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.
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]
Most members of this group will be aware of the amazing sets of Beach Boys 'unreleased' and session tapes that have surfaced and been released since circa 2000. Much of this has been because of the need for copyright protection but MOST of it is as a result of the amazing work of this legendary sound engineer Mark Linett. This video interview tells the amazing story of what has been found and what has been salvaged. It is a must watch for the likes of Bob Gaudio/ Frankie Vall/Bill Inglot and the folks at Snapper Records.
Unfortunately I believe we are not going to get anything like this extent of forensic work done on the Four Seasons. Well not in my lifetime or Frankie and Bob's, I would say. This goes to the root of the complaint of Four Seasons since the age of CD. No-one has respected the work as Mark has done for the Beach Boys. OK the multi-track tapes and copies stolen from now defunct studio archives have helped the process for him and them. But the very fact that Jersey Boys was such a success has impaired any attention the Four Seasons archive has had. We've done more in capturing the vinyl dubs and creating a MONO Archive of the 60s 45s than anyone over the last 10 years, and the research of the Motown vaults paper archives have been confirmed by recent tape research and transfers. But whether it is cost pressures or time/resource restrictions we are now not optimistic that the planned box set will achieve anywhere near fans expectations.
The Motown 16 track tapes need research and time to uncover the dozens of tracks and alternate takes there. And the fact that only 2 track STEREO masters exist from the 60s [as we hear about in this interview re the Capitol sessions with the Beach Boys]were thrown together back in the 60s.
But we don't see that delivering on a major scale here and it appears our high hopes and expectations will be dashed. Not something we are not used to as Four Seasons Fans.
Whatever the reasons and excuses re the Four Seasons catalogue.......it will disappoint most even though we can see from Mark's open and frank interview the problems of past digital tape preservation and digital restoration. The key is you have to care for the music....the creative process and the sound and invest in preserving it and putting it out.
This is a stunning interview and a credit to a true archivist engineer of the highest skill.
But the real future for the catalogue of the Four Seasons will be Digital Extraction and Mark touches upon it in this interview. The only way to salvage Bob Crewe's final mixes and alternative takes [with Charlie Calello's arrangements]and create NEW Masters for the future generation of collectors is coming.
The push to start this has started and we will be leading that in whatever way we can whether Bob Gaudio or Frankie Valli [or Snapper] choose to invest in the process. Someone will.......and we will be leading the campaign. We go again.....the way to the MASTERS is DES.
In March I was bemoaning the slow progress of the proposed 40 album Box Set by Snapper and the Four Seasons Partnership with Major Corporate Record Companies [Warner/Rhino/Curb and Universal Motown]
Well now it is summer and coming up a year since the fan group committed to the concept developed by Snapper Records when they 'sold' the idea to the 'majors' and Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio. But because the list of tracks has to remain 'open' to be developed as research continues, formalising contracts was delayed and the investigation of the Master Tapes in the Motown vaults took time.
But News last week that Bob Gaudio has committed to being co-producer of the new Neil Diamond Bio Musical on Broadway prompted many fans to question his commitment to this 'Legacy' project.? And concerns have been expressed as most of the content of this set is already available and there will be no difference.?
Our recent work has reinforced the strategy of the fan group as we've developed it in the last ten years.....in our last post we said...The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society has been calling vociferously for catalogue preservation on it's web site blogs since 2008, when the paucity of the physical CD catalogue and the missing masters stories gained strength. Then it became apparent that between 30 to 40 unreleased recordings by the group existed on 16 track 'multi's' in Universal Motown's NYC vault. As we gathered evidence of what might exist uncovering several acetate copies we got resistance from UMe and the Partnership that these existed. [Just the same refusal to admit to the assets and the need to preserve them that has existed for decades]. It took 2 years of publishing evidence of the archive tracks on Facebook in the Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign for a forward thinking Record Company to ask the experts[THE FANS]....'What do you want?'
We clearly stated.....THE UNRELEASED......and have had great news of this since.
Ken Charmer will bring you news of this during the summer on the Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Facebook Group.
But progress on the box set has been made and the reason why it has been so slow is based on 3 problems.
The provisional track list and contracts have taken time to complete but the contract with Warner is complete and something like 34 of the proposed 40 albums are transferred to Snapper. Questions remain as to whether these are NEW analogue/digital transfers or existing digital copies.? Also the Re-mastering proposals and the inclusion/availability of MONO 45 mixes where different to the album mixes still needs to be addressed?
The Motown Tapes were confirmed as found in January and it took time to set up the contract to address these. Bob Gaudio's commitment was clear in his proposal to review with Frankie ALL Masters with his vocal on them. He asked for 2 track mix-downs from the 16/24 Track tapes, and with Snapper paying for these transfers he offered to mix the 16 track approved versions for Snapper. A big breakthrough and he recognises how many of you want to hear these 'lost gems'.
The sheer workload remains a problem. Memoribilia has been photographed and a designer and writer appointed.....BUT with Snapper committed to several Box Sets for the Christmas market 2019 the on-going pace of this project will slow as an issue date of August 2020 is now targetted.
Confirmation that the 'Bachelors 3' Fort Lauderdale 1974 and the 'Lucifer's' Boston 1973 concerts was really good news and Bob Gaudio will edit and provide what he has from other studio sessions. Re-mastering transfers and collation of 'Unreleased' tracks will in our view not happen till early 2020, and in the meantime the fan group will focus on locating alternative sources for missing Masters only available on vinyl. But Bob's commitment can clearly be judged as definite by this quote re the researching of the Motown Tapes......”revisiting the past can sometimes be painful. But apparently, there is a world of fans who would appreciate everyone’s efforts.”
The paper records [and cassette tapes from the studio] show Motown's tapes contain lots of unheard 'gems' and we will post re the potential finds during the summer as well as celebrating the decades of releases in the catalogue. Bob Gaudio has said he has 'unreleased' “from every decade” and we'll comment on what that might be. We are in regular contact with Snapper and whilst the transfer of the Motown material is still awaited, we will advise as soon as we know more.
News broke this week that Universal Music Group had hidden the devastating losses from a fire 10 years ago. It was something most of us had heard about but the NYT disclosed the full extent and exposed it as a scandal of mismanagement. “ The severity of the fire long went undisclosed”, according to an article published by TheNewYork Times Magazine on Tuesday, despite the fact that a confidential report inIn June 2008, confirmed a fire roared through a building at Universal Studios Hollywood, destroying thousands of audio recordings by music luminaries like Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Tom Petty. The severity of the fire long went undisclosed, the loss being estimated at about 500,000 song titles.”
“The vault fire was not, as UMG suggested, a minor mishap, a matter of a few tapes stuck in a musty warehouse. It was the biggest disaster in the history of the music business. UMG’s internal assessment of the event stands in contrast to its public statements. In a document prepared for a March 2009 “Vault Loss Meeting,” the company described the damage in apocalyptic terms. “The West Coast Vault perished, in its entirety,” the document read. “Lost in the fire was, undoubtedly, a huge musical heritage.”
The successful effort to play down the scope of the loss was a triumph of crisis management that involved officials working for Universal Music Group on both coasts. Those efforts were undoubtedly aimed at minimising public embarrassment, but some suggest the company was also particularly worried about a backlash from artists and artist estates whose master recordings had been destroyed.
…...”but it was only the most recent disaster to strike the masters holdings of American record labels. These disasters include not only events like fires but also instances of neglect and even wilful destruction by the labels themselves, a hair-raising history that reaches back to the beginnings of the music business.
…....UMG began Project Phoenix in October 2008. The plan was to gather duplicates of recordings whose masters were lost. Those copies would then be digitally transferred to reconstitute the lost archive — albeit in sonically inferior form, with recordings generations removed from the true masters. UMG undertook a global hunt, searching for safety copies and other duplicates at a variety of locations in the United States and abroad. The project lasted two years and, by Aronson’s estimate, recovered perhaps a fifth of what had been lost.
The subsequent largely unknown world-wide search for duplicates and sources continues and as I'll show [or should I say I remain to be convincedabout is....] no-one can trust the 'Major Record Companies' as they continue to show little action as they focus on 'streaming' profit and on the basis that 'any old master' will do and unreleased tracks are of no significance. Asset Management and Preservation the NYT claims is not on the balance sheet or in the strategic direction. The question of whether such Boards at the Majors are 'fit for purpose' needs to be asked and answered.
If nothing else this is a wake up call to UMG and the industry that such assets[ie musical art] has been mismanaged for decades, and raises the question 'Should legislation and regulation be implemented to protect such assets?'
But this blogs concerns has always been for 'long-suffering' 4 Seasons fans as their losses roll back in the 1960s when first Vee-Jay went bust.....and subsequently Philips cleared out tapes to skips. But all this is no worse than the BBC recording over classic music and TV shows during the decade. Examples of lack of foresight and horrendous strategic management are endemic in the music industry. This current expose fits very nicely with the book 'Appetite for SELF-DESTRUCTION – the spectacular crash of the record industry in the digital age – by Steve Knopper
But for readers here the only concern is THE FOUR SEASONS CATALOGUE. When Vee-Jay went bust the Four Seasons got 'access' to their masters.......well a 'copy' of their ALBUM MONO and STEREO Masters. These were the 'mix-downs' from the 3 track Masters. And what of the highly produced 45 MONO Masters?. Never available in CD or streaming format. Do they still exist? And what has survived from the Philips/Mercury vault with so many Bell Studios masters dumped in a skip in the late 60s.? We are asking Snapper and Bob Gaudio the question.?
Music historian's like me have been maintaining that CD and streaming masters are inferior to the original vinyl in many cases. Sound Engineer George Schowerer told us that the CD Masters on the 25th Anniversary 3 CD Box Set in 1988 where [in many cases] 'inferior' to the Masters that left his Mirasound Studio in 1967. So what happened and what has survived?
It is clear we have never had the MONO tracks on CD as a comprehensive set. The STEREO versions are alternative versions in many cases, so it is time we had the catalogue sorted out with what has survived from the 1960s.
We have to be aware of the background as the New York Times goes on to say....”Today industry professionals familiar with archiving practices question the big three labels’ commitment to preservation. [Ed we do to. See below] (A number of these insiders, including individuals with knowledge of the backlot fire, spoke on condition of anonymity, concerned they could face professional consequences with UMG and other labels.) One audio specialist said: “Labels need to see payoff: ‘We have a release next year from this artist.’ But as far as, ‘We have this inventory on the shelves, let’s preserve it’ — that’s not the attitude. An old recording that’s deteriorating on the shelf is not causing alarm.”
The result is a crisis, a slow-motion assault on our musical heritage that is poorly understood by many within the record industry, to say nothing of the public at large. Had a loss of comparable magnitude to the Universal fire occurred at a different cultural institution — say, the Metropolitan Museum of Art — there might have been wider awareness of the event, perhaps some form of accountability. Yet the conservation mission faced by record labels may be no less vital than those of museums and libraries. Recorded music is arguably America’s great artistic patrimony, our supreme gift to world culture. How should it be safeguarded? And by whom?”
Today several of the company’s nearly 1,500 facilities are devoted to entertainment assets. Warner Music Group stores hundreds of thousands of master recordings in Iron Mountain’s Southern California facilities, and nearly all of Sony Music Entertainment’s United States masters holdings — more than a million recordings — are reportedly kept in Iron Mountain warehouses in Rosendale, N.Y. The Boyers, Pa., facility where UMG keeps most of its United States masters is a 1.7-million-square-foot former limestone mine. The facility offers optimal archive conditions, climate control and armed guards. For labels, Iron Mountain is a one-stop shop. In addition to providing storage, it runs on-site studios, so staff members can pull tapes and send digital transfers to labels online, avoiding any need for recordings to leave the premises. Yet some music-business insiders regard this arrangement as a mixed bargain. When masters arrive at Iron Mountain, they say, institutional memory — archivists’ first hand knowledge of poorly inventoried stacks — evaporates, as does the possibility of finding lost material, either by dogged digging or chance discovery. (Many treasures in tape vaults have been stumbled upon by accident.) Tapes can be retrieved only when requested by bar-code number, and labels pay fees for each request. For years, rumors have circulated among insiders about legendary albums whose masters have gone missing in Iron Mountain because labels recorded incorrect bar-code numbers. The kind of mass tape-pull that would be necessary to unearth lost recordings is both financially and logistically impractical.
“I’ve always thought of Iron Mountain as that warehouse in the last scene of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ ” says Thane Tierney, who co-founded Universal’s now-defunct reissue label Hip-O Select. “Just endless rows of stuff. It’s perfectly safe, but there’s no access, no possibility of serendipity. Nearly all the tapes that go in will never come off the shelf. They’re lost to history.”
So this summer is a 'landmark' moment in deciding the future catalogue of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Snapper Records [with a reputation for 'ground-breaking catalogue wide sets] have challenged the Four Seasons Partnership to [GO TO THE MASTERS -BOTH RELEASED AND UNRELEASED]. A mega catalogue wide Box Set is in prospect.
The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society has been calling vociferously for catalogue preservation on it's web site blogs since 2008, when the paucity of the physical CD catalogue and the missing masters stories gained strength. Then it became apparent that between 30 to 40 unreleased recordings by the group existed on 16 track 'multi's' in Universal Motown's NYC vault. As we gathered evidence of what might exist uncovering several acetate copies we got resistance from UMe and the Partnership that these existed. [Just the same refusal to admit to the assets and the need to preserve them that has existed for decades]. It took 2 years of publishing evidence of the archive tracks on Facebook in the Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign for a forward thinking Record Company to ask the experts[THE FANS]....'What do you want?'
PRESERVATION.....RE-MASTERING.......RELEASE.
Audiophiles and audio professionals view such recordings with special regard. “A master is the truest capture of a piece of recorded music,” Adam Block, the former president of Legacy Recordings, Sony Music Entertainment’s catalogue arm, says. “Sonically, masters can be stunning in their capturing of an event in time. Every copy thereafter is a sonic step away.”
This week after months of negotiation the known archive tape masters are being transferred to Four Seasons 'Brand' owner Bob Gaudio for evaluation.
And he has said he has 'unreleased tracks from every decade' since the 60s and is committed to the project.
We've told him of the rumours of tracks and given him the salvaged acetate digitised copies we have preserved. The hope is that this first true 'collaboration' between fan/collectors[who know the whole catalogue as released and much unreleased] and the 'artists' and an innovative Independent Record Company will show the 'majors' the way to a proper catalogue management strategy.
It is time for us THE COLLECTORS to address THE OWNERS.....in Andy Zax words from the NYT article.....”The most powerful argument for preservation is simply: ‘We don’t know.’ The sounds from the past that seem vital to us in the present keep changing. Since we don’t know what’s going to be important, we have to err on the side of inclusivity and insist that the entities that own our cultural history do the same.”
But as for the Universal fire 'what's lost is lost' ….but what remains is that Universal Motown has a HUGE catalogue of tapes in NYC that needs to be SALVAGED and heard. We are on the verge of chasing down the masters of their released and unreleased this summer...for their contract with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons....on 29 Production Tapes [P Tape]and numerous Temporary Tapes [T Tapes].......and we'll keep chasing them notwithstanding we had a 'gagging order' whilst the tapes were pulled for transfer.!!!!!!! We accepted this whilst the transfers were paid for and completed.......but all bets are off......we want to know what is there and what are the best surviving MASTERS for both the released and unreleased and I for one want to hear all 34 mixes of 'The Night' by legendary sound engineer Russ Terrana and others.......what were they looking for......and have we got it?????. The wait goes on this summer for how we will be told what has survived and in what format?
Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons have had many CD releases since the advent of the CD in the mid 1980s. So many licensing deals have been done that 'nobody' has a comprehensive assessment of the 'Best Masters'. Between 2007 and 2010 we started a mammoth review of what is available for 'Collectors' of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on CD, publishing our findings at the time in our CD Buyers Guide
Stefan Wriedt, a professional Sound Engineer based in German and our own Music Historian Casey Chameleon began the daunting task of compiling and reviewing as many as possible and published this listing[see link above]. In it we stated....”With so many commercial releases on CD since 1986 it is a problem finding the best quality copies and those rare versions of tracks. This listing is fairly comprehensive with over 160 CD’s listed but it is not a complete list. It is also a work in progress as we review and assess each release. With so many of these CD’s now only available on E-Bay or as ‘out of print/deleted’ copies which sometimes appear on CD supplier sites, fans need a guide. CD’s are rated as :-
EC= Essential Collectors Item
CU = Collectible for it's unique/alternativetracks
NV=No value to collectors”
The intention at that time was to support 'collectors'in finding the best Masters until a fully comprehensive set of NEW Masters was available through a catalogue review by the Four Seasons Partnership. [That has never happened]. We did highlight a few Essential Collectors titles and these can be found coded 'green' on our CD Discography pages.
But we never got to collect and review everything as the list was ever growing and at the time had over 160 CD's listed. Obtaining all copies of albums releases is of course cost prohibitive and the assessment tools[and ears not easily available] It is impossible to estimate if this is as much as 90% of releases given the world popularity of the group. Whatever we were able to gather was to be assessed.
BUT then we got side tracked into 'preserving the MONO 45 Masters'when news filtered through that the Partnership 'may not have the 45 Masters' in every case.' And MONO on CD was not the CD concept of the re-issue of past albums at that time, even though during the groups hey-day all mixing was targetted to create the BEST MONO Master for vinyl. But by 2012 we decided that this MONO sound must 'rule'for this 'career' period as the production and engineering standards at the time focused on that output for Radio and records. STEREO remained a novelty and today we can see the weaknesses in the STEREO engineering.[As with many 'pop' artists of the day eg Beatles, Beach Boys etc]
Even with the sad loss and passing of our key engineer Stefan in 2014 we completed [with great help from US collectors] that MONO project by 2016 for ALL the MONO Vee-Jay and Philips 45s now preserved as reference copies for future access in the UK Fan club Archive.
With news in early 2019 that Snapper Records are in contract talks for a NEW catalogue spanning LUXURY Box Set in 2020 we have been asked what the fans would want? That was easy. ALL the 60s albums in original MONO and STEREO versions with alternative versions and all 45 non-album tracks plus the 70s through to the 00's STEREO albums plus as much unreleased as can be found. And all re-mastered tracks to recommended standards as established by our 'Sound Tests Page'and current engineering standards.
Lots of people have committed to this project already [including the Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society] and Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli have been confirmed as fully supportive. The Majors in the form of Warners and Universal [as the Motown arm of UMe] and Curb Records are also expected to collaborate. The Music Industry has finally realised that comprehensive 'catalogue' is the product for future customers to find their 'niche' artists.
So MAYBE next year fans will get the chance should they are able to......to invest in this set.
We will be asking for the best quality RE-MASTERS and are advising Snapper Records re this. We are encouraged that our request for the best 2020 Engineered Quality Masters to be delivered is currently accepted.
With this in mind and to set a minimal standard reference we are reviewing past issues on CD to advise here what CD's stand up as 'Quality' Re-masters.......focusing on 'Essential Collectors' physical Masters. Whilst much of the catalogue is available on You Tube or as 'downloads' or on 'streaming' services we are going to the CD source as only a quality wav file [ie CD] can create a good compressed[mp3 or AIFF]. No research is available re the availability of 'lossless' versions [FLAC]. We've judged the STEREO image on a clock face basis with 9 and 3 being the extremes of left and right channels with 12 centre vocal. Instrumental detail and vocal harmony background sounds best when spread between 9 and 11 left and 3 and 1 right. Beware that many CD's are far left/far right mixes [9-Left and 3-Right] and sound dreadful on headphones. We have reviewed Peak Volume, Loudness[RMS] and Dynamic Range[DR] as well as STEREO image. But for both MONO and Stereo it is the clarity and ambience that can only be assessed by the subjective 'ear'
It is fair to say that there are significant imperfections in ALL the album sets on CD for the 1962 to 1970 period. Inconsistencies in masters occur,[imbalance] with mistakes[dropouts – audible Tape hiss] and STEREO mixing issues [Channel crossover] in many tracks so any re-issue may not be able to address these as multi-tracks ARE NOT AVAILABLE. For that reason alone the issue of MONO Masters in 'pristine' sound is essential[More re this below]
Many collectors may dispute some of our review results but this is an honest assessment intended to be a guide to a better quality catalogue..IZOTOPE.COM says of best STEREO mixes......”The instrumental separation, definition of instruments within the stereo field, and sense of depth” should be sought. Re-mastered analogue transfers should be....”an engaging, lively sound that you can practically close your eyes and visualize where each instrumentalist is on the soundstage. The use of dynamic range is also exceedingly important in the sense of depth and clarity” so that it “ensures that the energy and vibrance of the performance shines.”
Fans should expect “a masterclass of effective panning and EQ for instrumental separation. Additionally, the availability of dynamic range (not over-compression) ensures that separation is maintained through the mastering stages. The dynamic range and smart EQ choices (along with effective use of reverb) can also result in an exceptional sense of depth within the mix.”
We do not believe these exacting standards have been fully achieved in past releases particularly of the groups 'classic' hits period as we'll comment below. But with the the restriction of STEREO only masters this limits STEREO as instruments and vocals cannot be spread across the sound stage – they are either left or right. So what can be done in Re-Mastering.? For today's market we would expect the STEREO catalogue of the Four Seasons to be Mastered with this definition in mind whilst accepting the restrictions of the discrepancies and flaws in the surviving STEREO Masters. “Think of mastering as the glue, varnish and polish that optimizes playback quality on all devices — from tiny iPhone speakers to massive dance club sound systems. Mastering bridges the gap between artist and consumer. The term itself comes from the idea of a master copy. All copies or duplications of the audio come from the master. These copies can be distributed on multiple formats like vinyl, CD’s or Tape, and streaming services like Spotify, iTunes and SoundCloud. Additionally, mastering allows for restoration of hisses, clicks or small mistakes missed in the final mix. Mastering also ensures uniformity and consistency of sound between multiple tracks on an album. Ultimately, what mastering does is create a clean and cohesive feeling across all your audio......A good mastering job makes an album consistent and balanced across all tracks....An ideal master is well-balanced and proportional. This means no specific frequency range is left sticking out. A balanced piece of audio will sound good on any playback system. ”
The CD's reviewed below, it can be argued, DO NOT fully achieve these exacting standards which is why we are doing this exercise and telling Snapper of our 'expectations/hopes'. We'll provide feedback to Snapper on what they propose.....if asked but will ultimately sit in judgement of a final product which we expect to be as good as is possible.....and certainly exceeding what we have had before on CD whilst enhancing what we have on 'vinyl'.
