That 'Four Seasons' Sound

A Partnership in ‘name’ only?

What is it about the Four Seasons Partnership that makes us all feel they are ineffective and a let down. Whilst ‘Jersey Boys’ success has been acknowledged by Bob Gaudio as ‘luck’, anecdotal information has indicated that many prospective deals and promotions have failed due to bad management. Maybe it is the realisation that they are not there for our benefit shows our naivity over the ‘values’ we expected. It is quite apparant that Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli have too much to do and plan to be bothered about a few hundred ‘old’ fans complaining about their lack of well designed and mastered CD releases. And is it time for someone to defend their position and put the situation into a realistic context from their perspective.? 

The problem over the release of this poor collection of tracks on a forthcoming CD seems to be not their fault as Charles Alexander says in their defense.

“Bob and Frankie have sold, for a substantial lump sum, the rights to
the catalog to Rhino for a period of time. It's Rhino that administers
the catalog and does the releasing and licensing. In 2010, for
example, Rhino licensed 15 of the biggest hits to some outfit called
Green Hill Productions, a division of Spring Hill Music Group in
Brentwood, Tennessee, for a CD called Jersey Sound. I bet 99% of you have never seen this CD. I picked it up in a souvenir shop in Cape
May, NJ. Was this the Partnership's idea? Most certainly not. At most,
Bob and Frankie let Rhino license the CD. So please don't think that the Partnership is responsible for every collection that comes out.”

Fair comment but how does selling the rights and allowing irresponsible licensing benefit the ‘brand’ or the customer especially when the company in question Rhino are focusing mainly on ‘rock’ and appear to be in severe financial difficulty?

And in a our CD Discography of 213 CD releases, we can identify 74 devoted to ‘Greatest Hits’ compilations (ie 34%) and only a handful have a quality of mastering that could be classed as ‘good’. Why is this? 

Charles again….”But I will admit that the 4 Seasons are very different from other supergroups like Beatles, the Who, the Eagles etc. Those groups appear on one label and one label only. The output is tightly controlled. They don't license their recordings for every Tom, Dick and Harry to do their own reissues. You don't see Beatles songs in Various Artists collections. Years can go by without any new Beatle product on the market. Which is the best approach? To keep tight control of your catalog or to license it to almost all comers? When someone like PID, whoever that is, wants to put out a new collection of their Seasons favorites, and it doesn't include any tracks that have never been on CD, it just pisses most of you off…..What this group of fans want is … three Anthology collections, which consist of unreleased alternate takes and tracks and studio banter. That's what would really make all of us happy: a Four Seasons anthology, with a bunch of alternate takes and unreleased tracks.

A huge amount of work would have to go into creating such a thing. (the Beatles re-masters of 2010 took four years..ed). And while it was very profitable for the Beatles, it would not be profitable for the 4 Seasons. I'm sorry, guys, but even after Jersey Boys, there are not enough 4 Seasons fans out there who want to buy a collection of outtakes.

It would be nice if Bob and Frankie would finance such a project as a favor to the fans. But they didn't get where they are by giving away money. They've had plenty of lean times. They grew up poor. Even at the end of the sixties, after a long string of hits, they were deeply in debt because of mismanagement….., I don't see how you can expect them to do expensive projects for our benefit only. Maybe they would prefer to leave money to their grandchildren. Maybe they would prefer to support Habitat for Humanity or some other worthy charity. I don't know. It's none of my business. “ 

But this whole argument doesn’t stack up. Reliable sources have confirmed that Frankie and Bob are millionaires many times over and even with a decimal point share of JB they are still making a fortune. They could afford to document their history and do this both musically and factually to a good standard. The reality is they simply don’t care. Depressing huh! Particularly when one of their worst ever recordings in terms of sound quality , The Jersey Boys’ cast album CD is one of their biggest ever sellers.

But they should be concerned…..and their continued refusal will have implications, Long-standing fans have a lot to complain about. As Malcolm Grace a former key committee member in the early 1970s UK fan club aptly puts it..

