Following my Motown ‘Unreleased’ Project Plan to research the tapes which I did back in 2019 and updated this year, it is clear that Universal Motown have not done FULL listening tests of the Tapes recovered from the Iron Mountain storage, but our hope is that the Tapes listed in my spreadsheet from a 1990s database they had compiled have ALL been found and transferred to Bob and Shannon Gaudio and they will eventually be the basis of a detailed 'listening' review for a collectors release at a future date and as a follow on to the release of the Snapper Music Box Set this summer. However we think that not all of the tapes we have identified in the Project Plan have been sent to them or recovered from the vault.
From what we knew back in early 2019 only a review of the Tape Boxes was done [and not the Artists Cards] by the Universal Motown Vault Service Department pending decision by Bob Gaudio re what he wanted. At that time the Tape Box scans revealed that there were 19 [see below] that showed with vocals indicated. This of course was not a guarantee. They could be demos or scratch vocals, or mismarked. They needed to be digitally transferred and played to see if they exist. And other undocumented tracks could be found on the tapes that contain vocals as Universal have found in the past as these tracks contain all of the Production sessions and all of the TAKES and not only by Frankie in some cases depending on the producer.[e.g Hal Davis with Michael Jackson and Frankie Valli sessions?] What we can tell you is the songs that appeared to have Frankie's vocals on from Tape Boxes for the Motown Unreleased part of the Box Set in January 2019 were:
My Heart Cries Out For You
Chained
Save The Children
Girl, Don't Take Your Love From Me
Never Gonna Give My Love To You
You're A Song (Slow version/Fast Version?)
Loving You, That's My Thing
Stop, Look And Listen To Your Heart
Thank You For Yesterday
I Will Love You Like A Man
When I Come Of Age
You Can't Hold On
Hymn To Her (When My Love Touches Me)
(You've Gotta Make Your) Tomorrow Tonight
Whatever You Want
Future Years
Lovers
Getting Over You
Star
* Additionally, there were another 11 songs, with indicated possible vocals:
Starvin' For Your Love
Time Will Tell
Wigs And Lashes
Where Love Ends
I'll Make It Up To You
After I'm Gone
Minute By Minute - Day By Day
After You
Live It Up
With You
* Lastly, there are songs with alternate vocal 'takes' of existing releases like 'Hickory' and the 45 version of 'Listening To Yesterday' which had still to be found
Some of these songs we knew of only as rumoured recordings and some that are missing from this list we know may have been completed and copied as we have detailed locations for them in the Project Research Plan [e.g Be My Lover, Be My Friend]. What has happened since early 2019 is that as a result of the tapes being sent to Bob Gaudio, as he requested, he has reviewed enough of them to give us 13 of a potential 30 unreleased tracks including songs like the rumoured 'Minute By Minute, Day By Day' and 'After You' which are simply amazing finds. Clearly with more work by the Vault Services Team at Universal Motown and investment in time and finance by them and the FSP in listening tests and mixing down, there could be much more of adequate quality for release. It needs Bob Gaudio and Frankie to believe it is 'worth the chase' [and cost!!....yes we know they can afford it] as they seemed to be unconvinced at the time and we are getting so few 'unreleased' tracks in 2022. However, what has been found confirmed what I have maintained since the start of the Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign over 4 years ago, and as has been indicated from some 12 years of detailed paper records research. Obviously resources, collaboration and co-ordination is needed to complete the story. Simply put.......do Bob and Frankie care enough about what the fans want.?
So the potential in ‘Future Years’ is for a comprehensive Box Set from the only known remaining Multi-Track Library in the group’s history to still exist. THE MOTOWN YEARS SESSIONS BOX SET...........will be the target. And those of you that purchase the forthcoming Box Set will get to sonically appreciate why the FB Motown Campaign group was necessary and its continuation. Fortunately the 'financial model'.......$1m cash flow, enabled us to get these tracks as part of the full catalogue from 1962 to 2010. But the Snapper budget could only go so far and the extended time we spent produced many late finds. We are all grateful for how Bob Gaudio, Universal and Snapper Music have responded to Snapper's great decision to embark on this project, and although it falls short of expectations there is hope for more. It is all about money and the licensing and return on investment and not always a view of strengthening the 'brand' or preserving the 'art' as we [the fans] have done with the input to the forthcoming Box Set. Snapper believe they will do that with a 'sensational' product. We will see what impact it has and how the planned Jersey Boys TV movie works in conjunction with it. Without doubt the combination will set the future perception of The Four Seasons Story. We know the customer base, for these tracks and their history, and we only have a few more pieces for the jigsaw until the catalogue is complete. Then there is the 'story' behind the tracks.....'The Work' [Rex Woodard- Tommy DeVito]and 'The Rise and Fall Of The NEW Four Seasons'[our e-book]........more on these in future blogs........ and maybe Mike Derrico's long planned book?.
I will, later this year after the Box Set release, change the FB group's name to 'THE FOUR SEASONS RARE AND UNRELEASED MUSIC' as the focus moves on to the big picture of the catalogue and we can all comment on the 'rare' finds once released and what still remains unheard or unfound. The REST of the Motown Unreleased will remain a target and I want at least a recognition that our data has identified 'un-researched sources' and maybe the prospect exists of a follow on not as a limited edition like the Snapper Music Box Set but some regular releases at a lower cost for all. For now though you have all we know re the Motown contract years and subsequent releases in these blogs.
Some other tracks didn't make the Box Set and I will seek to share these when I can and do more DES versions for the You Tube Channel.
Celebrating the catalogue and unearthing 'lost gems' is still our aim.
More on the Tape Research 'finds' next time
Ken Charmer - Music Historian for the UK Four Seasons Appreciation Society
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