Part 1 – The Vee-Jay albums
The Masters used for all CD releases of the Vee-Jay recordings are based on the outcome of the Group's dispute with Genius Inc[who contracted their work to Vee-Jay]. A fuller explanation of the story and data re these is contained in our Masters sessionography[here].
So the CD re-issues are from the recovered tracks from the bakruptcy of Vee-Jay. The Partnership received MONO/STEREO album Masters supplied to Philips in 1964. No review of surviving Multi-tracks in the Vee-Jay Archive [now owned by Concord Music Group[should they still exist] has been attempted or appears likely given the Four Seasons Partnership Ownership rights.
All CD issues to date are, we believe, based on Analogue/Digital transfers done in 1986/87.[No evidence exists of any A/D transfers since as far as we know.] It is believed that for the Snapper project NEW A/D transfers have been done.
Early CD re-issues in the late 1980's where on compilations and although Rhino , Br music(Netherlands)[and Curb – in Japan]issued album re-masters on CD these are very rare and have been unobtainable except for Curb BVCP-2050 [Sherry & 11 Others].
This was a very wide[9-3] STEREO mix with little to commend it based on the above. As a result we did not obtain/review the rest of the Japanese releases from this early CD period.
We moved on and focused on the Curb releases Volumes 1,2 and 3 of 1995 [Curb D2-77695 to 7] and compared them with the ACE 2fer releases of the same period.
Without doubt the ACE CD's [507,615 and 596] offer the best collections and sound [in the main – for these catalogue albums].This is primarily because of the benefit of their 2fer format and the bonus non-LP sides. Sherry/Big Girls Don't Cry[plus bonus sides]507although not stated we assume was mastered by Bill Inglot....as the subsequent CD's were. It has a good STEREO image[Left 9/11: Right 3/1] and good Loudness [Range -11db to -16] as does the Christmas Album/Born To Wander CD 615, but something slips on Ain't That A Shame/ Live On Stage [plus bonus sides]596.
The clarity and ambience is somehow lost, and comparison with Curb CD D2 – 77967[Ain't That A Shame +11 Others]shows this. This Curb CD offers an impressive STEREO image [Left 9/11 : Right 3/1] but with great clarity and ambience [Loudness -12 to -16] making it by far the best set of Vee-Jay album Masters on CD we have found.The backing vocals and instruments are still split left and right but these mixes have clear separation, depth and warmth. They hang together around the centre vocal. They are not the TRUE STEREO we can get with multi-track tapes or with DES [Digitally Extracted STEREO] but they are the best you are going to find until another source is created. For more reading re creating a good mix try this link.
The MONO and MONO only at Vee-Jay
Three years of studio work in dubbing vinyl MONO and re-mastering for our reference set of 45s/MONO album Masters gave us a good reference set and generally all the MONO sides included on the CD's reviewed fall short of the standards defined above regarding clarity and ambience in Mastering. We can only put this down to poor transfer quality or poor re-mastering of MONO at that time. 24 bit 96 khz dubs from vinyl enabled us to get sparkling clarity and ambience capturing the original 'sound' much better than the 'dull' MONO re-masters found on many CD issues and we expect equivalent 'good' results in the Snapper Box Set. Whilst the 2 Real Gone releases from 2016 of Sherry and Big Girls Don't Cry albums appear to be re-mastered from the MONO album Masters [they say] we still believe these lack 'punch' and ambience on the vocals compared to the vinyl dubbed re-masters in our own MONO archive.This is an EQ problem.
The release and re-mastering of the MONO Master Tapes is a crucial part of this Box Sets market potential, With the inconsistencies of the STEREO Masters these will become the groups reference tracks and possibly a preferred play for future fans via all formats.
So to summarise there are currently many STEREO tracks from the Vee-Jay period in good/fair sound quality if you carefully search them out on 'out of print' CD's. But there are few MONO versions in adequate sound quality
In Part 2 we will look at the early Philips Masters in STEREO on CD and the inconsistencies and flaws that [surprisingly] became much worse at Philips when sound recording equipment and engineering was improving in most studios.
Footnote
Fans may consider a luxury BOX SET unnecessary as currently available are two Box Sets on Amazon covering 'most' of the 'Group'and 'Solo'albums but these are far from comprehensive.
These box sets have been criticised for content and quality with comments that show the lack of the Majors respect for the fans perspective...as these example quotes from reviews show...”What a lot of people fail to realize is that Rhino stopped being Rhino when it was sold to Warner Brothers in 1998, and the original Rhino guys left in 2003. The label became "Warner Strategic Marketing" and reverted back to their "special products" mentality of the 70s and early 80s - that is, that any "masters" will do, and the public will eat it up no matter what we do with it. This attitude is especially prevalent on stuff that's been placed with WEA rather than with their homegrown artists.”.....and“the Press release from Rhino/Warner stated"Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - The Classic Albums Box is an 18-disc set that includes the vast majority of the group's albums in mini jackets with original artwork”. So they acknowledged the missing ones up front. But using old Curb 1990s CD sets that are not the original albums was a big and careless mistake....also...”there are still 7 CD's missing from this package”.....”Rhino should have just reissued them like the ACE series, where you would have have had every track from the Vee-Jay, Phillips & Warner labels....maybe even had the MoWest stuff thrown in and make it a true set. It's overall shoddy work from a Label that I used to admire, it's like no one cares anymore.”… One reviewer commented “ The sound quality (on my copy) is identical to the ACE label releases which were issued in the UK and Germany between 1994 and 1996...and copies were produced in the EU. “
The 'Solo' Work set was described as....”This is NOT an anthology, best of, greatest hits, or even, as titled "Selected Solo Works". What this is, plain and simple, are eight (8) complete LPs recorded by Frankie Valli between 1967 and 1980. Each album is presented in its entirety exactly as originally released - no remastering of the original recordings.[or non-LP sides]”
We haven't obtained or 'forensically' reviewed these 2 sets for sound quality but have tracked back through album 'styled' releases [Rhino/Warner/Curb] during the 90s and some appear to be identical to CD albums released at that time and 'casually' reproduced and included in these sets. More re this in our next part. Ken Charmer June 2019
When the the Partnership/Snapper Tape Archive review is complete it seems inevitable that the tracks THAT NEVER DID APPEAR IN STEREO during the 1960s will still be MONO only.
So fans are stuck with those versions……you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear!! Or can you.?
These are the tracks from the early 1960s known to have only ever been issued in MONO
I’ve Cried Before
Soon
Ain’t That A Shame[45 version with Nick Massi overdub]
New Mexican Rose
Little Boy In Grown Up Clothes[45 mix without audience overdub added for ‘Live On Stage' album]
Dawn [45 version]
No Surfin’ Today
Big Man's World
Huggin’ My Pillow
There are also some very poor STEREO Mixes of some tracks[ like 'Beggar's Parade'] which can't be repaired or re-mixed to a balanced STEREO.
But there are a group of enthusiasts interested in sound technology and the ability of modern tools to ‘Re-Create’ TRUE STEREO from classic MONO recordings of the 1960s[or earlier]. The process is Digitally Extracted STEREO[DES]and it is increasingly being seen as a new way to enjoy the producers and the artists skills as they would use them with today’s technology.
One of the member of this group of engineers told us….’The only true stereo from MONO using modern software is DES. 'Digitally Extracted Stereo'. Anything else is not true stereo. DCS 'Digitally Constructed Stereo' can sound really good, & I used to do that before I started doing DES, some still do it. Stereo synch can sound very good, it is close to real stereo but is not the original single in stereo, it is usually an overdub or underdub placed alongside the mono record. ……only DES is true stereo.’
Christopher Kissel promotes the technique on a dedicated web site and states..’This website will focus on audio spectral editing, sound source separation, and other related tools and processes used specifically for the purpose of upmixing mono source material to stereo, with the goal of creating stereo mixes that are virtually indistinguishable from stereo mixes created using multi-track session tapes, had they existed.’
Most of such STEREO re-creations appear on a Record Label called ERIC RECORDSThe tracks take several days for re-construction but this work is not commercially driven.
Some have simply been shared on You Tube.
Published versions by our engineer friend on other artists include the following...
We asked the question….’Could this technique produce good results on the Four Seasons tracks only in MONO?’
Our engineer friend has updated us on work on-going on some of the Four Seasons MONO only tracks with these samples.
No Surfing Today.
Our engineer friend said….’This is how the parts are placed on the mix. Firstly this song seems to feature the group more than Frankie in places, & the normal place for the group is on one side of Frankie, therefore they are on the left & middle most of the way through.
So the Layout is. Group Left & Center. Drum rim tap on Left. Effects on left.. Guitar 1 on left. Falsetto group backing ('Don't Go' ….Don’t Go]on Left. Piano where featured on right, Harp? on right, clapping on right, Guitar 2/3? on right. Frankie, Drums, Bass etc in center.
'No Surfin' Today' does make a good DES, but it is also a hard one, [challenging]& a lot of work had to go into it, & a little more has to be done. I have made one or two very good DES records, in two or three days. That was because everything just fell into place, but most (probably 150 that I have done) take one to two weeks to do.’
To fans ears these are tremendous achievements and highly in demand if available.
The question to Snapper and Bob Gaudio is...'Is there any interest of including such NEW mixes in this box set?' It is the equivalent of adding 'unreleased ' tracks and would add attraction to this proposed Box Set in terms of quality and marketing and adding uniqueness to a quality catalogue spanning set of music.
If final versions are commissioned they would of course become a NEW copyrighted track for the Partnership
We will continue to pursue these UNIQUE MIXES either for this project...or for a future 'Four Seasons in TRUE STEREO' CD project if necessary.
When we met Snapper last August re the proposal of [up to] a 40 CD album project on Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons - 'What Do Fans Want?' seemed a daunting question nor one the Four Seasons Partnership or any previous Record Company had ever asked us.!! When asked what our priority was we all said the Motown Unreleased. When we were told Bob Gaudio was totally on board with the project and he had 'unreleased' tracks from every decade, the project became a NO BRAINER.
With a list of 'assets' in the Partnership of MONO and STEREO 'available' seen for the first time the objective became compiling 'The List'for licensing and contracts. The big news was that the MONO album Masters are available [for most of the 60s albums] and the proposal is to include both MONO and STEREO Masters as new transfers 're-mastered'.
So what about the 'Non-LP 45s'.......and the 45s that are different mixes from the album MONO?
Well the search is on in the Tape Archive with long-term archivist Bill Inglot 'on the case'. By November 'The List' was needed to prepare contracts and the proposal was to have the Non-LP 45s on a separate CD.....but we advised straight away that this would break the timeline of the set and so we suggested a structure like the ACE CD's from the 1990s with Bonus tracks to each album be the preferred approach. We burned the midnight oil to help construct the set 'list'
So the list included for relevant CD's album 'Bonus' tracks for 45s and 'special' STEREO mixes from the 'Golden Hits' album and where possible for all the 1960s albums to add to the MONO and STEREO versions.
MONO versions of 'Solo'and 'Timeless'albums have not been found and were never originally issued.[Possibly 'destroyed']. Philips we believe always intended these albums for STEREO only issue, and this seems to also be the case with the 'Half and Half' album.
BUT a MONO Tape of 'Genuine Imitation Life Gazette' has been found and is being proposed as a vinyl album insert to the box with FULL replica artwork
Bob Crewe's 'special' STEREO re-masters for 'Edizione D'Oro' have been found on Master Tape and will be included. Only 29 tracks are proposed as 'Peanuts'[special Golden Hits 'Re-mix]is included elsewhere.
A 'Rare 45s and Unreleased'CD is proposed for 1968 to 1972including releases on various labels and late Philips sessions plus the UK Warner 45 sides from 1971.
Snapper Records have said Bob Gaudio will supervise the Master tape availability/transfers with vinyl dubs from mint/Promo copies used by Snapper to achieve the list if necessary.
What a wonderful set of tracks if it can be achieved . This will be in new re-mastered sound and has never ever been attempted or achieved since the advent of CD re-issues.
More re the Motown Unreleased and other decade tracks in future blogs.
Casey Chameleon
PS. Back in 2013 we published the following blog note re our work on the MONO Archive and why it was so important. Click the Link Below.
Looking back at 5 decades of your musical creations must be both 'uplifting' and 'painful' at the same time for Bob Gaudio, Frankie Valli and their families. Fans can appreciate that.
Not many artists in 'pop' music have as much music to put into context with their personal life experiences, the changing times lived through, friends and family lost and the huge change in musical influences over that period. We know that this will be difficult for Bob and Frankie and we want them to know the fans appreciate this.
When Snapper Records proposal for a circa 40 album CD box set got a positive response from the Major Record Companies and The Four Seasons Partnership last summer it was a huge surprise for fans but one we have totally embraced. Mainly because Snapper asked us what WE, the fans wanted and said they would do all they could to persuade and help Bob and Frankie to include that.
For the fan groups it is perhaps easier 'looking back' because, for us, it is easy celebrating the 'music of our lives'. Whilst we all have those we have loved and lost over the decades....it is the music of Frankie and the Seasons that has carried us through the good and bad times and it still rings 'warmly' in our heads and hearts.
So whilst compiling the 'Track List' of our lives was easy for the fan group, it was an opportunity to research and find the 'Unreleased' tracks sitting in the Motown Vaults that 'added icing to the cake'. Sceptics still doubt that delivering the Box Set will be close to these expectations.
Today over 6 months after the proposal was enthusiastically received by the 'majors' and the previously reluctant Bob Gaudio ….......we hear contracts are reaching completion and Tape Archive Research is showing exciting potential. But much work is needed to achieve what we want as the volume of tracks needing 'salvage'[either in terms of re-mastering to modern standards and checking of 'unreleased' multi-tracks and mixing to final STEREO ] is huge.
We will expand on this in subsequent blogs as the process unfolds. But there remains great potential.
Back in 2009 German Sound Engineer Stefan Wriedt and I commenced what has become a 'forensic' review of the status of the CD released Masters and the prospect of 'unreleased' tracks. For ten years [5 without my late friend Stefan] my research and blog writing with collectors and fans has uncovered the huge potential for such a set. Only now[post Jersey Boys] has a commercial 'model' for its delivery in the form of a luxury Box Set emerged as viable..
Now we anxiously await feedback from Tape Research and hope for the best.
In the next few weeks I'll document what we have asked Bob and Frankie for [through Snapper] and what is emerging. Getting our 'wants list' may not be possible in every respect but it remains in Bob and Frankie's control what we get to hear. With so many 'unreleased' and completed tracks having emerged in our research we remain confident much 'collectible' work will make it into the final set.
Snapper know that to succeed the product must be 'quality' as we have defined with them. Frankly the message to Bob and Frankie is 'listen to us'. We will be the ultimate critics and Facebook remains the voices of you the fans. Speak up!
Today on a morning debate TV show they asked.....'Will you live long enough to see Brexit?'
Well with an extension to the 'Brexit' leaving process looming......most UK people have lost any interest and are simply focusing on keeping 'body and soul' together. Well Four Seasons fans had better do the same!
Everything is running slow and for Four Seasons fans I'm afraid the story is the same. After the great enthusiasm of Snapper Records concept of a mega/luxury BOX SET of 40 albums spanning the career of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and the news of Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli's enthusiasm, it is becoming ever more apparent that 'delivery' is the problem. So we can ask the question.....'Will we live long enough to see Snapper's and our concept?' Bob and Frankie may also be asking that question.
The problem is, 'The Majors'...ie Rhino/Warners and more importantly Universal Motown.
Licensing and legal delays have prevented the completion of contracts....and although we had been promised a high proportion of 'unreleased'....'from every decade'......no news has surfaced on the Tape Archive review at the Partnership or from the Motown Archive research.
In many ways this is not a surprise. Whilst Rhino and the Partnership have regularly licensed tracks in their ownership, and were positive when the concept was launched....and Universal Motown saw the potential of the 'unreleased' track they were able for the first time to put before Bob Gaudio.......the administrative problems of licensing when you do not have a definitive 'final list' of tracks to be included appears to becoming problematic. Firstly this is the first time since 1988 that NEW transfers from the analogue tapes has been a viable proposition and the identification of material for inclusion cannot be underestimated. There are so many diverse problems re the Masters to be resolved. Also anecdotal evidence shows Universal Motown are renowned for not having a 'can do' approach to licensing and many projects in recent years[and still today] have been bogged down in their 'processes'. Other licensees have been tearing their hair out and abandoning projects because Universal will simply find excuses for not licensing songs. There is too much evidence for anyone to argue that this criticism is unfair.
In the meantime Snapper and the fan group members have been positively gathering 'memorabilia' from our archives to illustrate how the groups music was presented in the media in past decades for potential inclusion in the proposed /Book'.
On the music catalogue side we have been commencing a 'forensic' review of what is important to be included and the limitations of surviving Masters. What fans want[as far as we know from vinyl and CD issues] has been documented and this has been shared with Bob Gaudio as our 'wants list'. Questions of copyright and royalties payments on 'live' recordings have arisen and at present remain unresolved and the content....remains unclear.
Snapper are not unfamiliar with such problems and have both the determination and experience to manage such issues, but how much time it will take and the compromises necessary are just emerging several months into the design development.
We continue to back the idea of a project that is based on fan input/wishes, as this would be the first time ever in the history of the group that it has happened and we have great confidence in Snapper's leadership and drive. Their track record shows this.
In our forthcoming blogs we will be tackling issues that have become an intrinsic set of problems for the sound we have and what legacy will the groups catalogue leave. The question is how much work is necessary to salvage, repair and issue a representative version of their 'body of work'. We'll be posing questions and potential solutions. But can the music industry be moved by the innovative ideas of a small independent Record Company [with the backing of the artists] and the fan group? It is a bit like the question....'Can 'democracy' survive?'.....Only time will tell......hang in there everyone. We owe it to the next generation of fans.
Casey Chameleon
Next time …..Part 2 - Repairing the 1960s Catalogue.
Maybe as 2019 hits home and the anti-climax of post Frankie Valli Farewell Tour sets in, fans and collectors have become depressed....but there is no need to be.
There are different perspectives on the future of music......“It’s human nature to attempt to conceptualize the future. All civilizations, from the ancient to the modern, have had some tradition of divination or fortune telling.' says Kate Morgan at Medium, but to her it seems we are very bad at forecasting the future!
So as I read forecasts of the dying Music Industry by Dan Fieberger on the BSN Forum I began to smile.....
”Once enough Boomers are dead, music sold in tangible form will cease to exist entirely.
Then x-years from now, all those older tangible music formats will be rare collectors items (cuz so many of them were just initially thrown away).
Then a hundred or so years from now, they'll be so rare as collectors die and the entire collections are thrown into dumpsters to sell their houses as fast as possible, that the occasional rare tangible piece of music will be extreme rarities in museums worth millions of dollars. Eventually they'll be taken down from display cuz nobody cares about them, and/or thrown away or stolen by thieves who then discover that they can't sell them on the black market and so they throw those final copies away also.
Once repository websites like You-Tube collapse cuz it isn't profitable for the webmasters to maintain anymore, eventually, there will be no evidence available that any of the music we produced in the 20th century (or us) ever existed at all. “
OMG.......the end of the world?
And when Rolling Stone recently said its 'piece' about last year, change becomes more real and apparent.'Thanks to the still-expanding streaming industry, overall music consumption grew in double-digits for the second year in a row. But the way we think of “music consumption” itself is permanently changed, and it doesn’t show any signs of going back to what it used to be. The dwindling popularity of music purchases — which is driven by listener preference as well as the music industry’s shift of focus away from [physical] sales, giving it a knock-on effect for retailers and buyers — can also be seen in the shares of total album consumption in 2018. '
The music industry may appear to be totally committed to streaming income and whilst some have been trying to kill of the CD in the last 2 years, physical product still exceeds 48% of income.......but formats don't die.....they just become 'niche' as these articles show
Clearly it is science-fiction to conceptualize the future and there is counter evidence to the revenue analyses showing that physical collecting will continue to accompany the ever expanding streaming industry as music on-line simply becomes an alternative to physical or digital form collecting. And not EVERYTHING is available on stream!!! So whilst we are entering the 'End Of The Boomers Era' and we have to accept that we, our friends and music heroes will inevitably pass on....the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and their fan base is growing and will live on. And we are working to see the best sounding Masters and the 'whole' catalogue [including previously 'unreleased']on CD Box Set. That way the world will retain a 'physical' presence for the groups work long into the future.
There is still a real focus on physical media with rising vinyl sales and even the humble cassette being re-energised. Collecting of both used vinyl and CD is strong and prices are holding and in many cases increasing as rarity impacts.
There are some brilliant sets here and our discussions with Snapper Records in 2018 have left us optimistic that this year will bring a similar stunning 'Tribute' to the career of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons that will fuel our playing, writing and review of their music for many years.
We've been championing the need for 'preservation since 2010 and we made it clear in our 2019 Press Release what we are doing to support the 'Project' and memorabilia research will continue this month. We want the released and unreleased in MONO and STEREO all re-mastered like never before. Capturing a catalogue that was 80% analogue tape stored with today's technology has long been our aim ….so what was either 'unreleased' or recorded to Analogue Tape is 'Digitally' salvaged for posterity. That will superced all the CD re-issues and the previous Analogue transfers of 1987 and provide the classic 60s MONO mixes plus the rest.
