That 'Four Seasons' Sound

The Four Seasons Catalogue. What will we get in 2020?

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.

 

Casey Chameleon

'Un-released' - Find Of The Year 2017

 

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.

Ken Charmer

The 2017 'Unreleased' Sleeve Notes

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.

The Age Of The Curators is Here!

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'.

Onto the compilations we need next.

Casey Chameleon

 

The Four Seasons MONO Archive Is Completed

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

Here is a sample…..

Casey

chameleon@seasonally.co.uk

Download WMWBTY Mono Sample

 The Philips Archive listing

Finding the 'Masters' - The MONO Archive 1962 - 68

This last years projects have brought a new focus on the Four Seasons catalogue for me and several of my dedicated Four Seasons collectors friends. The MONO Archive project started as a result of discussion between top German sound engineer Stefan Wriedt and I, three years ago. My contention that in sound quality terms there was a lot to complain about re the Four Seasons catalogue was echoed by Stefan. And the key objective of preservation of the sounds we got to know on vinyl seems more important than ever today. It started with the question of whether we could find, clean and re-vitalise the original vinyl releases digitally and if these would prove to be a better listening base than the CD compilations we have acquired since 1988, supposedly from the original masters.

 

The last year has been has been all about re-discovering the 45 and MONO LP mix and how a good MONO mix can match or even surpass STEREO depending on it’s quality. What we grew up with has left a 'stamp mark’ in our brains of how the Four Seasons 45s used to sound on radio and record player during the 60s. This was before the time when most of us had ever heard STEREO....unless it was one of the 'train sound' novelty hi-fi stereo demonstration albums on a rich friend's Dad's radiogram. These included recordings of trains passing with the sound of the train moving across the room from right to left as the Stereo soundstage moved it. There weren’t many STEREO albums around in the UK in the early 60s or STEREO record players

Today our collections on CD and I-pad/phone are a mixture of flat sounding MONO re-masters and a set of so called  STEREO that bounces instruments and vocals between our ears in an artificial spatial wilderness that confuses the whole thing in our heads. We maybe don't realise this as we’ve grown used to it but the track can become confused with all kinds of peaks and dips coming from all directions in the stereo image. As soon as we get focused on the strings and bass on the left the harmonies are coming in from the backyard!!! It is just not right.

This is simply the result of our educated ears bringing us full circle. With the CD age we became used to listening to our hi-fi systems and good speakers. Sound  bounced around the room and reverberation softened the wideness. We had inherited what was understood as the  STEREO sound from back in the early 60s. Peter Vance of Abbey Road Studios commented on this phenomena back in 1997...”......even with the increased usage of 4-track(studio recording) in the mid-60's , the positional restriction of the stereo mixes often left a lot to be desired.  You would regularly end up with most of the rhythm on one side, guitar or percussion on the other side and perhaps the vocal in the centre.  It wasn't until the arrival of 8-track machines, towards the end of the 60s that the stereo image, on pop recordings, eventually regained respectability. As a matter of interest, this had never been the case with the 4-track "MOR" recordings (e.g., Shirley Bassey, Matt Monro, etc., etc...) where the orchestra was recorded in true stereo on two of the tracks, the vocals on a third track, with one track free for whatever.  This method ensured that the stereo 'picture' remained natural and interesting.

The somewhat simplistic approach to recording of pop back then also extended to the layout of the groups and orchestras in the studio itself.  This meant that there was only minimal screening of the individual instruments and vocalists.  Fortunately, the excellent acoustics of the studios at Abbey Road have always meant that any spill of sound from one microphone to another is always clean and only serves to produce an overall natural and pleasing sound, a situation which, by default, has always been the norm for classical recordings.  Ironically, it is these very circumstances and their effect that producers, engineers and artists are finding to their liking once again some 35 years later.  This is also true of the old valved microphones and limiters which are regularly in demand, because of the unique quality of the sound that they still produce - it's funny how things tend to go round full circle."

STEREO recording today is not like this, as we said back in 2009 in Chameleon's blog. Today's recordings have a sound stage that represents a 'live' performance with each voice and instrument in good position before the listener. Listen to good masters on good equipment and MONO can sound alot like this. That MONO sound was really all that Bob Crewe focused on....and it is what we knew. Instruments and vocals balanced in the mix separate and coming from a fictitious stage in front of us. The Four Seasons actually backing Frankie Valli.

The Four Seasons 1965 mixes suffer most from this problem whereas the 1967 tracks recorded on 16 track at Mirasound Studios have a much more balanced sound. Today we have educated our ears to want sound in headphones a lot of the time and more sophisticated sounding headphones than we ever had before. We need to have the sound-stage re-balanced. This is not so easy without multi-tracks and it appears it will be some years before the development of spectral analysis produces extracts from the STEREO mix-downs(the ‘Partnerships’ masters) that enables such balanced re-mixes to be done.

 George Schowerer and Ellie Greenwich in the Mirasound Studio 1967

So why do we accept this when we can listen to and enjoy the MONO mixes that we knew. Well maybe because there aren't any really good re-masters in MONO of the sound we used to listen to in the analogue age. To appreciate this today you have to listen to the MONO 45s or LP's on a good record player and amplifier . Trying to capture this sound from vinyl and get it into digital form has been a challenging but satisfying exercise for the fan collectors group. Listening to the 'Jersey Beat' box set may be some people’s idea of ‘connecting’ with the MONO mixes but these are NOT the vinyl sound we knew.  Re-mastering today can easily fail by adding too much EQ (equalization – a process that enhances elements of the sound.) The balance and intent of Bob Crewe's original MONO mixes can and has for some been lost. If the original MONO mixes have not been preserved then the Four Seasons Partnership have reverted to a mix-down from STEREO to MONO. The problem is that this may be an alternate mix to the MONO 45 and you can lose definition and balance on the instruments and harmony eroding the sound which was optimised by Crewe and his sound engineer in the original mix for vinyl. It is a recognised fact that the 4-track recordings from those days no longer exist so it is not possible to 'fix' any defects in the MONO or STEREO masters. Some of these occurred at the time (using techniques to mix to MONO) or are due to deterioration, lack of care or physical damage to analogue master tapes since.....which makes the vinyl the real source for 'MASTERS'. So if re-mixing from tape is not possible what is the potential of re-mastering from vinyl?.

“Mastering is the essential last step in music production. A mastering engineer takes a mix and makes it sound right for a particular purpose. Typically, the mix is equalized, so it has all the necessary frequencies. Dynamics are then adjusted, to minimize the differences between softer and stronger parts of the recording, and finally compression is added and a limiter is employed to make the overall sound louder, a method that is now very popular.” says Melda Productions. The problem is that over the last 15 years or so making the Four Seasons mixes sound louder has lost the 'feel' originally put into it by Bob Crewe and the group.

