Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi. Nick sadly passed away Christmas Eve 2000 age 73. Tommy left the Four Seasons in 1971 but was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 along with Frankie, Bob and Nick.
Certainly a larger than life character and full of fun, Tommy was a very important part of the Four Seasons as depicted in the musical Jersey Boys, telling the rags to riches story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons which became a massive hit following its Broadway debut in 2005 and then went onto be played in many parts of the world including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and the UK. It was made into a film in 2014 directed by Clint Eastwood.
A true music legend, Tommy will be greatly missed by everyone who’s lives he touched. Thanks for the wonderful music and treasured memories.
Many thanks to George Ingram for this further information about Tommy:
After being a dealer at the now-defunct Sahara hotel in Las Vegas, backers of Tommy enabled him to do about 4 records in 1973 and slowly built up over the next 6 -7 years. Tommy formed and became president of Gold Sound Productions based in Las Vegas in late 1979/early1980 as a mainly C&W label for independents and producers. He signed and recorded local Las Vegas artists such as Dolly Coulter, Patti Shelton, Tommy Bell, Terry Richards and the R&R funk group Shauntee and produced several albums and promoted various singles over the years. In the spring of 1982 Tommy opened the labels new distribution division headed by experienced veteran performer Ciro Graziano (producer of Bridge Records and had hits with The Dovells and Chic) who had toured with such artists as Billy Joel and The Drifters. Tom thus aided new writers to publish new songs and acted as a distributor and enabled full service promotion and distribution from coast to coast, and indeed overseas over the years. Tommy also produced an album by Joe Pesci (for whom he became a chauffeur later on).
By Lynn E Boleyn MBE for George Ingram, Ray Nichol and Ken Charmer UK Appreciation Society
It is a difficult time with the UK Press announcing that the Government is effectively putting 'Life On Hold' as winter approaches as we all seek to stay safe and get through these unprecedented times. The sad loss of 92 year old founder 4 Season Tommy DeVito to Covid related problems only reinforces the dangers for older people in life as many Four Seasons fans feel the strain and increasingly turn back on Facebook and You Tube to the music for support. It is a sad time for his family and the fanbase who love the backstory. We have a separate blog re his contribution to our music and our lives.
As UK Fan Group managers Lynn Boleyn and I have been striving to give all fans the set of music that will completely 're-connect' the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons with their history and their fans and it would have been good to have done that at this time. It was just over 3 years ago we met Ian Crocket and Bob Fisher at Snapper Records in London and talked about what the fans wanted in a Mega Box Set.........we both said without hesitation......the MOTOWN UNRELEASED.....and an update from the Partnership vaults of the MONO Catalogue from the 1960s which has NEVER been released on CD. For 3 years now Ian, us and his team have been investing the time and effort to bring this to fruition.....something we see as intensely important during these pandemic times.
I spoke to Ian Crocket yesterday re progress in these challenging times and the inevitable delays to projects he is getting. Whilst we have gathered and are working on the huge artwork parts of the project, the continued closure of Curb Records and Universal Motown [until January] has put back re-mastering and quality checks so we are now looking at the set being complete and available next August. Snapper continue to invest in the project and contracts are in place. So it is a case of hanging in there and seeing the crisis through.
As all lament the sad passing of Tommy DeVito it is thanks to him that we have some awesome Unreleased Songs going into the Box Set as a result of getting hold of his 1960s Archive cassette. This has contributed 6 tracks to the compilation from the earliest days of the Four Seasons. Four are terrific good quality soundboard tracks from a Live 1964 show featuring 'Stay/Since I Don't Have You/Cry Myself To Sleep/Dawn' and two early Demos of 'I Still Care' and 'Like You' with Nick Massi's excellent vocal arrangements. Thanks Tommy!!!!
I will be featuring some other excerpts from Tommy's Archive Tape in our Facebook Group[ The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign] and some date back to the days of The Four Lovers.
So hang on in and we will keep you posted as the Re-Mastering re-commences as we start to hear the MONO albums reproduced again for the 21st century and we continue to push this 2500 limited edition through to delivery and ordering dates. More news and rarities as and when we can.
As expected due to the Coronavirus the UK 2020 tour dates have now been re-scheduled for July 2021. Your tickets will remain valid and transferred to the new dates so there is nothing you need to do. Unfortunately Belgium and Amsterdam are cancelled as Mojo could not find alternative dates/venues although I know they did their very best to. Everyone who ordered through Ticketline will be contacted to arrange refunds for these two dates. Such a shame as last time Frankie was due to play at Amsterdam to promote "Oh What A Night" many years ago he fell ill and the show was cancelled.
The new 2021 dates are as follows:
All London dates are with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
Thursday July 1st - London Royal Albert Hall (this show replaces the Sunday 5th July show and is now a 7.30 p.m. start)
Friday July 2nd - London Royal Albert Hall
Saturday July 3rd - London Royal Albert Hall
Mon July 5th - Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Tue July 6th - Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Your tickets will remain valid and will be transferred as follows:
Customers who booked for Friday July 3rd 2020 - will now be Friday July 2nd 2021
Customers who booked for Saturday July 4th 2020 - will now be Saturday July 3rd 2021
Customers who booked for Sunday July 5th 2020 (5pm show) - will now be Thursday July 1st 2021 (7:30pm)
The date in Nottingham is now July 5th 2021. Your tickets will remain valid for this date
The date in Liverpool is now July 6th 2021. Your tickets will remain valid for this date
If anyone did not order tickets for the 2020 shows but would like tickets for the re-scheduled shows you can still order front arena seats via the special fan club links which have been sent out separately by email and also here:
Here are the links to order the front arena Fan Club tickets for the 2021 UK shows:
London - 1st July Fan Club - https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13353476
London - 2nd July Fan Club - https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13353471
London - 3rd July Fan Club - https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13353473
Nottingham - 5th July Fan Club - https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13353478
Liverpool - 6th July Fan Club - https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13353480
Many thanks to Danny and Flick at Kennedy Street and Dean Egnator for their hard work in these uncertain times in re-arranging the shows. All the fans will be delighted that the shows have been re-scheduled.
Any problems or queries or if you need the special fan club links just send me an email or give me a call.
The massive Snapper Box set is on track to be released February 2021 and you can see all the details here:
As we enter the PRODUCTION STAGE of the Snapper box set of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Catalogue 1962 to 2010, I will be doing Blog posts relating to the highlights and this is the story of one UNIQUE CD which developed out of the Tape research. We were given unique access to the NEW transfer from the Four Seasons Partnership [FSP] Archive.
Some tapes emerged which seemed to be related to the 'Heaven Above Me' album from 1980 and several tracks were clearly Unreleased or Alternate Versions and so we tried to analyse what MAY have happened.
Whilst Frankie was at Warners for the FRANKIE VALLI IS THE WORD album Bob Crewe[ with Bob Gaudio] recorded Back In Action/Can't Be Too Much Music/ Stagger Lee according to Warner paper records of masters completed. During this period Bob Crewe wrote[ with Larry Brown] , recorded for Warner Bros [probably late 1978] and released Fancy Dancer as a 45. [Warner Curb WBS 8734] It reached Nr 77 on the Billboard Chart and Nr 36 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in the USA. In Feb 1979 'Doctor Dance' was mixed for release but would come out over a year later as a B side.
Only 'Back In Action' appears to have been copied to the Partnership Vaults from the Warner sessions . How or why we do not know.....nor does anybody know where the other two tracks are.? [In a studio archive somewhere ….we wish we had access but probably Sigma Sound New York.. If any tapes remain unclaimed they may now be held at Drexel University, Philidelphia as noted on Wikipedia.]
A number of tracks have been found in the FSP Archive as proposed versions. Most of these tracks are known but as other recordings. Those found here are UNRELEASED. A proposed album was prepared for release on 22nd May 1979. but only one side of the album has survived on Tape.
So as a NEW Record Deal with MCA was signed it meant a Crewe and Gaudio re-recording for MCA 5134 and the result was the Heaven Above Me album in 1980. The dates for these earlier recordings are indicated as mainly in mid 1979 according to tape box dates. A number of original versions with extended mixes and alternate vocals or arrangements were laid down and remained in the Partnership vault until now. We have carefully reviewed these and although at first they just had the potential to be BONUS tracks the idea of a CLUB disco album emerged and we looked at how they might fit together as a DISCO album. HEAVEN ABOVE ME stands iconically as the last CREWE/GAUDIO masterpiece but this set stands on its own as a CLUB SET.
The result is an album that builds slowly to the break-out in 'Let It Be Whatever It Is' and then rocks TOTAL DISCO before a gentle wind-down of ALL UNRELEASED versions.
BACK IN ACTION – THE LOST DISCO ALBUM
Track 1 – Back In Action – 4mins 53secs....with fade [Unreleased]
Track 2 – Fancy Dancer – 4mins 18 secs.....longer version than 45 with fade [Unreleased]
Track 3 – Let It Be Whatever It Is – 7mins 59 secs....longer version with extra vocals [Unreleased]
Track 4 – Dr Dance – 6mins 7secs – Extended 2nd Mix with extra vocals [Unreleased]
Track 5 – Eat Your Heart Out - 5mins 24 secs – Extended mix [Unreleased]
Track 6 – Passion For Paris – 9mins 20secs – Extended Mix [Unreleased]
Track 8 – Back In Action[Reprise] TV Instrumental [Unreleased]
Wind-down Track 9 – Where Did We Go Wrong – Original Long Version Extra vocal - 3mins 58sec [Unreleased]
Wind-down Track 10 – If It Really Wasn't Love – No female backing: Valli Solo [Unreleased]
Wind-down Track 11 – Just Say That You Love Me – Valli Solo [Unreleased]
The Master Tape that contained the proposed single of 'Soul' was mixed on 19th October 1979 with a longer version for 12”. But we found the tape damaged and so we edited what was remaining and the result was a combination of the two and it runs 11 mins 19 seconds. What is different re this version is it contains a 'Latin' background singer solo in the middle...which appears twice due to this edit......as a result it is a completely different[and unique] version to the 'Heaven Above Me' album song
We think overall this works as a totally UNIQUE album set and runs 54mins 48 secs of Dance floor music plus Wind-down. We have used up the remaining space on the CD with a set of unreleased ballads found on the tapes …....as a Wind-Down set from the DANCE SET [around 10 mins] …....these are all extra alternative versions of tracks which are entirely 'collectable' and are forerunners to the 'Heaven Above Me' album.
But there is more.......
We also had some really good ALTERNATE VERSIONS worthy of inclusion as BONUS Tracks which will fit comfortably at the end of the Heaven Above Me album but that ORIGINAL and final set of album mixes is the 'creme de la crème'. These tracks are just some 'icing' on the cake for fans as alternate versions
Heaven Above Me - BONUS TRACKS
Track 9 – Back in Action – 4 mins 53secs: Alternate version with New Ending[no fade]
Track 11 – Dr Dance - 3rd Alternate – TV instrumental Mix
We have extracted all the tracks and sent them as sets for Re-Mastering and as part of the BIG LIST they have been approved by Bob Gaudio and will be Mastered for the Box Set.
This was Bob Crewe's last major Partnership work with Bob Gaudio before his retirement from mainstream production that generated the Heaven Above Me album . These tracks show it's development......but mainly the PURE ENERGY and FUN in it's DANCE productions.
In our final review of the Tape Archive finds in the Four Seasons Partnership vaults is perhaps the most surprising find of all our research over the years and confirmation of something we discovered in the Tape Index Paper records which are now proved.
Assessing the Artists Cards we found references to tracks being copied to two album tapes P5084 and 5085. So when the Tape box showed up with Side 2 of that album were we amazed......but not as much as when we played it.
It contains not only the Alternate Take of 'My Eyes Adored You' but 3 other previously unreleased tracks from the Bob Gaudio session during the summer of 1973.
All of the finds on these tapes prove to be different versions in some ways. Either an alternate vocal or instrumental arrangement. They differ from the tracks Bob Gaudio has provided for the BOX SET and we think they are essential inclusions as they are simply such good mixes.
Below is the detailed analysis of the Tape listening research we have been able to carry out.
BONUS ALTERNATE MASTER VERSIONS IN FSP ARCHIVE [Found in FSP Tapes as Tape Box Scans with Transfer Locations]
MY EYES ADORED YOU – Alternate closing lyric [FS Set 6 Tracks 2 _239]
This is identified on the Tape Box as a NEW MIX, and is clearly not the hit version bought for $4,600 when they left the label. The differences are the extra vocals by Frankie on the closing section. The question that comes to mind is “Does the Partnership OWN this Master as they bought it in 1974/ Did that purchase include all MASTER copies? An interesting but pretty minor matter with such and important and historic song.