The products in this 'Second Disc' 2018 review and in the content of Snapper's cataloguedemonstrates that this small element of the music industry's turnover is both in demand and profitable. But perhaps most important is the close 'bond' such collections are building between fans and artists. Fans can tell their music heroes today what they have collected and loved. Archivists can fine tune released, unreleased and live career spanning work in high quality audio and paper products. Such 'curated' sets are a forensic examination of the 'legacy' left by a great artist and group including amazing memorabilia. We don't want 39 versions of Heroes and Vilians as The Beach Boys have done in their box sets and this Guardian article somewhat cynically examines.
Those that can afford it will want “L'Eridata” and those that can't will wait for a 'torrent' or You Tube version. Or maybe one day it will eventually be streamed.
The collectors groups are too big and 'connected' via social media and the marketeers know 2000 + copies sold will generate enough income and profit[and fund the restoration]. We in the collectors groups will see it as a 'treasure trove' and the legacy of our favourite artists musical careers.
Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli have it seems 'embraced' this and shown enthusiasm to start the process of archival research and we have given them the collecting content 'wants' list that represents 'essential' masters from the past on both vinyl and CD[and 'live']. There is much to treasure and to be collated and this year has the promise of a great future 'box set' for fans. What we all want is the top quality that 'Snapper' have achieved with other artists
Music is a celebration of our times and will always be a portrayal of history, so why not keep celebrating it for as long as we can and the part it has played in our lives, and in doing so let the future take care of itself.
Happy New Year to followers and Facebook group members from Lynn Boleyn, George Ingram, Ray Nichol and myself.
2018 was a 'special year' in the history of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
It was a year we discovered more unreleased tracks from the past since the 1975 release of 'Inside You'!
We were able to bring all of the data we have on the groups history up to date on our revised Web site in November
This was followed by the 'Farewell Tour' of the UK by Frankie and his Team for several memorable concerts to huge audiences.
The release of Charlie Calello's biography 'Another Season' in November [just out on Amazon.co.uk]
But perhaps more importantly it was the year we helped 'connect' Bob and Frankie with a high quality Record Company who want to celebrate the history and 'legacy' of their careers.
Not bad for a group that started as a small UK fan club 48 years ago.
Lynn told me that during the concert 'meet-ups' people were asking her.....'What is left now after a 'Farewell Tour?' Is it the end of the road? '
Well not as long as we can keep breathing that is!!
2019 may be the biggest year of our lives 'musically' as 'The Project' takes shape.
In January we hope contracts will be concluded on the 40 album box set featuring we believe 'unreleased tracks from every decade of the Partnerships existence. Tape research has started and the 'wishlist' of album tracks 45s and known 'unreleased' has been supplied to Bill Inglot and Bob Gaudio and Motown Universal have mobilised tape research of the 1971 to 1973 archive tapes. Live 'quality sound' shows are being researched to capture the legendary sound of the group from the 60s and 70s.
This blog will keep you informed of progress as will the Facebook group[The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign]
What could surface has already been amazing. In November we published 2 previously unheard unreleased but 'completed' Motown tracks from the Chameleon album sessions and before Christmas we heard Snapper Record's contact with the BBC Archive manager has unearthed 2 radio recordings for a Saturday morning 'Top Pops' show from 1963 when the Four Seasons visited the UK for a brief tour. 'Big Girls Don't Cry' and 'Ain't That A Shame'....LIVE at The BBC. Amazing news.!
Super rare photos are also emerging for the box set book and work starts this month on the memorabilia of unique material to illustrate the musical dynasty the group created. We will, during the year in our blogs, be revisiting album releases and special MONO and STEREO rarities that need to be included. The whole set will include amazing 'unseen' and 'unheard' material.
Whilst the aim is a 2019 release, we and Snapper are working together to bring the best ever Four Seasons product to the fans...with the support of Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli and their team.
So as I said Happy NEW YEAR 2019 to all involved and to you 'the fans'
I was listening to the ACE CD transfers from the 1990s on my I-pod on headphones the other day and realised they were nearly all STEREO but were making me cringe!
Why? Well..... every track in STEREO from every album from 1962 to 1970 was in wide STEREO ,,,,in many cases the instruments were across the park and the harmonies in my neighbours garden and Frankie Valli's vocal was in my head!!!! I decided.....I've moved beyond that.
Here is a retrospective re the background as to why this happened.....what the sound engineers tell of the times the first STEREO albums were created back in the 60s......”those early stereo mixes were limited by the technology of the time. The industry was still learning how to bring this newfangled thing into the world. It is really common to hear a ‘60s stereo mix where all the guitars are on one side, the vocals on the other, and the drums in the middle with absolutely no bleed-through at all. This is called “hard panning” and it can definitely make for a challenging listening session, depending on your room setup and personal preferences. It may or may not be fun with headphones too. At first, Stereo was something of a novelty. It wasn’t commonly listened to, and therefore was a bit of a gimmick. The first Stereo mixing consoles were typically 2 track or 4 track mixing desks. This meant you were limited to separating only 2 or 4 individual elements in the Stereo image. Using The Beatles as an example, the first two albums in Stereo were 2 track, so if you listen to them, you will notice all instruments are on one side, and all vocals on the other. This is what people mean when referring to ‘hard panning.’ This even continued when they started using a 4 track desk (I Want To Hold Your Hand), and even the incredibly dense sounding Sgt Pepper was made using a 4 track desk. Mixing huge instrumentation arrangements was possible on 4 track by using a technique called ‘bouncing.’ I won’t go into that here, but you can google it to find out more.
Because Stereo on commercial pop records at this point was a novelty, and a new exciting technology, and because engineers and producers of popular music were new to the idea, early 60’s music in Stereo generally sounds quite primitive. When you have only 2 track Stereo, hard panning is the only option to create a crude Stereo image, and is essentially redundant. But even with the advent of 4 track stereo, you will find that instruments were still hard panned (i.e the drums all on one side, vocals one side, guitars in the middle etc….) It is only towards the latter part of the 60’s, and with 8 track or 16 track becoming more common, that Stereo mixes started to sound like what you would hear [created] today, with instruments placed in a realistic and pleasing stereo image.One danger today is that I know that for one or two big labels, once Stereo became the standard, they thought their mono masters were now worthless, and they destroyed them (or wiped them and reused the tape.) So the mono 45's of these songs are the only way to hear the best-sounding mixes of these songs.”
[Mirasound 8 track Ampex? tape console 1966- Courtesy of George Schowerer]
The main thing is that the whole production was geared to a MONO product. All the hits were made that way and heard that way....on record players and radio....throughout the first 7 years of the decade hardly anyone[fans] had a STEREO record player.....and as stated above that was the gimmicky alternative version. BUT what was the 'Best Mix'? Well in the case of the Four Seasons Catalogue we've been asking that for a long time!!
First of all it seems [or it has been stated in several anecdotal sources] that the 2 and 4 track masters did not survive a Bell Studios clear out. BUT STEREO masters in this 'crude' wide form have survived. Some are different to the MONO that appeared on 45 and album. They don't contain late dubs by Bob Crewe added at Bell after he had taken the MONO master from Stea-Philips or Mirasound studios [according to sound engineer George Schowerer]. And Vee-Jay supplied Philips with MONO and STEREO album mixes only[according to Philips Master lists]. We wonder if that means there are missing 45 MONO Master mixes? On the evidence of post 1987 CD releases that seems to be the case[eg I've Cried Before].
So detailed research of the Tapes surviving [in all potential locations] is necessary to preserve the radio sound that really is the Sound of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. With work, the STEREO versions would be a bonus to todays and future listeners. They could in a decent sound stage reveal more detail than the MONO and be more akin to a 'live' performance. One of the reasons why MONO has some renewed interest though is exactly because STEREO replaced it. By the time CDs arrived, the stereo 'wide' mixes of most albums had become the “official”[defacto]mix.[now on CD] As vinyl records went out of print, people were left with only this STEREO option when they bought a new copy on CD. Within 15 years of the advent of CD, many MONO mixes were more or less forgotten about.
But today my argument is we need top re-mastered versions of BOTH.! So I researched back what my best friend, Stefan Wriedt, a German sound engineer had told me several years ago about STEREO mastering.
But ‘how do fans make their own assessment of what is a good stereo mix?’,.................. we asked him.
“Stereo images are best assessed on headphones. You have to listen. Wide is 120 to 180 degrees, anything between 60 and 30 degrees is small[narrow], 60 to 120 is normal (90 degrees as usual). I haven't found any meter / display that can show this.[only our ears on headphones]”
So I started doing further research on the 'best mixes' in STEREO and the groups catalogue and realised all the 'best' sounding STEREO were recorded in the 1970s and obviously on vinyl. There are some rogue STEREO mixes that surfaced on 'special' vinyl HITS albums during the 60s[eg Edizione D'Oro] that improve the mix, but every STEREO version is different as the content is more detailed than the MONO and can be panned differently.
The 60s STEREO limitations are clear . CD's with WIDE STEREO can sound good on an 'old style' listening environment when the speakers are the right distance apart and the listener is in the 'sweet spot'. This represents only about 5% of anyones listening experience today as we all listen on headphones/ear-buds/in-car or on the go Boom boxes. The STEREO becomes just like MONO. And after spending 3 years collecting and restoring MONO mixes from vinyl it has become obvious how the groups PRIMARY catalogue elements should be delivered.In MONO with 'enhanced' STEREO versions as a bonus set.
This guide from the WWW to assess STEREO supports this idea.Mixing engineers should mix tracks with a live sound stage/concert stage perspective in mind . We found an audio blog that defines this.
“'Panning' is how the instruments are arranged within the stereo image. By properly using this mixing feature you can create a very realistic sound.
Vocals are always in the centre because the band lead singer is the star of the show. At the back of the vocals is the bass player. Typically at the back of the bass player is the drummer. The band's two guitarists are on the left and the right. Although, different panning arrangement are possible for additional instruments (such a band with piano or others), this concept illustrates the basic things on how to do panning in audio mixing to create a very realistic stereo image.
Live sound monitors for vocals and bass are placed up front facing the audience, so that fans can get a great feel of the vocals and the bass groove. On the left and right loud sound monitors are the guitars.
In the best commercial audio production and using software, panning can be controlled between -100 to +100. Where mostly -100 is the leftmost part of the stage and +100 is the rightmost part of the stage.”
Stefan agreed…..”In the case of the Four Seasons recordings that we have[on CD in STEREO]……….. listen to any track on headphones and see how much these principles are adhered to. Many of the early stereo recordings fall short of this standard (with instruments and vocals panned far left and far right with acres of space between occupied by ‘nothing’).Today the listening experience is different, Everybody who bought a Four Seasons CD already has got the wide-stereo version[except for the tracks NEVER RECORDED IN STEREO by the Engineers] which again goes to the root of the original purpose.....a RADIO 45 mix.”
["What do you think of that 'mix' Ellie?" - Bob Crewe to Ellie Greenwich late 1966 - Mirasound - Courtesy of George Schowerer]
With the ‘MONO only’ versions [that often don't exist in STEREO] we are listening to the only example of what the producers sought.....and record company put out originally on vinyl. So we might as well have that....well mastered with the punch and ambience of Bob Crewe's mixes....in the correct MONO 45 and album mixes. They sound great when mastered well. And the STEREO tracks can be the bonus if mixed perhaps to a 90 degree sound mix as identified above.?
There are 3 examples of Four Seasons tracks from the early 60s given this treatment by Bob Gaudio and that is on the 1988 CD 'HITS – Digitally Enhanced'. Bob Gaudio commissioned an engineer to prepare this type of 'modern' STEREO mix on 'Marlena', 'Sherry' , 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love' and 'Stay'...[check out the mp3 samples if you don't have the CD]......That is what the fans need by 2020...But with ALL the 60s STEREO in this enhanced form.. The technology is here in 2018 to do this for all our playing equipment and listening needs. A completely NEW set of Masters
As Stefan said and we found doing the MONO ARCHIVE......”. The fun is when you are re-mastering and you are trying different settings. Sometimes you suddenly find the groups sound just works better. That is such a ‘buzz’. ..a real adrenalin rush.”
[Bob Crewe with George Schowerer....Artie Schroeck in background - Mirasound - late 1966. Courtesy of George Schowerer]
Our research makes the case for the catalogue of the future to enable you to 'feel' the MONO original sound as intended by Bob and the Group or Frankie in his 'solo' efforts and to also create NEW 'life-like' performances from the STEREO Master[NEW STEREO MIXES - as appropriate]
This is a potential Box Set that needs doing that can be sold to the fans of yesterday and today. There is the 'traditionalist' argument to not change the 'original'....but would we buy that AGAIN? After all we have all the WIDE-STEREO already on CD.We should be able to fully appreciate the transition from MONO to STEREO and capture the punch and thrill of MONO and the 'performance simulation' of STEREO in a modern presentation of their music as it is now understood. So NO hard right/left panning STEREO for me....thank you.!
The possibility that some-one will listen to this option and take it on board is something we will consider and we'll no doubt debate. More soon.
As the visit of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons for the UK Farewell Tour rapidly approaches we are working towards a big celebration and reinforcing the sense of connection with long term and new fans.
Lynn Boleyn has organised get togethers with the fans before each concert and I have updated the web site for the tour and to support research and fan interest into the future....as well as preserving free downloadable data about the past.
WE have big hopes for the future and after the unfortunate demise of the late Frank Rovello's Genuine Imitation Life Gazette Web Site we became the main fan club site remaining on the WWW. So we spoke to our web Hosting company Northbrook Web Consultants and they are moving us to a new server and helping make future updates to www.seasonally.co.uk easier. Everything is based on picture links on our web page to our data and we retain our 'pop-art' design.
We have now made access to our specialist collectors Facebook Pages re 'The Unreleased Motown Tracks' and 'Charlie Calello's 'Lost and Found' Tracks' and a link to our Twiiter page.
All our data pages are preserved with links to download George Ingram's Newsletters [Nrs 47 to 68] packed with newspaper and magazine articles from the past.
Our research into the history of the group is also preserved with our two blogs we've run since 2006 and our part drafted E-book based on the 60s and 70s 'Rise and Fall of The NEW Four Seasons.'
The list of all the Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons 'HITS' is on the web site in a special Page based on Charles Alexander's research which is the cornerstone of the groups 'legacy' and we have big plans to celebrate that in the future with a mega project we hope will completely re-vitalise the whole catalogue and it's history.
The 'Farewell' tour is not the end...nor the beginning of the end....but in the words of Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio......A NEW BEGINNING.
Most fans of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons know that they had less than half the tracks they recorded released by Mowest/Motown during their contract there. So the collation of collected and researched data on the Four Seasons 'Lost Masters' at Motown from 1971 to 1973 has been drafted into a Project Plan to allow engineers and compilers to research the 16 track [multi-track] Tape Masters in the Universal Motown Vaults in NYC.
In summary the research has identified that there are:
28 Master Tapes[of released and un-released tracks, including multi-tracks and alternative 'takes'/'mix-downs']
36 identified and located 'mixed' tracks that have never been released[many with Motown Master Nrs]
12 identified alternative versions/mixes of released songs requiring research
9 individual producers as well as Crewe-Gaudio
8 listed titles for unknown songs with no location information.
Background notes to the sessions and the songs, their writers, producers and how they were covered by other artists
This information is collated from anonymous donation of lists from within Motown Universal's paper/digital records but gives no indication of whether the tapes still exist or what their condition is. This is basically a log of the analogue sources with no confirmation of digital recovery/preservation. The recently released Bobby Darin 'Lost Masters' CD confirms that such tapes still exist in good condition from this period when Valli/Gaudio and the Four Seasons were recording. This shows in some cases the same producers are present with each artist. So we can be pretty confident that the tapes are there.
The Project Plan will be made available to the artist and tape owner when confirmation that no barriers to such research exist. In the meantime we will be posting an updated Tape Index this summer.The Project Plan covers:-
Introduction – Background to the Universal Motown Vaults and Tape Index
Session Review Plan Part1 - Period 1971[Oct] – 1972[Aug] - Artist:Frankie Valli - Various Producers
Session Review Plan Part 2 - Period 1971[Oct] – 1972[Aug] - Artist:Four Seasons – Various Producers
Session Review Plan Part3 - Period 1971[Oct] – 1972[Aug] - Artist:Four Seasons - Bob Gaudio produced 'Chameleon' Sessions and other tracks
Session Review Plan Part4 - Period 1972[Aug] – 1972[Dec] - Artist:Frankie Valli Sessions Mid-Late 1972 – Various Producers
Session Review Plan Part5 - Period 1973[Jan] – 1973[May] - Artist:Frankie Valli - Bob Crewe Early 1973 Sessions Frankie Valli [with Motown Session singers as the Four Seasons]
Session Review Plan Part6 - Period 1973[Mid] – Bob Gaudio sessions - Artist:Frankie Valli
Session Review Plan Part7 - Period 1973[Oct- Dec] - Artist:Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons - Bob Crewe Late 1973 Sessions Frankie Valli[ Four Seasons][lncluding Charlie Calello and Nick Massi]
Further research this year will be based on more salvaged tracks from the sessions [copied and preserved during the sessions]and known information on the individual tracks and their background and web site updates will document their part in the 'Four Seasons Story'.
Ken Charmer – Webmaster/chief blogger and lead music historian[team leader] at The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society. www.seasonally.co.uk
It was 1976 in the UK and music was exploding into the charts again. The excitement of collecting records and going to see it performed 'live' was everything to us. We'd had 'My Eyes Adored You' hit Nr 1, 'Who Loves You' change the Radio Airwaves and 'The Night' emerge from the club scene to rocket into the charts as a 'long-lost' oldie re-issue. Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons where about to hit the peak. Overnight top stars and their biggest ever hit was about to hit Nr 1.
They toured, we saw them, they were 'our' Four Seasons. We saw them on TV every other week . It was 'hedonistic' and the natural and only way to find out more about the music and the band was to join the fan club. Friends were made , expectations raised and support given to the group and their management. They were all great musicians, all but Don had been trained by Jazz musicians, and so their performances were superb then and remain historically important.
Well 42 years on it is a different world as we approach the end of the line in terms of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The fan club died in 1981and the fan group that succeeded still hoped for whatever line-up Frankie Vall could employ to come visit and take us back to those times. There will be time to reflect on this life of fandom and The Four Seasons Story for old and new fans post the November/December UK tour but for now we can reminisce.
John Hornsby[a long-standing fan from the US fan club] sent me his cassette tapes and I have managed to salvage in reasonable sound the Midnight Special TV Shows from the mid 1970s. They don't do full justice to what we experienced 'live' but these tracks capture the essence of what I wrote in the opening paragraph. It's good to have been able to tweak these old tape recordings and share them with you in a CD Download.
And to finish as Bonus Tracks is what I have been shouting about for the last 8 years. It was 37 years since Valli/Gaudio left Motown and that music ended with the 'Inside You' album when these songs surfaced. Something Vall and Gaudio had nothing to speak about as they didn't own the masters. They still don't. Motown Universal do. No completed songs remained we were told. Jersey Boys was the big earner.......nobody wanted to know nor do they now. That is oficial as far as BG and FV are concerned. But we have these hissy old acetate recordings. I've re-mastered these again this last year with new tools to clean them without damaging the detail. The completed Masters are sitting in the Motown Vaults with up to 50 other unheard and unreleased tracks. We know exactly where and they could be recovered tomorrow. Motown Universal wont act without FV and BG support and that is not forthcoming. Hence our continuing campaign for their official release sometime. I spoke to Lee Shapiro back in 2011 when these acetate dubs turned up and he recalled the session, the fact that Motown musicians played and the Seasons[including Gerry Polci and Nick Massi sang, Charlie Calello arranged with Kenny Nolan] and Bob Crewe danced on the recording console! He also confirmed Bob Crewe had them complete union session contracts and the masters were completed and handed to Motown. As was ‘I Wonder Why’ . More re all the sessions down the line!!!!!
So as we head into the Farewell Concert Tour of the UK and US just enjoy what the 70s gave us and still could if sometime someone listens to our Facebook group – The Four Seasons UK Motown Unreleased Campaign. You'll find links there to this music for a short period. Enjoy. Casey Chameleon
As 2018 develops as probably Frankie Valli’s final touring year we are able to celebrate 2 anniversaries. This blog has been running for 7 years this month and February is the 2nd Anniversary of the formation of The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign on Facebook. Our 253 members are able to share news, views and music in a very easy way and Lynn Boleyn and I use the blog to regularly publish news and research re the group’s tours, former group members and the back catalogue of music.
But as we celebrate these 2 anniversaries in February 2018 two things stand out.
Firstly our ‘brand’ has become firmly established as a linked ‘fan club’ community and information centre for the few hundred international friends who want to share their common interest. The old style newsletters and e-mail groups have literally been ‘retired’. Facebook is too easy and powerful a tool today.
Secondly, our joint ‘positivity’ through Facebook and our blog that eventually our voice will be heard. Our focus remains strong on discovering and celebrating music we have never heard; and we continue to believe that we can one day convince the artist we admire and respect to help release this music unheard for over 45 years. That is perhaps because as a result of the shared objective we have in the last few years unearthed and shared more ‘unreleased tracks’ than in the whole of the previous history of the group. The recent release of the ‘Lost and Found Vol 3’ which followed our April 2017 CD of ‘The Best ‘Unreleased UK Collection 2017’ demonstrates this.
That in itself is a positive outcome. So over the next year I’ll be continuing our efforts [God willing!]. But we are adapting to change.
We now know from our Motown network that the release of the 50 plus tracks in the Motown vault at UMG by Frankie and the group is ‘just a phone call away’!!!!!
We have good reason to believe that it simply needs Bob Gaudio to pick up the phone and ring Harry Weinger at UMG and he would initiate the project to recover the tapes and the unheard music and release a second Motown Anthology – The Unheard Masters. Harry as he has previously shown wants to be a friend to ‘the stars’ and in so doing strengthen the Motown Brand. He has done it many times before and will do it again. It just needs the artist to give it the ‘green light’ and he will we believe empower the legal and commercial processes. With this in mind we will devote this year’s research to the project plan for when that happens.And we will 'reach out' and try to establish a dialogue with Bob, Frankie or their representative. Whether that achieves dialogue we'll continue to publish the latest we can for fans
That is the more positive approach than the alternative which is to wait till Bob and Frankie ‘pass away’ with the release to then be a posthumous tribute to their time at Motown.
