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.
Bob's art was his love and this book correctly portrays the artist and gives us a glimpse of a little bit more of the man we hold dear.....as the 'Fifth Season' to some no doubt but much more than that to his fans. His lyric to the unreleased 'Hymn To Her' shows his way of portraying love.
“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.
Ken Charmer and Lynn Boleyn
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