WHATEVER YOU WANT - Alternate Harmony version[FS Set 6 Tracks 2 _239]
This is simply a different mix of the harmony vocals and the orchestration. It is the mix prepared for release on the album assembled in May 1974 in preparation for release.
INSIDE YOU – Alternate Version – Frankie Valli Solo – Less Harmony backing [FS Set 6 Tracks 2 _239]
This is alternate version to that included on the 'Inside You' album. It does not have the 'heavy' string overdub and has the instrumentation mixed higher/differently[guitars and drums] in the mix. It also has lower /less backing vocals. The result is a Frankie Valli 'solo' stripped back version which works very well. It runs 3:35 instead of the 4:05 on the album version.
LOVERS - Alternate Version - [FS Set 6 Tracks 2 _239]
This again is a different mix of instrumentation to accompany Frankie Valli. There is much better separation[placement] of guitars/drums and harmony backing. There is also a step in the instrumentation before the closing harmony outro which works perfectly. This is definitely the best mix I have heard, and was the mix prepared for album release in 1974
HYMN TO HER – Alternate Version -[FS Set 6 Tracks 2 _239]
Again this mix differs significantly. The opening choral harmonies 'fade-in' and the church organ section is different. Once again the separation of instruments individually and harmonies is superb with the Seasons 'backing' shining through. The overdub of horns on the closing anthemic vocals with guitar is again superb. This is definitely the best mix I have heard, and was the mix prepared for album release in 1974.
FUTURE YEARS – Alternate Version[FS Set 6 Tracks 1 _278]
This version differs from the one approved version because the lyric can be more clearly heard and once again separation of instruments is better. Also there is a step of orchestration in the closing section which works perfectly. This is IMO a better version than was approved.
WHATEVER YOU WANT - Alternate Version 2 [FS Set 6 Tracks 1_278] Piano Backing
The big difference with this version is that it is without the the 'Harmony' backing track. Whilst those backing vocals work superbly on the main version, this piano led 'stripped down' orchestra and Frankie version works equally well. A worthy Alternate Version.
YOU CAN'T HOLD ON - Alternate Version[FS Set 6 Tracks 1 _278]
This version varies from the approved version as it has no Vocal Backing track and Frankie's Vocal is different on the closing sections. It still works well because the alternate instrumental mix is excellent [particularly the sax] with a superb 'lead' vocal.
YOU CAN'T HOLD ON – TAKE 6 - Alternate 'FINAL MIX' Version[FS Set 6 Tracks 3 _215]
This version described on the Tape Box as 'FINAL MIX' appears as lined up for a 'B' side release with 'The Night' based on the Tape Box. It has different Vocal Backing track and Frankie's Vocal is different on the outro[superb falsetto chanting with the backing singers]. It works really well because of the alternate instrumental mix with a superb 'lead' and backing vocal. Definitely the 'best mix'.
So all these Alternate Mixes could and should be included for fans with the co-operation of Universal. They would elevate the Collectibility of the set, and demonstrate more of the 'goldmine' of these multi-track tapes for perhaps a future issue of more UNRELEASED and ALTERNATE TAKES by the Partnership in conjunction with Universal. The approved 13 tracks and these ALTERNATE MIXES are the find of the project to me after so many years of research. I never would have believed such quality could be 'locked away' for all these years. This CD could and should be the GOLD in the box set. If you want these versions included in the BOX SET let us, Snapper, Bob Gaudio and Universal Music know here.
We will continue campaigning for a future research project on the TAPES recovered from MOTOWN UNIVERSAL........but what a find these are
Continuing our review of the Tapes found in the Four Seasons Partnership Tape Archive this access got us confirmation of our research re the early 1973 sessions as Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe started working together again in the studio. This time at Motown.
Mowest was going 'down the tubes' in early 1973 and Frankie and the group were back on Motown. But the two Bob's were busy writing and recording with Frankie Valli. But not it seems with the Four Seasons. The performing group were not considered up to the productions proposed. Work started in January 1973 with the Ellie Greewich composed 'Be My Lover, Be My Friend', but it was the songs 'With My Eyes Wide Open' and 'Listening To Yesterday' that impressed Motown Execs. Initially and probably based on these STEREO Mixes during the sessions. These appear from this FSP Archive Tape Box to have been mixed to MONO/STEREO as test mixes.....final mix demos. They are different to what would eventually surface as final releases
An album was 'slated for release' as Motown 788 titled 'Inside Out' for release in August 1973 but was never developed or finished. 'How Come' from these sessions was released in May 1973 [Motown 1255F] but did not achieve adequate sales and this was perhaps why the album was abandoned.
This Tape Box show a mixing/copying date of 2nd February 1973 and the mixes of 'Listening To Yesterday' feature a harmony male vocal background, whereas the 45 release on Motown M1251F in May 1973 as a B side to 'You've Got Your Troubles' would feature female backing vocals. This 'harmony' version would eventually feature on the Motown Anthology 2CD set in 2008 but the 45 release has never seen CD issue to date and we have asked for it in the BOX SET. Another track from these sessions 'Star' will get release in the Box Set and is a revelation of these great songs and great sessions. We know of more songs from the sessions that remain completed but remain unreleased. But 'With My Eyes Wide Open' would eventually see release on their post contract Motown album 'Inside You' in 1975. These versions lack the 'finishing' orchestral overdub of that final and released version but feature great instrumental mixes.[and both MONO and 2 alternate STEREO Mixes]. But this song along with the stunning 'Inside You' from these sessions would again be lined up for release on album in a lost 1974 album listing and more on that in Part 3.
These mixes are clearly evaluation mixes but show the quality of production but makes it more surprising that a slow ballad and arrangement re-worked from 1969 at Philips [You've Got Your Troubles] should be preferred for release with these 'original' tracks in the 'can'.
We will also feature in Part 3 the next Motown Tape findings of 3 tracks we had claimed were part of a separate session that saw the release of 'The Scalawag Song' which was also released with little promotion or belief by Motown. Three superb songs shown as copied in January 1974 to producer Bob Gaudio.......were simply forgotten until now and destined for release in the forthcoming Box Set. However these tapes are alternate mixes destined for album transfer......but also for another Motown album that would not see release.
These tape boxes only confirm our data on the Tape Index and make the release of missing gems and alternate mixes a serious endeavour for us to continue. As well as Be My Lover, Be My Friend' we are missing 'Turn It All Around' and Give Us This Day' from the sessions. These remain in the Universal Archive now with Bob Gaudio. We await more news of these.
The Tape Research work by the Snapper Team is now complete and all tracks selected by fans recommendations and Snapper Team evaluation of the Four Seasons Partnership [FSP] Archive Transfers by Bill Inglot have been incorporated. It is brilliant that Bob Gaudio has approved the LIST. The QUALITY CONTROL phase starts now as the Re-mastering moves on.
The Motown UNRELEASED CD results from Bob Gaudio's review of circa 29 Multi-Track tapes supplied to him by Universal. These are as the Tape Index we have been researching for over 10 years. To date all finds have matched in some way our index and the Artists Cards that have informed the research. Only 13 tracks have been approved for inclusion . The only track previously approved and later deleted was 'I Will Love You Like A Man', and we can only think this is because the title may be interpreted as having 'gender issues'?? Such are these times.! As I have advised in this blog.....all 13 approved are top quality performances and 80% match any previously released Motown issued tracks by Frankie and the group and even album tracks from the Private Stock period that followed their time at Motown and MoWest Records.
One of the biggest surprises of the FSP Tape Archive review was that several of the 13 tracks approved were already in the FSP Archive and are ALTERNATE versions. In our continuing reporting of the facts I will be advising fans of our research as always. I have already advised of our finding of a copy of The Night/You Can't Hold On as a 45 in May 1974[see our previous blog] and this is the evidence of a second but equally well known track.
It is my assessment that consideration should be given to these ALTERNATE versions for 'possible' inclusion in the BOX SET and they should be definitely heard and reviewed by Bob Gaudio.[as he has probably forgotten that he had them]. They were clearly supplied to the FSP for approval as all are FULL STEREO MIXES and most were ready for release. The fans expected more tracks from the Motown vaults in this box set and Universal sources have confirmed at least 15 further quality tracks exist in completed form that could have been included . Perhaps time pressure prevented Bob from fully assessing the tapes.
Inclusion of these ALTERNATE versions would make this UNRELEASED TRACKS CD far more appealing to fans. The difficulty of getting ISRC numbers for the tracks and inclusion in the UNIVERSAL contract remains a difficulty for Snapper to manage but as these are simply alternate versions they can possibly use the same ISRC number. I hope Bob Gaudio will realise how good these versions are and if he does I strongly believe in their inclusion and a call to Harry Weinger at Universal would enable their inclusion in the contract to be quickly done.
These finds were at the time UNRELEASED but clearly late production STEREO Mixes ready for release [in many cases] as stored back in 1973/74, but with the group leaving the label no production commitment was made. These notes have been passed back to Snapper to inform Bob Gaudio of the finds and the tracks can be shared with him[and Universal] for assessment.
BONUS ALTERNATE MASTER VERSIONS IN FSP ARCHIVE [Found in FSP Tapes as attached Tape Box Scans with Transfer Locations] Part 1
MY EYES ADORED YOU – Alternate closing lyric [FS Set 6 Tracks 2 _239]
This is identified [as you can see] on the Tape Box as a NEW MIX, and is clearly not the hit version bought for $4,600 when they left the label. The differences are in the mix of instruments and backing vocals and the guitar is much more pronounced......and the most noticeable change is the extra vocals by Frankie on the closing section. The question that comes to mind is “Does the Partnership OWN this Master as they bought it in 1974? Did that purchase include all MASTER copies?” An interesting but perhaps not so minor matter with such an important and historic song.
But the Artists Card makes it very clear that the MASTER TAPE was 'Sold back to Producer'[ie Bob Crewe]. The first STEREO MIX was done on 11th December 1973[from the final recording sessions at the label] and it was over 6 months later that 2 other MIXES were done on 6th June 1974 for the album Tape P5084 and 10th June 1974[BG – low level?]. Clearly at that stage Motown intended to release an album of Frankie and the group. The Tape Box in the FSP Archive was a copy made on 25th June 1974 and lists Bob Gaudio[incorrectly] as the producer in a (NEW MIX). It clearly is and runs 3:40 [as opposed to 3:32 of the original Private Stock Issue]…...but will fans get to hear it in this Box Set? Well clearly it is in the ownership of the FSP now, but it's inclusion should definitely be on this CD of the Motown Unreleased. We will keep you informed of developments with this one.
Next time......more Tape Boxes from Motown containing UNRELEASED Tracks.
We don't do 'tribute bands' of the “That 'Four Seasons' Sound' on our blog although many artists today do their best to emulate the 'Sound of Frankie Valli' and the harmonies of the Four Seasons.
But it is time I made and exception and we have always reviewed artists efforts in commercial releases and since the 70s and 80s one group/artist stands out as the 'best' we have ever heard and that is Adrian Baker and Gidea Park
Back in the 1990's my late friend and fellow music historian Frank Rovello contacted me and we discussed Adrian's efforts not only emulating the Four Seasons but also The Beach Boys. We agreed that the songs and medley's he did worked brilliantly and were worthy of CD release.
I had several singles [all the releases being on vinyl originally] and UK Newsletter editor George Ingram had the rest so I gathered what we had and put them on cassette for Frank and sent it off to the USA. Frank had the ability and technology at the time to digitise and re-master for CD and together we designed and he issued 'Harmony Gold'......The Best Of Adrian Baker and Gidea Park'. 23 great tracks that even today stand up as a wonderful harmony set. Only a few dozen were ever issued amongst collectors at the time.
It maintains his claim to fame as....”In the United States, he is best known for being the falsettovoice for the touringBeach Boys band from 1981–1982, 1990–1993, and 1998-2004. Baker was also a member of The Four Seasons with Frankie Valli from 1994-1995. In 2006, Baker released his sixth solo album, Runaway Tracks. “
But his success in the Eurovision Song Contest during the 1980s with a group he formed called 'Liquid Gold' [a 2ndplace!!!] led to a an album or two and he has Beach Boys type songs mainly on his releases since then. He has a large catalogue of work but this set captures a balance of up-tempo/falsetto/harmony or just great songs. His outings as 'Rudy'on 'Last Time[I'll cry over you]' and 'Sylvie' set his sound-alike style just as the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli were Chart Toppers again in 1975/6 and are great efforts. But songs like 'Why Haven't I Heard From You' [1976] and'Candy Baby'[1975] are just superb.....as is this whole CD. Frank and I knew our stuff back then.