In the forthcoming months we will outline the sessions from the groups Motown period and the tape research strategy for the engineers and compilers we know are ready to work on the project. BG/FV only have to say 'go' and we will be ready.
We will also continue our salvaging of re-mastered rare, live and ‘unreleased’ tracks to be shared on the Facebook group. It will take time but we hope to bring group members more treats during the year. Thank you all for your continued support and ‘likes’.
Ken Charmer
[Previously unseen photo courtesy of James DiNapoli: Photographer Bobby Valli]
Addendum April 1st2018
This will be our last subscription blog post with links to our web site. We'll explore News posts in the future
Lynn Boleyn and I have been discussing the future of our collaboration to maintain fan access to data and news re Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons given Frankie Valli's Farewell Tour and impending retirement. So as of today we are closing this blog and moving all support services to fans to our Facebook page ' The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign'.This has over the last 2 years become our research base and discussion channel for all historical research and data re the group. I'm mindful that the web site www.seasonally.co.ukis in need of an update to preserve and provide access to ALL the data and articles published since April 2006 in George Ingram's Newsletter and in Discographies, our 1970s E-Book and past blog posts.
The aim is to continue to supply this data long term as a key reference for the most accurate historical data for releases and recording sessions by the group and the articles and research published to date. 'Chameleon's blogand 'That 'Four Seasons' Sound' blog will still be accessible and our past articles will crop up whenever you do an internet 'search' re the 'Four Seasons'. Published blogs will be accessible through the web site and our on-going research will continue to be published on our Facebook page. We are also researching using the non-subscription Typed blog service or a possible Facebook Page totally devoted to the forthcoming UK tour for attending fans. Lynn and I will advise re this by Summer 2018.
When I was working through old cassettes in the studios this autumn I got to thinking that UK Fans of Four Seasons back in the sixties never got to see their group live[apart from a very brief 1964 UK tour visit that nobody i know ever saw!] and they never appeared on UK TV during the 60s as far as we know. Experiencing that unique 'live' atmosphere and Frankie Valli's stratospheric falsetto was something we eventually heard about from US fans. Those that experienced that live sound are now in their mid/late 60s and will struggle to remember the 'live' sound. In fact even during the 70s when many of us joined the fan club we had no 'live' recordings of their shows from the 60s and only the 'Live On Stage' album to judge from. The earliest audience recorded cassette tape was from Clearwater in Florida 1964 which hardly captured the ‘real’ in concert sound.
So when I picked up a tape titled 'Tommy De Vito Archive' I wondered what I might find. This tape it appears was given to Rex Woodard during his now 'legally' infamous interviews for Tommy's biography now known as 'The Work' and claimed to be the inspiration for the musical play Jersey Boys. What I found inspired me to collate as much as I could of the 'experience' of the group 'in concert' that would create the legend they are. A key collectors set was the result.
I recalled the script of Jersey Boys and Bob Crewe's response to a group disenchanted and wanting an identity and a hit of their own. “Bring me 4 songs......and I'll record you!” is the fictitious line in the play and fans have discussed whether this was true or not....and if so what were the songs? Well it could be that Bob Gaudio and the group presented Crewe with these songs as 4 demos....in late summer 1961. The opening four tracks of this set we discovered can be placed clearly at that time as two would be re-recorded and released in October by the group then named as Billy Dixon and the Topics on Bob Crewe's new label Topix 45 – 6002[I Am All Alone/Trance]. Here we present the original acetate demo versions taped by Tommy DeVito for preservation. This presentation was a big improvement on the Village Voices 45 they did during the Spring of 1961. Possibly recorded 'live' rather than using 3 track studio machines, they feature a group arranged by Nick Massi with a styling distinct from the 45 release versions.[We've finished the CD set with Re-mastered versions of the 45s for comparison]. But two other tracks emerged from these sessions surviving on this tape. 'I Still Care' also appears in Jersey Boys being sung by Miss Frankie Nolan[ABC 10231], with Frankie Valli's soaring falsetto backing and the rest of the group in harmony. This version is in a subdued harmony style that would be a feature of their early albums. The final unheard side was an early version of 'Like You'[which turned up as another alternative version unreleased demo from 1963 only in Spring 2017]. This earlier version by the full group has slightly different lyrics and probably went by the title 'That's You'.
Another discovery from the archive tape would prove to be the earliest good quality 'live' concert recording by the original group that we have ever heard. Featuring a sequence of four songs, 'Stay/Since I Don't Have You/Cry Myself To Sleep/Dawn' we believe this is from 1964 and presents Frankie and the group as we have never heard them...the 'original' superb live concert sound.
Wanting to develop a set worthy of collectors of Four Seasons music we set about gathering as many true live performances from VT recordings during the decade. We were able to gather a good number of songs and medleys that continue to illustrate the 1960s live concert sound of the group. We were even able to include 2 versions of the rare 'Sound Of Music' medley from TV shows. We finished the set with NEW creations in STEREO of some tracks that only ever featured as MONO tracks in their original form re-engineered by sound engineers in the USA.
We re-mastered the archive collections in Wavelab Elements 9 using our MEDSS mix sound treatment[Mono Enhanced with Digital Stereo Simulation]. This removes as much noise and crackles as possible without removing original music and creates a wider/deeper sound stage to enhance the raw MONO.
It is in our view a unique and enjoyable snapshot of the group we love and have collected since our youth. As a step forward it follows on from our late friend Stefan Wriedt's 'The Fantastic First Years'.....taking us through some of the most collectable performances of the 50’s/60s. This set is dedicated to the memory of the late Rex Woodard and Stefan Wriedt but also Frank Rovello and Stuart Miller....who would have loved it. We hope fans enjoy it as much as we we did assembling it. Happy 2018.[47 years on from when those Billy Dixon demos were recorded] . Thanks to John Hornsby and George Juba for their help with this collection. Special thanks to Jim DiNapoli for source tapes. Photo courtesy of Bobby Valli. The download is available for a short time to members of The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign Facebook Group.
The button badge is from 1976 and the hey-day of the UK fan club when we would have raved about finding 'unreleased' Frankie Valli/4 Seasons tracks but amazingly another one has turned up from an unexpected period. The song discovered this year [2017]we now think dates back to Autumn 1961 and the sessions that resulted in 'I Am All Alone/Trance' -Topix 45 6002 released in October 1961. This is before the first appearance of the group as The Four Seasons in December 1961[Bermuda/Spanish Lace- GONE 112] More re those sessions in the future.
We believe it may be from the 'between labels' period when the group were in dispute with Vee-Jay. It appears that after their mid 1962 preparations for the Copa cabaret show they didn't go into the studio again except as back-up singers until they recorded 'Dawn' at the Atlantic Studios prior to signing with Philips in late 1963. They did work on several projects with other artists including the 4-Evers on 'Be My Girl' with Al Kasha producer and it has been suggested this may be from that period/sessions. But finding another version by the Four Lovers last week was a shock. I've asked Casey to carefully restore that version too and we'll share that in due course. This is a much more refined arrangement than the 4 Lovers version and is listed under Bob Gaudio's BMI listing as 'Like You'[Composition 100].
But to find this version after so long is truly the discovery of the year. Our 'music detectives' are always searching through old cassettes and looking for demo's and acetates and when this surfaced we wondered when it was recorded. Further research hasn't confirmed definitive information or it's source. Our continued investment in technology and sound editing software[and our buddy Casey]have enabled the recovery and sharing of this nice song and performance. He told me 'We owe much of the pre-Four Seasons history on CD to Stefan Wriedt who collected and re-mastered many of the earliest Frankie Valli recordings on The Fantastic FIRST YEARS CD on Sparkletone. He taught me how to re-master old vinyl dubbed in Wavelab and as collectors we owe him so much for preserving those early recordings from 1953 to 1961. His legacy is the on-going emergence of tracks like this we are able to restore and share”
For now let's celebrate another great find....and although it is unlikely much else survives from this period we do have some interesting acetates and 'live' material coming up to share with members of our facebook group as we assemble 'More UK 'Best' Un-released and 'Live' Tracks' by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
Over the summer we've seen the emergence of one of the most successful 'Motown Unreleased' CD's for many years. Brenda Holloway's ' Spellbound' is full of rare and unreleased tracks many of which have surfaced during the last 2 years and have only been available as mp3 downloads. This CD set is fully re-mastered from 8 track and in great sound.
The anticipation[almost hysteria] in the build-up to it's release provided a substantial pre-order and fuelled by 'word-of-mouth' on speciality Facebook groups and the Northern Soul scene the CD achieved a UK Top Ten album position in the weeks following it's released and a second pressing as copies quickly sold out. In this day-and -age of dying CD sales this is pretty phenomenal.
But what are the lessons learned from this release and does it give hope to Four Seasons fans that the large 'cache' of unreleased Valli/Seasons tracks may soon achieve a similar fate?
Well to me there are five important 'lessons' to be learned from this release not only for collectors but for Universal Motown Group and the independent Record Companies that seek to license such tracks and invest in such release programmes.
Facebook groups are a clear market for unreleased material in new CD compilations. With ever increasing numbers of people gathering in interest groups that research Motown 'treasures' or rare and vaulted material it's pretty obvious that marketing is easier than ever .....thus targeting sales with little or no financial investment.
Quality control of 'sound mixes' is still an important consideration with 'hard copy' wav files preferred by collectors to mp3 downloads.
Artist involvement is a major marketing necessity. Brenda was fully involved with Cherry Red Records and producer Paul Nixon to help compile and approve this release.
Record Companies with belief in the project and the launch process are essential. ACE Records lost out to Cherry Red in licensing this music and they must be 'devastated' at getting that wrong. But the big future problem appears to be UMG[we are currently researching their policies and processes for future releases]
Such projects need a top compiler/producer with knowledge of the artist and the market[ie collectors like us]
What this demonstrates is that there is still a substantial demand for the release of tracks from the vaults of UMG [ie Motown Unreleased] and everyone we contact whether a Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons fan club member or collector of their music..... knows the strength of their 'brand' …...their 'image' is huge. They remain top stars of the 60s and 70s music scene. Their unreleased music is clearly in demand as the steady growth of members of this group has shown. This is a project waiting to happen. So what is the problem.?
There are Record Companies who license tracks from UMG and top compilers who would promote the project IF......UMG and The Four Seasons Partnership would support it.
BUT the recent decision by UMG to cease third party licensing of tracks to independent record companies not only threatens to stop ALL new projects but threatens perhaps the role and purpose of those collector labels. Some projects are in the pipeline and will 'probably' surface in time...... but this is a real threat to collectors of this material and a huge disappointment to Four Seasons fans.
Our role is to publicise the lack of transparancy by the parties[i.e. artists and track owners]. Our sister blog site 'That 'Northern Soul' Sound' will consider this in more detail as we bring the situation to the attention of the Four Seasons Partnership. Then there is the Corporate 'animal' that is UMG? Whether they respond or not only time will tell. We won't hold our breath based on past experience.......but past experience doesn't always shape the future. Times are changing and the Facebook groups are becoming stronger and more influential. More questions than answers again!!! Hope remains that sense will prevail and the UMG policy will change in the light of this clear enhancement to Motown's music image. More when we have it!
This years UK Tour has provided us with an opportunity to let Frankie Valli know there are a number of unreleased songs in either acetate or 'live' show versions that are in the hands of fans. Some have been around for years and some are new discoveries. I promised to compile sleeve notes re the tracks so here goes.
Track 1 – Like You
Our latest discovery thanks to one of our longest standing 'music detectives'. Recovered from acetate this song he tells us comes from sessions Valli did at the same time as he did the 'Be My Girl' session with the 4-Evers. If so this would date the session as early 1964. Perhaps producer Al Kasha was involved but the writer was Bob Gaudio[see his BMI listing]. Perhaps Valli's earliest idea for a 'solo' career whilst with the 4 Seasons this remains our top find in recent years. A song and delivery reminiscent of solo artists of the time like Bobby Vinton. The acetate was clearly in good condition and we were able to clean and re-master to a very enjoyable version.
Track 2 – Hymn To Her
Again the same 'music detective' discovered acetates produced by Bob Crewe from the sessions in December 1973 after Bob persuaded Motown he could generate a 'hit'. Bob Gaudio was not involved and Crewe was confident that assembling past expertise would make a difference. He persuaded Nick Massi to come back to arrange vocal harmonies and Charles Calello to arrange and he had a bunch of songs he'd written with Kenny Nolan [a singer songwriter with a studio group Crewe was producing called The Eleventh Hour]. 'Hymn To Her' returns the Seasons backing sound to an anthemic harmony with Valli hitting falsetto in his traditional style. An unusual but intense lyric that hints at religious connections[“my very own Madonna'] this acetate dub was sufficient for us to recover a very listenable version. It remains in the Motown vault as a completed master Nr 62523 and although it didn't convince the Motown Execs it was slated [in mid 1974] for album release just when the group left the label.
Track 3 – You Are The Sunshine of My Life
This Stevie Wonder original was arranged as part of the NEW Four Seasons 'live' shows during 1974. Frankie Valli had promoted the young Lee Shapiro to be his musical director/arranger for live performances. It was a transitional period for Frankie and the group. He had enlisted Gerry Polci, Don Ciccone[who sings the lead in parts] and John Paiva had joined the backing band, joining Joe Long in what some rate as the best 'ever' Four Seasons. John Paiva's personal tape collection allowed us to salvage these tracks from their Bachelors III Cabaret Club show in mid 1974 at Fort Lauderdale. With many of Frankie's 'New Jersey friends' there this show contains more 'unrecorded' songs than any other we know of.
Track 4 – I Wonder Why
Mid 1974 with a new 'settled' line-up Lee Shapiro and Joe Long persuaded Frankie that they should show Motown bosses that this line-up were capable of good things and so the group whilst on the road, wrote and produced this song as a demo and presented it to Motown boss Susan De Passe. The full story is told here. This copy survived on tape which although somewhat deteriorated shows a great song and the groups ability as writers, producers and performers. We'd like to find a better copy for re-mastering and wondered if Lee Shapiro had one? But thanks to Joe Long at least we have this. I'd forgotten we had re-mixed a stereo version of this and I'll try to find it in September
Track 5 – Hickory[Alternative Extended Mix]
Whilst the shorter version of this was released in 1974, this original extended version with extra verse at the beginning and a falsetto ending comes from a Bob Crewe acetate. The Master tape we believe still contains this version from the December 1973 sessions. Motown Master Tape 2664 will reveal that.
Track 6 - Killing Time
This left-over track has been around for a while. It didn't make the 'cut' for the 1984 album 'Streetfighter'. We don't know why as it is a very strong song and performance. Perhaps it's length didn't allow it to fit the vinyl format. It's source is unknown and we have just added to the mp3 version some EQ and punch.
Track 7 – Michael and Peter
Bob Gaudio did a whole album of demos of the 'Watertown' project for Frank Sinatra and sang most of the songs himself but this track was done with Jake Holmes opening the song in spartan style before a tremendous fully arranged solo by Frankie Valli. This has been around collectors circles for many years and a cleaner version [with less clicks and pops] was not possible without a better original dub and top sound engineering skills.
Track 8 – I Got Love
This song was an fairly frequent opening 'live' show number from around 1970 till this concert in 1974. From the stage show 'Purlie' it was allegedly arranged by Charles Calello but never done as a studio recording. Always a favourite with the band members this slightly shortened version still rocks. Recovered from the Bachelors III Show tapes it has been specially cleaned and re-balanced by the late Stefan Wreidt and Ken Charmer.
Track 9 – Golden Slumbers
When the tribute movie/album to The Beatles was being done in 1977[All This And WWII] Frankie Valli appeared on TV doing 2 Beatles songs which he never did for the album. A fan at the time recorded the [to us in the UK] unknown song on we believe 'reel to reel' and it subsequently surfaced on cassette. This is the first of these. We've added EQ and Punch to improve this for CD and it once again shows Frankie Valli's vocal interpretation skills
Track 10 – If I Were A Carpenter
Another Bachelors III salvaged track done quite often in concert in 1974 this is another example of Lee Shapiro's arranging skills and the great playing skill of the NEW Four Seasons.
Track 11 – One Man
Discovered in the Mercury vault by a researcher looking for Lesley Gore tracks this was on a tape can that said, “One Man - Mono Master : The Four Seasons” it was donated to us in 1997 on the basis that we make it a free issue to fans. From the 1970 final sessions at Philips this Bob Crewe-Larry Brown song has a somewhat 'dated' lyric and unpolished production. Perhaps raw and unfinished it remains all we have of the 'several' unreleased Bill Inglot reported tracks discovered during tape research. This good tape transfer has been re-mastered from the original cassette copy for this CD.
Track 12 – Bridge Over Troubled Waters[Medley]
A big production 'live' track in shows since 1970, Joe Longs skills are all over this arrangement and although not the best group performance of this medley it is the best sound quality version we have. By combining the title track with The Long and Winding Road and McArthurs Park Valli and the group created a stunning mid-show classic.
Track 13 – We Had It All
Somehow a backing track surfaced 10/15 years ago of a song rumoured to be a Motown recording. Probably recorded to cassette at the session. Believed to be titled 'Walking In The Sunshine' for some time we had confirmation in 2016 it was completed by Valli as a Motown Master Nr exists for it. Nr 60769 means it sits between 'Touch The Rainchild' and 'The Night' in the Motown vaults. It's all we've got for now but is a demonstration of the 'treasure' still unreleased by Universal Motown.
Track 14 – All In Love Is Fair/The Way We Were [Medley]
A new arrangement in 1974 by Lee Shapiro for 'live' performances this medley survived through into the concerts of the mid to late 70s. This salvaged from tape version is from Bachelors III again and features great harmony support by The Four Seasons.
Track 15 – Close Your Eyes
During the early fan club days of the 1970s when audience recorded 'live' tapes were frequently in demand, the earliest cassette based recording of the 4 Seasons was from Clearwater in 1964. Poor sound of course but it contained this gem. When Nick Massi died and as a tribute to him this 'duet' with Frankie Valli was salvaged from tape and added to You Tube. It's amazing that we have managed to get as good a version of this from the tape as a demonstration of respect for Nick's unique contribution to the group.
Track 16 – The Fool On The Hill
The second Beatles song from circa 1977 recorded from TV by a fan. It is enhanced here for CD listening.
Track 17 – If
With 'Bread' amongst the most popular group's of the time in mid 1974 it was another chance for Lee Shapiro to show off his emerging arranging skills and for Valli to give a masterful vocal on this David Gates classic for the Bachelors III cabaret audience.
Track 18 – You're Never Too Old To Rock'n'Roll
This song was included in the early 1980s 'live' shows and was intended for album /single release. But with the record industry being in recession no company was prepared to offer Frankie and the group a recording contract and it remains unknown if a studio version of this exists. The writers are unknown but in concert Frankie Valli is said to have claimed he and Jerry Corbetta wrote it.
Track 19 – Natural Morning
I can remember the late Frank Rovello searching for this nearly 20 years ago as a relation to the writer[reputably an 11 year old?] was sure Frankie Valli had recorded it. Paper records discovered in 2015 confirmed it was recorded in 1968 with Artie Schroeck arranging but it seems it was never finished. This version is re-mixed to stereo from faded tape Mono versions and was in 2 parts....combined here. Not the best of songs but an interesting vocal and arrangement.
Track 20 – Lovers
Unfortunately this Bob Crewe acetate has been over-recorded during dubbing and the restoration of this superb Crewe – Nolan composition has been limited. It was recorded at the same session as 'My Eyes Adored You' and was slated for album release prior to the group leaving the label. Clearly a completed and superb recording it remains in the Motown vault. An alternative dub may be possible in the future but a Master Tape re-issue is our constant aim.
Track 21 – Make Your Tomorrow Tonight
The final acetate from the December 1973 Motown sessions this was clearly Bob Crewe taking a re-visit to the Wonder Who sound in 1973 as a joke for Motown execs. They were unimpressed with the result and although probably never intended for release we are unsure if a normal vocal was ever done. This did not make the 1974 proposed Motown album Master Tape.
With several of these tracks 'culled' from the Bachelors III concert in Ft. Lauderdale I thought the original article on this 'salvaged' concert would be relevant and interesting in the context of this 2017 collection. Here is the link.
Many thanks to all those who have contributed to this collection in terms of the music and the background. Anonymity is necessary for some but they know we appreciate their contribution and we are happy to have been able to share this with you to brighten your day. Casey Chameleon
PS The CD has been made available to members of our Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign Facebook Group.
It has been a huge year for the touring Frankie Vall and the Four Seasons with amazing summer dates this week in Tel Aviv, Israel[4th July] and Cork, Ireland on Thursday and a 'private' London wedding on Friday. Lynn Boleyn will be in Cork and will post this blog with her thoughts soon but as we reflect on the immense appeal of this 'live' show it is interesting to consider the big differences of a legendary career spanning 55 years since The Four Seasons first major musical success.
When the UK fan club started[1971] Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were already an 'oldies' band and during the 1970s they became truly legendary as the 'renamed' Four Seasons hit Nr 1.
Live performances today and back then have their very different styles. We've accepted the development and celebrated the songs then and now.
This Tel Aviv performance is well videoed and recorded and captures what we enjoyed so much about the April concerts in the UK. When the UK fan club started[1971] Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were already an 'oldies' band and during the 1970s they became truly legendary as the 'renamed' Four Seasons hit Nr 1.