What we have done in the MONO Archive is search out the cleanest and most dynamic sounding MONO vinyl versions we can find, digitising them at a higher than CD sampling rate before cleaning to remove noise and crackle. Final versions are mastered to the recommended levels for digital sound but leave the sound essentially the same with the MONO signal optimised.

The result we have found  makes it hard to go back to the STEREO CD's to have your head messed up. It is a digital sound that works particularly well on headphones, in-car and on mobile devices. It is the consistent sound of 60s radio with just the right amount of spatial feel. But mainly it is a reference point for the groups sound. It may well be that engineers will with 'modern' digital tools re-shape and 'fix' the STEREO mixes using Spectral Editing and 'Stereo Enhancement' to create NEW mixes that Bob Crewe would have been proud off. It wouldn't be the 'original' sound.....that was MONO....but it might give us a balanced and more realistic 'soundstage'. As Stefan said back in 2009....”What you find is that the sound of a (STEREO)CD often ‘sticks to the speakers’: you’ll hear it coming from the left speaker and from the right speaker but there’s nothing in between – the proverbial ‘hole in the middle’”. But tackling the Stereo is the next step...for now we are making good progress finding the MONO from good vinyl.

Back in 2009 we asked the question as to whether there still existed good ‘Masters’ of the Four Seasons music? It seems now in 2013 we have found the answer......on vinyl. So far we have found and re-mastered/archived some 90% of the 45 catalogue from 1962 to 1968 and we will see it complete this year. More on our efforts and results from the vinyl (.......now in the ‘Archive’), very soon.

Casey Chameleon

A Forlorn "Dream' Of A Hit!

As spring of 1968 arrived the Four Seasons and Philips had realized that ‘Genuine imitation Life Gazette’ was a bit of a disaster and singles from it would dry up with Philips 40597 (Idaho/Something’s On Her Mind). They must also have been wondering if they could salvage Frankie Valli’s solo career with a hit 45? The relationship with Philips headed into decline and the prospect of any new recordings seemed dim. But side projects have littered the groups and Valli’s career and sessions in late1969 would lead to the release of Philips 40661 in April 1970. Thanks to Paul Urbahns and John Pingree who highlighted this back-story we are partly able to research and provide some feedback re this somewhat understated milestone in Frankie Valli’s solo career.

‘A Dream Of Kings’ was a novel turned into a film in 1969 starring Anthony Quinn with a music score by Alex North a well known film score orchestra leader. Released by National General Pictures(a December 1969 release date is indicated but so too is February 1970) the film was nominated for a 1970 Laurel Award)and a film score album was assembled. The film somehow seems to have inspired Bob Gaudio to write a song with Jake Holmes by the same title. (possibly through long-time contact Al Kasha who was music supervisor on the score) and this was apparently recorded and registered with Philips in December 1969. Produced by Bob Gaudio and arranged by Joe Scott (who would go on to arrange three tracks on the 1970 album ‘Half and Half’ Philips 600-341) the song features a lush but innovative arrangement.

The song did not appear in the film but versions would be release in April 1970 on the film score album (National General NG 1000)…as “a song inspired by the film”….and “featuring the voice of Frankie Valli” and as the ‘B’ side to Philips 40661 (couple with ‘You’ve Got Your Troubles’) Collectors could be excused for thinking that the version issued on ACE CD 635 in 1996(as ‘a bonus track not on the original album’) is the original master but this we found is not the case ( there are a number of discrepancies like this in the CD released tracks). The ACE version is a different mix. It runs 2:37 seconds (over 6 seconds shorter) and has the Stereo channels swapped in comparison with the score sound track LP version. The tambourine also moves from centre to far right in the sound stage and there is a more suppressed orchestral sound in the right channel content. The score sound track STEREO version also has the best soundstage by far with a better dynamic range (DR11) and runs for 2:45mins(whilst the album sleeve incorrectly shows 2:35min). Thanks to Stefan Wriedt’s singles archive we were able to re-master the original MONO 45 version and this appears to be from the original score album master just speeded up slightly to come out at 2:42 mins.

Although not considered for release on the ‘Half An Half’ album later in 1970 it remains a rare and under-appreciated Valli-Gaudio gem amongst collectors. We think it is a wish amongst most collectors to have the best versions of Frankie’s songs and in this case the film score album version and the 45 are the ones to have. The full film score album with the opening track by Frankie Valli is available here…………and the 45 version is in Stefan’s archive so contact our administrator if you want it.((chameleon@seasonally.co.uk)

Casey Chameleon

(Special thanks to Ray Nichol for the demo 45 scan including autograph)

The Updated Sessions/Masters Web Page June 2013

It was a few years ago that we received a listing in Word from Tom Cramlington that attempted to gather all of the research that had been done on The Four Seasons Partnerships records for the CD catalogue re-issues of the groups albums from the 1960s.

Appearing  pretty comprehensive we thought it would provide a good base for research and for adding the various new data that occasionally surfaced re alternative tracks and unreleased material. A sort of catch-all that listed all of the vinyl sources for the numbered Master tracks that are listed in those researched CD projects  and sometimes on the 45s. Well after 10 years it has proved robust with corrections and additions and has grown into a pretty comprehensive reference document for all of their work.

When were were anonymously donated a copy of the Motown Tape Index for their years at the label in the 1970s with comprehensive listings of the unreleased material we felt that this was an important addition and allowed us to extend the listing to 1974 albeit in a different format as the extent of the information warranted a spreadsheet.

We’ve continued to add information as it has surfaced and now we have published our updated listings to a new ‘Sessions/Masters’ Web Page. Previously this was titled as a ‘Sessionography’ page but as it does not document accurately the 4 Seasons sessions we have re-titled the listings. As far as we know there are no records of these individual sessions and the original multi-track tapes from the sessions may no longer exist according to anecdotal evidence. The listing does however list the registered Master Nrs as lodged with record companies and it does  attempt to identify the recording/session date. In the case of the Motown Tape Index it does identify the multi-track session tapes which may still exist in the Motown vaults.

There is an Introduction that explains the background to Sections and there are notes re each Section at the start. Below  is a summary of the status of each section and the latest updates.

• 1.       Early recording up to and including The Four Lovers 1958

                            This remains unchanged and documents the research done for the ‘Early Fantastic Years’ CD project and the Four Lovers ‘Bear Records’ CD issue. It is comprehensive and sourced from the CD researcher.

• 2.       The Four Seasons Recordings 1961 to 1963 (Gone and Vee Jay)

                            This remains largely unchanged with the verification of the later re-issue Master numbers on the Philips label after the Vee-Jay masters reverted to the group.