It is surprising that Adrian hasn't captured his best work in this way in a 'commercial' CD release but maybe too few remember as much as Frank/George and I and few can appreciate these long lost track as we did/do now[or so I thought!].....but hey that was before I checked You Tube.!!!!! I was able to gather all but one track into a playlist and this is presented below for your enjoyment. Although an 'imitator' in many cases of original 'harmony' innovators he is said to have recorded all the voices on his harmony mixes and his mixes are superb examples of quality tracks from the 70s and 80s.
Whist working as a member of the Snapper Tape Research team I was more than interested in 7.5 inch per second Tape Box in the Four Seasons Partnership [FSP] Tape Archive which shows two tracks which appear on a Motown Tape which appear to be a proposal for a new 45 release. The Tape Box has the date 23rd May 1974 on it and a hand written Note saying ….”FINAL MIX?”......and the tape contains MIX 39 of 'The Night' .....and Take 6 [STEREO MIX 4] of 'You Can't Hold On'.
In my blog article on The History of MIXES of THE NIGHT I highlighted that MIX 39 Master Nr 60770] was designated for the proposed album release [Tape P5084 and 5] but now it's presence here indicates it was also for a proposed single release that of course did not happen. By October 1974 the group had left the label and taken 'My Eyes Adored You' with them and it was released on Private Stock. The rest is fully known history. But the story of the time at Motown continues to unravel with finds like this.
The version of THE NIGHT sounds very like the subsequent 're-issue' in 1975 in the UK but is not the same mix as the current designated 'Official' 2007 re-master appearing on You Tube.[running time 3:24] which has a heavy tambourine in the right channel. The newly discovered LOST 45 version runs 3:17 with a different balance of instrumentation.
But the superb TAKE 6 of 'You Can't Hold On' is the third Master[Nr 62299] of this song that we have heard . There is the 'approved' MIX Bob Gaudio supplied [3:05] for the BOX SET and another MIX/version we found [2:56]. Maybe this is Mix 5 identified on the Artists Card for the album saved to Tapes P5084 and 5. This 'discovered' version varies from the approved version as it has less Vocal Backing overdub and Frankie's Vocal is different on the closing sections. It still works well because the alternate instrumental mix[particularly the sax] fits with a superb 'lead' vocal. TAKE 6 MIX 4 of this this superb song[running time [3:13]has a different Vocal Backing overdub and Frankie's Vocal 'lead' is different on the outro [falsetto chanting with the backing singers]. It works really well because of the alternate instrumental mix with another superb 'lead' and backing vocal. Definitely the 'best mix' of the three.
The Tape Index Card[Artists Card] shows the Stereo Mixes made and we have 3 to look forward to.
This research shows just how much we don't know of or have not heard from the surviving session tapes. I'd like to see these MIXES appear in the BOX SET but that depends on Snapper, Bob Gaudio, Frankie Valli and Universal agreeing with my research and analysis and doing the admin between them to formalise their inclusion. The tracks are salvaged and available. Time will tell if they do issue them.........but they will definitely be heard one day. They are just too good to not be enjoyed by all.
More soon on the rest of the Motown Tapes, mysteriously turning up in the FSP Tape Archives.
Ken Charmer – MBA – Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society Music Historian.
For new members of the Motown Unreleased Campaign Facebook Group and blog fans generally I wanted to let everyone know our progress and status as we head towards Easter. We have just finished our research to identify all the tracks we can to complete the Snapper Box set. Some still need licensing clearance, and then it is up to Bob Gaudio to approve the list for production. We have searched out all we can and of course as I have advised we have 13 superb Unreleased Motown tracks already approved .
The teamwork has been great. Overall we don't think we could have done much more. Several 45 tracks did not survive on tape from the 1960s but we have good quality original vinyl dubs in place to replace these. ALL the albums will be there and all the 60s albums in MONO and STEREO except for the 'Solo' and 'Timeless' albums.[which have only survived in their STEREO versions].....but the 45 released sides from them do exist in MONO. 'Genuine Imitation Life Gazette' has been found in MONO and was never released in this form, and as well as on CD it will be a 'vinyl' insert with full artwork as the original album 'gatefold'. So all NEW Digital Masters have been extracted from analogue Master Tapes and are being re-mastered to the highest standard by Reynolds Mastering. We have heard lots of the Master transfers to the sound engineer and the quality of Bill Inglot's transfers is top quality. The first sample RE-MASTERS from the Sound Engineer are better than we have ever heard and reviewed since 1988 [see our CD Discography] and [in my personal opinion – based on me digitising all the 45 MONO tracks since 2010] are the best digitally possible.
The Four Seasons Partnership Archives have been fully researched and along with our own discoveries from connected sources this is the best that can be done in 2020. Any other unreleased tracks that exist are in 'private' collections or Studio Libraries/Archives where tracks completed have not been sent[forwarded] to the Partnership. There could be some in the Vee-Jay[now Concord], Mercury [Philips] , Warner-Curb, Private Stock, MCA and Frankie's studio storage, but such research is beyond the scope and investment of this project and would require huge research. We do know of a few tracks that are lost there but locating them has been impossible. This is we believe as good as it can get. TV show recordings have been impossible to license within the time frame and budget and so none have been included. 3 Live shows from Sound Board recordings have however been included.
We are clear that ALL potential unreleased 'quality' recordings have been found and included except for the Motown Archive. As described above this is an archive owned by a major label [Universal in this case] and not by The Four Seasons Partnership. But this project was started because of the potential of this label's library and our 10 year research to identify completed work. Snapper's project investment has allowed the multi-track tapes to be supplied to Bob Gaudio for appraisal. He has approved and forwarded 13 tracks from a potential 30+ that we identified. Campaigning will continue for as long as we can to persuade Bob and Universal to eventually give us the rest.[but not in this set] But make no mistake about it , this 'album' of 'completed' Motown tracks is the 'jewel in the crown' in this set for all fans. It is fair for me to say I believe that this album of tracks is as good as the last 'Frankie Valli Unreleased ' set from 1975.....the 'Inside You' album which Motown released following the success of The Night' [in the UK] and the 'Who Loves You' album [Internationally].
The DANCE ERA single tracks from 1988 to 2007 are fully covered too and the 00's albums up to 2010 are included.
But our 'push' since 2009 has been to get a NEW set of Masters from the analogue tapes[including the MONO tracks] originally released in the 1960s on vinyl. This set achieves this and every effort has been made to ensure ALL UNIQUE 45 Mixes are included as bonus tracks to the respective albums. The total track list at the last count was around 780 and over 200 are Unique 45s, unreleased, alternative versions or live. The focus now is on getting as much approved and licensed as possible and no corners will be cut on quality. We are all committed to making this set as comprehensive as possible. This will be the NEW set of MASTERS and is as COMPLETE as possible.
We will advise further re the final list and production as and when we can, but patience is needed as the engineer creates 'new Masters' for the 21st Century, and a final release date will only be known as the 'final approvals' work allows. But we have reached the end of the research stage and all tracks are gathered and with the sound engineer. Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli will see that the combined efforts of fans and the Partnership have created the BEST EVER set in what is a LEGACY Collection. Now we will support the Sound Engineer through the 'quality control' stage of Re-Mastering. And given the teamwork on this set we had to agree with Snapper's decision on the title for the Box. It will be called “WORKING 'OUR' WAY BACK TO YOU”.
More when we have it.
Ken Charmer – MBA – The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society [founded in 1971]
Frankie will be coming back to the UK in July to do 5 shows:
Friday July 3rd - Royal Albert Hall - 7.30 p.m. Saturday July 4th - Royal Albert Hall - 7.30 p.m. Sunday July 5th - Royal Albert Hall - This date is an early show - show start 5pm Tuesday July 7th - Nottingham Motorpoint Arena – 8.00 p.m. Wednesday July 8th - Liverpool M&S Bank Arena – 8.00 p.m.
The 3 Royal Albert Hall shows in London will be with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Here are the links to order the front arena Fan Club tickets for the UK shows:
London - 3rd July Fan Club - https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13353471
London - 4th July Fan Club - https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13353473
London - 5th July Fan Club - https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13353476
Nottingham Fan Club - https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13353478
Liverpool Fan Club - https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13353480
He is also playing in Amsterdam on Friday 10 July at the Carre Theatre and details are available here: Carre Theatre, Amsterdam
Special fan club tickets at all the above events are available from the 26 February for the best seats - the link to order these tickets has also been sent out via email. Many thanks to Danny and Flick at Kennedy Street Enterprises and also to Kim Bloem and Esther Smit at Mojo in Holland for arranging these front row seats for the fans.
This is the fan-club presale link for Amsterdam – please click on the link below:
When we spoke with Frankie after the last show in Manchester he did tell us that he would like to come back to the UK to do say one or two nights at The Royal Albert Hall but did not want to do another "Arena" tour. So delighted he is coming back - he just can't stay away! I know he and Robby will love performing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
What a great year this is turning out to be for the fans with not only a tour by Frankie but the release later this year of the massive box set that we are working on with Snapper Records in London. This will include around 42 disks and will include some of the Motown unreleased material, which has been approved by Bob Gaudio, a vinyl copy of Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, a book full of rare memorabilia, posters, etc. Thanks to everyone for all the work they are doing on this fantastic project especially Ken Charmer and Ian Crockett and Bob Fisher.
It was and remains an iconic hit and stands proud as a Northern Soul dance floor filler. It was the last track played at Mr M's [the Oldies Room] at Wigan Casino on the night it closed and as a result of it's popularity across the clubs of North-West England in 1973 and 4 became a hit upon it's re-release in 1975 reaching No 7 in the UK charts........but not a lot is known about it's origin and history at Mowest and Motown Records and the neglect of Motown Execs in 1972 to release and promote it in the US.
What we have discovered from the Artists Card for the session tape is that between 1972 and 1975 at least 43 STEREO MIXES were made from the 16 track tape [P2110]. An amazing route to find the right mix for a hit!!!!
'THE NIGHT' was a session track recorded by Bob Gaudio [producer] with the Four Season in late 1971 and January 1972. The song was written by Bob Gaudio and Four Season member Al Ruzika and scheduled for release as mixes were prepared for album release. The group's first album at the newly formed West Coast LA Record Company 'MoWest'......a division of Motown records.
The first mixes were copied to a 16 track [safety copy] and 3 STEREO Mixes [all to - 'Temporary' - T tapes] with a further STEREO Mix on 1st February and a 'dub' cut the next day by Russ Terrana[the renowned Motown Sound Engineer] for evaluation.[Mixes 13-14] The 'Chameleon' album was assembled in the following months and released in May 1971. But on 6th and 7th June Russ created Mixes 15 to 21. Again on 8th July another engineer [B.Mac?] created Mixes 22 to 34 and then on 13th July Mixes 35 to 39. What was going on? Why did they do so many mixes when the track mix was complete and approved and had been released in May on the 'Chameleon' album?. What we do know is that the track was being considered for 45 release and a White Label acetate pressing was done as an evaluation copy Mowest 5025F[b/w Sun Country] in August but it was never released. It was probably a mix from these sessions but not deemed a 'hit sound' by Mowest executives in the USA. It was eventually released but came out only in the UK[and Europe] in October 1972 and although it never got promotion it would go on to become a much beloved dance track.
We did find that although Frankie and the group were about to leave the label [in frustration at the lack of releases and promotion] by mid 1974 an album was assembled on Tapes P5084 and 5 with final mixes for release. Mix 39 on 'The Night' Artists Card is circled as selected for that album which would never see release. What the Artists Card from Motown's paper records also show is that over a year after this prepared album, on 18th and 20th August 1975 Russ once again re-visited the 16 track P tape to produce Mixes 40 to 43. Of these Mixes 42 and 43 are shown as deleted or the tape destroyed. What was Russ Terrana trying to achieve.? We will probably never know.
So where can you currently find the versions available to hear from these 43 mixes today in 2020?
Well the original vinyl album version is preserved on The Night/Inside You CD. And the Anthology Box set of 2008. This features a mix of Organ Left/Tambourine Percussion Right and Frankie/Drums and Bass Centre. I’m calling this the ‘Tambourine’ Version[the original album mix]. This version has been Re-Mastered in 2007 and can be heard on You Tube. Some would say this is the definitive version and it does sound good. It is the Rhino Official version [Re-mastered in 2007] and was also included on the Rhino Rarities Vol 2 in 1992. It runs 3:26.