But I was talking with John Paiva today about the 'aura' the whole group had back in 1976-78. We argued about then and now. 'Today' John said is the 'show sound' Frankie wants to project [an evolution of Jersey Boys]whilst I argued that the sound of a 'Band' not enhanced by technology with Frankie's voice at its peak is unsurpassed!! I experienced as will some of you reading this the stunning Four Seasons(featuring the 'sound' of Frankie Valli') during the early 60s (some may actually remember seeing them!)but [surely?]they never truly became 'legendary' till the mid 70s. John and I agreed the merits of both but as I've said before we celebrate all eras of the Four Seasons today [one joke going the rounds is that to date there may have been '4000 Seasons'....all but 4 'employees']
During the UK tour in April we told Robbie Robinson about our research to uncover 'unreleased' tracks for this historic 2017 Tour. We looked at how much the groups recording career and live performances have meant to us. Our research team of US and UK collectors had gathered 21 of 'collected' unreleased recordings from acetates/demos/masters and live performances for 'The Best of the 'Unreleased' UK Collection 2017'. A set assembled to preserve the rarities from the past in as good a quality as possible[given their source quality] We asked Robbie to pass it on to Frankie for him, his sons and to share with future generations of fans. Some tracks have been around for years and some are on You Tube but some are only recent discoveries, now digitally enhanced for CD /digital storage for the first time. Every track has a story behind it and we'll document as much as we know about their background in due course.
In a letter to Frankie we made it clear that our Campaign on Facebook continues in an attempt to persuade Universal Motown to act to preserve [and commercially release] the 30+ completed tracks which we now know are in their tape vault of recordings done by Frankie [with Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe and the group] between 1971 and 1973 which have never been released. Bob Crewe prepared acetates of some of these Motown sessions in late 1973 and we have been fortunate enough to get hold of tape dubs to salvage a reasonable restoration of these. The masters we know are still in Motown's vault. Plus we have 'never recorded' songs from the 1974 Bachelors III shows at Ft Lauderdale which are in excellent sound. The resulting CD[with some recently discovered gems] is, we believe, an enjoyable and historic celebration of the tremendous career and the work of Frankie, the group and other collaborators.
Our research promises to uncover more salvaged songs from old fans cassette tapes over the next year.
Another project we have completed focused on digital preservation and took 3 years but resulted in digital copies of all the MONO 45 mixes recovered from best quality vinyl and re-mastered to preserve these often unique mixes which we know never survived the Philips contract. These are reference copies for anyone researching the 'original' music in the future. We've forwarded these to Bob Gaudio as a reference set. We have also archived all of the Vee-Jay 45 MONO mixes including the rare 'B' side version of 'My Mother's Eyes' done before the Philips 1967 LP version with a different arrangement.
We re-assured Frankie that as the 'unofficial' [but recognised and accepted] UK fan club we have never operated or intentionally acted in breach of copyright and will continue to do all we can to preserve and educate for new fans, the legacy of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, in all line-ups and in every decade. All our music restoration is focused on preserving/assessing the 'art' of Frankie and the group.
The hope is that one day maybe Frankie or one/all of his sons will agree that his legendary career could be better researched, documented and published with 'unreleased' tracks made available. [This has happened with Roy Orbison's sons who now manage his archives]
To modern day fans of the Four Seasons it may seem amazing that there was a time when we were scambling around for news, backstories and lost tracks on cassette tape. There was no internet and a quarterly newsletter was all we had and the group were regarded as an oldies group with no future. It's easy to forget how hard it was then to get information and even released music on vinyl or cassette..
But then came 'My Eyes Adored You', 'The Night', and 'Who Loves You' before their biggest ever success as a group 'December 1963(Oh What A Night)'. Back then during the early 1970s Rex was gathering research that would decades later lead to the record breaking show 'Jersey Boys'. Rex Woodard was a champion of today's Four Seasons 'music detectives' still gathering information and seeking out more 'lost' music by them than we could ever have imagined existed.
So it was with a degree of pride that I read of his widows success in establishing his contribution to the show 'Jersey Boys' was finally recognised. 'Then and Now' the jointly written bio by Rex and former Four Season Tommy DeVito was judged to have contributed to 10% of the shows success.
It's never been seen by the fans except in it's interpretation in the show. When will Rex's work finally go public? Well not soon it seems which is a shame as damages assessment by the court will take a few months and the case will probably go to appeal: it's not over yet!. But Valli and Gaudio will probably get pulled into it yet again for solid legal reasons. They licensed the play as owners!!! And they knew of Rex's contribution. He was never a 'ghostwriter' but the real 'author'.
Rex's contribution was based on years of research and 'foundation' articles that resonate today as we still fight to get the full story of the group's lives and music available to us. When he persuaded Tommy DeVito to 'dish the dirt' back in 1989 it should have been a coup for Four Seasons fans but back then their 'brand' was low key and after Rex's premature passing in 1990 the draft understandably didn't surface. It had lost it's champion. But we're all to be grateful Tommy DID make it available to the scriptwriters. We got JB and history made The Four Seasons 'iconic'.
But Rex also anticipated the continuing battle to recover the Motown unreleased without realising what we now know. Rex wrote in Goldmine in August 1981[A Lesson in Survival].....”The myth must die! For several years now, almost every rock and roll encyclopedic source has faithfully instructed it's readers that the legendary Four Seasons bit the dust sometime around 1969, only to be resurrected as an entirely new group in 1975. Lies!”
Well the 'myth' is dead BUT no-one wants us to hear the truth even as 2017 begins.
In the 1980 article he documented the history of those intervening years and the groups creative work during that time. Today with the inspiration of that work and data from some anonymous Motown connections we have in 2016 extended his work by subsequent research to reveal the deliberate suppression of between 30 and 50 tracks completed and left in the Universal Motown vaults unheard by the fans. Rex's research is at the heart of our campaign for their release.
And to follow that in June 1982 he published what is regarded as the definitive article detailing the history of the Four Lovers in the same magazine.
As we enter the post 'Jersey Boys' era.....now the shows in New York and London are closing.......we are hoping the bio that has been the subject of so much legal time over the last 10 years will finally be published. It is time to herald a new period of documenting and restoring the history of the group and their music over the next few years. Rex's legacy should be the cornerstone of that objective. And our battle to get the music left in the vaults will continue. He'd want us to fight for that.
This time of the year I can't wind things down for Christmas without thinking about the lost friends and music detectives who have helped create 'the body of knowledge' that exists about the Four Seasons which we have accumulated over the last forty years. So rather than comment on the latest effort by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons – Tis The Seasons I'd rather reflect on the fans contributions to our musical knowledge and remember them.
Stuart Miller presided over the UK fan club in the early 1970s and this led to all that followed for the fan club during the 1970s. His legendary interview with Bob Gaudio remains one of the most insightful interviews he has ever given. Right in the middle of the Motown contract it shows the thirst for a new direction that would strike 'gold' by 1975. And the pressing of a bootleg album of rare sides by Stuart kept the fan club going through the darker days at Motown
Frank Rovello single handedly ploughed the furrow for US fans and collectors when the WWW arrived and founded the Genuine Imitation Life Gazette website and packed it full of articles, interviews and information that stretches back to the 70s.He was a great friend and collaborator we shall never forget.
Stefan Wriedt, my German sound engineer friend taught me how to use sound engineering software to restore vinyl gems. Through his work as a restoration engineer he brought us The Fantastic First Years CD of all the pre-Four Seasons tracks from his personal collection and the first CD release of the Motown tracks since they were previously only available on vinyl, with The Night/Inside You CD back in the 1990's. He also helped me establish the CD Discography Index at our website an invaluable reference for finding the best Four Seasons Masters on CD.
And finally Rex Woodard who did more than anyone to research the history of the Four Seasons and may well provide us with their first bio book in the next few years. We now know he contributed 10% to the success of 'Jersey Boys' . That's 'official'. I'll write separately regarding Rex and his contributions.
All these friends and former 'curators' are sadly missed by all as we close 2016. But their legacy lives on as we continue to seek more music and backstories to our favourite group. They'll never be forgotten.
I said in my last article we as followers and collectors of the brand known as 'The Four Seasons' are moving into the 'Post Jersey Boys' era claiming the group's history back as our collective ownership and identity. We are gathering in 'groups' of like minded people to 'curate' the history, memoribilia and music of our heroes and claim it for our own. We've been doing it for over 40 years.
So with that in mind let's identify what content is needed by fans and how it should be presented. We've more or less done this with the Motown vaults material paper records (subject to what UMe still have and with the hope of eventual release of this material) and we'll continue to 'curate' the history of Valli and co's unreleased efforts onto You Tube over the next several months.
A few years ago I reviewed the Four Seasons sound at the time Nick Massi left the group and Charlie Calello joined for a few months before Joe Long took over. This was a time of great change. 1965 saw pop music burst into new sounds led by the Beatles, The Beach Boys and Bob Dylan et al. So it had to be all change for The Four Seasons as Frankie Valli launched his solo career.
That review culminated in a curators compilation. 'I'm Gonna Change' – The End Of The Philips Era as I tracked the evolving sound of the groups productions from 1966 to 1970. I've re-visiting those tracks culled from vinyl and the ACE CD compilations of the 1990s and am re-mastering these using 2016 software to re-connect with the analogue sound from the 1960s using the Rescue sound processing plug-in in Wavelab Elements 9.
Some I'll get uploaded to You Tube to capture the 'feel' and others are already there.
I'll disclose and discuss these tracks on our Facebook group, 'The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign' as we seek to extend the story of the changing sound of the groups efforts from 1971 to 1975. Join us there as we revisit the days of the 45.
It seems that there is no-one listening to fans of the Four Seasons asking for unreleased tracks from the past to be issued. But that is nothing unfamiliar to long-standing fans of the group. Many would claim the Four Seasons Partnership have never been tuned into what fans want nor have they or their record companies listened to them. But should that position be accepted today? Can fan influence bring change?
A recent music industry blog said.....”There is no doubt that the music industries are a complex web of inefficiencies and that if they were being redesigned tomorrow that they would be a far more streamlined, effective and transparent proposition. This on the surface makes the music business ripe for disruption. But unlike fully open markets like the smartphone business, the music industries are interwoven with complications such as de facto monopolies, statutory licensing frameworks and global networks of reciprocal agreements. All of which shelter the business from the full impact of disruption. Change happens slowly in the music business.......None of this means that change is not happening and that the rate of change will not continue to happen. But the odds are heavily stacked against a single entity aiming to unseat the marketplace”
The Four Seasons UK Appreciation still exists through the efforts of a few and the dedicated following of a few hundred fans. Whilst we have always 'championed' 'THE FOUR SEASONS' as opposed to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons this is because we see the contribution of all members of the group and the team that gave us so much good music. The problem has always been we think that way. 'Collaboration' versus 'Ego' some would say.
So with the end of the Jersey Boys 'era' how will fans be served/kept and created.?
It is becoming more and more apparent that The Four Seasons Partnership need to invest in 'curators' if they are to maintain and develop the marketing of their 'brand' through the internet world of today. A recent blog re the music industry compared the playlisting of streaming services with themed and researched CD 'playlists'........”The fact that 25% of music subscribers still buy compilation albums show that however a good job streaming playlists might be doing, there remains a big demand for compilations, even within the core of streaming music aficionados. Curated playlists will continue to gain importance but compilations are going to live alongside them for a good long time to come. And all the while the distinction between what constitutes a playlist and a compilation will continue to blur.”
With Facebook groups devoted to Four Seasons 'memoribilia', Motown's unreleased music and Charlie Calello's vast catalogue of arrangements and productions we have a place to be, to belong, to share and to collaborate all fuelled by our curation. This keeps the ID of the group, their music and their image firmly in the hands of us all. In 'From Bitcoin To Burning Man' there is a forecast that in the emerging social structures.....”The crux ….. is the insight by David Reed, formerly of the M.I.T. Media Lab, that on open networks such as the Internet, greater value is generated through groups that are progressively more coherent and collaborative – or what Reed calls “Group Forming Networks,” or GFNs.....the most valuable networks, says Reed, are those that facilitate group affiliations. “
Looking at the content of our web site and blog and the membership of our Facebook groups I realised we have have become a GFN......we have been 'curators' for The Four Seasons Partnership since the 1970s and on the internet since the 1990s and now the facebook group members have made us a GFN. Whether it be our group members, blog writers, newsprint and 'memoribilia' collectors or amateur sound engineers, 'curators' is what we have become. Wikipedia tells us that ….“Content curation is the process of gathering information relevant to a particular topic or area of interest. Services or people that implement content curation are called curators.” This 'collective' basically provides that service.
But it is alright talking about the back stories....what about the music?
The Four Seasons Partnership and their Partner Rhino no longer invest in compilations like they did. Future compilations must provide playlists akin to the Rhino Rarities CD's (Vols 1 and 2 September 1990). Curated collections with high quality digital masters.
But if not them WHO?
Well in the Facebook 'Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign' we've documented 80% of the paper records af the sessions at Motown and revealed the background to at least 30 and upto 50 unreleased tracks still lying in the vaults. A massive curation job that even UME could not have achieved with their compilers. We are just awaiting the re-mastering and release.
Back in 2012 Ray Ricci and I exchanged notes on the non-existence of a good Four Seasons Archive as a set of full STEREO mixes don't exist. Some were never mixed and some lost(thrown out by Philips) but the problem of the final 'Bob Crewe' mixes surfaced....”Four Seasons aside - there's very few Crewe productions that exist anywhere in a multi-track format as we think of it. It's not really a case of studio capabilities or number of multi-tracks available: it's how a producer worked through the bouncing and mixing and overdubbing to get an orchestra mix that works in MONO. Stereo was secondary, and could only be loosely constructed with what remained after essential mixdowns with overdubs were already in place.
What's of concern is that MONO masters are lost!”
Well with the help of German Sound Engineer Stefan Wreidt a project to preserve the MONO masters as mixed to vinyl began in 2012 with the help of several UK and US collectors with access to original vinyl. Cleaned and re-mastered to give good quality MONO masters these digital masters contain all of Bob Crewe's great final productions.
Of course I can't share these as I don't hold the copyright, but the archive is available to any national preservation body. The copyright remains with the Four Seasons Partnership but we completed the 'salvage' operation in 2015. Some may appear on You Tube for purely educational purposes!!!
Of course The Four Seasons Partnership could have done this(and could still do so) , making it commercially available but they would need to get access to good vinyl copies and spend 3 man years, collecting, sifting, dubbing and re-mastering. No? They will continue to use the mis-match of masters they have served up before. Not faithful to the original in every case...but who will know the difference.? The fact Nick Massi's bass vocal is missing on 'Ain't That A Shame' or that there is no faithful MONO master of the 'B' side of 'Sherry' ….'I've Cried Before' ….are blatantly ignored.
Unfortunately Stefan passed away from cancer before I was able to complete the archive but it is now complete and testimony to his work and those of us who have become.....'The Curators'.
Well it clearly is the end of an era for both Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and in our Autumn Newsletter update we cover the latest Four Seasons related news for 2016. Some sad, some re new music, some re 'lost' music, some legal, and some celebratory, and even news of a final tour. All contributing to the legacy of The Four Seasons
This last month has seen us sadly lose two highly respected and loved former Four Seasons. First we heard of the passing of Jerry Corbetta, former Sugarloaf founder and member of the Four Seasons from 1980 to 1984. He was a vibrant stage presence at concerts. Then last week we tragically heard of the loss of former Critters member and legendary Four Season, Don Ciccone. As a member of the group's most successful line-up and as a member of The Hit Men he will be dearly remembered. His demo of Who Loves You is fondly collected by his fans. Slip Away will always be remembered for his emotional 'live' delivery.
Another piece of sad news was the end of the 'Jersey Boys' shows runs during the next 6 months in NYC and London. Since 2007 it has brought the music of our favourite group back to world-wide popularity and acclaim and to the cinema with the Clint Eastwood produced film . It has been a 9 year explosion of the group's popularity like never before.
But this month also brought good news with the release of probably Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons final studio album(surely?). It was not only a surprise but the choice is puzzling to many fans. A Christmas Album and a track featuring Jeff Beck? But it may be a way to test the current market for his music? Well some fans will buy anything and love everything he does but others will critically say he shouldn't have done it. At 82 some fans have observed on this collection his voice is weak and the buried in the mix but if it makes people who buy it feel good over Christmas then it's a welcome gift. And each year he has fans it will maybe be a long-term 'earner'.
It is perhaps unfair to compare it with his past vocal performances but surely the legacy of his pending retirement will be a focus on the back catalogue and maybe on the large number of unreleased tacks that remain in the vaults at Universal Motown Enterprises(UMe). We continue to campaign for their release through our Facebook Campaign Group page
This remains the single largest collection of recored but unreleased material by Frankie and the group and we hope that in retirement Frankie may turn his attention to this curently 'lost' material.
Talking of 'lost'.....we heard that Charlie Calello's 'shelved' biography has been dusted off and is being reviewed by a writer and an esteemed editor for potential publication. So we thought it only fitting to celebrate Charlie's vast archive of arrangements and productions as they appear on You Tube in a new Facebook group. Charlie Calello's Lost and Found Tracks web page
A great former Four Season and a great friend to his fans.
But the era really concludes next Spring as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons pay respect to their UK fans with (what appears to be) a final tour. Lynn Boleyn has already publicised this and UK fans have their designated 'fan zones' and there will be organised 'pre/post meet-ups' as we get our last big chance to re-unite and celebrate as fans and to say goodbye to Frankie and his band and in particular Robbie Robinson who has been Frankie's Musical Director for all his 'live shows' since the early 1980s. A magnificent record.
So the end of an era and as 'Looking Back' was a Four Seasons album we hope the next era will focus on just that. It is becoming more and more apparent that The Four Seasons need to invest in curators if they are to maintain and develop the marketing of their 'brand' through the music. A recent blog re the music industry compared the playlisting of streaming services with themed and researched CD 'playlists'........”The fact that 25% of music subscribers still buy compilation albums show that however a good job streaming playlists might be doing, there remains a big demand for compilations, even within the core of streaming music aficionados. Curated playlists will continue to gain importance but compilations are going to live alongside them for a good long time to come. And all the while the distinction between what constitutes a playlist and a compilation will continue to blur.”
And in this context and the content of our Facebook groups and our blog I realised we have become 'curators' for The Four Seasons Partnership since the 1990s. Wikipedia tells us that ….“Content curation is the process of gathering information relevant to a particular topic or area of interest. Services or people that implement content curation are called curators.” This group basically has and continues to provide that service. Unfortunately our top curator Frank Rovello has passed away and we no longer have access to our Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society web space to effect updates but for the foreseeable future that web space remains accessible at http://www.seasonally.co.uk
Hopefully future compilations will provide playlists akin to the Rhino Rarities CD's (Vols 1 and 2 September 1990). Curated collections with high quality digital masters and even unreleased tracks or live performances like the 'Bachelors III' concert from 1974.
And finally news that the long and drawn out legal case re the 'Jersey Boys' book written by Rex Woodard and Tommy De Vito come to a head this Halloween with a Jury Trial. Whether or not Valli/Gaudio et al are found to be in breach of copyright, at least the courts have recognised that Donna(Rex's widow) has a 50 % share of Tommy's royalties from the show. It will be good to see this settled and the next era of the groups legacy can move on.Maybe with publication of 'The Work'
For the future though we'll be updating our Facebook groups regularly and carrying this blog through the next year with news and reviews. Let's enjoy the end of an era!!
It has already been a summer of news for Four Seasons fans as Lyn Boleyn MBE reported already. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons picked up a top booking as the headline act for the Last Night at the Proms. Lynn will obviously lead the UK fans in the VIP section.
But other news and rumours are bubbling this summer which will interest fans.
In a surprise turn of events in the on-going litigation between Donna Corbella and Tommy DeVito et al, “Plaintiff and DeVito have asked the Court to approve their stipulation for voluntary dismissal of Plaintiff's remaining claims against DeVito,”
This it appears is partly accepted by the other co-defendents although they are concerned as “since the Settlement Agreement appears to call for DeVito's cooperation with Plaintiff, .... their trial strategy may now change.”
The case will now proceed to trial with the remaining defendants having to win a jury decision against Corbello's(and presumably DeVito's) claim for breach of copyright. They could conceivably be called as witnesses. There may be a delay and whether this strengthens the plaintiff's case against Valli/Gaudio and others remains to be seen, but Donna had won the right to 50% of Tommy's JB earnings.
But from a fans perspective what it may herald is a joint decision by Donna and Tommy to publish the biography Rex Woodard wrote with Tommy back in 1990. A rumour recently was that Frankie Valli was working on his own bio?....Coincidence or competition?
And whilst the Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign continues to gather membership, more than one reputable sources suggest that the salvaged versions of 50+ unreleased tracks in the Motown vaults could be made available for Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli to assess if they wanted. They may just need to phone Vice President of Universal Motown Enterprises Harry Weinger and ask to hear them. Apparantly Harry has allowed this with other artists catalogues and so step one would be for Bob Gaudio to pick up the phone!!! We will continue to research and publish research re these 'unreleased' tracks into 2017 as our campaign for release continues.
And with news of a proposed 'Seasonal' album....'Tis The Seasons' supposedly coming out from Rhino confusion abounds. We hear this is not Frankie Valli with his current stage backing group nor is it the 'Christmas' album he was reputed to have recorded with Charlie Calello 2 years ago and was shelved. So we all wait with baited breath!!!.
With lots to happen this fall a new marketing strategy for the Four Seasons Partnership is clearly needed and new and old and written material looks like being on the agenda for 2017.
Is this the 'post' Jersey Boys era we see emerging.
It is somewhat ironic that The Four Seasons success story started with litigation and is finishing with a trial more than 50 years later!
After The Four Seasons burst onto the pop music scene with three Nr 1's they ended 1963 in litigation with Vee-Jay .The 1963 litigation over non-payment of royalties gave them control of their original master recordings which has provided an income stream throughout their careers whilst now they face potential losses of many millions of dollars if the current trial goes against them. Over 50 years later they find themselves once again locked in litigation after the second major success of their lives 'Jersey Boys', the show of the story and music of their lives . In a unique breach of copyright trial over their own story as compiled by fan Rex Woodard with Four Seasons member Tommy De Vito they find themselves in a trial for alleged breach of copyright of Rex's joint work.
Badly behaving record companies failing to pay royalties and abusing artists rights is a familiar story from the earliest days of the music industry but it was rife during the 60s. The Four Seasons with Bob Crewe took on Vee-Jay with such a claim in 1963.