“Its a funny thing back in 76 I resented the new 4 Seasons ie Gerry, Don, John and Lee for taking over from the group that I saw as the 4 Seasons. OK they soon became the NEW 4 Seasons but I never quite forgave the way that Joe Long (and now it seems Dimitri Callas) had been discarded. Again when another "new" Seasons turned up on tour with Frankie in the late 70s early 80s (without any explanation) I assumed that Lee and John had quit. Now the truth is unfolding I have a new respect for them.

Bob Gaudio and Frankie need to realise that if you cash in on your previous success by agreeing to a musical being produced they have to accept that it could turn into an uncontrollable monster and its obvious to me, the more "Jersey Boys" there are, the more "cashing in" there is going to be. Also when an important part of a groups history is deliberately distorted to such an extent that Jersey Boys has in relation to the Seasons 70s career, you have to be completely out of touch, don't care, or be totally conceited to believe that the fans and the people originally involved aren't going to react and do something to set the record straight, particularly considering it was such an important part of the groups career.”

And Patrick from the ValliSeasons e-group hits the spot…”It seems that the partnership is mainly concerned with money and is releasing yet another compilation on the coat-tails of the Jersey Boys fame. There is a whole new audience to tap...lots of money to be made for very little effort. Frankie and Bob don’t have to lift a finger. Their accountants will deposit the checks. And how much money is enough, what with Jersey Boys passing 1 Billion in world wide sales. ……..as for Valli, he’s almost 78. What the hell is he gonna spend it on and where does he get the time to with his unbelievable concert schedule and other appearances.”

And Bob and Frankie have always it seemed been ultra protective of us hearing their attempts to create ‘art’ via their sessions. It has been their ‘private world’.  Some would say they are simply protecting the product quality whilst others say they are hiding the creative process….And as for their high royalty charges, their policy has restricted rather than enhanced their ‘brand ‘ and financial return. Management expert Peter Drucker stated…”Profit is a function of business not its purpose”...and it is accepted by many that art is the only important creation. But in reality not all of the creative efforts of Bob and Frankie are very listenable. But who should judge this? We know that for years Bob Gaudio has suppressed excellent demos like Valli’s ‘Michael and Peter’ and we know there is a full album of his own demos of these tracks he did for Frank Sinatra. Still unheard by most…(fortunately I would say having heard it!)…but in the meantime Brian Wilson’s unfinished ‘Smile’ productions have been made available to the world making him even more ‘iconic’. …and loved by fans.

The big risk for the Four Seasons Partnership with their current policy is ‘brand damage’. A current BBC website article analyses how bad news about your ‘brand’ on the internet can cause long-standing damage.

Reputation.com's Michael Fertik says that your reputation is "everything".

“In business and in life you're a brand” Herb Tabin – Author recommends keeping abreast of what people are saying, and responding quickly "Digital reputation is now your reputation, whether you like it or not. It's now the truth about you. We didn't vote on that fact, it just turned out to be true. The standard of conviction in the court of the internet is just to believe it enough to not take a risk on you."

"Anyone can write anything about anyone, and if they know what they're doing they can be really damaging. The most damaging thing is a person with a lot of time and a lot of hate."

Fortunately at The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society we believe we are actually protecting the Four Seasons brand by honesty and openness re the history and we have a huge respect for all of the creators of the music and believe they should all get due credit. And we have the backing of former Four Seasons. We simply want to see a change of policy and more customer focused action.

So how can/should the Four Seasons Partnership change to stop the damage being caused to their ‘brand’ due to poor release management

Firstly re-cover the masters license from Rhino due to their lack of adequate management and promotion of the catalogue.

Secondly negotiate with a long-standing stable and reputable label with a track record for developing and maximizing the quality and collectibility of catalogues whilst preserving the historical context. This will give long-term growth of return from the catalogue.

Finally, negotiate for the management of other masters ‘not owned’ to ensure their managing licensee can apply the same principle to these unreleased masters.

Getting out of the contract with Rhino may take some time but working with Motown and ACE/Kent Records is a real opportunity as the review of the forthcoming Contours CD of unreleased material shows

A true collectors company like ACE Records of London would do justice to the whole Seasons catalogue providing they enable ACE to maximize the music’s collectibility…and they take a long term view by not being too greedy.,

And with acknowledgement of the contribution of all who created 'That 'Four Seasons' Sound' fans could then feel a sense of relationship with their music and the Four Seasons Partnership would start to repair their reputation.