But You Tube also features an Alternate Mix with the Left and Right Channels reversed and a much stronger drumbeat . And no audible Tambourine and Frankie Valli sings the ‘Beware….etc’ opening[not The Four Seasons]. This runs 3:21 and not the 3:29 indicated but is it the European issue on Rare Earth from 1972 as the scan on the video shows.? We think not!
The 1975 UK Re-issue appears to be a NEW mix running 3:24 and the promo label shows a date of 27th March 1975 but it maybe just the UK 45 from August 1972 re-issued. We think this may be the 'needle drop' version on You Tube and it is the 'Tambourine' Mix which is the original.
So mix 40 or 41 and Russ Terrana’s 18th August 1975 notes on the Artists Card may well refer to the Alternate Mix featured on the 'Inside You' Album which was released in September 1975 [a month after his session mixes]in the US. This version also has the reversed channels, lacks the overdub of The Four Seasons warning to ‘Beware…etc’ nor does it have the Tambourine Percussion overdub, and it runs only 3:21. This 'Alternate' version appears on You Tube too and on the Anthology Box set CD2.
But we have ALSO found an Alternate 3:18 version [maybe a shorter fade] with Reverb on Frankie Valli’s lead in The Four Seasons Partnership Archive which is on a STEREO MIX Master Tape. This version is undated and is also missing The Four Seasons on the intro[Frankie Valli singing 'Beware....etc]. It appears to be the same 'Alternate' Mix included on the Motown Superstars Volume 4 CD [surprisingly running at 3:14] from 1991.
What ‘takes’ and STEREO mixes have survived 'unheard' on 16 track Tape P2110 of this 'monster' hit remains to be seen but at least the 29 P tapes from 1971 to 1974 covering all their sessions are now with Bob Gaudio and so they are preserved in the Partnership's control. And Snapper will get versions for Mastering in the forthcoming Box Set for 2020 release. According to the Artist Card the last note indicates the FINAL STEREO mix of 'The Night' sits on the much later than 1972, P Tape 4336, and that remains in the Universal Motown vault.
Any 'alternate' mixes ‘stand up’ as collectible as far as fans are concerned and maybe someday someone will research whether the T tapes that Russ Terrana mixed have survived and do a ‘Beach Boys Type’ collection of ALTERNATIVE STUDIO MASTERS for us collectors. Do the T tapes still exist in the Motown vault?. Only Andy Skurow, the Motown Library Manager could find them and Universal would only allow that if someone pays for the recovery search. The track remains the most mixed of any of the group’s efforts at Mowest/Motown according to Artists Cards and we can see and hear why. We'll probably never know the full story of these MIXES but this has been a fun music detective review of many peoples favourite Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons 45.
Ken Charmer – MBA : The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society
As fans anticipate the forthcoming release of 13 previously 'unreleased' tracks from the Motown period of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons career I can't help thinking of four fans who contributed so much to fandom over the last 45 years and who would have been so excited at what we are trying to achieve in the forthcoming Snapper Box Set. Whilst I can say 'I told you so!' re the titles that have turned up as superb and complete productions, these guys were out there trying to tell the story and get the music for the fans before me and I can't play the tracks coming out without wishing they were still with us to share the happiness.
Rex Woodard contributed greatly to 'The Work' which would provide the key information to allow Jersey Boys to be created and his Billboard Articles re the history of The Four Lovers and The Four Seasons up to and beyond Motown are important reference points today in their bibliography. He provided many News articles for George Ingram's bi-yearly Newsletters during the 1970s and 80s and was a sad loss in 1991.
Frank Rovello worked heroically as a USA fan club pioneer and webmaster of the GILG web site. A terrific reference source for Four Seasons fans from 1997 till his premature passing. He collated their story and documented group news since.
Stefan Wriedt in Germany collected and re-mastered all of the Frankie Valli/Four Lovers tracks for the Bear Records collection and The First Fantastic Years [1953 to 1961] CD as well as putting 21 of the 22 released Motown vinyl tracks on CD for the first time on The Night/Inside You CD.
But just as significantly for today...... Stuart Miller[Ex UK Four Seasons Fan Club President in 1971] started the search for the Motown 'Unreleased' with his 1972 Newsletter piece and his 1972 interview with Bob Gaudio. Here is an extract from a past blog post by me......re the interview.
'The most significant interview from the Motown period was by the late Stuart Miller who visited LA to interview Bob Gaudio on 14th September 1972. At the time the UK Mowest label was soon to be launched and Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons had recorded up to 30 tracks at the label and the US release of 'Walk On, Don't Look Back' had just happened. Stuart best remembers the situation in his CD note of the interview recording.
“But I remember mentally where I was at the time and I feel my instincts were right. The group had just taken a major step in signing to a label that at first glance was not a natural home to them. Their chart success had slackened off and they had deviated away from their regular style that had been so successful for them and had been "messing" with stuff like Genuine Imitation Life. I had before me the heart and driving force of the group and I was demanding answers! "What are you doing with my 4 Seasons and when will you start making records again that the public want to buy?" seemed to be the essence of my attitude. I felt I drove Bob on to the back foot so to speak and I thought he dealt with the lobs I was chucking at him with panache and style.“
The interview covers all aspects of how Bob Gaudio took the Four Seasons sound into Motown and how 'Chameleon'written largely during the UK tour was delayed by technical issues and the start-up problems that Mowest had, which resulted in poor promotion. Bob's relationship with Bob Crewe is starkly revealed as is Bob Gaudio's writing style. The conflict of the Four Seasons past and present sound is explored.
Bob said at the time that he believes that 'if you make good product....somewhere along the line someone's gonna buy it' and this stands out as a comment. [even more so today.as the Snapper Project gathers it..ed] At no time does he criticise Mowest nor does he accept claims that the 'Chameleon' album is un-commercial (a criticism some fans made)as at the time he believed there was no 'commercial' chart formula for pop music and fans needed to move on and accept a new sounding Four Seasons. But if not and 'Walk On Don't Look Back' is the re-worked Four Seasons sound fans want and buy then Bob was happy to get someone else producing their subsequent hit records. It was fascinating perspective.....but not one that came to pass.....the next 2 years would be a roller coaster at the label.
It was a clear crossroads.......and the Motown Tape Index for this time shows this as they explored change of style and sound at Mowest up to this date. It also gives an indication of the next year's events and the further exploration of musical directions.
But what changed after this interview is significant as this Snapper release will show. Michael Masser, Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe would go on in 1973 to produce some of the most stunning tracks of their time at the label. And this year we will see that all was not confusion at Motown in 1973 in terms of recordings......but they failed to release the quality material they had then even though some Motown Exec's clearly wanted to. They lost their relationship with the Partnership and Bob Crewe and THEY moved on.....leaving what is now becoming apparent are some amazing songs that fans are now going to hear.
As Stuart recalled...”Nevertheless, I was left with this marvelous timepiece in Season's history.“ ....and it has great significance now as I continue to campaign to hear the lost recordings.
What has happened since Stuart reviewed this interview is significant....and clearly JB changed everything. But looking at what remains unheard at Motown only makes any fan want to have the gaps in this part of the story filled in and the music published. It reinforces for me the importance of maintaining this group[ie the FB Campaign group] and it's objectives to achieve that.
The interview is a good listen for group members who share my interest in the 1971/72 recordings [and there remains much to uncover here] and Frank Rovello put the Interview on the GILG web site which was handed back to Frankie Valli's management upon Frank's passing. Unfortunately the subscription lapsed and all of the site and it's data was tragically lost.
Maybe I should salvage the Interview as a podcast and put it in our Facebook Campaign group sometime.?
So with only 13 more tracks and potentially 15+ still on the multi-track tapes which are now in Bob Gaudio's possession, you can guess what we will be asking for at the Box Set launch......more please Bob? Thank you Rex, Frank, Stuart and Stefan for helping us get here. The story is still unravelling. Ken Charmer
Pantelis John “Demetri” Callas June 7, 1942 – January 13, 2020
"For many Frederick residents of a certain age, January 13, 2020, will be remembered as “the day the music died.” On that day, Demetri Callas, Frederick’s very own rock star, succumbed to heart failure in Las Vegas, Nev. He was 77 years old. Demetri had valiantly fought off the ravages of Parkinson’s disease for the past few years. If anyone had a robust zest for life and the will to live, it was Demetri, whose exercise regimen and self-discipline gave him the body of a Greek god. But in the end, his weakened heart could not beat any longer".
Following Demetri's wishes, there will be no services to mark his passing. However, as you would expect, there has been an outpouring of love and appreciation for his extraordinary talent and unfailing kindness online and a Facebook page has been set up "Remembering Demetri Callas"
A Celebration of Demetri's Life - Sunday 9 February 2020
Troy Remsburg of Frederick, Maryland tells me The Shades Band who Demetri played with for years before finally moving to Vegas are planning a celebration of Demetri's life on Sunday 9 February at The Frederick Maryland Elks Ball Room starting at 1.30 p.m. eastern time and will go on until around 6.30 p.m. There will be a slide show of pictures and Demetri's daughter is going to sing a song that her and Demetri sang together at her wedding. The Shades band will perform with some special guests. Doing all his favorite songs and also his sisters favourite song by Frankie Valli "My Eyes Adored You". Everyone is welcome to attend. Further details here:
Troy has also posted some videos on the The Shades Facebook page of Demetri playing guitar with them when he was healthy and very much in a happy place:
Troy, you may recall, was the guy who set up the fund to help Demetri when he was diagnosed with Parkinsons and could no longer play guitar. Thank you Troy for everything you have done and are doing.
Messages and your memories of Demetri can also be added here:
Clay Jordan, who played with Demetri when he was with the Four Seasons, told me that he was deeply saddened by the news of Demetri's passing and will miss reminiscing with him.
Bill Bozeman told me that Demetri and he had always enjoyed getting together in Vegas and swapping guitar stories. They both agreed that Roland Janes’s guitar break on Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On” was a classic and perhaps even the best in RnR history. What they couldn’t agree on was whether he was playing a Gibson (Demetri’s opinion) or a Fender. Well fast forward a year and Bill is in Roland’s Memphis studio and tells him about the disagreement. They called Demetri right then in Vegas and Roland described how it was a modified Stratocaster. Apparently, Demetri recorded the conversation and always talked about how excited he was to talk to him!
One of my memories of Demetri which I will never forget was his impression of Frankie Valli at Raleigh in 2008 when he entered the room on his knees!! A warm, funny and larger than life character who made everyone laugh and who will be very much missed by everyone whose lives he touched.
Demetri always signed his emails “Luck and Love,” so in memory of Demetri,
Working hard at finding all the original Masters of the Four Seasons catalogue has been such fun, and not the least because I see these Masters as eventually replacing ALL the You Tube Official tracks and the future 'Streaming' playlists for the group for future generations.
If you want to understand how HITS are going to be an income stream over and over again just read this blog post about the industry leaders.
It is all about preservation for us collectors but for the industry it is about future income streams from streaming. Without doubt Frankie Valli has a few contenders to be 'streaming brands' in their own right. 'Sherry' and 'The Night' will be to us major contenders.
'The Night' remains our main contender as identified by Wikipedia here
This years Box Set will see a big re-juvenation in the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Catalogue, and we are working hard with Snapper Records to ensure the content is the best ever.
We know there were 34 Master mixes of 'The Night' done at Motown over the years since 1972.
We are searching out options and alternatives for the box set.
Very sad news that Demetri Callas passed away last night, 12 January 2020, at the nursing home where he was being looked after.
He had been ill for some time and his health had deteriorated quickly recently with him being confined to bed, unable move his arms or legs, and he had difficulty eating.
Bill DeLoach has asked me to thank everyone who forwarded get well wishes to Demetri and to let you know that Demetri loved the cards, photographs and letters that were sent to him.
We send our sincere condolences to Demetri's family and friends at this very sad time and especially to Bill DeLoach, Joe Long and Ed Kratzel who has been at Demetri's side throughout his illness.
We will let you know funeral details when they are available.
A larger than life character who will be very much missed by everyone whose lives he touched.
Thank you for the wonderful music and the memories. RIP.
Analyzing the full story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons catalogue is still impossible!! With only 2 Track Master Safety Copies in the Partnership vaults of their catalogue, it is apparent very little unreleased material has survived. But what has is more than we could have hoped for!!!!!. There may be multi-tracks lying discarded and forgotten in the Mercury/Warner/MCA and Curb vaults...but such is life and we can only celebrate what we have. So the Partnership Archive is our source for 2 track MONO/STEREO Masters. The only source where any Multi-Tracks appear to exist that we have been able to identify is in fact Universal Music – The Motown Tape Archive. Even though we have paper records that are accurate and comprehensive re the Multi-track Master Tapes in the Motown vault, there are still so many questions unanswered.