And again in the 1970s with recording companies charging the cost of recording sessions against artists royalties it is claimed that during their stay at Motown in the 70s when they had no hits but recorded over 70 songs they ended their association (after a 3 year contract )after receiving no record label royalties in 1974. But at least they had their reputations intact and long-standing fans buying their early litigation proceeds and a new line-up setting the charts alight.
This current litigation puts those past money arguments into the shade though. The long running litigation over the Jersey Boys claimed 'source' document 'The Work' has been in and out of court for as long as Jersey Boys has been a major hit with some amazing revelations as Eriq Gardner summarises in his 'The Hollywood Reporter' article
That explains (with links to the court papers) how the case has developed and it is now coming to a jury trial in September . Several of us in the UK Society knew Rex Woodard as a fan, collector and writer since the 1970s and his articles re the Four Seasons 'history' provide more detail and inside knowledge of the group than any articles that have appeared in the history of the group. He was the fountain of knowledge re The Four Seasons along with Ed Engel and Walt Gollender. But Rex is the only man to write the history of The Four Lovers and The Four Seasons. He did this in Billboard magazine in the early 1980s. These articles remain the most in-depth description of their history. No biograpies have ever emerged of anyone 'connected' with the group. For many decades deliberate concealment was a policy.
Looking at the forthcoming trial,and the presentation of the facts and arguments from the long-standing fans perspective there are some observations that stand-out.
Firstly, it always seemed obvious that Rex was the main(or ghost writer) of 'The Work'. His notes and in-depth study of the group goes back to the 1950s and clearly Tommy De Vito was not skilled enough as a writer to produce the 'bio'. Frankie and Bob knew Tommy and must have known he did not posses the literary skills. So when Tommy changed the cover of 'The Works' to delete Rex's name was he being anything other than he is portrayed as in the Jersey Boys play.? Well Rex had passed away so what is the harm he may have thought? Even though there was a written contract saying profits from the story would be shared by both parties and their 'heirs'. But when Jersey Boys emerged Rex's widow (and lawyers) established the identical work had been handed to the scriptwriters. Rex's contribution has happily been confirmed by the copyright office and Rex's royalties share of Tommy's rights will (if this case confirms 'The Work's use in the play script) pass to Rex's widow.
Secondly, the consideration of 'thin' copyright due to the facts of the Four Seasons history being in the public domain is an arguable point. It suggests the 'story' within Jersey Boys was factual-historically and such facts are not subject to copyright but the judge does state that the story within 'The Work' did not exist before the collaboration by Rex and Tommy. Any long-term fan will confirm many aspects of this bio were not known or in the 'public domain' until the premier of Jersey Boys a fact that may see 'The Work' as a whole to have been utilised by the writers. Take for example the links to Gyp Di Carlo. The Four Seasons had for decades hidden any association with the mob for fear that this would damage their reputation with fans and subsequently record sales. In our study of the story of the group through the 1970s(The Rise and Fall of The NEW Four Seasons) we noted the one and only published reference in our huge collection of articles going back to the 1960s republished in UK fan club Newsletters since the 1970s(Nrs 1 to 68) . Even Rex in the 1980s helped cover it up.
I'm quoting now......“Rex Woodard again re 1973...”On 13 July convicted felon and “stoolie” Gerald Zeimanowitz testified before a US Senate Sub Committee that the Four Seasons were connected with the Mafia. Allegedly, according to Zeimanowitz, mobster Angelo “Gyp” DeCarlo of New Jersey owned a “piece” of the band. DeCarlo had been imprisoned in 1970 but pardoned by President Nixon in 1972. Zeimanowitz, however, really had his facts mixed up judging from his testimony, and probably confused the Four Seasons with another act (Valli, when asked about the charge kept his humour: He just wanted to know why his career was going so lousy despite these so-called friends in influential positions!).” Valli was very sensitive to this news and was concerned it would alienate his fans if found to be true. Now he admits involvement in the ‘Jersey Boys’ play and the association seems of little harm to him. In fact it is a core part of the play's storyline and success.
So any connection was covered up then and kept that way. It even extended to censoring the fans. Since the 1970s any connection with The Four Seasons Partnership was always fraught and during the 1990s their lawyer sought to control fan contact with former group members particularly during the early days of the internet when Frank Rovello, Stuart Miller and I were 'banned' from speaking to former members of the group if 'official' recognition of the fan club(s) was to be granted. Was this to suppress potentially damaging stories about links with the mafia?. Well they were suppressed and 'The Works' was the first time that the relationship was explored......but never published. That is until the Jersey Boys play was written. Did Valli and Gaudio tell the scriptwriters the story or is it derived from 'The Work'? That will presumably be the jury's job to identify.
Whether the 'story' told by Rex in 'The Work' was 'copied' in Jersey Boys and was a breach of copyright remains to be seen but the reputational damage caused by this case may be far reaching. Did Valli and Gaudio and De Vito rip-off a dead fan?.
The fact is that Rex did the most in-depth writing of any Four Seasons fan to tell the group's story and every 'true' fan will appreciate that. And Frank Rovello and Stuart Miller did their part in getting what they could into the public domain. Though they have all passed away now they remain to me the real heroes who wanted the truth for the fans. With one objective. To put the music recorded in the hands of the true fans and enable them to understand the context of it's creation and appreciate everyone's contribution. That has been the objective of the UK Appreciation Society and this blog. The music is all that counts....the rest is the back-story. The choices in life Valli, Gaudio, De Vito and Massi made are how life went for them and they are accountable for.
And ironically that back-story has made the 3 surviving members of the group multi-millionaires and earned them more than their music ever did in the previous decades before the launch of 'Jersey Boys'. The show however remains a wonderful entertainment and this case will show everyone's contribution.Without doubt that success has changed Valli and Gaudio as they have been heralded now as music 'icons'. Do they think a jury would never find against them? Did they know of Rex Woodard's contribution to 'The Work'?. And was this shows major success in good part on the back of a fans research? Whatever happens this case will be a sobering close to their amazing lives We'll watch and listen with great interest . Casey Chameleon
I was walking around Waitrose today and was amazed to find the Ultimate Music Guide to The Beach Boys in the magazines. An album by album guide to their music and back-story(warts and all) and I thought.......”what a tribute!!” Having made it an essential buy, perfect to read on the flight back to Spain, I started thinking how it would be impossible to do one on The Four Seasons.....as the story is incomplete and distorted with Jersey Boys creating the myth and the masses of unreleased material being the unheard part of their story.
I reminded myself that Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli have never felt able to claim their music was truly inspirational.........until the phenomena of 'Jersey Boys'. And even now I don't think they realise what they were to popular music and their long-term fans. But they have never had a strong enough brand or rapport with their fans. Oh don't get me wrong....their fan base have loved them even though poorly served with releases and bio material for many years, and that probably won't change. Leopards don't lose their spots. But it could be much better for them and us. They are going to find all the exposure in the courts in May. Why not capitalise on it whatever the result. See the big picture.! Apologise even!
Ironically their biggest 'commercial' success(JB) owes it's achievement (in part)to one of their biggest fans, (the late) Rex Woodard, as their long-drawn out legal action with his widow comes to a head in May. Whether Donna Corbella succeeds or not in her copyright infringement law-suit over her husbands co-written bio is irrelevant. It is to me testimony to how they(The Partnership) have been unable to escape the 'control' mentality to protect their 'roots' and their commercial ownership. So much so they have failed to credibly establish their 'Anthology' both musically and literally.....With credit to all the contributors. This History v Hollywood sums up how they will never convince anyone with the JB storyline and this just scratches the surface of what really happened.
There are no 'official' or 'unofficial' bios of their life and the most comprehensive documentation of their recording history is contained in fan sites like the GILG web-site and the UK Appreciation Society archives. I reckon there are somewhere in the region of 80 tracks unreleased by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons (which probably include some with The Beach Boys). That is as many tracks as they recorded in 1964 and 65 at the height of their 60s success.
And not talking about your mistakes and bad periods honestly is not going to enhance or sell your image and brand. When the Beatles 'Anthology' was being put together and Bob Smeaton was gathering clips of the groups arguments that led to their dissolution, George Harrison was quoted as saying....”Oh we don't want to say that.... I hate that, I hate that period.”. To which Bob replied, “Yeah , but the fans want to see it!” and Bob prevailed and the Anthology sold 6 million copies within weeks.(it's still selling) It didn't harm their image or commercial 'brand'. The true frictions and conflict, the mistakes and errors of judgement are all sellable. The Motown period remains the great untold 'buried' history. Our research has exposed that. Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys 'Uncut' magazine tribute shows what their brand represents .The 'Four Seasons' brand is and should always have been the thing (even if it was Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons for many decades). Sell everything, all the stories...all the unreleased. It will all come to light eventually after were all dead and gone. Life is too short. And you can't hide in the internet world.
Here's another failure that has had little or no exposure. But it sounds and makes you feel 'good'.
When I joined the UK Four Seasons Appreciation Society in 1976 I would not have believed that by 2016 George Ingram would still be finding articles re Frankie Valli and the group or that the Motown period of the group’s history would keep me researching their music some 40 plus years later, but as George has said “all good things come to an end” and after 40 years of publication this is the end of the newsletter era and our regular web site uploads. Frankie Valli has outlasted us as he continues to tour at 81 albeit with technology enhancing his voice. This has for most fans been enough to enjoy the great legacy of his music in recent years. But inevitably a Four Seasons tribute band will be the only way in future to enjoy the past music ‘live’. Alternatively there is the Jersey Boys musical.
For most of us who kept this fine organization going for 40 years it is a milestone moment and so we bring you the final library of articles and research from George Ingram’s Archive. Ray Nichol our top vinyl and CD expert collector has retired to dispose of his collection (something us older fans will all have to consider unless we can leave it to our children), George Ingram has retired and no longer has access to the print technology needed for his scrapbook style publication design and Ken Charmer who has single handedly been our web publisher since 1997 has a moved onto a final project/campaign
The web site and previous blogs will all remain on the WWW for any researchers into the history of the group. Unfortunately over time so many distortion and inaccuracies have arisen in the story of the group and hopefully our data provides important reference points for any interested party. The web site will continue to be a good reference point and its longevity now depends on the continuing support our web space sponsor Rik Williams. But until the plug is pulled on us some of our activities will go on albeit changed.
The good news is our secretary Lynn Boleyn will continue to keep in touch with friends and fans through her network and Ken Charmer will through his facebook page. This is the last update to the web pages we will do and the blog will close in the near future making this one of our last posts.
There are dozens of great articles in these last downloads of Newsletters 63 to 68 and we hope this last set of information will be of interest to the 250/300 fans that have found us or followed us over the last few years via the blog and web site and it is a pity we failed to achieve our objectives. Never recognized by The Four Seasons Partnership as being of benefit we know the fans have appreciated our Newsletters and research and we have had on average 50 hits a day from web searchers over the last decade.
We had hoped to achieve a complete collection of Four Seasons recordings available to fans before our closure but as Bob Gaudio in a 2000 interview confirmed he is ‘adverse’ to going back and although he has a ‘dozen or so’ unreleased recording in his ownership from the late Philips and Warner/Curb period it would take something major to get him to release these. But there are the 40/50 unreleased tracks that Motown own that remain in their vault and the campaign to get these released will continue.
Losing Stefan Wriedt and Frank Rovello before this milestone was achieved left me as a lifelong ‘music detective’ – disappointed, disheartened and dis-illuissioned at the Four Seasons Partnerships lack of appreciation for what the UK and USA web sites have done to support the group over the years. But, I can put that aside as the friendships made amongst enthusiasts and collectors has been ‘priceless’.
The Jersey Boys trial in May will signal a new chapter in the group’s history and we will observe that with interest. All fans owe a huge debt to Rex Woodard who collected so much factual data re the group’s history and the eventual publication of his co-written book with Tommy De Vito would be a fitting tribute.
Oh !!!!!and as Lynn Boleyn MBE reminds me there is the 2017 tour to look forward too. Live long and prosper! But for now enjoy this last set of articles. Casey Chameleon
Keep the web site in your ‘faves’ as the dicog page is an essential reference point for all of the releases.
It's been a long time since I was able to write anything for this blog regarding research into the history of the Four Seasons and their rise to fame and to review what remains to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of their history.
Since the arrival of our internet presence(circa 1997)and 2012 we collected and collated a huge amount of data that can be found on our web site that documents the musical recording history of Frankie Valli/The Four Lovers and The Four Seasons from 1953 to today. 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 and our data research alive.
But as 2016 started and I received the very last Newsletter from George Ingram who officially retired last year I thought about changes necessary to our web based sites given that the prospect of adding factual data re the groups work seems remote. But is it time to wind things down or should we strive to fill the gaps we know remain.? And with the loss of great researchers like Rex Woodard, Frank Rovello and Stefan Wriedt do we have the resources and support to do any more?.
So at the start of 2016 what is left to find out.?
Big 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 does not seem realistically possible. 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.
Off course all that changed with the development of Jersey Boys in 2007 and these mafia connections were used to add grit to the story helping to make it the hit it became. Now the focus is on maintaining that as their story and continuing it's commercial longevity and financial success.
As fans since the 60s we've always sought to uncover the true stories and in our research over the last 40 years we've found out lots of personal stuff that we’ve not published as it is not relevant to the music's creation. But it has made us sensitiveto the effect on relationships between past members of the group and Valli and Gaudio and the often difficult circumstances in which the music was created.
Looking broadly at what has appeared in our newsletters we have a mixture of what PR the Partnership wanted to portray in the 60s and 70s and in our E-book The Rise and Fall of The New Four Seasons we feature quotes by group members which often reveals frictions and issues typically encountered by groups in the history of 60 and 70s pop music. I guess I never did forgive Frankie and Bob for sacking the Four Seasons in 1978 despite a subsequent short lived 're-union'. But life and the brand of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons has gone on. In recent times we've had the benefit of the emergence of 3 former members from then in The Hit Men. It has been good to celebrate their sound with them in recent years. The conflicts happened and that is part of their life story. A background to the most important thing.....the music.
In Jersey Boys the writers selected the elements of the group history to create a musical drama........but who where the real writers? This years Jersey Boys Court case may lead to us understanding this more....but more re that later.
So what are the areas where we still would like to know more and what could we write about. Well firstly it would be speculating what happened between 1959 and 1961 before 'Sherry.' Rex Woodard in his Billboard articles said The Four Lovers had done some backing work for Bob Crewe (possibly with Freddie Cannon) before he signed them to a 3 year contract in 1960. But verifying this has been difficult as has identifying the recordings they did backing work on from 1959 to 1961. Our Master Tracks Section 2 on the web site contains the result of several years music detective work (thanks to all who contributed)which recently revealed a Bob Crewe 45 on ABC Paramount from 1961 “Come To Me/Another Day” with the Four Lovers on backing (thanks to Mike Miller). But memories and data are now very hard to uncover and those involved who might have contributed have passed away or can't remember clearly. Record Company records are very limited. The dates when Crewe released the Topix 45s remains a bone of contention as to whether they started in 1960 or 61, but some would say, 'Does it really matter?'....we know what came out.
So maybe what we have from this period with its little bit of guessing and speculation is the limit of what can be found. ?
The Philips period is pretty comprehensively documented (see Master Tracks Section 4) with data surfacing re late 60s unreleased recordings with Artie Schroeck found in recent years. But we haven't heard some of these recordings and there is no published record of the remaining recordings(like the previously discovered 'One Man' from the last Philips sessions) and a rumoured number of perhaps unfinished recordings from this period.
Now as we have known for sometime Bob and Frankie do not appear to take any interest in the large volume of research (in our blog and web site ) contributors have made over the years. And then there is little or no chance of us hearing the unreleased material given Bob/Frankie's attitude since Jersey Boys. Strangely this is reputed to be an aversion to 'look back' when Jersey Boys is just that. The aim now is clearly to protect the JB brand and perpetuate it. The unreleased tracks are judged not to do that.
I never did get Chapters 2-4 done of my E-book The Rise and Fall of the NEW Four Seasons. The period from 1967 to 1970 is hard to document as the story behind the music is hard to get in enough depth. I got a lot of notes re 1967 from sound engineer George Schowerer and interviews with Charlie Calello, Artie Schroeck and Larry Brown and our research has also uncovered some personal facts about drug and marital problems during this time which makes documenting the period hard to balance. And then 1969 and the Philips relationship is a bit strange. Philips appeared to totally dump the group after GILG and the master tracks list shows experimental/rogue recordings for other labels and unreleased material which eventually resulted in Half and Half coming out. Then there was the Northern Soul scene pushing 'You're Ready Now' to UK re-release and then the two UK tours and the move to Motown. I needed help to document and verify facts for this period as few articles disclose what was going on....and in this period the debt problem portrayed in Jersey Boys surfaced but exactly when?. Presumably this was before Tommy DeVito left the group before the UK tour of 1970.......hence the subsequent need to go where the opportunities for money arose. So I still see lots to be fully established and although I'd have liked to finish it. The work remains a 'might have been/could have been' wish.
The biggest musical gap though remains the Motown period from 1971 to 1974 because we now know as a result of an anonymous donor with access to Motown Universal data that only 21 tracks where released and up to 50 tracks remain in the Motown Tape Vault. We know the detail of what was recorded(Master Track section 5) and were able to verify and document this in 2012 but since then there has been no interest or expression that any record company would attempt to negotiate with the Four Seasons Partnership lawyer (still Peter Bennett as far as we know). Those we have corresponded with have not wished to take on what they regard as too difficult a process. Peter in the past has indicated that these recordings are 'not owned by the Partnership' and as a result are a matter of financial dispute. They are he alleged to be 'unfinished' or 'may not exist' on tape anymore and he asked how these could enhance the reputation of Frankie and Bob?. Having heard the demos of 'Hymn To Her' and 'Lovers' now on You Tube and given the quality of what was found for the Motown Anthology CD release by Hip-O-Select in 2009 we have evidence that some completed lost gems remain. How many has still to be established but certainly enough for an album/CD. But it has seemed impossible that these will see release within Frankie or Bob’s lifetime unless they had a change of heart.
And then there is the confirmation from Lee Shapiro that at least another album of material was recorded for the 'Helicon' sessions with several tracks remaining in the Warner-Curb vault and again there appears no interest or prospect of release. There are later tracks from the 80s that we know remain unreleased and there is likely to be other material only Bob and Frankie know about. So musically there is much Four Seasons fans can feel aggrieved that they have never got to hear. Unfortunately the Four Seasons catalogue does not have the sort of research and ownership or interest that the `Beach Boys' master tapes has allowed and how lucky are their fans as a result.? A good example of long-term market management.
And finally the long running saga of the Jersey Boys court case is still to reach a conclusion. Tommy De Vito's copyright submission has been overturned and Rex Woodard's co-authorship of the bio used by the JB writers has been confirmed but the decision of whether Rex's copyright was breached by the use of the book in the script has still to be decided.
The case is still scheduled for a May 2, 2016 trial. A decision in the meantime about what is protectable in Rex's book and what is not is awaited next month
The May trial, which will take 4 weeks, will be strictly about whether the Defendants are liable for copyright infringement and/or an accounting to Donna(Rex's widow). Depending on the result there could be a second trial a few months later that will focus strictly on damages (i.e., how much Donna is owed). Of course, these trials may not end the case entirely, because the losing party is likely to appeal, unless a settlement is reached. So there should still be some news about the case, at least through the summer, and possibly thereafter. Whether Rex's co-written story with Tommy De Vito ever appears in print remains simple speculation but if it did it would be a major event for fans.
So this is a summary of the most significant areas of research and interest we've focused on with our music detectives but my plans are to focus everyone once again on the Lost Period at Motown. What we have musically from 1970 to 1974 is not enough. There is a huge set of unheard and unreleased music by Valli and the group from this period and that will be our focus as we freeze the UK web site, and close the blog during this year. We plan to move our efforts to a new platform. Facebook
The web site and blog involve costs that we have carried for many years and given the prospect of 'no goodies in the cupboard' for the fans it seems time to 'draw a line' and 'park the bus' as far as the web site and blog are concerned. Personally I can't see any prospect of us receiving any more useful data or of writing of anything positive for fans based on the current status of things. But what we have published will remain on the www for some time and be accessible through search engines and our 'parked' web site. And we have a mass of data re what happened at Motown that we plan to share.
We're working on a final web site update to make the final Newsletters (Nrs 63 to 68)available for download. These feature the last of the 1970s articles in George Ingram's archive and the latest edits to Discographies featuring the primary releases on vinyl and CD over the years.
Plans are for Lynn Boleyn MBE to continue to maintain her role as news contact and secretary. She has become the public face of this group once again with the recent years get-togethers and concert tours and we could not have had anyone better. Over the last few years thanks to her contact with Dean Egnater. Frankie Valli’s Road Manager she has managed to get priority booking for the true fans at the UK concerts and indeed to actually meet Frankie and the "Seasons". Hopefully she can do the same and arrange to meet up with Frankie and the band again if the promised 2017 tour to the UK happens.
On-going fans of the Current line-up will still be able to push Valli to never retire!!
The UK fans have always been able to call on the friendship, help and support of Frank Rovello. Although we have always had independent web sites for UK and USA(GILG) fans since 1997ish we have never had to compete we just complemented each other and he did it all himself as did we. All Officially ‘Unofficial’. The Four Seasons have never appreciated what he did for them. Not really…..but it has been that way since the 70s as far as the fan base is concerned. It was 1997 back in the early days of the internet ’experience’ when I first corresponded with Frank Rovello. Frank wanted his data to be available to us and we were happy to return the complement.
He followed George Ingram’s Newsletters and contributed. We collaborated to get the CD set of The Adrian Baker Story compiled into ‘Harmony Gold’ and he mastered a few live show CD’s. He was always there for you………..always there to help verify a fact or a track and like us he always collected everything he could find and we were happy to add to his collection whenever we found any new ‘unreleased’ tracks and ‘live’ performances.