In the meantime we’ll dig out more unreleased tracks to prove the collectibility of the group’s history.

 

 

NEW Four Seasons CD v Unreleased? - No Contest!

Another Frankie Valli CD and lots of excitement, as we wait with expectancy for its release and the prospect of something ‘new’.

Alas no!... as Rhino sub-let this current release to PID and the public get a strange mix of ‘safety first’ hits, some classic album tracks and some below par forgettable performances. But with this mix of tracks, will this tempt anyone to buy these 2 CD’s even at 8.99 pounds incl delivery.

We know Charles Alexander and Bill Inglot put a lot of effort into getting a ‘Love Songs’ CD set out which was a much more balanced and interesting track list but it was hi-jacked for this questionable selection.

 Most efforts by licensing record companies to sell old material these days needs to excite the public and there are two essentials for such compilations

1. Good quality re-masters from the original multi-tracks (or great stereo re-masters)
2. Previously unreleased ...at least some tracks previously unavailable on CD and usually some previously unheard.

When this set eventually comes out we will measure it against these criteria before we add it to the 200 plus CD discography at The UK Appreciation Society ‘Four Seasons CD Discography. And it seems we will probably criticise it. (based on the assumption that the stereo won’t be rebalanced on the old Philips tracks....or any serious re-mastering done - if ‘Jersey Beat’ is anything to go by)

Let’s be realistic. With the CD market declining so much it takes work (and money) to create a marketing ‘hook’ for fans. And your fan base needs to be big enough. The Four Seasons ‘serious’ fan base numbers around 600 (based on statistics from web and blog sites) By comparison The Beach Boys fan base far exceeds this and their high quality latest compilations show that interest and a good marketing philosophy. Carefully re-mixed stereo versions….some for the first time appeared on….The Beach Boys 2007 ‘Warmth of the Sun’ Re-masters and even The latest Greatest Hits which contains the digital re-masters completed between 1996 and 2001 offers stunning retrospectives. It seems unlikely Rhino, The Four Seasons Partnership, or PID would make such an investment. Even though the sets would sell steadily for years and become the de facto masters to own and play or stream on your system. They have Jersey Boys and in a declining CD market why employ and pay top sound engineers for a marginal short-term return but a long steady one and a higher musical reputation. A short sighted approach given that such masters create new fans and new generations create steady long-term music sales even if from downloads. The key is the catalogue and developing future libraries accessible via the www. We’ll feature future formats in another blog.

So will we be getting fresh sounding re-masters in this set…probably not….and of course the mono versions of Dawn, No Surfing Today, and Ronnie will obviously be rolled out again. At least the collectors version of amateur productions The ‘DS’ Re-mixes goes beyond that.

You have to ask what is the point of this set?: and surely this release will get enough bad reviews to sink it from a sales perspective? By comparison Tammy Terrell’s Hip-O-Select release sets the standard for capturing an audience. And meets the above criteria….but then the material is superb and collectible.

Some maintain any CD release by the group is good whilst some never like the tracks selected but in reality the CD market is dying and it is smart companies with access to high quality back catalogues that can and will survive into the ‘post CD download’ age. Hence the interest in the Motown Universal and ACE relationship. ACE like the Jazz labels across Europe will survive because of the niche markets they farm so well.

And the crazy thing about a release such as this is that we know the Four Seasons Partnership have access to a large library of unreleased tracks. The question is how good is the quality?

We’ve already highlighted the 50 or so tracks in the Motown vaults with examples that show the potential for a very marketable project. Either ACE or another licensee may find this a potential project.

We also know they have the 10 or so Philips tracks (which include ‘One Man’ and ‘Give a Damn’) that fans are just crying out for. An ‘End of The Philips Era’ would be an eminently sellable CD set if well mastered and this is one Bill Inglot has proposed. A match for the Beach Boys or Hip-O-Select CD’s perhaps?