• 3.       Recordings under other names and backing work to others. 1958 to 1963

                           Researched from 45s this is largely a result of speculative detective works and anecdotal evidence of other tracks the group have or may not have appeared on. With little to confirm the details it remains an area for on-going research but the vocals are clear on many as those of the group. It also contains some projects they experimented with producing and some where Bob Crewe used them as vocalists (as evidenced in ‘Jersey Boys’).

• 4.       The Philips Era 1964 to 1970 and pre-joining Motown

                            This Section is now updated to include notes from interviews with ‘arrangers’ Artie Schroeck and Charles Calello as well as information from the Mercury/Philips Book of Masters. It includes previously unknown and in some cases unheard recordings from 1968 and alternative versions between 45 and LP issues(some MONO, some STEREO mixes)

• 5.      The Mowest/Motown Recordings 1971 to 1974 (as an excel spreadsheet due to available and complex information re the tape index and artists cards)

                            This remains unchanged from the annotation of the Motown Tape Index sent to us anonymously in 2010. The continued existence of these analogue tapes has not been verified.

Access the web page here

These lists remain a ‘Work in Progress’ but until more verifiable data surfaces it remains the summary of known and published information on the ‘timeline’ of the group’s recordings for the period. We will push the limits in terms of further research over the next year, asking questions re what remains in Master archives and where. The documentation is going hand in hand with our preservation and digital re-mastering of the MONO archive that can only be found on vinyl(apart from a handful of well produced CD sets with good MONO Mastering). We will re-visit details and implications of the latest edits over the next few months as we seek to uncover further information on the Master files and their availability….or lack of it? Both projects represent the most advanced Four Seasons research being undertaken at this time as far as we know. But we are always open to help re this, and we will collaborate with anyone in compiling ‘the body of knowledge’…..of our favourite group.

 

We believe in this work and are seeking to register the archive with The International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres and to pursue more data to verify and expand the information.

Casey Chameleon

Digital Archive

The start of 2013 has been a strange one for fans of 60s music like me. There has been a big focus by people a lot younger than me on the ‘analogue’ age and the ‘Golden Era of the Long Player’ with BBC Radio and TV nostalgically looking back on ‘records’ as some sort of antiques.

Perhaps they are but when you grew up with them and you still have a big collection they just feel gloriously ‘tangible’ in an age when we abound with hundreds and thousands of digital downloads or CD extracts on I-pods. It doesn’t seem so long ago that we were ‘hunters and gatherers’ of 60s and 70s vinyl epics on album. Back then it was the only way to get to hear the music. Last week Danny Baker and Co in a series of panel interviews on TV Channel , BBC Four recalled how we used to caringly lower the needle in the groove and listen intently to 2 sides of 26 minutes or so without a break in homage to the artists and the producers.

Now it seems we are casual digital collectors of catalogues of hundreds of artists and thousands of tracks. The release this week of seven  of the Four Seasons  albums as mp3 downloads by Rhino sums up where we are today. We can pick and choose the tracks we want and random play on the I-pod now gives us a juke-box life with music something in the background whilst we do something else.

 

We have had the vinyl age and survived the CD age (buying everything again) and now we are in the middle of the download age. And everyone is in on the act of becoming an archivist. Amoeba the classic west coast collectors store (I just love their San Fransisco unit)have announced they are archiving classic albums  And today’s Sunday papers features an all singing/all dancing record/tape and CD archiver (a 4 in 1 Music Machine) to illustrate the point

But a look beyond the surface reveals that much of what we are getting released today is not original, not good sound and not properly archived. Certainly with the Four Seasons catalogue there is lots of room to complain. But it seems no one cares as much as we do. It remains a mystery why the 4 Seasons catalogue doesn’t get the respect or care in its reproduction that Jazz music gets with its specialist albums and collections of rarities, live performances and previously unreleased tracks.

Neither Rhino or The Four Seasons Partnership have shown any respect for the fans wishes in this respect and whilst the ‘Gold Vault of Hits’ CD sets last month were welcomed by some fans we continue to be ‘underwhelmed’  at the lack of inspiration in the releases. Its another tale of the continuing exploitation of the fan base with no investment in documenting and archiving the history. No re-mastering from analogue tapes, no new mixes and not stunningly good re-mastering. And if you don’t believe us just take a listen to what is possible check out the great samples from this superb box set compared to the ‘puny’ Jersey Beat selection of Four Seasons history.

So whilst some UK fans may be getting excited at the prospect of another visit of Frankie Valli and his band to their shores in the summer we will be focusing on preserving the original MONO mixes as the analogue history. We’ve completed the Vee-Jay 45s and work progresses on the Philips singles. All tracks are digitally transferred from best vinyl sources, cleaned and re-mastered in professional software. These masters match and surpass the current CD catalogue. Of course copyright rules prevent us from sharing such work with you but hopefully you’ll be happy to hear that we have them. So this year we have got possession of ‘the masters’. Bob Crewe’s beautifully crafted 45s digitally archived. Some of us do care about the music!!

 Casey Chameleon

Back To The Future? - The Return Of Vinyl

As we move into 2013 it is perhaps for many UK fans a case of saying….”let’s do it again”” as the euphoria of last years’ Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons first tour in 18 years still rolls. And whilst the excitement and anticipation of another set of concerts in summer 2013 builds, maybe that should be the focus. Well not for me on this blog. Royal Albert Hall 26^th June 2012 was a peak that could not be bettered or matched for me and a great credit to the band and the stylish show and sound they have been putting on since 2009.

Great songs: done live by the man whose soaring voice dominated the falsetto sound on radio for 5 years during the 60s. Just take stock of the reality of the group’s career and sound. The music today…whether live or in ‘Jersey Boys’ (JB) is not what it was and quite often on CD it sounds mushy and dull. So how do we move on?

Listen to vinyl or the quality CD MONO masters (there are very few good CD’s around today)from their Vee-Jay days and it hits you. Nick Massi’s vocal skills brought the best out of every group member and formed the elements of their ‘hit’ formula and Charlie Calello’s arranging coupled with such great songs from Crewe and Gaudio cemented the mix in classic analogue pop hits. As they moved onto Philips their formula created even more classic melodies and harmonies before Charlie Calello moved on and Artie Schroeck working with Bob Gaudio created a new ‘more modern’ and sophisticated harmony sound by 1967. The fact is that the group sound was good enough to continue and used to create even more classic 70s styled ‘harmonies’ with a new line-up meant their career as a hit making group lasted over 15 years. Truly legendary. But increasingly you have to go back to the vinyl to experience it.