With only 22 tracks released following nearly 3 years at the label and paper records indicating another 30 unreleased Masters and several alternate takes and other session songs partially completed, it has been a hard task to assess the importance and quality of this period in Frankie Valli's career as well as that of the group sound.
But as another 13 Motown songs emerge as 'approved' by Bob Gaudio for the Snapper Box set it has become apparent that these 29 tapes are the only known 'treasure' of stored Multi-Track tapes that can be located of any of the groups sessions. …....ever!!!!! They represent a huge find in the history of this iconic group and a bounty for fans........if only Universal Motown and The Four Seasons Partnership would share the rest of the finds with us. Maybe if we keep asking someday we will be able too enjoy them.
We did our research this last 10 years accepting that there may only be a few songs of adequate quality to go in any CD release. As Motown themselves had 'trawled' the tapes for the 'Inside You' album in 1975 and at that time given us an exceptional addition to the their only released album whilst at the label in 'Chameleon'....that was it. Apart from the handful of non-album singles that make up the rest of the 22 released songs captured on CD for the first time in 2008 on The Motown Anthology set......what could be left?.....particularly when both Harry Weinger and Bob Gaudio said at the time that they accepted that anything left was 'unfinished demos' and Frankie Valli's lawyer said these were 'harmful to his career and out of key'. This has proved to be a total lie and the forthcoming release of the 'approved tracks' in the box set demonstrates it.
We thought we knew better given the 2 alternative tracks on the 2008 Anthology CD Set......and this has proved to be the case. Never before heard, the extended version of 'Charisma' and the alternative version of 'Listen To Yesterday' shows how 'spoilt for choice' Motown are in Frankie Valli vocal selections. His recordings are not always with the Four Seasons maybe, but many tracks were 'laid down' by him but never heard since.
Tape Research this last year has revealed that the Partnership Archive ALSO contains 'remnants' of those days at Motown in Safety Copies. But what is of most significance from these finds is the story of how the group could have stayed at the label with at least an album of completed quality material ready for release. Motown assembled an album of tracks for release in May 1974. Tapes P 5084 and 5 contain this 'un-named' album of completed songs. And 2 tracks 'The Night'[mix39 – out of 43. The rest are still there!!] and 'You Can't Hold On' were 'pulled' for potential 45 release in June 1974.
Now we have heard and know the full quality of this album we can also see how the re-union of Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio helped achieve superb material. Sessions together and as sole producers contributed to this set during sessions in 1973. And the hidden gem in this set is an alternative vocal ending version of 'My Eyes Adored You'. It is different to the one bought by Bob Crewe and subsequently released on Private Stock but in no way inferior. It is the Master lined up for release. If it had been Frankie would have been singing different lyrics since then......... But we are not getting that in the 13 approved for release with Universal Motown....... so as it was sold to The Partnership back then they can include it.........We have heard it now so it is in the box set too as a bonus track. And we won't stop asking for access to the rest of the known tapes and tracks.
We know that by 1974, the failure of promotion by Motown to push 'Hickory'[it barely broke the Billboard Top 100] had totally disenchanted Valli, Crewe and perhaps more so Gaudio who was driving towards new sounds and direction as the separate identities of The NEW Four Seasons and Frankie Valli 'solo' were beginning to emerge. Live shows and audience response was demonstrating the quality of the band. Bob Gaudio had a new writer/partner in Judy Parker. What was needed was the right material. New songs being written by Bob Gaudio with Judy and whilst registered at Berry Gordy's Jobete Music they would emerge at a new label and the well known story of them buying 'My Eyes Adored You' took Frankie Valli to a new 'Solo' career at Private Stock.
Motown were too late and had wasted several opportunities to generate hits during their contract and ignoring the output from sessions of great material remains inexcusable. They would get some financial success on the back of this 'walk-out' by Crewe and the Partnership as the re-issued 'The Night' soared into the UK chart on its re-release in 1975 [leading to the re-release of 'Chameleon' and the release of the 'Inside You' album] but as more quality tracks are now emerging the bad management at the label is ever more clear.
But as I said at the beginning we still can't capture the full story with at least 15 completed Masters of unreleased songs mainly from the MoWest period still unheard.We don't believe there is a lack of quality amongst this set.....it is just that we are unable to judge that YET? What will become apparent to fans with the forthcoming release is the superb quality of Crewe, Gaudio and Valli to deliver in the studio. 11 of the 13 approved songs are quite superb and a match for many that would follow at Private Stock with Frankie Valli. The Four Seasons feature[in various line-ups] on several tracks but the intense power of the NEW Four Seasons contribution[along with Nick Massi and Charles Calello] on the immense Crewe-Nolan songs 'Lovers' and 'Hymn to Her' [from December 1973] shows why Crewe and The Partnership wanted to buy more of the back catalogue from Motown at the end of their contract.
What we have achieved and will all get to hear is superb. The shame is that everyone involved has hidden this music from us [or even admitted it exists] for 45 years. As I said.....'it is all starting to unravel'.
Ken Charmer – The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society
Coming soon......The Story Of 'The Night' and its 43 Mixes
What an exciting year it has been and an absolute pleasure working with Ian Crockett at Snapper Records on the box set due for release around August 2020. This will include some of the Motown Unreleased which we have been trying to get out of the Motown Vaults for over 10 years. Massive thanks to Ken Charmer for his hard work, persistence and all the research he has done over many years which is now really paying off. Ian and Ken are working closely with Bob Gaudio and he has so far approved 13 of the 30+ Motown unreleased tracks to be included in the box set. He also tells us that there are unreleased songs from every decade so who knows perhaps there may be future CD's too of unreleased material. 2020 is going to be one of the most exciting times for Frankie Valli/Four Seasons fans and we can hardly wait for the release of what will be the best box set ever for the fans. Not only will it include around 40 CD's including some live shows but also a coffee table book full of rare photographs and memorabilia - many thanks to John Pingree who has been working with Snapper on this book - and lots of other surprises too! Oh What A Legacy it will be!
You can keep up to date with all the news on the Motown Unreleased here:
We would like to wish you all a very ‘Sherry Christmas’ or perhaps a very "Ginny Christmas" and a very happy and peaceful New Year from the Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society – Lynn Boleyn, Ken Charmer, George Ingram, Ray Nichol, and not forgetting Casey Chameleon.
Seasons Greetings and enjoy once again the "Four Seasons Christmas Album".
It's that time again when Lynn Boleyn and I wish our fan group friends Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year. We usually hope there will be something for fans to look forward to but this year looking forward is the most exciting since the hey-day of the fan clubs in the UK and the USA of the 1970s.
The forthcoming Box Set from Snapper Records is well into it's research and development stage as we help the team evaluate the exciting content that could be possible. Bill Inglot is steadily researching the Partnership vaults and sharing the contents with the team and we have been able to identify rare session out-takes and alternative versions. This process will develop through the New Year as we identify and propose every important Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons track that has survived from 1962 to 2010 for inclusion.
The vaults and other collectors archives will we believe ensure this is a 'Completist's Set'.
The 1960s in MONO and STEREO releases are going to be there.....and 'unreleased from every decade'.....is beginning to emerge. But our Campaign and aim was to get the Motown Unreleased from 1971 to 1974 and whilst only 13 of a potential 30 plus showing in paper records have been approved for release......this constitutes a whole album of material......and it is all worthy of release as our news over the holidays will describe.
This is definitely going to be a set for 'die-hard' collectors and we are doing all we can to make it the best set ever. What we can say is that the Re-Mastering of the 60s albums so far is superb and better than any previous CD issue to date[well all of those we've been able to check]. And the tracks WILL BE the authentic released Masters plus bonus tracks wherever we can find them. We'll keep monitoring and reporting as the project develops with the Snapper Team, who are closely liaising with Bob Gaudio, Bill Inglot and Universal Motown.
Follow our Facebook group The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign for regular updates as we dig deeper into the vaults. Classic LIVE material is also surfacing and we are hoping much of this will also gain approval.
News and articles here and on FB as we continue the research in more depth than ever before into potential content through into 2020, which is why I am saying this is the most exciting time for fans since 1975!!!!........for those who arrived on the planet after that year or who discovered the group more recently.......you are in for a treat. Enjoy the ride......and for us 'oldies'.....'Let's Ride Again'.
Back in 2011 I was writing blogs about a project my late friend and sound engineer Stefan Wriedt wanted to tackle as there seemed no prospect of a comprehensive review of the Four Seasons Partnesrhips vaults/archive. And rumours had been rife for years that the tape vaults are incomplete in terms of the Master Sessions Matrix Index which we've developed on our web site. Do the MONO mixes we all know still exist as since 1988 and the advent of CD the output has been largely STEREO, and often wide or poorly mastered tracks of the analogue to digital transfers.?
Our UK Fan group web site index covers all known Matrix Numbers of Masters from 1962 to 1971 and an Excel Spreadsheet of what is stored in the Motown Universal vaults, much of it still Unreleased.
Here is our blog post back then and the enthusiastic response from long term fans Colin and Zane at the time. We have in the last two years achieved an amazing break through and collaboration like never before. So revisit this and then see what we are now achieving below.
Of course at that time 'Jersey Boys' was still in full flow and the 'Jersey Beat' Box set in 2007 had been the Rhino attempt at a collectors package. It underwhelmed most of us although many of us were able to comment on our fave tracks in the Charles Alexander inspired 'mini-book'. The Motown Anthology set in 2008 was 90% based on released material but on CD for the first time 'officially'. We know the 'unreleased' is there and have proved it since.
So our project work has progressed since and although sadly we lost Stefan[and GILG web master Frank Rovello and ex UK Fan club President Stuart Miller] with the help of Paul Urbans and Ray Nichol I completed a fully re-mastered set of 45 MONO A and B sides from 1962 to 1970. It's not perfect re every 45 side[as some MONO sides are very difficult to find in prime condition.....and it did not cover the 'Valli SOLO' 45s], but it is still a good consistent 'reference set' of the MONO vinyl released versions. That reference set we said in 2015 would have to do until someone found the money and as a result time to research the Tape Archive and re-digitise the Master Tapes with todays technology.
Well today as I write........ that is happening for the first time [thanks to Snapper Records of London] with a full set of specialists at work to create the 'Ultimate' salvage from the surviving tapes. Bob, Frankie, Snapper Records and the UK fan group have committed to aim for the best set of recovered Masters of Frankie and the group ever. Bill Inglot, so much the archive researcher for Bob and Frankie over the decades has reviewed in depth what analogue tapes exist and what we are seeing we will get will be a full review and NEW Analogue/Digital transfers. Coupled with Reynolds Mastering working on new Re-Masters and with record industry renowned compiler Bob Fisher they are a full team targeting the highest quality possible. A circa 40 CD set has been proposed and contracts progressed and research and transfer have been happening through the last few months. New transfers re-mastered as the best 2020 digital Masters ever is the aim. The work will bring some amazing finds.......some we have said should be there and some completely new to us all are surfacing.
Results so far show we can at last say a MONO Master set will be possible of all album and non-album 45 tracks released in the vinyl format [ie 1962 to 1970] and the surviving STEREO mixes are revisited and tapes checked for alternate versions. But perhaps the best news is that the magnificent STEREO hits set produced by Bob Crewe from surviving Master tapes [Edizione D'Oro] has been found and will be fully presented on CD for the first time ever. And a surviving MONO Master of Genuine Imitation Life Gazette will appear as a vinyl insert. Photos/memorabilia and an historic book will complete this de-luxe set.
This is a big achievement and what fans have been asking for for years. Alternate Takes/Live tracks and previously unreleased tracks have been found and these will be reviewed and approved by Frankie and Bob where of adequate quality[re performance and sound quality]. The fan group team are assisting as and when needed. Our reference set of the MONO sides has been provided for comparison purpose. 90% of sources are pulled from the Partnership vaults and transferred and review and re-mastering is well underway.
The one thing that qualifies ANY Frankie Valli/Four Seasons collection is that nowhere in the archives are copies of 'session work or multi-tracks'[unlike the Beach Boys recordings]. The whole library consists of completed Masters.....either from album /45 or left-overs in some rare cases. All previously known tracks follow the listing of Matrix numbers found in our Masters Sessions listings on our web site as far as the Vee-Jay and Philips period goes and MONO and STEREO versions do exist of most tracks. Of course several MONO only tracks like 'Ronnie' were never mixed to STEREO after the session and 45 release.