And there is lots more like the long rumoured jazz album from 2004. But let’s be cautious with this later material. Reputedly ‘Jeepers Creepers’ was the working title. Rumours are that it was recorded in Valli’s own studio and it was halted because of the poor quality synthesized music and drum machine. Maybe there are some things we don’t want to hear. But we are told a copy may exist.

Then there is a Valli solo album Charlie Calello recalls doing in 1986 for Warner-Curb and as reported in The Rise and fall Of The NEW Four Seasons they have an album from 1982 (You're Never Too Old To Rock and Roll etc).but again this is of questionable quality.

But news just in and confirmed by Lee Shapiro reveals that around 16 tracks where completed for the Helicon album with half kept in reserve for a follow up album if that release had been a success. So no chance we’ll get to hear that soon then!!

Well maybe I am too cynical about Bob Gaudio’s intransigence…

But we are left with the existing catalogue masters…….well if they found a stereo Dawn (complete with intro) or Ronnie I’d buy it like a shot…and so to would the few hundred dedicated fans……...but as we have said before, there are not enough of us and we don’t believe these exist in stereo.

A more enjoyable project for us retired music collectors with our low cost base will be to go back to search back through our collections for the best masters (vinyl and CD) ever released by the group, and gather these as it is clear Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli never will……. but for now we will have to be content with finds by our You Tube friends. Now who could be singing on this superb Watertown demo? As I said New CD v Unreleased….No Contest!

Photos in video courtesy of George Schowerer

40th Anniversary? - Time for a new blog.

OK... we are an organization that has been in existence since 1971 so why not celebrate? Well this blog aims to do that and continue the work Casey Chameleon started at ‘chameleon’s’ blog back in October 2006.But with a difference.

Since 2006 we have focused on all related Four Seasons and Jersey Boys web based information in Casey’s delicious links as well as our in-depth research articles.Now our emphasis is purely research, the back-stories to the music and campaigning to get the unreleased tracks out to the fans. Our categories show our new focus and also this new blog links all of our resources together via the tabs above.

One of the key reasons for this blog is that for so many years we have been ‘mis-informed’. Back in the 1970s we niaively followed the press releases and the publicity we were fed…but not now. Today we expect to know the truth about the music we have collected and loved for so long.

We have a team of music detectives out there…..finding out the truth for you. And this blog will respond to the comments left and conduct the research we are asked to follow. In the last 2 years several former Four Seasons have been interviewed and shared their stories. Much of this you can read in chameleon’s blog and in his epic work, our e-book ‘The Rise and Fall Of The NEW Four Seasons’. Whilst Casey continue’s to research that we will continue to pursue new topics, information and unheard music connected with The Four Seasons.

One of our top researchers recently summed up why we need to do this….”there is still lots to learn about the 4 Seasons, their interactions, their music (some still in vaults today totally unheard and therefore unappreciated), ……… We have only caught a glimpse of ‘what was’ thru Jersey Boys, but this is only the start. For all of us fans out here, it's got to be about the music, and so much more will hopefully rise to the surface”….DoowopDaddy

This blog won’t promote Frankie Valli and his current ‘entourage’, or the Four Seasons Partnerships projects (unless historically important) or the Jersey Boys franchise much as we love the show. This blog and our web site is about the history of The Four Seasons and their music and in the main we will focus on the music created during ‘The Analogue Age’ (ie recordings pre 1982 before digital production became dominant).

We will use You Tube to search out little known performances and unreleased material and working with our team create articles about the group.

Forthcoming titles under preparation include…

• Frankie Valli’s Best Album – The Panel Decides
• Best Producer Bob Crewe V Bob Gaudio
• The Rag Dolls Story
• Seasons Connections Highlights
• Future Sound Formats and our Collections
• The Master Sessionography 1953 to 1974
• Charles Calello – Arranged for You
• Larry Brown – More than a ‘Distant Cousin’
• CD Discography Updates

And to start our ACE Music Detective mowest chameleon has found what appears to be another ‘Seasons’ Connection. We’ll try to find out more info on how the 4Seasons came to appear on backing vocals.

 

So subscribe, send us your topics, and contribute as you wish. We have a large and comprehensive data base of articles and blog posts in our web sites and archive and as long as fans want to know more we’ll seek to find it. Ken Charmer