But no matter what ‘tribute bands’ do or how Frankie tries to re-create the sound in his concerts two facts stand-out. One…..the essence of the classic studio sound of the 60s and 70s just cannot be reproduced ‘live’. It is a nearly lost ‘analogue’ sound. It is rarely re-produced well on CD and not ‘live’. We will be reminding readers of this fact and sources for the best sound during 2013. Second…..whilst JB continues to represent a great show, it doesn’t reproduce the group’s ‘true’ sound. It is actually very different, relying on different keys , arrangements and a ‘choral’ rather than ‘open’ harmony and although it makes a great night out at the theatre, it’s continuing success is perhaps damaging to the heritage, legacy and history of the group. Somehow it to me has become???….just not authentic.

The recent You Tube video of the University Of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Entrepreneurship covers some but misses key elements of the show JB’s success. Rick Elice and Bob Gaudio (scoring no points for fashion in a suit with trainers!!) open up a little but clearly need to hide certain facts.

“The way the ‘book’ accesses the music is perhaps one of the key factors in JB’s success”says Rick. That is the key. The ‘book’ takes advantage of the music and it transforms the story. And , not mentioning that the original source for much of the ‘book’ was the original BOOK co-written by Rex Woodard and Tommy DeVito was clearly necessary due to the current court case. Legal papers show its significance but it may be some time before it is published and we can see it for ourselves. But the reality is….the original music rules….not JB but Bob Crewe’s immaculately ‘carved’ 45s.

Yes …..many UK fans want to party ‘one more time’ with Frankie and the band and that is OK….it’s good.

But Casey and the music detectives will be re-visiting and reviving the best sounding MONO and STEREO mixes from the past. We’ve started with ‘Solo’ – Gold. Rhino this month launch a cheap re-issue of the ‘Gold Vault’ masters and our MONO 45s archive will recover all of the 1964 to 1968 Philips 45 mixes as they were from vinyl. But the STEREO masters still need researching on master tapes and re-mixing.

It is a fact that Frankie Valli can’t today sound as he did in his younger days and JB can’t be The 4 Seasons. Recovering the vinyl sound digitally is the best way to preserve and enjoy  the sound on today’s players. The technology may have moved on….but a look at Amazon is interesting. There are more record players on sale than at any time since on-line selling started and maybe since the advent of the CD. Each offers the option to record via USB to computer/I-phone………why?  So you don’t have to listen to poorly mastered CD’s….you can create your own vinyl sound. …..in the original or a more instantly accessible way. The analogue sound that really is ‘The ‘sound’ of Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons'.

Little wonder that Rhino have realized this to and issued the ‘Gold Vault’ albums on CD, vinyl and surprisingly cassette!!....: but still a mixture of MONO and STEREO versions that fail to make this set a consistent listening exercise. These sets should have had versions of both but then again this demonstrates that Rhino want to charge for 12 song  CD's ( a classic rip-off yet again) but more significantly it demonstrates that some  STEREO masters don’t exist in their archive. But, a first Four Seasons vinyl release since the 1990s - it really is a case of Back to the Future! What next? The return of Eight Track?

Ken Charmer

(Eight track label scans courtesy of Paul Urbahm)

Samples below

Gold Vault of Hits

2nd Gold Vault Of Hits

Gold Vault Re-visited

The history of mastering from analogue tape of the 4 seasons catalogue is worth checking out. Yes ….. SOME of the vinyl is quite superb and SOME of the CD releases quite poor. So the news that Rhino is going to re-issue the original hit albums ‘Gold Vault Of Hits’ and ‘2^nd Gold Vault Of Hits’ in January can either be a big deal or nothing to shout about. Some of the Philips original releases of albums in the last half of the 60s displayed the quality of mastering and pressing of stereo vinyl albums that buyers wanted back then. The best of these releases was the 'Edizione D'Oro’ 1968 double album and it sold in the bucket-loads: packed with alternative STEREO ‘takes’ it was superbly mastered and pressed in a ‘high quality’ package. However the master tapes appear to be ‘lost’ as it has never re-appeared on either vinyl or CD.This was an important set of tracks for Four Seasons fans when issued in the 60s as Paul Urbahns told us…..”The two Gold Vault of Hits albums are critical to 4 Seasons fans because they include the original Philips masters in true mono and stereo (as available), as well as stereo album versions of 9 of their Vee Jay hits (on 2nd Gold Vault). The original Philips Reel to Reel release, manufactured primarily for audiophiles, from the pre EQ'd tapes sounded fantastic for the time. These two Philips albums remained basic catalog product and remained available until the mid 70s.

 

The original Gold Vault vinyl albums, are regular sellers on eBay and unused copies of the 1997 issues are selling for as much as $30 each indicating that there is a market.”

 

But for this ‘vinyl’ and CD release it is suggested Rhino will use so called ‘flat’ recordings from the original vinyl EQ’d ‘master tapes’. Well as these where customized for vinyl they should have a good dynamic range reading. (vinyl mastering needs specific eq levels to keep the record ‘in the groove’….literally). The main reason I think many audio enthusiasts still think the ‘vinyl rules’ is that very few very good transfers to CD of the Four Seasons back catalogue exist. And many of these do not match the 45s of the day……some don’t even match the stereo LP versions.

The recent dynamic range(DR) meter (a component for Foobar 2000 music player) by the Pleasurize Music Foundation allows instant checking of CD’s and individual digital tracks and this should produce reading of 12 or 13 for good DR readings on the best mastered CD’s. The Curb series of the Four Seasons back-catalogue shows not so good readings with some tracks at 8 or 9.(whilst some are excellent) These are a bit ‘loud’ compared to vinyl, and can give a distorted and more tiring listening experience. The ACE series from 1996 shows the ‘Rag Doll’ songs at virtually the same reading as the Curb release.

The last time these ‘Gold Vault’ albums appeared on CD was in 1997 on Curb (with the 2^nd Gold Vault also appearing in Japan in 1999). These like the other Curb and ACE releases all seem to come from an analogue/digital transfer done sometime after the 1988 25^th Anniversary Box Set and these individual albums/twofer CD’s started appearing between 1994 and 1997 ( See UK Appreciation Society web site CD discography). But if these CD’s leave a lot to be desired, in terms of dynamic range then it must be down to the mastering engineer. I checked out the Dutch Disky CD DCD 5411 ‘Rag Doll and 15 Others’ from 1995 and this has DR readings generally between 10 and 12 which means they have better dynamic range.

This ‘Gold Vault’ re-issue is probably a very cheap project for Rhino but it WILL provide an alternative to previous CD releases of the hits from the 60s. With minimal work for the sound engineer, and, if the master tapes for the original albums have been used, the re-mastering work will be minimal and the sound should be superb.