So apart from what is there we suspect nothing else has survived .......unless fans and former record company employees out there tell us. ? Now is the time to speak up if such gems exist in hidden archives. We have discovered one or two salvaged from cassette and acetate......but whether these make it into the set we can't say at present.
This investment by Snapper is the most in-depth investigation with Bill Inglot of surviving Master analogue tapes ever. As Stefan and I concluded in 2011 it is long overdue! The result will we believe establish the most accurate and comprehensive collection of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons work in 21st Century sound.
A real 'collectors piece'
The tape search goes on......'Unreleased' have been found at Philips and Motown and review and quality assessment continues with Bob Gaudio, who is fully supporting these research stages and the final product. More feedback when we have it. Target release August 2020. London.
[Qualifying Note: This is an article based on discussions in the Steve Hoffmann Audio Forum and his view on his attempts at 're-mixing' Whilst his quote is obviously as he says......other comments are not accredited to members to protect their privacy. They are simply used to illustrate the alternative views.]
As I continue to sort of 'forensically'study the Four Seasons catalogue[sad music detective that I am!] and criticising how bad some of the past product has been I was struck bySteve Hoffman'spost recently regarding re-mixing. Back in 2009 I probably would have agreed with him.
“In the 1980s I was working on reissuing the third Mamas & Papas album "Deliver" and having a long distance admiration affair with Diana Reid Haig, my counterpart in Nashville. I was playing the music for her and told her in my opinion that it was about the worst stereo mix I had ever heard, ever! She agreed it was terrible. I said "What I wouldn't give to be able to remix this album so it sounded good but the multi-track tapes were destroyed by ABC so they could make room for Pat Boone tapes so it can't be done."
She said a surprising thing to me. She said, "Good, I'm glad you can't do it."
Why, I said? She stated:
"Because the original mix is the original mix, the published version, that's the only version that is legitimate. The only version that counts."
I said it was terrible! She said "That's the breaks! Anything else is just not right."
I scratched my head at this but I never forgot it. She told me that "my remixes, although sounding in better fidelity, were not real. Not authentic, not anything but an exercise in playing God. She said that if something out of the past sounds less than wonderful, then it sounds less than wonderful but the music comes through, and the vibe of the era comes through and the energy of creation and the authentic feel of the era comes through and to change that is basically to laugh in the face of all the people who worked on the music to begin with, and that includes the songwriters, musicians, producers, engineers and everyone else. You can't wipe that all away for the sake of a change in fidelity or to reveal a hidden lute or to make the Celeste louder. It's not legitimate.
Now, I didn't agree with her at the time, but her words totally stuck with me, even all these years later (obviously), and I began to change my tune (pun intended.)
Some engineers can claim "I can match the exact mix but with better fidelity or something."
They can't. I can't. I've tried for 30 years and it's not possible. It comes out as a new creation, enjoyable, but it's no longer the original album anymore and anyone who says it is, has never tried doing it.”
One of the problems with such mixes is that they have been re-issued and even streame in some cases and labelled as 'THE ORIGINAL'
Steve makes a good point here and that is why my late sound engineer friend Stefan Wriedt and I agreed back in 2009 that the Four Seasons 1960s catalogue[particularly 1962 to 1966] is largely in pretty poor to ordinary 'wide panned' STEREO fidelity. 'Authentic'….yes[but only where it matches the MONO].......but only the MONO delivers their great track with the full drive and impact as that is what was intended and what we heard on radio and our record players back then.
That was why we started the MONO Archive of every A and B side from 1962 to 1970. I completed it in 2016. It remains my fave playlist of their songs. I couldn't see anything other than the MONO Mix being 'the business'.Well it still is but there is another way of looking at it........there is a new mix full of detail to complement[not replace!] the old STEREO as I've said before.
Other forum members responded to Steve and an interesting conversation followed which again puts the Four Seasons 60s catalogue into context.
“The concept of stereo was foreign for about the first 10-12 years in pop music, at least until 1968. Even then, they made a lot of sloppy, slap-dash mixes that barely resemble what I'd call "acceptable, balanced stereo." In particular, the 2-track "vocals on one side/instruments on the other" are awful to listen to. There are actually cases where the mono mixes have a lot more power and are more enjoyable to a point.”
With no multi-tracks [which is the feed-back we have re the Four Seasons catalogue] the case for 're-mixing'the STEREO Masters was a limited argument even a couple of years ago. The MONO rules!!!!!........But there is an additional alternative as another response to Steve put it.....
“History respected, sure, but as long as you don't augment an original recording with re-recorded portions of the music, I don't see any issue with repositioning poorly done stereo mixes. Everybody knows that back then, recording hits was purely a financial thing. Time was spent recording the stuff and (if done on a multi track machine) the mixing to mono was more carefully paid attention to. Often, the stereo mix was almost an afterthought.”
“Most remix producers worth their salt attempts to remix poor stereo mixes to match the mono version as closely as possible. Most of the time, when faced with a 2-track sounding mix (vocals on one channel, etc.), the remix producer center the vocals more in tune with what most of us consider better sounding stereo mixing.”
Some respondents agreed that perhaps the best way forward is to have both....” to the point that I have been buying several Japanese reissues where they offer the mono AND stereo versions of the same album on one CD. Let's face it, back in the 1960s the majority of album (and virtually all singles) were envisioned and mixed to mono. The stereo versions where usually created by a different engineer and primarily to make an extra dollar from fans.”
“If you look at the Billboard summary of record sales in 1960 mono LPs outsold stereo 3 to 1..and remember people were in a stereo frenzy in those days wanting to count how many tweeters and bass speakers were in each enclosure. Even by 1966, Mono albums were still outselling stereo almost by 2 to 1. It was in a year or two later that Columbia eliminated mono product causing an industry wide action. So yes, I applaud anyone who reissues a mono original, especially many of the ones that have not been issued in the digital era.”
That is what we asked for from Snapper Records as they approached Bob Gaudio re the contents of the forthcoming BOX SET[see our previous blog posts] , covering all their albums and singles. ALL THE MONO please!
But today things have changed and I no longer fully agree with Steve Hoffman. The reason is simple.......TECHNOLOGY......well more importantly …...SOFTWARE. And I am not the only one. The latest users of Spectral Audio Extraction see it differently.
“Since I really like doing stereo conversions & remixing even more, I totally disagree with Steve Hoffman's new view of mixing. I just try to get the best possible stereo sound out of any song I work on & some may agree with this approach & some not which is fine with me. As I wrote in another post, I much prefer the lead vocals & bass always & drums usually in the center to more clearly hear the rest of the stereo image better on the sides IMO. Many stereo songs even back in the early 60s were mixed this way & I greatly enjoy those songs without any need for any remixing. However, the songs that had the vocals and/or bass on one side just sound so unbalanced to my ears & even more so as I have gotten older. Maybe this is an issue with me but I do know most older people over 60 have trouble hearing things that are not centrally located in real life which I think extends into the stereo world also. I notice a big positive change hearing vocals much clearer in the center instead of the sides just like bass & drums.”
It really isn't an age thing it is just the appreciation of a 'balanced sound-stage'
Digitally Extracted STEREO from any era MONO[or channel limited STEREO] can be brought to life in an unbelievable way as collectors of ERIC Record releases know.But you have to be careful that the engineer has produced a genuine DES mix with no 'artifacts'[eg wandering vocals between channels/ghost harmonies etc]
I've also featured some samples in earlier blog posts by a top DES engineer and the case for creation of NEW STEREO creations from MONO only releases is such a no-brainer as NO STEREO version exists. Here is one set of great sounding examples.which are perhaps 'what the producer would have done today'.
It is not a case that there is a 'Best Mix'.There is room for all three mixes in our lives[MONO/Authentic STEREO/NEW DES]. I will be tackling getting this done for us Seasons fans as we continue our research. But ultimately fans want every chance to hear the detail of the recorded mixes........in both STEREO and MONO. And with todays software they can have it. But it is simply a case of a skilled engineer spending the time and developing the detail of the recording.
It is an interesteing debate and we will continue to develop DES STEREO versions of the Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Catalogue to complement the ORIGINAL MONO and STEREO versions. All valid 'Best Mix' contenders.
It seems amazing to see the Four Seasons UK Fan Club still exists in 2019!!! Well really it is now a social media fan group, but with a web site full of the data we have assembled and published. We've been posting blogs about the groups career and back story since 2006 in Casey's 'Chameleon' blogand post 2011 'That 'Four Seasons' Sound blog.And it is amazing how much we have covered. So we go again!
We've had over a year now to contemplate the arrival next year from Snapper Records of London of a 40+ box set.
Well it is one of the least important things in life, but nonetheless we've achieved somethings that wouldn't have happened perhaps if we hadn't called for a properly re-mastered and presented career set and unreleased tracks on behalf of fans. This box set is one of the results of our efforts. As with most artists who own most of their back catalogue the Partnership and Rhino/Curb/ACE etc have always been thinking of timing of projects to persuade fans to part with their hard-earned money.......just as Vee-Jay/Philips/Warner/Private Stock et al did back in the days of vinyl.
To newer fans this will maybe sound strange but some of us have dozens of albums and CD's of every Frankie Valli/Four Seasons song ever!!!!!. So to strange people like us we needed something that would show us that this Box Set may definitely be the most important release ever.
So when London based Snapper Records told us their plans for a career spanning box set based on their 'brand' and quality presentation of the Four Seasons catalogue we were understandably interested......and when they said Bob Gaudio was enthusiastic about it they got our attention. A meeting in London revealed the plans were to include in a career spanning box set 40 + albums a large portion of unreleased.....and 'what did we want included?'they asked.
Lynn Boleyn and I in unison said the 'Motown Unreleased'!
You have to remember that both Bob Gaudio and Harry Weinger of Universal Motown stated back in 2008 that there weren't any unreleased'completed'Motown tracks . And imagine our surprise when Snapper announced that Bob Gaudio 'had unreleased tracks from every decade'. And he was prepared to release them.......well what a surprise and so by then we were getting excited!!.
Over the last 10 years we have researched and demonstrated a potential 30 to 40 Motown Unreleased tracks in paper records as 16 track or Stereo versions in the NYC vault[from their 1971 to 1974 contract with the label] . So the Motown Unreleased Campaign I[Ken Charmer] started 2 and a half years ago has made all this data available and this has been shared with the Partnership and Snapper. And we have posted You Tube videos of some of these songs [from demo acetate/tape] demonstrating this fact. The aim was to show that 'yes...it did still exist....and should be preserved ...and released'.
Well whether that exercise has been completed in depth and all 16 track tapes researched we do not know but we hear that only 14 tracks have been 'approved'by Bob Gaudio. Lynn Boleyn and I are extremely disappointed and it would be easy to be negative re the current proposals for the Box Set.
In response to our disappointment Snapper's Ian Crocket responded....“I must stress that with respect , your fellow Four Seasons collectors will not be familiar with the sets we produce. Nobody is producing box sets to the size quality and standard that we do and what must not be forgotten is the amount of additional content that is included (coffee table book, signature, vinyl, memorabilia etc). In my experience when fans eventually receive their purchase through the post they are generally blown away by the weight and size which is reflected in the comments on line. Whilst the unreleased Motown is key it is not the be all and end all, and we must not lose sight that this is a career retrospective.”
So after careful consideration we agreed on the following joint statement on behalf of the fans......”It is great that Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli are on board and that Bob has already approved 14 unreleased Motown tracks for inclusion along with two live show recordings. We hope that Snapper will be encouraging Bob to agree to further unreleased Motown tracks being included and also unreleased tracks from every era where we have been informed by Bob there are also unreleased tracks. We appreciate that Ian is working hard to make this box set a huge success and the more unreleased tracks that can be included the better.’
Notwithstanding the status of the catalogue in terms of career spanning material there remains no comprehensive set available and so such a compilation may be deemed value for money for some. Since 1988 and the real advent of CD [according to my count on George Ingram's US CD discography] there have been.....
33 plus Hits or Compilations of selected tracks on CD or Box Set
26 individual albums or 2fer CD sets
1 original album of new tracks
1 album of retrospective songs[Covers]
1 Christmas album of new recordings
1 Classic albums Box Set[FV/Four Seasons]incomplete career wise
1 Classic albums Box Set Frankie Valli Solo] incomplete career wise
Snapper said re this planned collection.......”I’m confident we will also have a disc of Partnership unreleased/alt takes as well as the 2 live performances [Bachelors 3 and Lucifer's] the 2 unreleased BBC tracks and the MONO vinyl, the books are also going to be very well received if previous experiences are anything to go by. Obviously we are still going to strive to make this the best Four Seasons release ever and with the content we already have I’m confident we are well on the way.”