I got to meet up with him in 2007 when we had a ‘mini’ 4Seasons collectors get-together at the Roger Williams Hotel in NYC. He helped me compile the memories of the final Four Seasons show at Radio City before the now infamous ‘sackings’ for The Rise and Fall of The NEW Four Seasons e-book for our web sites with key photos of that performance. And like us he wanted the Motown Unreleased by Valli and The 4 Seasons to ‘escape’ from the vaults and now he never will. (nor may the rest of us until circa 2022-more re this in due course) He helped George Ingram and I with articles for the Newsletters tracking published articles through the years. Our UK fan club team hold fond memories of him.
George Ingram recalls…. “Frank did help me get two tickets for JB in NYC for Easter 2007 when the tickets were sold out. Apparently he managed to get Phil Ochs’s seats (don’t know how) because they were not being used at that time. Also he has been very helpful re releases, general information and related over the years. He will be sadly missed. I have dedicated newsletter no. 68 to him!”
Lyn Boleyn and Ray Nichol remember the convention he helped organize in Raleigh…..”What an absolute pleasure it was to meet Frank Rovello for the first time at the Four Seasons International Convention Weekend 24 – 26 October 2008, in Raleigh, North Carolina where the guests of honour were Joe Long and Demetri Callas. Our hosts were Frank Rovello, Johnny Hornsby, Russ McClelland and Charles Alexander who ensured that everything was just perfect for the whole weekend. Frank did a magnificent job on his web site covering the convention in his own unique and humorous way with not only photographs but audio footage as well. You can access this here: http://gilgweb.com/Raleigh.html Such very special memories of, as Joe Long described him “one of the good guys”; Demetri told us “he will be missed by many”. He was a gentleman, very kind and funny and he will certainly be missed by everyone whose lives he touched. A review of the convention can also be found here: http://www.seasonally.co.uk/News52.htm”
Ray recalls….”.I met him when I went to Raleigh and spoke to him for quite a while. You know we all have a degree of knowledge on the Seasons and Frank was quick to acknowledge this, I felt he was really into the music of the Seasons more than anything else as I gave him a piece of memorabilia which he appreciated and also a Motown double cd which(feat.The Night)was a freebie from the Daily Mail and that was most appreciated. He was an important part of the Season's email group and will be sadly missed by everyone.”
Well said all and thanks Frank for …..being there. Ken Charmer
It has taken a while to catch up with George Ingram who has been ‘motoring’ through his archive of articles and news of releases re The Four Seasons this winter. This is not ‘Jersey Boys’ but the real history……of the real group and their producer Bob Crewe. It celebrates their work and the teamwork that was necessary at all stages in their career and the success this brought.
Below are links to our Newsletters 61 and 62 and our web site is also updated to provide links to updated UK discographies and to Bob Crewe’s SOLO discography which now includes the recent discovery by Musicologist Mike Miler of a lost ABC Paramount 45 of Bob backed by the 4 Lovers on Come To Me and Another Day. Both are Bob Gaudio compositions the latter appearing by Chuck Jackson on his 1962 album ‘Encore’. It is amazing that even today unknown songs can surface like this. We hope to get these rare sides onto You Tube soon.
The Newsletters focus on late 70s articles and the last great ‘original’ hit band line-up of the group as well as obituaries and articles re Bob Crewe who passed away last year. Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio have got a lot to thank George Ingram for as in his Newsletters there is a very collectible scrapbook of many articles not available on the internet. This record of articles interfaces with Frank Rovello’s page at the GILG web site and in Newsletters 47 to 62 we have a published library dating back to 2006.(and a digitized archive going back to 2000) This like all internet data is ‘transient’ and may not be available for too much longer in this digital form. Grab it while you can.
There will be a couple more Newsletters this year before George ‘officially’ retires having left the most comprehensive review of the group’s history and releases ever. We are all indebted to him.
We've had Jersey Boys and lost Bob Crewe.....both events left me completely numb but for entirely different reasons. The tenuous link with the past may have been created with 'The Movie' but losing the 'iconic' Bob Crewe was a reminder that none of this......Four Seasons Appreciation Society is forever. But then we still have some Newsletters to go.........
The latest Newsletter from George Ingram’s extensive archive of published articles is motoring through the 1970s and it is clear that control of the image and media for fans is sanitized and restricted. We shine the limelight on Gerry Polci, Lee Shapiro, Don Ciccone, and John Paiva as as well as Frankie Valli and Bob Crewe as their musical contribution is recognized. Our legacy for a great group.
When I saw the trailer to Jersey Boys-The Movie I thought the translation of the hit show to the silver screen was going to be a sort of ‘Boardwalk Empire meets Mad Men’.
According to The Telegraph it is “a film so grey and musty, it should probably be inspected on public health grounds for mildew.…. ….I entered with low expectations….and came out thinking “ some nice moments but Clint Eastwood rushed the film too much and missed/sacrificed the group's magic”
On the positive side I had to agree with The Independent’s assessment…..”One of its pleasures is its recreation of post-war America. It is shot in widescreen. The early scenes are in desaturated colours which give the sense that we really are back in the 1950s…..There are quiffs, cars with fins, and scenes set in bowling alleys but the film never lapses into Grease-like caricature. The device of having characters talk direct to camera, commentating on events in which they themselves are participating, isn’t as jarring as might have been imagined. As in House Of Cards (in which Kevin Spacey’s rogue politician tips the audience the wink) we quickly become accustomed to this style of storytelling.” (it happens in every episode of ‘Modern Family’)
But I did realize that this may not be enough to hold the attention or create the excitement of 1960s music for a big audience. As The Guardian says…”this version of the Four Seasons story appears to take place in a vacuum; for all the period detail (good to see a solid '56 Dodge Coronet in the street scenes alongside the more camera-friendly car cliches), there's scant sense of the pop world outside the boys' own four-part bubble.”. This is to many fans I am sure entirely unfair. Given the story context and length it would not be possible to do justice to the 1960s music scene. The theatre and audience appearances are authentic and the studio scenes are well matched to photos we have of Bob Crewe and the group in the studio.(even to Bob Gaudio's 1967 goatee- although he never had hair that long till the 70s.)But some of the key stage show effects are sadly missed.(The 'Dawn' stage climax before the intermission for example)
Some critics have panned the film and anticipating seeing it I was asking….”what should I expect ?”……a story of four guys trying to succeed as the 50s crossed over into a changing 60s?….or a portrayal of the music scene of those early years of the decade?…….well, Clint Eastwood went for the former …..but seeing that I recognized missing aspects of the 60s music making that no-one has tackled. The NYC music scene is becoming increasingly difficult to capture and the unique style, creativity and personality of those times......but at least Bob Crewe's portrayal was visually accurate and his dynamic production style was partly achieved...and they included his infamous Dakota Building parties....wonderful stuff. Perhaps the film falls between two stools achieving neither an effective piece of entertainment or a portrayal of musical development. But I didn't like the lack of credit 'musically' to Bob Crewe......he only did the lyrics.....and no production credit?. Same old problem with The Partnership......lack of credit to the teamwork. Others seem to agree. Eddie Rambeau who worked with producer Bob Crewe and wrote for the group had a valid perspective….”having lived through it myself, although the film will appear entertaining to most, it really wasn't that factual”..It is also clear from information received that Bob Crewe's family will not be too thrilled with the film. They and we, I am sure, recognise that Crewe “ was the real brains behind the success of The 4 Seasons”. Eddie, I and many others believe Bob was the driving force behind their career even if Gaudio's music was an integral part of the success. Jersey Boys doesn't capture this but the movie goes further than the stage show. Crewe was far from perfect but he did teach them their craft and this doesn't come over enough.
The Independent review also focuses on how the storyline is too predictable…....” Eastwood can’t escape the clichéd nature of films about bands. Inevitably, there are the years of struggle. Then comes the giddy period of early fame and success. Next follow the recriminations, broken marriages and unpaid tax bills. It’s at this point that the band splits up and its members tell each other they won’t perform together until hell freezes over. Then, in the final reel, the band is bound to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame amid scenes of semi-sincere reconciliation. You can’t blame the screenwriters for following a hackneyed old formula. This is simply the way that it always seems to happen.”
It is easy to agree that…..”The film is structured a little untidily. There aren’t climactic moments”….something the show never suffers.
The film does have a major problem according to The Telegraph…”The problem is immediately and heartbreakingly apparent. Rather than embracing the jangling song-and-dance numbers that made the live version box-office catnip, Eastwood sheepishly tidies them into the background, treating the project instead like a standard music-industry biopic” And unlike the show, the MUSIC loses out…”On screen, they (the songs) feel a tad flat – not something you could ever say about the records (look at the electrifying use Philip Kaufman made of them in The Wanderers).” …says The Guardian…..”Instead, it’s the band’s fantastically tedious internal squabbles that the film obsesses over”. “This is Eastwood’s major mis-judgement.” ….observes The Telegraph. Not an over-whelming approval from the UK quality press.
But we know it is a false storyline and didn’t happen(we accepted this in the stage show back in 2005)……..in many ways this 'inaccuracy' is where it works for its target audience. Whilst the early portrayal of a struggling band is backed up by some fact and research ….the later story line is some facts and fictions strung together in an out of sync timeline for theatrical effect……..” based on an almost true story’ is I guess the label it needs. But this has always been Jersey Boys ‘entertainment strength’ and ‘historical weakness’. You either accept the entertainment or feel cheated….I guess? Perhaps the most successful dramatic effect was the Francine storyline. It is well done throughout and although the adaptation was sensitive to the loss of a child, it is just not the real timeline
Personally I can't forgive the music production. Here was the chance to recreate ‘the sound’ of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons in ‘surround sound’. But this production fails to realize Bob Crewe’s majestic productions of the unerring vocal harmonies of the 60s hits. And even worse, as Rolling Stone says ” the immediacy(of the show) is lost. The camera keeps the music at a distance, a bitch when you're aiming for raw vitality. The result is a golden-oldies valentine sent by a well-meaning tribute band.”.The opening Prelude fails to capture any energy or excitement.(as the stage show does)...and I wasn't comfortable with the ending as the whole cast pranced around as part of the closing credits resembling the end of 'Shrek'.
But inevitably the conclusions of the USA's Daily Variety perhaps hit the spot….” Though Eastwood didn’t have the best of luck with musicals as an actor, this property ought to have been well within his directorial wheelhouse. As a helmer, he’s always had an astute ear for music; he excels at regionally specific ambiance and period studies, and here he avoids the music video shooting style that has turned so many recent film tuners into brightly coloured slurry. But as handsome as his compositions are, Eastwood’s filmmaking simply doesn’t have the snap or the feel for rhythm that the script’s rapid-fire theatrical patter requires, and the relative dearth of prominent musical performances turns what could have been a dancing-in-the-aisles romp into a bit of a slog.”
For many perhaps the film works as a piece of entertainment. A well staged and well acted drama with music......and although 5 songs are missing from the stage show it still almost worked....as a drama. ..not a music portrayal. And what happened to give us the 'crazy' trombone in 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You'?...I was embarrassed that it was sooooo bad. Significantly I found myself staying for all of the credits to hear Sherry and Rag Doll....the 'original sound' in surround sound. A highlight. It is no surprise the 'original hits' CD's are selling like hot cakes
But I do agree with John Hornsby… “the film nonetheless has its own peculiar charms”
As he says…”I think the big difference is that the play is like a live concert with the story of the group tying it all together, while the movie is the story of the group with the music tying it together. I have heard people coming out of the stage show saying "I could sit through that again"......because it's live music, like re-living a Seasons concert in the 60s. There is a difference. The two entertainments aim for different things.”
But my mixed feelings come down to one serious failing apart from the presentation of the music. The film suffers from a lack of time spent with attention to detail.......'8 track' recording was not available at the time of 'Sherry' and the recording sessions are not correct in several respects....and neon signs denoting 'Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons' above their heads during 'Walk like A Man' are simply wrong. They were 'The 4 Seasons' at that time.......but this to many is just technical detail. The acting by all the main characters is quite strong, and John Lloyd-Young is as good as anyone has got to Valli. ….but could a film actor have caught the drama better? Some stage show fans will be outraged because 5 songs are completely dropped,'Big Man In Town', 'Let's Hang On', 'C'Mon Marriane', 'Beggin' and 'Fallen Angel' but the drama doesn't suffer, even if the excitement does. Again that points to the lack of musical impact highlighted by The Telegraph comments above
But final judgement goes to two ladies in their 60s coming out of the cinema who spoke to me and I asked them if they enjoyed it......'Yes' they said...'Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio seemed like nice people'. So....notwithstanding my and others mixed feelings re the movie.....perhaps mission accomplished guys.?.......Surely most people who have seen it and the Stage Show will agree...The Stage Show rules!!
We don't write about cover bands.......but one band we have experienced in recent years was something special......You may remember a Four Seasons sound-alike group that briefly appeared as 'The Franks'.. and their awesome version of 'The Night'...it is the best ever 'cover' version of that song and proved what we thought back in 2008...... that they are the best Jersey Boys cast members...EVER..notwithstanding the JB movie. Well you don't have to believe us even if you haven't seen that long lost video on our London JB tribute DVD. Although their JB contracts finished....and they disappeared from You Tube.......they haven't disappeared totally.
Back in April 2013 Philip Bulcock who played Nick Massi in Jersey Boys, London production, told us he had produced and directed a short film with the rest of the guys who played along side him when the show opened back in 2008, (Ryan Molloy, Stephen Ashfield and Glenn Carter). He told us then that whereas Bob Gaudio was inspired by a film to write a song, Philip was inspired by a song to make a short film.
That song is 'Everybody Knows My Name' (from the 'Working My Way Back To You' album December 1965) and the film bears the same title. Although none of them had the opportunity to appear in the current Jersey Boys feature film, they all feel his film kind of makes up for that in a small way. Not only did Bob Gaudio really like it but now we and the world have the opportunity to see it . NOW we can reflect on their extraordinary acting and musical talent as the film goes public. Click the link text above or here....
The film is so much more than the music in it and it captures perhaps 1965 and the desolate creativity of being 'on the road' as The Four Seasons.
Well perhaps it was a promo ahead of casting for the film....and even if it was it remains a stunning visual and vocal promo. But we believe this performance is vocally so good that they should complete their role as portrayers of `That 'Four Seasons' Sound' with a CD album. Their own sound is such a close modern alternative that captures the emotion and intensity in a way no-one has done in any sound-alike bands. Experience and judge it for yourselves. Some very authoritative music business people agree with our reaction.
This movie makes you want more....just like their London JB performances did.....their creativity and personality shines through......whatever they want to call themselves we want more
You know as I get older I am amazed at how much we forget.....well me really. After all of the excitement of Charles Alexander’s compilation quiz and the final release of the track listing…….I stumbled across something I wrote back in 2011 whilst Charles was still thinking his project was a dream.
Funny thing is it is still very relevant to Charles project. The fact that so many artists regarded his songs as worthy of their interpretation is for me a key point in this collection and the 4Seasons songs chosen illustrate my contention that his best material was in collaboration..
But look back at this article as it is not my words but those of some of the people who worked with him that dominate. You can doubt them and their perspective but it is totally credible. I am sure Charles notes and explanation of the 7 year odyssey will also provide further insight into the extremely hard job of writing great songs and Gaudio was a master even though it was hard work . It certainly paid off…..and this collection only scratches the surface.
We’ve been running the Four Seasons blog now for several years and our team of music detectives have un-earthed a mountain of data which is mind-boggling in comparison with what we knew about the group during the 70s when the fan club was at it’s peak as was the group’s music. Looking back through George Ingram’s recent newsletters has been a fascinating window on the past and as we reach the end of the articles library it again reminded me of the joy and the pain of being a fan during the 1970s. The joyful success of The Four Seasons and seeing them for the first time and the complete dismay when they broke-up (they were unceremoniously sacked – as had happened to Joe long back in 1975 after 10 loyal years).
Some people have commented recently about a ‘negativity’ in the blogs I post and is maybe something they don’t like to see. Maybe it is uncomfortable reading. I’ve always been careful to be supportive of the fans needs for accurate data and the contribution of the group/band members and of the Jersey Boys show and actors. But hey let’s get real and look at what you may want to praise or criticize …..lets ‘Walk Like A Man’!!!
Here’s some alternative perspectives from fans on their forums…….
Quote…..”I must say that your site has been a godsend for many of us fans who have begged for releasing older material albeit Motown or anything else. Your research and persistence in this area is truly amazing. As an American, I wish that this pursuit was heavier in this country where you would think that the resources would be greater.
Without your efforts we would never have been able to have access to some of these gems. (I Wonder Why, Lovers, Hymn To Her, Make Your Tomorrow Tonight, etc.) I only hope that it continues.”
“I know that it’s been frustrating that the partners(The Four Seasons Partnership) haven’t been any help in this pursuit. “
Response….”When we set up the web site back in 1997 we tried in vain to establish some sort of relationship with The Partnership to help the fans learn more about the past history of the group. That failed due to the Partnership’s wish to control what was said re the past,,,,,,,after all we now KNOW the past was to some extent (dare I say) ‘shady’and it was their right to control disclosure. They have done this as they wish in ‘Jersey Boys’. What was inexcusable was sending out ‘cease and desist’ orders when we were trying to communicate and accommodate them back in 1997. We at that time withdrew any support for the Partnership and have since focused on The Four Seasons as a group and all the members and collaborators who played a part in their story……independently of anything in the ‘fiction’ of Jersey Boys. What we have achieved has been for me truly amazing thanks to collaborators all over the world. A network of music detectives and collectors. I thank them all on behalf of anyone who benefits in the future from our research.
Question…Do fans have a right to hear the unreleased tracks?
Quote received….”I must take issue with this. Artists have the right to approve the release of their work. Apparently, they don’t think that any of these tracks are worthy. If I didn’t feel that if I produced a product that wasn’t good enough…I wouldn’t want to release it. Sure, many of us don’t really care and I love what I’ve heard so far!! It’s really not for us to say.
On top of that, there isn’t a real demand and from what I understand, the work involved outweighs any benefit….except for a few. “
Response…..This is an accurate comment but remains a bone of contention amongst artists and fans throughout music. My position is this……I am a music collector/detective and my interest is art! It happens to be popular music and is not restricted to The Four Seasons but I have recognized the importance of their creative body of work achieved with others irrespective of who instigated paid for or owns the work. Legally such things are clear. Artistically and historically there is much to debate. Have we the right to read Shakespeare’s unpublished plays? Go figure!. The fact is that Motown Universal have ownership of these recording and they have little or no commercial value to either them or the Partnership. Only when there is enough artistic value involved to enable historians to assess the full body of work will they appear. The one thing that US law does require is that they are preserved. So I believe they should be heard and added to the body of knowledge. We aren’t going to agree on this one, and I believe it is for us to say. Art for Art’s sake.
Quote……Regarding their loyalty to past members, John Paiva, Joe Long et al. Let’s not forget that the 1975 Four Seasons didn’t want Joe Long. The decision was made to launch a new band that would appeal to the current record buyer. I think Gaudio/Valli did everything they could to promote the Four Seasons with lots of product. It just didn’t work. Plus, it was their money!!! They took the risk…not the band members. I commend them for having tried. Sour grapes to those who complain.
Response…..The sacking of Joe Long must inevitably have stemmed from frictions within the band and Joe’s age may have been against him. The decision to market a youthful line-up without Joe was ultimately Valli/Gaudio’s whatever the influences and was sad and unworthy of the man’s loyalty and contribution.
Equally so the sacking of the band when we had all been told they were to be a NEW Four Seasons was ‘shabby’ and ‘disloyal’. But hey this is the music business and ‘the owners’ of the name needed to protect their finances/brand. But there was another way….why not carry on or at least give the guys a choice? Last night I was watching ‘Moneyball’ and Brad Pitt said to his assistant that he should call a baseball player in and just tell him they had to ‘let him go’. He couldn’t…..and Brad Pitt said “When you shoot a guy which is worse….A bullet to the head or five to the stomache and let him bleed out?” It’s a familiar perspective in business……but not all of us agree with it. Ultimately this goes down to Valli’s chosing his solo path…..for whatever reason?....he ultimately ‘cherry-picked’ Lee Shapiro reversed the decision and re-formed the band …and it has been that way since.
With John Paiva and Joe Long the expectation was not so much ‘sour grapes’ but a ‘lack of loyalty’…but hey this is the music business….come back Nick Massi!!!
Subject quote…..”Regarding Jersey Boys being the official Four Seasons legacy?
Take what you can get!! A play that involved a revolving door of past member in true chronological would have been a mess and uninteresting. Again, the partners took the risk for this project…no one else. After many failed tries…..they struck gold. That’s the coincidental story line here that mirrors their career. They could have had a one-off movie of the week years ago that would have faded in a month. Now look….almost 10 years running!!!!.What Jersey Boys does tell us is that persistence and determination can still pay off. I can’t tell you how many times they probably thought about giving it up over this 50-60 year span. It’s inspiring.”
Response…..Jersey Boys has been a great show and thanks to a Four seasons fan…Rex Woodard getting Tommy to ‘dish the dirt’……and we know from the court papers what happened. But would we have wanted it to not happen….NO way….and didn’t the writers do it well. We’ve all had many hours of joy this last 10 years thanks to that chance being taken. My problem is that we need to keep it as ‘A Four Seasons Show’……part of the legacy but not the whole story and I have had others say the real story behind the music is being sub-summed by this commercial ‘juggernaut’
I’ve always respected Frankie Valli’s tenacity/drive and determination to please his audience and to be so committed to them and his music. For me Bob Gaudio’s tremendous talent as a writer and producer are diminished by his limited recognition of the ‘team members’ who helped him achieve success……particularly his debt to Bob Crewe…..and I’ve said what I’ve said re ‘The NEW Four Seasons’ of the mid 70s….they deserve better recognition. Even if only in the credits.
But these are all just stories along the path of life……..just Four Seasons stories and whilst we will always respect and highlight the collaboration and creativity of the ‘members’….I think it is valid to be critical and concerned re the portrayed history of the group and access to their art.