It is our assessment that a serious re-mastering job is needed on the whole Valli/Seasons catalogue but it appears unlikely as Rhino(along with others) appear to be cutting back on CD production….according to some press sources…. due to poor CD/DVD sales during the last 6 months.

But this IS a step in the right direction and a clear focus on sound quality, so we expect to be recommending this release to all fans come January. What remains to be seen is how the versions compare with previous CD masters and the ‘original’ vinyl?. We still don’t have the ‘Edizione D’Oro’ versions on commercial CD (but thankfully in our ‘masters archive’) but we will hopefully be able to report back re this collection ‘from original vinyl album master tapes’ next year and how it compares. Maybe a further search in the vaults next year will reveal more goodies?

Frankie Valli - The 'Solo' Masters

This is the first in a series of articles in ‘The Legacy Series’ which will focus on the back catalogue of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. It will examine key aspects of the ‘legacy’ we have from the first 2 decades of their success including key people and elements in their achievements.

(George Schowerer's photo of Frankie Valli in the Mirasound studio in early 1967)

In an interview recently with Andrew Threlfall (Daily Mail – Weekender) Frankie Valli describes how meeting his idol Frank Sinatra in 1961 changed his life. “Becoming friends with him was a very, very special memory that changed my whole outlook” he recalls. And although he went on to create hits as a falsetto voiced lead singer with the Four Seasons, he always wanted to be a solo artist with the reputation of his biggest musical hero.

He tried to forge a ‘solo’ identity despite his stardom as a novelty falsetto voice branded as ‘The Sound Of Frankie Valli’. How much he regretted that brand label, was perhaps revealed in the documentary on UK TV this summer – IMAGINE – ‘Just One Falsetto’ where he admitted he didn’t really want to be known for his falsetto but rather as a singer in his normal voice.

But for over a decade from 1965 to 1976 he created a body of work as a ‘solo’ performer, including many ‘hit’ records, that artists with far more of a public image would envy. Originality of performance and delivery (and some quality songs) was at the core of these performances and their appearance as a collection on CD has been largely overlooked on music re-issue projects for many years. The appearance in 1975 of Frankie Valli Gold (PVLP 1006) was the first compilation assembly of this period of ‘golden’ performances. That is not to diminish his later performances on Private Stock and WEA….which are generally very good…..but this period was an extended attempt at forging a ‘solo’ career and required a good deal of self-belief and hard work. For me therefore it is his ‘golden’ decade. His individual 1960s and 70s albums appeared on the Collectors Choice CD series in 2008 but the last collection focused solely on classic performances on A and B side 45s has not been done… since 1996 and the Curb CD Curb D2-77714. However that set only contained 10 tracks. You have to go back to 1994 and a Dutch CD on the DISKY label to find a well mastered set covering this period but even then to a limited extent.

We hoped to ask Frankie on his summer visit to the UK if he would back a commercial project to issue such a collection covering 1965 to 1976 in good sound quality but unfortunately we never got the chance to discuss this with him and although ACE Records or RHINO Products might consider such a project, they would probably simply assemble a set of masters from old CD’s and push them through a set of sound compressors to generate a ‘modern’ sounding , overly loud collection like the ‘Working My Way Back To You’ CD set from spring this year. These beautifully crafted songs deserve the best mastering from analogue tapes and a preservation of their dynamic range. That might prove to be a prohibitively expensive task for the record company and Frankie Valli hardly has the time to organize such a project with his busy touring schedule. But when a Spanish sound engineer offered to review the tracks with me I thought why wait and hope, it is very easy to do what record companies can do and with modern technology assemble the best masters from existing CDs  if you have collected as much for as long as I have. And as I scan the CD discography testing the existing digital masters I can do this in comparison with some mint vinyl versions.

 Frankie Valli’s ‘solo’ career really started (ignoring his pre-Four Seasons efforts) in June 1965.

Almost apologetically the session (at either Olmstead or Atlantic Studios) was Valli without the Four Seasons at a time when Nick Massi was about to leave the group. Not recording at Stea-Philips may have been because of Philips lack of interest in a ‘solo’ venture as the results would appear on the Smash label rather than the Four Seasons Philips label but getting better sound quality was we understand a driver for this first tentative venture. And it took Bob Crewe 3 months to persuade anyone to release the first solo performances of the group’s lead singer without any falsetto. ’The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine b/w This is Good-bye’ SMASH S-1995 made little impact (Billboard #128)….but the song was a sure-fire hit….but by the Walker Bros, using the same classic arrangement from Charles Calello and Bob Gaudio it became a million seller in March 1966.

Before this would happen though Valli was back in the studio recording more ‘solo’ efforts just as the group were finishing their best Philips album to date ‘Working My Way Back To You’ in November 1965.

‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself b/w Night Hawk (Instrumental – by The Valli Boys)’ would appear by the end of the year this time with the Four Seasons on backing vocals on another Charles Calleo arranged (and co-written) song which would achieve modest success once again on SMASH ( S-2015) reaching  #39 (#38 in Record World)

Philips finally decided to support Valli’s solo excursions and through 1966 and into 1967 issued a number of singles until they struck big with ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ reaching #2 (#1 in Cash Box for 2 weeks in a 3 wk period). At last Valli had recognition as the ‘solo’ artist he yearned to be. According to Charlie Calello, Frankie had a clear idea of the type of song he wanted. A Stan Kenton style song and arrangement and that is what he got from Gaudio, Crewe and Artie Schroeck.

The following years saw a divergent set of songs, styles and arrangements but throughout, Valli’s immense vocal talent and delivery shine through. Charles Callello in interview commented on the difference between a great singer and a great artist. The difference he believes is that the great artist makes the song his own with a definitive performance that cannot be replicated by other artists. He commented…..”one of the problems that Frankie has with even performing the songs today is that they were so dictated and manufactured that Frankie, although he had this wonderful sound, never became known as a great singer. Not with his peers who were making music at that point. Frankie was much more talented than the records. The records restricted him to a greater degree”. This collection however demonstrates that he could develop that unique identity for the song  with every track, except for the first one where the Walker Bros ‘wall of sound’ hit has left all others as lightweight.

This personal collection of Frankie Valli ‘SOLO’ GOLD for this period retrospectively focuses on the best ‘pop’ releases from these early days (with some rare ‘B’ sides) through to his hugely popular UK chart hit in 1976 ‘Fallen Angel’ (#11 in the UK) . Subjective ?  Yes! ……. but do they show his true vocal talent and his producers great skills.? Undoubtedly!…… And the performances are a captured production which sound like a ‘live’ performance as producers in the 60s tried to get the studio ‘presence’ into the final sound. This collection is I believe long overdue whether a record company chooses to do it or not. But one CD will only accommodate so much and there would be many who would argue for a second CD covering the next 5 years of his 1970s career. My argument would be that his voice was at its best over this period and the quality of songs give this set a diverse but always entertaining mood.