So as we await with interest what comes together we will continue to review our research re the catalogue and in particular the Motown Period and the sessions that resulted in both superb releases and the 'unreleased' we have so long campaigned to hear. We do hope there will be more..and we get detailed feedback.....and so re the known 'unreleased' tracks completed at Motown? The campaign goes on.
2007 saw Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons 'storm' the house scene of Europe's dance floors with a song re-mixed from a minor 1966 hit by the group.
They have given us 4 decades of classic 'dance ' tracks. This is a little known or 'respected' set of music that Bob Gaudio is responsible for which should be reviewed and appreciated not only for the songs and production but also in the context of the group's and Frankie's long-term connection with 'DANCE' music........but firstly let's review the early history and their iconic place in DANCE music history.
From the very beginning THE FOUR SEASONS were not regarded for their 'dance' songs. OK 'Sherry' is urging teens to 'c'mon to my Twist Party' but nothing in the early to mid-sixties in their catalogue was focused on 'dance'. The group never turned to a 'dance' like 'The Jerk'
But with the Merseybeat era and the rise of Tamla-Motown in the UK, by 1965, the MOD Dance culture was being created in the UK[click the link]. Motown couldn't be ignored and Charles Calello has admitted the group's recordings in 1965 were mimicking the Motown Sound whilst not being able to create copies of it. 'Let's Hang On' was their best example.....and maybe 'Opus 17' in 1966.
But one track would cement their 'DANCE' reputation and it would be the UK that achieved that. The 1966 Frankie Valli 'solo' UK release of 'You're Ready Now' was a little known or remembered 45 when it surfaced at the Twisted Wheel club in Manchester in 1968 and became a 'dance floor' classic for the emerging Northern Soul Club scene. It even prompted the group to visit the UK for only the second time in their career to promote it's UK re-release with a national tour. It entered the UK charts rising to Nr 11[1970]
But the group by this time had faded to be an 'oldies' band and rock was dominant as the teen era faded into the 70s when DISCO was to become the mainstream music 'dance' craze. Before this happened however the Northern Soul club following grew strongly via North-West England clubs like The Torch in Stoke and Wigan Casino. By 1973 'I'm Gonna Change' from their NEW GOLD HITS 1967 album was 'bootlegged' on to a false SMASH label 45 with 'You're Ready Now'. These tracks today regularly feature on the still popular Northern Soul CD compilations and at evening and 'weekender' events.
But in the early 1970s the group was in disarray at Mowest/Motown and had no target dance market when 'THE NIGHT' was dropped as a 45 release in the US. It seems that 'dance' music was a UK thing!.
But following it's [only]45 release in the UK 'THE NIGHT'in October 1972 received constant play at the Northern Soul venues and by 1975 Motown UK had to see the demand and re-release it. It rose to Nr 7 in the UK charts ….just as.....the NEW Four Seasons were signed to Warner-Curb and released 'Who Loves You?'. This was a ground-breaking disco based style and took the world by storm. Their next 'dance classic' hit Nr 1 world wide as we all know and'December '63' Oh What A Night'would be their definitive 'DANCE' track for the next decades. Frankie Valli would claim'Swearin' To God'was a club classic in 1975 as he firmly entered the burgeoning DISCO market and he followed that with great 'dance tracks on his several 'solo' album tracks during the latter half of the 70s culminating in his last Nr 1 record in 'Grease'.
The demise of the group and Valli as mainstream artists would last several years following Bob Crewe's failure to keep the DISCO scene alive with the 'Heaven Above Me'album and his subsequent retirement from the music scene.
But with Bob Gaudio trying to help Frankie Valli re-establish a 'new' Four Seasons line-up with an album deal with MCA a new mix of ballad and 'dance' tracks would focus on the emerging 'dance' mix based on digital recording and drum machines. Streetfighter'album hit this scene straight on and 'Book Of Love'was the first single, catching the ear of radio audiences in the UK it was bubbling under on the BBC Chart and a UK visit to promote it was planned until Middle-East threats to bomb London caused it's cancelation and the single/12inch and album 'died'.
The album had pedigree as William Ruhlann covers at Allmusic....The primary creative force on the album, in fact, was Sandy Linzer, who had written old hits like "Dawn (Go Away)" and "Working My Way Back to You." He contributed to five of the album's eight tracks and also served as primary producer. As a result, the title song was an identifiable work of tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold sentiments in the mould of earlier Four Seasonsrecords, even if it sounded like it would have fit right in on the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop. The old doo wop hit "Book of Love" was transformed into something that could have been performed by Toni Basil of "Mickey" fame, but it was still "Book of Love." And when things slowed down toward the end of the disc, Linzer and his co-writer, Irwin Levine, provided a moving adult contemporary ballad in "Once Inside a Woman's Heart." Unfortunately, unlike the '70s, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons were not able to mount another comeback with Streetfighter in 1985, and it was back to singing the hits on the oldies circuit.
But CD had surfaced as the NEW playing medium and would go on to subsume vinyl and CD and Techno DANCE music was on the 'up' by 1988.
This would herald the start of a Dance Era for Frankie and his 'still together' group of the early 1980s. The success of 'Dirty Dancing' – The Movie would re-introduce the Four Seasons to audiences and the re-interest in 'Big Girl's Don't Cry'from it's opening scenes persuaded Bob Gaudio and Tony D'Amico to decide to test the interest in the vogue of 'RE-MIXES'. [The 7” version would reach Nr 91 in the UK Charts in October 1988]. A 12” of the original with 'Dirty Dancing' Rap comprised....The Four Seasons Big Girls Don't Cry UK 12" vinyl single (12 inch record / Maxi-single)
1. Big Girls Don't Cry - Club Mix 5:17 2. Big Girls Don't Cry - Original Version 2:25 3. Big Girls Don't Cry/Dirty Dancing Rap 5:07 4. Big Girls Don't Cry - Enhanced Original Mix 2:24
Then........... Re-mixes of'Who Loves You' and 'Oh What A Night - (December 1963)[The 7” reached Nr 49 in the UK Charts in October 1988] emerged on CD Single[EP] Br Music CDS 277 in Europe to much acclaim on the 'dance scene' with a Ben Leibrand 'mix' of 'Who Loves You'…..giving a whole new perspective on the group's 1970s sound.
Br Music CDS 277
Oh What A Night (December, 1963) (Summer '88 Re-Mix) 3:32
Oh What A Night (December, 1963) (Summer '88 12" Re-Mix) 6:17
Oh What A Night (December, 1963) (Original Single Version '76) 3:32
Oh What A Night (December, 1963) (Summer '88 Instrumental Re-Mix) 3:43
Br Music CDS 278
Who Loves You (Single Re-Mix '88 – Ben Liebrand) 4:06
Who Loves You (12" Re-Mix '88 – Ben Librand) 7:21
Who Loves You (Original Version '75) 4:16
Who Loves You (Instrumental) 4:10
BMC Records joined in with their own MAXI single featuring the legendary DJ/Re-mixer Ben Liebrand's tracks
HITS! DIGITALLY ENHANCED would emerge at the end of the year capturing on album CD selections of these tracks ”A CD produced by Turner Di Sentri [Bob Gaudio] and re-mixed by Anthony D’Amico. ‘Enhanced’ here seems to mean ‘digital stereo’ re-masters of the several hits including Big Girls Don’t Cry from the film ‘Dirty Dancing’ and the Dirty Dancing rap version. Special mixes of Gypsy Woman (previously unreleased version of the Impressions song),Book Of Love re-mixed by Tony D’Amico and December 63 and Who Loves You produced by Bob Gaudio and re-mixed by Ben Liebrand”. The CD would be re-issued in February 1991 in Europe Curb D2-77304 and in the UK a selection on CD Single from the CD would attract reasonable sales.......as all their old 60s albums rolled off the production lines in an ever expanding CD market.
But the hits 'recycling' continued through 1990 with Rhino publishing 20 Greatest Hits and all the 60s albums before Curb re-issued HITS, Digitally Enhanced in January 1991[CurbMC (D4-77304); CD (D2-77304)] but with different play times and without the DD Rap version of BGDC. Curious indeed.!
It was a time for replacement of vinyl with CD versions of the past albums but catching the Dance Mixes of the day and cashing in on the'Who Loves You'and 'December 1963'Re-Mixes was proving addictive. These re-mixes had certainly inspired Bob Gaudio and brought a degree of success so when a collection of NEW songs was produced in the studio it was intended to develop this sound and success.
So when 'Hope And Glory' emerged in August 1992 [Curb CD (D2-77546); MC (R4-77546)]it was a FOUR SEASONSalbum but clearly Valli and the group enhanced by much extra vocal harmony additions. A mixture of up-tempo and ballads and it is anecdotal that Valli disliked it and wouldn't promote it[according to discussions between Valli and fans]. It's roots as William Ruhlmann states in Allmusic reviews. Are in the then current charts.....” In the early '90s, popular vocal groups such as Color Me Badd and Boyz II Men hewed to the sounds of hip-hop and new jack swing, and Gaudioand Vallilistened carefully. They also wanted to create music that could sit comfortably on the radio among the songs of adult contemporary stars like Richard Marx, Amy Grant, and Michael Bolton. That meant that Hope + Glory was an album of melodic but highly synthesized pop with the kind of musical touches that would give it a contemporary twist, even down to the brief rap (not by Valli) that appeared on "Just the Way You Make Love." Gaudio and Valli succeeded in creating music that plausibly might have resulted in yet another in their long line of Four Seasonshits, but as with their previous effort, 1985's Streetfighter, it turned out not to be enough just to sound like the hits of the day, and Hope + Glory was not a success.”
Well for a start it was a badly mastered CD with muddy mixes burying Valli's vocal and his voice was not good on the ballads[once his 'forte']. Also the Stereo Mix was not good. And to some extent some long-termfans couldn't take to it.
Other artists on Curb where doing well and there was some fall-out between Warner and Curb Records at the time. So the album was NEVER released in the UK[always one of the groups strongest markets] and on their first UK tour in 12 years they never performed ANY of the tracks and there is no evidence that they ever did do any 'live'.
But if Valli hated it so much and the tracks were not up to calibre why in July 1993 did Curb select the up-tempo songs, team them up with the late 1980s Who Loves You and December 1963 and Re-Mix these into THE DANCE ALBUM [Curb CD (D2-77634); MC (D4-77634)]?.....(The naked I/Learn how to say goodbye/Love has a mind of its own/Help me to believe in you/Book of love/You and your heart so blue/State of my heart/December 1963/Who loves you)?
By comparison with Hope and Glorythis was a revelation with a continuous and highly infectious set of good sounding and extended dance re-mixes. It passed almost unseen until December 1963was re-mixed again and became a Dance Floor Hit. Again at Allmusic we get a somewhat disparaging review......”In 1994, a remix of the Four Seasons' 1975-1976 number one song "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" returned it to the pop chart, peaking in the Top 20. Taken together, its two 27-week chart runs gave it the longest tenure ever on the Billboard Hot 100. To take advantage of the song's renewed popularity, Curb Records, the group's label, assembled this remix album of tracks from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. The disc begins with the 1994 remix of "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" done by Ben Leibrand and ends with an earlier revision, the 1988 remix of the song that hit the British charts that year and was done by Les Adams. Adams' version of "Learn How to Say Goodbye," a song from the 1992 album Hope + Glory, is also included, as well as Nigel Wright's mixes of that song, "The Naked I," "Love Has a Mind of Its Own," "Fly Like an Eagle" (a retitled version of a tune previously called "State of My Heart"), and "You and Your Heart So Blue" from Hope + Glory; "The Book of Love" from the 1985 album Streetfighter; and the hits "Who Loves You" and "Silver Star" from the 1975 album Who Loves You. This is certainly not an album intended for the Four Seasons' '60s fans. The group has maintained throughout its career a commitment to keeping musically current, whether that meant mentioning the Twist in its first hit, "Sherry," or taking on disco in the '70s hits. This album is full of '90s electro-pop, and the hope clearly is that the Four Seasons can extend the second honeymoon enjoyed by "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" with more dance hits, even though that doesn't seem likely to happen.”