We made the decision back in 1997 to not commercially support The Partnership after their treatment of us(me directly). I think since then we have done a substantial amount of commercial support in keeping fans informed. The research info is really valuable historically as has been the preservation of vinyl masters. No thanks is expected or wanted. No commercial gain of any kind has been made. But enough is enough and the research and web work will be wound up. The site and blog will eventually close-down probably next year. Someone else can champion the legacy if they are perhaps able to find a patron …..maybe someone who cares about truth and loyalty. Now that would be inspiring.!
Some people are waiting with baited breath for The Jersey Boys movie and dreaming of such a resurgence of interest that record companies will be keen to dig out the unreleased material for old and emerging fans. Well whilst the movie may increase interest in their download archive the likelihood that any effort will go into a documentary(as with the Beatles Anthology) or issue of any unreleased material...... there is little evidence of this given the past approach of the Partnership.
The latest Newsletter from George Ingram’s extensive archive of published articles is motoring through the 1970s and it is clear that control of the image and media for fans is sanitized and restricted. With the now established story of the group immortalized in Jersey Boys (soon to be on general release as the movie…based on the stage play) there will be little appetite in the Partnership for sharing any of the limelight with Gerry Polci, Lee Shapiro, Don Ciccone, and John Paiva as they get no mention in the show /film….nor is their musical contribution recognized. A sad legacy for a great group.
But at least on the UK Four Seasons Appreciation Society web site fans can collect articles on the reality of their 1970s music and of that great line-up. For me perhaps the best line-up was before Joe Long left and whilst John Paive was doing lead 'fill-ins' making him a natural to move forward into the line-up (an event suitably reported in Newsletter 59.) and just look at the list of vinyl releases from 1976 to 1980. Great days…..so enjoy the download page by clicking here or on the image above.
As we now have the movie trailer of the forthcoming ‘big screen’ version of the stage show it seems appropriate to ask the question as this snippet of action, script and music emerges, carefully crafted to entice followers of the stage show.. OK there is not enough to make a full critical assessment of the production but there are certainly enough indicators of the style and presentation to make some observations.
Clearly the structure and approach of the individual group members giving their perspective (as in the stage show) is retained and developed to take advantage of the benefits of a movie production rather than the stage. And the vocal presentation known to most of those who have followed the show will enable people to relate to John Lloyd-Young’s lead vocal. The similarity with the JB Cast CD sound is apparent as soon as the trailer starts.
Show fans will be excited at the prospect of the movie version from this 2:19 sec snippet.
But as a long term music historian maybe I won’t feel that the interpretation actually captures the essential legacy of the group and their unique sound. And I don’t think I will be alone.
But first there are several attractions to the film version apparent in this trailer.
The Casting
Each of the group members characters immediately connect with personality and attitude reminiscent of the best stage performances. And two surprises immediately strike home. Firstly Christopher Walkden’s presence as Gyp De Carlo hits straight away. Secondly Bob Crewe’s portrayal is so like him that it is uncanny in appearance terms. The scene of him in the studio is a close copy of the photo set by George Schowerer taken in 1967. (albeit five years earlier) The actor , make-up and studio design capture the appearance of Bob in the Mirasound Studio.
The Sets
Clearly care and good design have been used to create the sets for each scene taking advantage of extensive 60s simulation in design to portray the locations, cars and atmosphere. These will certainly enhance the action. The glamorous appearance of girls in 60s fashion it appears will be a feature.
Additional Dialogue
With the opportunity to develop the play’s stage dialogue and to complement a more natural context the script writers have elaborated. How effectively this works remains to be seen and can’t be judged from this trailer?.
But like I said earlier doubts remain for me as a ‘purist’ studying the sound and its creation. Inaccuracies in the script/storyline are part of theatrical and movie productions and we know of the many fictions in the ‘play’ storyline from interviews. But the different arrangements of the songs (ie keys/tempo/harmony etc) have worn thin for me. Maybe it is working on ‘original’ sound of The MONO Archive ‘restoration project’ for 3 years but once again this sounds like a tribute group which I guess is a good as it could be. How could anyone re-create Bob Crewe’s overdubbed masterpieces? And Charles Calello’s masterful arrangements?. Appropriately adapted for stage and screen I guess Bob Gaudio will maintain!! But it also comes down to my allegiance to MY Four Seasons and the lack of respect shown to Gerry/Lee/Don and John…..The NEW Four Seasons we grew to love back in 1975 and 76. The mis-portrayal of these guys in the presentation of Who Loves You and December ’63 continues to rankle with me.
Saying that the show maintains an interest for successive generations of new fans doesn’t work for me. Would the portrayal of Frank Sinatra in a movie singing in such an ‘out of context’ way be accepted by anyone who loves his music.? No way.
We’’ll be able to fully judge the movie when it ‘premieres’ in June and although a chorus of fans will enthuse it……I’ll monitor the critics response and we’ll gather opinion for then.
Another year and another Newsletter from George Ingram has arrived chronicling the latest and the past data for Four Seasons fans. But the one thing that has changed since Newsletter 50 is that the identity of what the Four Seasons were/are has ‘morphed’ into the Jersey Boys(in what must be the biggest ever ‘tribute band’ franchise) and Frankie Valli and his Band impersonating both the Jersey Boys and The Four Seasons. And just to confuse matters even more we have two of the 1970s Four Seasons ‘hit group’ performing as the ‘Hit Men’.
So if this Newsletter No 58 is somewhat confusing for fans new and old then you are forgiven as a read through brings home how much things have changed not only since 1977 but since 2007. The LP and Singles information is laid out for 1977 and so to the recent 2013 releases. With download only collections abounding now and ‘out-of-copyright’ re-issues surfacing keeping a log of these and updating the CD discography at our web site is proving to be impossible. What is there on the web-site is a reference file(compiled by Stefan Wriedt from George Ingram’s Newsletters) for what came out between 1986 and 2011 and we will leave it there.
One of the landmark articles of the 70s is included in this newsletter(although as it appears on the GILG web site we have simply linked to it rather than re-scan).This article pulls no punches on the difficulties the group had. Also the differences in the story of the writing of ‘Sherry’ between Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio are perhaps symptomatic of their on-going ‘different perspectives’ as is their dispute over Bob Gaudio’s credits on the long-list of hits. Bob Gaudio is painfully honest re his ‘call’ to get the group to do ‘Genuine imitation Life Gazette’ as well as the aftermath. But although Valli’s extensive recording efforts at Motown are mentioned no-one back then knew what we know now in terms of the unreleased material amazingly still in the vaults at Motown. Far less successful groups have had their tape history poured over and documented and preserved over the years yet it is still down to this group of ‘music detectives’ to unearth the real story and the list of music. As for their release….well (as usual)‘dream on’.
The final section with the listing of ‘Frankie Valli On Record ‘ shows just how far we have come. With the advent of the internet it has been possible to gather so much more detailed data on the releases of the group both before and after their first success as the Four Seasons. There are still gaps and our ‘music detectives’ continue to seek ‘the final word’. That information is down to us….not The Four Seasons Partnership. But one question remains………is there enough interest to keep the research going. Maybe the time is coming to leave the Four Seasons Story to the Jersey Boys fans?
Another great effort by George but clearly we are reaching the ‘last knockings’
It seems to be slowly dawning amongst collectors that ‘preservation’ is the name of the game for the Four Seasons catalogue. A US mastering engineer told us….”the Four Seasons kept the “group sound” alive into the 60s, even after the British Invasion hit American shores, so their significance in their legacy of pop music is monumental. Personal taste aside, some music is worth preservation if only for historical purposes and The Four Seasons’ mono single mixes are the way listeners remember them being played on the radio, not those sloppy Philips throw-togethers(STEREO or MONO Mix-downs). Hindsight is 20/20, and had the group thought of KEEPING the multi-track session masters, we could have accurate stereo remixes that match the mono single mixes. Alas, that is not to be, so the mono mixes rule.Another issue I have with stereo is overdubs being added during the mix to mono for the singles.”
In our last blog we promised we would finish the archive soon and the results are now being reviewed to select the best versions. These MONO mixes have excited us enough to commit a set of 26 tracks from Volume 2 (13 of their Philips 45s) to CD which has produced a great listening experience. I asked our own sound engineer about the technical process.
“The key was the network because without that you can’t access enough pressings to find good clean copies…..and dubbing and cleaning presents issues with the sonic integrity of preserving the vinyl. What format to dub to and what bit rate? But perhaps fundamentally……What is MONO? Well when the songs where originally issued on Philips 45s and MONO albums the expectation was that they would be played with a MONO stylus on a MONO amplifier, reproducing Bob Crewe’s radio focused mix. But since then and particularly today most people playing vinyl will use a STEREO stylus and cartridge. So, two slightly different signals result. In fact, this is a form of STEREO. So unless you use a MONO cartridge and stylus,,,it’s not true MONO. Another factor is that although a digital MONO signal can be generated this will be a mix of the two channels thereby averaging the sound. And when burned to CD the process re-generates 2 channels of MONO….that is what CD’s contain…so you can argue about integrity till the cows come home. The Four Seasons first Philips MONO album PHM 200-129 contains the following comment from Philips…..”Own a stereo phonograph? You’ll find playing this Philips regular Monoaural long-playing recording on it a revelation. In fact a stereo phonograph considerably heightens the natural clarity and brilliance of any Philips long-play recording.” That is because of the effect I already mentioned of the slight differences in the left and right channels.
We decided that in the interests of consistency and ‘hi-fidelity’ we would reproduce this effect for this period of music. The results we believe have the ‘heightened clarity and brilliance’ Philips advertised.
The aim has been to capture and optimize the dynamic range(the difference between the quietest and loudest sounds) and to preserve the ‘sound of vinyl’ from the analogue age.”
And why is the first CD you’ve compiled from the Archive the first half of the Philips era? “ Simply because we have overcome our biggest hurdle with the Philips set (finding the different mixes in MONO)and these are of the group at their peak. We started at the beginning with ‘Bermuda’ the first Four Seasons record and completed the Gone/Vee-Jay set last year but we have had far more problems with the Philips set. This is because with Vee-Jay, many of the 45 mixes are the same as the albums so we had more choice and quality vinyl sources. Bob Crewe shortened the first 2 nr 1 singles by a few seconds compared to the LP (and any Stereo mixes) so we had to use the 45 versions but the rest are generally as the MONO Lp’s. He also in the Philips era took final mixes to Bell Studios and overdubbed or sweetened the tracks before the MONO mix was done to get the ‘radio’ sound he wanted….so some of the STEREO masters that are on CD today do not match the MONO hit sound. We eventually got ALL the original Philips 45 mixes.
The other key point was the people who worked on this project loved and knew the music so much and they had the 45 sound burned into their memory banks from the 60s. As a listening and testing group they added a unique talent to the exercise. We couldn’t have done this without them
The complete archive is therefore a baseline set for anyone wanting to analyse the ‘true’ sound of the Four Seasons as experienced by record buyers during the 60s.
We’ll eventually compile the archive to CD’s in sets of 2 each for the ‘Gone/Vee-Jay’ and the ‘Philips’ releases from 1962 (well really December 1961) to 1968.”
And anyone who is interested in these results will know someone in the ‘network’ of Four Seasons fans and can get to hear them. The preserved digital files will not be perfect as they are not from the master tapes but they are pretty clean and the challenge will be to continue to review demo’s and promo’s to get as clean and as close a sound as we can to the original master. Remember we do not believe these exist in the Four Seasons Partnership’s archive.(in such a complete set). The Archive(in our library) will remain a work in progress but we are happy that we have it, as the first step in the preservation is now complete.
We’ll follow up with notes on what are the significant facts behind the MONO mixes in due course
With the on-off? UK tour and summer holidays the blog has
hiccupped this year and we are only now catching up. George Ingram’s Summer
Newsletter was bouncing in through our post boxes before we could draw breath in July and it is only now the digital
download is available. So apologies to all our world wide followers for the
delay….but what a treat.
34 pages packed with reviews of the live concerts, articles
and past releases as usual. Perhaps the most striking thing historically is how
the media regarded the Four Seasons then with Frankie Valli and the Four
Seasons now. THEN was 1975/76 and the group were a ‘band’….well almost a rock
band…and an oldies group too with 14 years of success since Sherry. In fact
this was over a decade before their induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of
Fame. And their biggest ever record was just coming out….a world wide NR 1. The
record reviews are somewhat ‘understated’ and the articles interesting in the
view of their history and abilities at that time. Bob Crewe has a rare article
reviewing his successes and no-one could have appreciated that by 2013 the
group from then and before would be legendary and still high up in the public’s
heart.
The key of course is the success of Jersey Boys and these pages
do contrast the current ‘JB’ style of show with the previous high profile
recording career of the group and the different ‘group’ sound. Perhaps what
shines through is the great comradeship amongst the current ‘backing group’ to
Frankie Valli and the band. A very different approach and presentation to 1976 but
still generating a great night’s entertainment for the public. The showmanship
of Frankie Valli and his team shows through and almost always has……that is the
secret of his longevity as a performer. The batteries are still charged.
Having been our editor since the 1970s it is good to welcome
back George Ingram with Newsletter 56. Continuing his format of featuring
latest releases, with reviews of key year releases in the history of Frankie
Valli and The Four Seasons, George is back with 1975 and the published article
highlights from the magazines of the day.
The interesting feature of this 1975 review is how the
attitude of some was that Frankie Valli was an ageing pop star rejuvenating his
career with a new solo hit and his group with their continuing touring schedule
to ‘old’ adoring fans. He denies it is his ‘comeback’ year and hints at a
separate career for the then Four Seasons.
Here we are nearly 40 years on and he is still going albeit
on a much reduced touring schedule and with a very different band and sound. No-one back
then would have believed it possible and the writers of those articles would be
left speechless at his durability. The article’s, contain some factual errors
but give some insight into his marriage to Mary Anne Hannigan and to Bob Crewe’s
resurgence as a producer all wrapped up in the PR stories of the day..
To go to our web page with the
downloadable pdfs in 6 Parts….
click here.
To end what has been a great year for UK Four Seasons fans
we are able to bring you a special audio treat. Artie Schroeck was the arranger
who took over the duties of translating Bob Gaudio’s musical ideas into the
hits of 1966 and 67 for Frankie and the group. Ken Charmer recently had the
chance to chat with Artie re those times and ask him about his career. Artie
was kind enough to allow this Skype conversation to be recorded so we could share
it with you.
Below is the list of questions we posed for Artie and you
can hear him and Ken ‘Talking Seasonally’ about those great times during the
mid 60s plus some news of things he and Frankie have been doing recently which
could be very exciting.
The Questions…………..
“You were at school with Charlie Calello and followed him into music
arranging. How did this happen.?
You started working with the Four Seasons in mid 1966. What other
notable work did you do before that which fans should be aware of.?
How did you get recruited as arranger before the ‘Skin’ sessions?
Bob Gaudio came up with the idea of the ‘Skin’ arrangement at a Frank
Sinatra concert. He applied what is now regarded as the ‘Four Seasons’ formula
to the song. Did he have it all
constructed in his head? How difficult was it to develop that arrangement with
him.?
By late 1966 the Beatles had made huge advances in recording and
writing as had the Beach Boys. When you went into the studio to record ‘Tell It
To The Rain, were you aware that there
was a risk the group’s sound and style were being left behind or were Bob Crewe
and the group still confident that their formula could deliver hits?
At the start of 1967 ‘Beggin’ was recorded. It seemed a departure in
style by the group. Do you recall anything about this session and the song’s
distinctive arrangement.?
‘The Puppet Song’ was a song you wrote and arranged. How and when did
this happen.?
What was it like working with Bob Crewe on the ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off
You’ session….and generally, as a producer?
You probably don’t know it but one song you did with the group in early
1967 would become a huge UK dance floor hit in 1973 in the UK. ‘I’m Gonna
Change’ was a big Northern Soul anthem and remains popular today. It was again
a different approach and style/arrangement. Were you aware of this at the time
and why wasn’t this approach /style of song repeated do you think?(Note 5 of
the 10 tracks on the LP New Gold Hits –May 1967 - were arranged and conducted
by you)
Do you think the group missed out in 1967 by not having a focus on the
emerging LP market and lost their way by not developing a concept album earlier
than GILG(Gazette 1969)? ‘
You went on to record some solo tracks with Valli in 1967 but seemed to
have only worked with them for about a year. What happened after that and how
did your career develop?”
It seems only a short time ago that we were sitting together
at the UK fan club get-together and I shared my ideas for new projects. I
mentioned at the time that we would like to speak to Frankie re the next
project for CD and that I would suggest a 'Gold' selection of the tracks from
1965 and 1976.
Stefan and I had talked the day before about this with him saying the vinyl
sources (or the best CD masters from the 1990s) would make a good approach if
the Partnership didn't want to re-visit the analogue tape masters. Then we
moved onto the Royal Albert Hall and the front row together for one of the most
memorable performances of the tour. We never got to speak to Frankie as he was
too busy or tired after concerts but he did stop long enough to sign a hundred
or so autographs at the concert hall entrance
We had only been back a week in Spain in September when we heard from Stefan's
wife Christine that he had passed away from the liver cancer he had been
fighting for 5 years. You often don’t realize how people change you and your
life in subtle ways without you realizing it. Collectors of past music and
particularly Four Seasons fans do this all the time for each other with a
generosity and selflessness that should never be under-estimated. The loss of my dear friend and Four Seasons fan Stefan
Wriedt put this into true perspective for me. Collectively all fans owe him a
huge debt.
From a simple piece of information or advice to a sleeve
note, CD or photocopy he has helped music fans like me for the last 20 years
since we first started corresponded. Without doubt he has helped every fan
reading this by ensuring the ‘network’ of our fan club was fed it’s lifeblood –
information.
As a professional sound engineer he was outstanding , but as
he was the only one I know I am biased. He enabled through his caring about the
collective body of fans for us all to experience the rarest of Frankie Valli
and The Four Seasons music. Back in the 70s most of us could only imagine
owning a copy of Frankie Valli’s earliest recordings. Stefan through his
professional role gathered and collected them all and helped make the CD ‘The
Fantastic First Years’ a reality. Frankie Valli and Charles Calello sat around
together back in 2007 listening and reminiscing their earliest collaborations
as a result of Stefan’s collecting. He sought no credit for what is today a
rare (and unique)collector’s item.
And
the collection of released tracks at Motown first got to appear on CD
thanks to his efforts. He made sure through his contacts that it was produced
to such a professional standard that it remains the best mastered versions of
these songs even surpassing (in dynamic range) the Hip-O-Select Anthology that
followed it 10 years later. He did similar work to preserve and protect the
legacy of many music collections often without credit but all with a loving attention
to quality and detail. And in many ways he has enabled the Four Seasons UK
Appreciation Society to be the group it is today by facilitating and supporting
collections of rare and salvaged music from the past. He taught me how to
master sound engineering software and to have the confidence to feel, like him,
that I was able to preserve the music we love.
Simply put he was a huge and irreplaceable friend with a
talent beyond words. His legacy is in everything we have generated or reviewed
in the last 10 years. It was Stefan’s concept to have a comprehensive CD discography
on line and he worked hard to help me achieve this along with the sound
tests and evaluations.
You can never take for granted how such simple things become
the cornerstone of your day to day information and well-being. Getting the
music you love may seem unimportant but scientific studies into the effect of
music in our lives has revealed its power to sustain and feed the human spirit.
Stefan did his part in the network of fans but was simply being a good and
supportive friend. He remains part of all we do in adding to the body of
knowledge we share. His work continues and his friendship continues to inspire
our collections and the preservation of music and information for fellow fans.
As the 40th anniversary year of the Four Seasons
rise to fame comes to an end we are happy that UK fans are still celebrating
after their summer tour partying with the ‘band’. Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio
may not have celebrated this ‘special’ year with any ‘mega’ releases for the
fans but the UK fans have once again done their own thing. This week we
received two celebratory DVD’s compiled by fans.
The first is ‘The Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons 50th
Anniversary DVD Set’. It is a collection of 24 You Tube videos (which
don't appear on commercial DVD) in an easy to play menu format that features four
sets of tracks. The first set features 4 from the 60s, including Let’s Hang On……..A
Medley of Hits….and 2 jingles. Then there is a set of the 7 Un-released tracks
featured on You Tube including the Motown Unreleased and the ‘Watertown’ demo.
The third section covers the performances by the NEW Four
Seasons of the mid 1970s with 10 live performances including the ‘Top Of The
Pops’ appearances and ‘Down The Hall’…plus 2 of the Hit Men of 2012. The final
section features the ‘Beggin’ re-mix and a 1990s live clip. These may not be in
the greatest of video quality but they are generally not available (some now
deleted from You Tube) so this is a real collectors set. It’s value as a
reminder of what great performances we have had over the period but also what
we haven’t heard commercially as unreleased tracks that languish in the vaults.
Every collector reading this would have invested in a
collection of unreleased Four Seasons material but frankly there just aren’t
enough of us around and commercial gain still rules the Partnership’s direction
through their relationship with Rhino.
The latest rumour’s suggest Frankie is focusing on two CD projects
at present…..The Hi-Los style Sinatra covers with the current Four Seasons…..and
a new collection of ‘B sides’ (but as we pointed out some of these don’t appear
to exist in their original form other than on vinyl - viz ‘I’ve Cried Before’).
Whether these will surface in the presently declining CD market is debateable.?
The second DVD set is a celebration of Jersey Boys London’s
Original Cast with a collection of interviews and live performances spanning
their first 2 years of TV and promo appearances. Totally entertaining, it
captures the excitement and dynamism of this line-up and comes with their single
appearance as the 3 man ‘Franks’ group singing their great interpretation of ‘The
Night’. No longer available on You Tube or I-Tunes it is worth having this 50
minute DVD for this alone.
So as the song “Celebrate good times…come on!” blasts out of
our TV adverts at this time of year we can spend it remembering nostalgically how
we have best enjoyed our favourite songs over the last 50 years and still do
today.
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