Finding the best masters and compiling a balanced sound from such a variety of mastering sources has not been easy but has proved to be a surprisingly fun search With the help of our sound engineering advisor we targeted the full dynamic range that would have been achieved with a vinyl project based on the ‘Pleasurize Music Foundation’ recommendations. I’ll develop a more ‘in depth’ description of these tracks as ‘gold’ performances and their best mastered sources in a future blog. But for now consider the listing. The final mixes will be something to enjoy. If a record company is prepared to commercially achieve a better result, we will let you know…….. otherwise…. watch this space.

 

Casey Chameleon.

 

Frankie Valli ‘Solo’ GOLD – The 2012 Re-Masters

 

1          1965    The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore) #128

2                      This Is Goodbye

3                     (You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself #39 (#38 in Record World)

4          1966    You’re Ready Now #112 (#93 in Cash Box) (#11 in Britain in 1970)

5                      Cry For Me

6                      The Proud One #68

7                      Ivy

8          1967   Can’t Take My Eyes Off You #2 (#1 in Cash Box for 2 weeks in a 3 wk period)

9                      The Trouble With Me

10                    I Make a Fool of Myself #18

11                    To Give (The Reason I Live) #29 (#17 in Cash Box)

12                    Watch Where You Walk

13        1969    A Face Without A Name

14                    The Girl I’ll Never Know (Angels Never Fly This Low) #52 (#23 in Record World)

15        1970    Dream Of Kings

16        1972    Love Isn’t Here (Like It Used To Be)

17        1973    Inside You

18                    Listen To Yesterday

19        1974    My Eyes Adored You #1 (1 week)

20        1975    Swearin’ to God #6

21                    Our Day Will Come #11

22        1976    Fallen Angel #36 (#11 in Britain)

 Casey Chameleon

Entering The End Of The CD Era

Perhaps the writing really is on the wall for the end of the CD as a commercial vehicle this week

“Billboard shook up its singles charts for country, Latin and hip-hop music on Thursday by including digital download sales and streaming data from services like Spotify, Rhapsody and others in its weekly rankings. "With digital downloads hitting record highs and streaming services such as Spotify, Muve, Slacker, Rhapsody, Rdio, MOG, Sony Music Unlimited and Xbox Music continuing to grow, the impact of digital music is growing more and more pronounced,"” Jim Donio, president of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), said in a statement

This is the latest milestone in the forecast death of the CD medium as increasingly, sales of music, move to digital downloads. Even high quality downloads are increasing.

But whilst some say it was scare-mongering and not official, Side-line Music Magazine was predicting it this time last year….

“The major labels plan to abandon the CD-format by the end of 2012 (or even earlier) and replace it with download/stream only releases via iTunes and related music services. The only CD-formats that will be left over will be the limited edition ones, which will of course not be available for every artist. The distribution model for these remaining CD releases would be primarily Amazon which is already the biggest CD retailer worldwide anyhow……

We have tried getting some feedback from EMI, Universal and Sony. All declined to comment.

The news doesn't come as a surprise to those who have been working in the business. In a piece that was published in a q&a with the Alfa Matrix people back in June 2011 in the 1st issue of "Matrix Revelations", our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker said the following when asked if a CD would still exist in 5 years: "Yes, but in a different format. Normal CDs will no longer be available because they don't offer enough value, limited editions on the other hand will remain available and in demand for quite a few more years. I for one buy only limited editions because of the added value they offer: a nice design, extra bonus gadgets, etc. The album as we know it now however will be dead within 5 years, if it isn't even sooner. I predict that downloads will have replaced the CD album within the next 2 years. I don't see that as something negative, it just has run its course, let's leave the space to limited editions (including vinyl runs for bigger acts) and downloads instead."

But Gramaphone argues…..”far from the CD being a dodo within the year, it’ll still account for the majority of the market four years from now. And it’s not hard to see why: the majority of music available online, legally or otherwise, is at relatively low resolution: 320kbps MP3 is the exception rather than the rule, with most content at 192kbps or less.  Yes, there are some labels offering content at CD quality in FLAC, or even higher resolution in some cases, but heavens does it take a long time to download unless you are one of the very few lucky enough to have superfast broadband running into your home.”

Evidence of the move to Flac is increasing and of it becoming the main digital music archiving medium.

What is apparent for Four Seasons fans today is that it is past CD releases that are the baseline for collecting. A case of what you have you need to treasure.

We know  the policy of limited time licensing masters for ‘collection’ release has been the approach  of  the Four Seasons Partnership since the 1960s. Well now we have the product several times over on different media it is clear that us collectors are the new owners of the ‘masters’ and are simply taking control in response to the  re-selling of old product which has been the way of the music business for decades . As recent history shows, licensing and issuing  recordings is increasingly producing questionable product on CD ,(hence the increase in the appearance of 180 g vinyl re-issues for major artists) Recent releases like the ‘Working My Way Back To You’ CD set showed that Rhino, who control licensing of masters are simply re-cycling past masters from previous CD compilations and the result can either be a questionable product or a completely new mix not as the original in any way and really a NEW version of the track. As we found from this CD release, that can be an enjoyable listen but does it really satisfy the purists who want to collect the original vinyl version  (as the producer intended) on an easily accessible CD that can be ‘ripped’ to PC.? And the 2007 release of the Jersey Beat Box set produced such a questionable sound quality that anyone spending time listening to this set has either questionable ears or lost their point of reference.

You have to go back to pre-2000 CD releases for any real quality.

OK How can we make such a statement and where is the evidence.?

Well firstly we have the most complete list of CD releases for Frankie and the group at our web site CD discography ….and in the past few years based on research for our Sound Evaluation Guide we have been establishing the dynamic range(DR) and performance of past CD’s progressively in our listing.

We have with regard to the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli releases established that…..

• CD’s mastered above DR10 give the best sounding results on traditional sound equipment(or as a streaming digital’rip’)
• DR14 give the most vinyl like sound from CD
• Since 1988 DR levels on successive CD productions generally improved until 1996/98
• Since 2000 CD production has been generating ‘louder’ and poorer quality collections than before
• The ‘content’ and ‘stereo image’ are also important in defining  a quality master
• Digital versions are not commercially available for all of the vinyl releases

And now anyone can test this with a modern PC player that does the tests in seconds so you can compare results with what you hear. The PC based music player Foobar 2000 now comes with the Dynamic Range Meter built-in (as a loadable component). This allows any PC track or any CD added to the player to be quickly tested to show it’s dynamic range properties.