Curb reacted with in 1995 the CD release....OH WHAT A NIGHTCurb CD (D2-77693/77693-2); MC (D4-77693/77693-4)[24/01/95] featuring (Dec 1963/The naked I/Book of love/Love has a mind of its own/Learn how to say goodbye/Fly like an eagle/You and your heart so blue/Who loves you/Silver star/Learn how to say goodbye-Euromix version/Dec 1963-Euromix version) "Fly like an eagle" is the same as "State of my heart" (alternative title)
Bob Gaudio was certainly changing with the times and allowing others to play with his music to great effect........but this doesn't detract in any way from the originals to many fans who were just glad to see them back in the charts.
Notwithstanding the limitations of the 're-mix phenomena'.......this would not be the end as although no releases followed during the next decade[and we know Bob Gaudio has other up-tempo songs unreleased. [as he told Stuart Miller this in a 2002 interview.]
The 2007 House Music scene exploded with the European Re-issue of the 1967 version of 'Beggin' Re-mixed by Pilooski to become a monster dance floor hit with this crazy series of issues in the UK [and Europe]
Beggin’ 12" promo(Pilooski Edit 5:35) No. SAM 01251 679 Recordings with Beggin' stamped in black over the white label; blank reverse side [ 5/07]
Promotional CD single – Not for resale, stereo No. SAM01252 (Tracks: Beggin’ [Pilooski Radio Edit] 3:31/Beggin’ [PilooskiRe-Edit]5:32)
Promo one track CD single Frankie Valli and Four Seasons Beggin’ (Pilooski Radio Edit) 3:31 Beggin’ (Pilooski Edit) 5:35 [6/07] [6/07] [6/07]
Promo one track CD single Frankie Valli and Four Seasons Beggin’ 679 Recordings Label 7" vinyl 45 rpm single No. 679L146/CD single 679L146CD [7/07] (32) & no. 1 on Dance Chart. (A side: Beggin' Pilooski [Re-Edit] Radio Edit 3:34;B side: Beggin' Original version 2:49) 12"vinyl 45 rpm single No. 679L146T (A side: Beggin' Pilooski [Re-Edit] 5:35;B side: Beggin' [Speaker Killer Remix] 5:26; Who Loves You Original version 4:09) Beggin’ re-entry into charts reaching no. 122 [8/08] Beggin’ 679 Recordings Label CDsingle No. 679L146CD re-entry into chart Beggin’ re-entry again in UK Non-Top 100 Chart entries at no. 131 [6/10]. And OH WHAT A NIGHTCurb CD was a CDre-issue on 06/05/08 .Pilooski's Re-Edit of 'THE NIGHT'also found a CD home and a good following although the classic original mix still stars on the Northern Soul dance Floors and this version for many fans and 'soulies' remains an 'aberration'.[sic...a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected, typically an unwelcome one.
Although the Madcon [the Norwegian hip-hop group] version of this song would become a huge hit version with 35 MILLION You Tube watches.......whose version topped the charts in Norway, France, the Netherlands and part of Belgium.......the Four Seasons Pilooski Mix remains the definitive DANCE MIX. The full story of Beggin' is found on Wikipedia.
The DANCE ERA for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons was established and spanned the 70s to the 00s. It is an amazing record of quality and longevity. Fans from the 60s may not have been able to live with this closing 2 decades of re-mixes....and collecting them all has been near impossible.
No doubt Bob Gaudio will summarise the period in the forthcoming Box Set with Snapper but that is not an easy task without much repetition 'on the re-mix theme'??? [How many versions/variations on 'Oh What A Night' can any fan take.?]
I'll leave you with one of my favourites from this period.....the DANCE ALBUM version of THE NAKED I..........'the 'Four Seasons', Jim, but not as we know them!!' to plagiarise Scotty from Star Trek.
Ken Charmer – Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society August 2019
Back in 2009 German Sound Engineer Stefan Wriedt and I started a discography and review of all the CD issues of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons to identify the 'best mixes'. Anecdotal evidence showed that only STEREO mixes of most of the 60s material exists in WIDE STEREO– Instruments[Hard Left] : Harmonies[Hard Right] and Frankie centre.What we have is better than nothing in STEREO....and in some cases we only have the MONO. But thank God we have that......BUT this is the way it would be mixed today.
In 2009 we spent two years completing that discography[here]bemoaning the loss of multi-track Masters since the 60s and blaming bad engineers and poor re-mastering. And so we turned to the MONO mixes as obviously there we found balance in the sound and a structure that made it easy for us to say.......'this is the way producer Bob Crewe meant them to sound'. But NOT available as MONO albums and singles on CD.
It took nearly 5 years to collect and re-master all the MONO 45 mixes in our MONO Archive as we believed many may not exist as they have 'never' as a collection been released on CD. MONO has just not been the 'realm' of CD Re-issues for Frankie and the group. And we weren't alone in this as posts on The Steve Hoffman Forum' discussing all things sound and masters shows.
Yes the MONO mixes are fine with great instrumentation and harmonies gathered around Frankie's vocal......like most of the music we bought and grew up with during the 60s. Lots of great songs in punchy MONO sound.
I recently returned to that theme in a piece I wrote on this blog [post Stefan's passing] re-quoting earlier comments as we look forward to 'new transfers' from the Four Seasons Partnership to Snapper Records of London for their planned 40 album box set.
Speaking to Charlie Calello over the last two years I've been haunted by his comment that......'you are not hearing it like we heard it in the studio'. I brushed this off by saying that as Bob Crewe was 'engineering' MONO mixes then that was the way it should be....and those MONO mixes re-mastered in our MONO Archive sound great.
In the early 60s STEREO was a novelty release left to the Engineers....giving us the wide and entirely separated STEREO we've had to date.
But I met a man recently who showed me how all I've been thinking was wrong.
What we have had to date is all down to one thing......'Technology'. 1960s technology.
Bob Crewe used it like a musical instrument.....constructing instrumental and harmony backings using just 3 and 4 track recording equipment [upto 1966] and 'bouncing' tracks down to finish with the best structure for release. One track of instruments/one track of harmony/one lead vocal[sometimes double tracked]. The recording technology of the day and the 45 format and market dictated it for him as much as it did for the Beatles and every other artist of the day. The 'limits' of 'technology'! And that is what is around today and subject to some tweaking and'panning' is what we will get in this 2020 box set when it comes to STEREO. At least the plan to include the MONO mixes will give us the 'balanced' mix, which still sounds great.
But it wont be that way looking into the future. The recent Digitally Extracted STEREO[DES] creations I wrote about previously on this blog have been a revelation. Here's why DES is the future.
I realised how today's DES software with the skills of the engineer can 'uniquely' create completely NEW and aesthetically pleasing alternatives to even the best STEREO mixes from Vee-Jay and Philips STEREO Masters like not possible any other way. I realised that Bob Crewe and the group were forced to 'push'all the great instrumentation in Charlie Calello's arrangements into one channel[Left] leaving just occasional harmony backing [Right] with Frankie's vocal[Centre] so there is a lack of balance in the sound stage. The attraction of the MONO has been that at least everything is 'together'and although some would argue 'it was designed that way'…...that isn't true.......it is really just the result of the technology of the day and the constraints of the MONO 45 and it's market.
This'eureka'moment for me arrived when I realised how, in a working sample of 'Everybody Knows My Name'. the engineer was able to change the STEREO mix by placing the instruments across the sound stage so that you could hear each one. The great 'rolling' [Dylanesque?]rhythm track which was originally compressed to the left...in the DES version became a spread of the instruments across the 2 channels and brought the whole song to life like never before in any 'published' mix.
DES is getting an ever growing audience as others realise this is the only way to 'salvage' the sound of the 60s from the MONO or [limited]STEREO we have surviving from those days . Digital extraction of instruments individually and vocal elements generates a'multi-track'and allows engineers today to do what Bob Gaudio, Charlie Callelo and the group would do today with their mixes....create a balanced 'sound-stage'..as I said....it is all down to 'Technology'and we have come full circle.
Our next project is to select and persuade DES engineers and an enlightened Record Company to help recreate the TRUE 'studio' sound. But for us this is NOT a commercial venture someone else can use it to make money and build their record company. The engineers we know of do it mainly out of 'love' of the music and a commitment to preservation. Each track takes days of work of extraction. But the body of completed DES work is ever increasing on You Tube and at ERIC Records web-site.
Can a NEW set of Four Seasons Recordings be created like never before heard.......like...”what we heard in the studio” as Bob Gaudio, Frankie Valli and Charlie Callelo would say? More re the arguments for and against soon.
In researching Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons period at Mowest/Motown 1971/74 it might have been helpful to know sound engineers who either worked at the label or know the recording process from those times or are familiar with the tapes like Russ Terranawhose initials appear on some as the mixing engineer. One note shows up to 43 STEREO mix-downs by him of 'The Night' between 1972 and 1975.
So why are these cards so important now in 2019 and what can they tell us?
Well they reveal a raft of information re unreleased but completed tracks that indicates their existence and location.
When Motown moved to LA from Detroit in 1970 they adopted a different system for recording, storing and releasing recordings.
This was the Motown 60000 series of Master Numbers and this can be seen here.
These Master numbers appear on the released 45 as seen in the Cat45 listing above.
As fans we have tried to analyse the approach to session and recording management and decode some of the data records from the time based on the Analogue Tape Index and the Artists Cards.
What I believe happened was that studio sessions that resulted in a completed 16 track song generated a Master Nr [for example 60516 – Walk On Don't Look Back].
An Artists Card was produced[a simple card index] which showed the Title/Artist/Producer/Master Number/ Tape Number. The Tape Number [1stLocation] was a 4 digit code preceded by a predominantly P[Production Tape] or T[Temporary/Safety-Evaluation Copy]. Example Tape P2110 – The Night. Notes exist of mixes and dubs made and stored on many T Tapes.
The relationship with P and T Tapes has to some extent been clarified. I have a listing from the Tape Index relating to the P Tapes. These are the main Production Tapes with up to 16 tracks in sync from sessions. The big question is was a vocal lead laid down. Only playing the tapes will reveal this as tape boxes do not always reveal the accurate contents. STEREO mix-downs should also exists as these are the final Production versions for Evaluation through the Quality Assessment process meetings. There are famous stories re these reviews and evidence from Motown TCB Newsletters indicate unreleased completed tracks by the group were being assessed in January 1972 for possible single and album release. Several songs listed there appeared on the 'Chameleon'. Several have never been heard since. T tape copies existed of many tracks indicating they were completed as STEREO mix-downs. Some remain as 16 track and have never been played back since.. Research to find if these still exist but this research exercise hasn't extended to them at this point in time.
The Artists Cards were subsequently used to note transfers and copies as they are made [They are generally to T tapes but sometimes P tapes ] and this shows their locations[Master Mix/Remix] and 'Dub Cuts'.
Codes [in the Comments column] are hand written or typed and these need translation..They include.......
1. 16tRhy – which I assume is a 16 track copy
2. 02tsmx – which I assume is a stereo mix
3. SR6smx – which is a mystery but likely to be a type of stereo mix
The above Example is of an Artists Card which shows a track we found on cassette salvaged from the session, proving it existed. The track has been shared in our Facebook group.The Master Nr [not noted here] is in fact 60752 confirmed by other Motown Spreadsheets.
Sometimes there are references to the alternate 'Take' Numbers which in the case of The Night number 43.[The biggest hit.....by 1975 and the highest number of STEREO mixes made on the catalogue of the group at Motown]. Occasionally dates are shown and engineers initials. RT is probably Russ Terrana but others are a mystery. [The details behind this tracks production and surviving versions we hope to feature in the next year]
Some notes indicate that copies have been made to 'New Album' P Tapes clearly for pre-release.The Transfered/Temporay Tapes [T tapes] should be evaluated with reference to these Cards to identify copies [if necessay – should the completed tracks/mixes not appear on the Production Tapes]. Collating the Artists Cards with a Tape Index has shown over 30 tracks with Master Numbers by Frankie and the group that have never been released.Of course this analysis may be challenged by the people at Motown who know otherwise.?......but the tapes will speak for themselves!!
Will the transfer of these tapes to Bob Gaudio generate their release.? We will see, but at least the exercise has resulted in their'preservation'for posterity. Whether there is enough interest from the Partnership to invest the Sound Engineering time to mix-down to STEREO where necessary remains to be seen at the present time.? And how busy is Bob Gaudio to invest the Production time? It is perhaps also a question of what gets licensed in contract negotiations between Gene Zacharewicz at UMe and Snapper Records.
Whilst we do not expect any confirmation for release [or otherwise] for some months we will have more soon re what has been salvaged/preserved and remains unreleased.
Ken Charmer – Tape Index Researcher 2018[Updated August 2019]
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