This is the DR Meter that we have been promoting on our Sound Tests web page. As well as playing the track Foobar 2000 will assesses its dynamic range and peak levels further confirming our findings.

What our latest findings show is that there are a limited number of sources  for quality masters of our favourite music. You can do these tests yourself by installing the player and its component the DR Meter.

Recent tests using this software have been showing that the 25^th Anniversary 3CD box set from 1988 remains one of the best sets available with consistently good DR reading for many tracks. As Bill Inglot worked hard to find the best master tapes for analogue/digital transfer at the time this represents a key reference set for collectors. The ACE CD twofers from 1995 to 1997 also score consistently well and better than the recent Collectors Choice twofers.

But this leaves some fans with a quandary…..

Whilst Beach Boy fans have had the albums and hits collections fully re-mastered to high standards by industry renowned mastering engineers(since 2000), Four Seasons fans face no prospect of getting such great sounding versions ….unless they are fortunate to have the earlier mentioned sets in their collection.

With audio extraction from CD now commonplace and the requirement from everyone to have their music…’on the go’ there is no demand to carry CD’s in the car or outside the home. Virtually every listener wants a digital copy on PC and/or I-pod ,pad or phone. CD’s are our back up to what is on the computer.

Record companies will find it increasingly difficult to sell the CD as a physical product as Billboard is recognizing. As download speeds increase……Digital product rules……the only question is how good is the digital product?

Well at least computer based players are maturing and Foobar not only plays all formats including the high density 24bit 96 khz files but it also has a Dolby 5.1 headphone wrapper. Download speeds are improving  and streamer technology is moving forward in leaps and bounds . Audiogate software offers an easy way to convert files between formats and Exact Audio Copy allows extraction of quality files from CD.  

It is going to be difficult for the owners of the masters to keep hiking the value of the music after withdrawing it from the market for 10 years at a time, as awareness of their strategy is countered by collectors as outlined above. Fans will use the strategies necessary to extract the maximum value out of what they have bought in the past. Our future articles will be to help them by a focus on the best CD releases and individual collectible ‘masters’(album and track). E-bay will be the best source if you don’t have the best mastered CDs….our a best Four Season friend.

Of course like vinyl,  CD will never die out. It will remain in second hand or vinyl  stores and as collectors ‘limited’ editions at on-line stores. The big questions are whether anyone will re-invest in mastering old analogue tapes into digital format and …..is there a future for professional mastering engineers?. Can there be an economic model that will mean anyone will go back and do what Bill Inglot did back in 1987 with the analogue masters?… we can’t see the financial viability particularly when the ‘live’ music of Jersey Boys is making so much money. So we know what you are going to ask as ‘hard-core’  Four Seasons fans…… will that special edition CD of the unreleased Motown tracks ever appear? Not any time soon we would conclude.

(contact us at chameleon@seasonally.co.uk for more detail re installing the listening tools mentioned above)

Casey Chameleon

Check out our updated website with picture based menu links to all our web pages and blog links at www.seasonally.co.uk

How To Make The Best Of Your Back Catalogue?

So The Beatles catalogue has finally had a real 2012 re-engineering job on it at a time when the Four Seasons ‘Jersey Beat’ re-mastered set which came out in 2007 is being dumped on the UK market at an incredible 13 pounds($21).

The big difference is that the Beatles catalogue has been lovingly restored to 180 gram vinyl and the Seasons 2007 re-master contains many poorly re-mastered tracks.

The Beatles EMI Press release tells us…”At the start of the restoration process, engineers conducted  extensive tests before copying the analog master tapes into the digital realm using 24-bit/192 kHz resolution and a Prism A-D  converter. Dust build-ups were removed from tape machine heads after the completion of each title. Artifacts such as electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance, and poor edits  were improved upon as long as it was determined that doing so didn't at all damage the integrity of the songs. Similarly, de-noising technology was applied in only a few necessary spots and on a sum total of less than five of the entire 525 minutes of *Beatles *music. *Compression was also used sparingly and only on the stereo versions to preserve the sanctity of the dynamics.*” Not all of these are from multi-track masters either as they used George Martin’s mixes from 1986 in some cases.

We know the 60s multi-track masters are lost and as Paul Urbahms commented in the valliseasons e-group….” The Four Seasons Partnership has the problem that they don't really have anything to go back to except album masters (maybe a few singles masters). These were processed years ago by Bill Inglot for the 25^th Ann collection and I am assuming (based on what I have heard) most companies just master off previously released CDs including probably the ACE album masters.”

George Schowerer and Bob Crewe at the mixing desk in 1967

We also know this was the situation on the recent Working My Way Back To You CD set (WMWBTY)on UK Rhino because the engineer told us and he spent hours correcting defects in those so called ‘Masters’.

As going back to tape and re-mastering at 24 bit 96 khz is the only way to really get the best out of analogue master tapes the BIG question for The Partnership is “is there going to be a commercial benefit?”. Even with no multi-tracks and Stereo masters, or mixed to Mono masters it is possible to do a lot with 24/96 transfers. Even with 16bit 44khz(standard CD format) the WMWBTY sound engineer showed that improvements are possible. The much denser sound files of 24/96 transfers from analogue tape will give a clarity and dynamic range not achieved since vinyl……and our amplifiers(and headphones)  are so much better now.

Unlike the Beatles the 4 Seasons “are not a social movement’ and Seasons collectors do not match the thousands they(EMI) know will want the Beatles re-masters. And how many Seasons fans would want the vinyl re-issues?. Many of us still have our carefully collected 60s and 70s vinyl albums in near mint condition. And the size of the 4 Seasons market even allowing for the success of JB it appears doesn’t warrant the work.

But historically importance is the sole reason why The Four Seasons Partnership should invest in this work. It will have to be done one day. Bill Inglot was the previous engineer with exacting standards but there are top engineers around today…like Mark Linett of Beach Boys fame. And then the Partnership would have a long-term asset in ‘fit-for-purpose’ condition to lease to record companies into the future. With short-term license prevailing record companies are not going to fund the re-mastering costs and can only make a profit on a short-term ‘individual’ project basis so re-using old CD masters is their best way. Inevitably the Partnership will have to make the investment.

And bearing in mind the lack of certain Mono and Stereo master copies it is surprising that the Partnership have not done what Paul suggests….” Back in "the day" when the 4 Seasons were popular Vee Jay and Philips would have sent tapes of their releases to English speaking foreign countries, these would have only been one step away from the original album and single masters. In the beginning of the digital age, RCA realized thatthe masters that they had been using for Elvis reissues were pretty bad, so they sent out a call to all their licensees in the world and told them to return all Elvis "tapes" to the US. As the tapes arrived they were cataloged and they went through them to check and see if they were actual masters, dubs from masters, album or singles masters, or just production masters. Production masters are the lowest grade tapes. Once they figured out what they had, they started assembling a new set of masters to transfer to digital and those are what they have been using the last few years. The quality of Elvis reissues has raised significantly since then, and RCA assured collectors that the best quality masters are being preserved and will not be thrown into a dumpster someplace in the world.”

Whilst we continue to search out different versions and the best CD based versions for our collections, members of 4 Seasons collectors groups are set to preserve vinyl masters in preference to the CD Mono Masters. We have so far heard great salvaged versions of the Vee-Jay catalogue and we hope the Philips sets will follow.

Casey Chameleon

Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons Sessionography Part 4

The start of the Four Seasons career at Philips was a major step up from their ‘novelty’ falsetto sound as a Vee-Jay doo-wop group to become a ‘major league’ pop group. They would battle it out with the Beatles to become the top selling male pop group of the mid-sixties and become a respected and loved live performing group at a time the Beatles abandoned touring for the studio.

Examining and questioning the details of Valli and The Seasons recordings at Philips by reviewing our Part 4 sessionography raises as many questions as it reveals in terms of the timeline and their approach to hit making via 45s and albums. This blog note only scratches the surface of who did what and how things happened, but what it does do is gather the timeline and the sequence of recording (in fact challenging some of the dates) and maybe will make the listening to their recordings a little more understandable and enjoyable.

November 1963, as they pursued their law suit against the soon to be defunct Vee-Jay label, saw their first milestone recording which would launch their new sound and hits....but not at Philips studios as they prepared to sign contracts, but at Atlantic Studios. Charlie Calello had his biggest part to date in arranging the song...”We recorded "Dawn (Go Away)" at Atlantic studios. That was our first opportunity to work on 8 track. It was an extreme luxury to have the bass and drums on their own track. It was amazing. “

It was the first time the group had also (fully) used studio musicians to do all the instrumentation.

Strangely the original full mix never survived in STEREO. Well that is what all vinyl and CD issues since reveal. The only STEREO mix that appears to exist, does not have the slow intro...”Pretty as a mid-summer morn....they call her 'Dawn'” and the 'straight in' version in glorious STEREO only ever appeared on the 'Edizione D'Oro' hits collection in 1968 and has never appeared since. It may not exist on Master tape but is at least preserved in our Vinyl Masters library.

Amazingly, the day before this session which Charlie Calello recalls involved 5 songs (?), the group had recorded with Larry Santos as Larry and the Legends on 'Don't Pick On My Baby'(along with -it is rumoured - several other presumed lost recordings).

The master numbers show only 'Dawn' and 'No Surfin' Today' as The Four Seasons at Atlantic for this session with several tracks following in January 1965 at Stea-PHILIPS which would make up the 'Born To Wander' folk styled album once they had signed for the label.

With 'Dawn' a major hit , February sessions in 1964 targeted the next hit and an album. Although the 'Dawn (Go Away) and 11 Other Great Songs' vinyl album shows Bob Crewe as producer, arranger and conductor, this was not possible as Bob had no formal music training...the musical production of Bob Gaudio featured highly and the arranging and conducting was by Charlie Calello.

Whilst all of these recordings may survive in both MONO (we hope) and STEREO (see ACE 2fer CD issues) only 'Ronnie' failed to ever appear in STEREO and no master appears to exist in this format ( a pseudo STEREO version appears on 'Edizione D'Oro'). Surprisingly, it seems likely no STEREO master was ever cut.

April saw the group arranging the classics 'Rag Doll/Silence is Golden' and the subsequent Number 1 in June 1964 called for another set of tracks for the songs inevitable album. Recruiting Denny Randell as arranger/conductor and Sandy Linzer as writer reduced the workload on Bob Gaudio for the June and July sessions and with another Top Ten hit (Nr 10) in 'Save It For Me' the group had hit their 'Golden Era'. MONO and STEREO versions tended to be similar/or the same mixes but Bob Crewe had a habit of taking the MONO masters to Bell Studios after completion and overdubbing or adding echo to get the radio sound he needed. This would apply for the recordings in the latter half of the 60s so checking the versions on CD and vinyl is well worth the research.

September's session to record 'Big Man In Town/Little Angel' must have been a big test as to their ability to match 'Rag Doll's success but it's Nr 20 peak must have been a big disapointment given the quality of the production .

In an attempt to get a top ten hit sound again the group changed studios for their November 1964 session of 'Bye Bye Baby(Baby Goodbye)'. Charles Calello recalls...”The reason we changed studios was that for some reason the records started to have distortion in them and we went from there to a place called Olmstead.” Between Olmstead, Stea-PHILIPS and (we believe) Atlantic Studios  they recorded their 1965 sessions before Charlie left as arranger after a brief spell as a Four Season.

Efforts in the studio were constant through 1965 as they really pushed the hits 'machine' churning out 'manufactured pop' as Charlie describes it – very much like the Motown label.

The Nr 12 hit of Bye Bye Baby....was followed by the disappointing 'Toy Soldier' in February 1965 (reaching Nr 64) after January LP tracks sessions and another surprisingly small hit with the complex arrangement of 'Girl Come Running' in April 1965(Nr 30).

Valli himself embarked on a side project to test the possibility of  a solo artist career in June 65 with 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore' (possibly at Atlantic’s 8 track studio) as Nick Massi decided to leave the group. Was his departure a reaction or was Valli’s new direction a contributor? Going solo would continue on the agenda throughout and beyond 1965.

Before he did leave, according to Charlie Callello, Nickie contributed to the ill-fated Dylan /Bacharach/David sessions back at Stea-PHILIPS. With the situation critical the group had to find a replacement member quickly for their road act and Charlie Calello stepped in for 4 months as he played bass and had sung on most of the hits which he had arranged and conducted too. 

It was a critical time and the sessionography shows the timeline of the tracks during this period of change. All of the remaining team of writers and arrangers with producer Bob Crewe were needed and the close of the year would see them achieve once again major hits with 'Let's Hang On' (recorded in August 65 – a Nr 3 Hit) and 'Working My Way Back To You' (November 1965 – a Nr 9 hit)

1966 was a difficult time for the group and they almost lost their way..

We will re-visit and expand on this period and what happened next in Chapter 1 of 'The Rise and Fall of the New Four Seasons' soon.

We are still researching 1967 to 1970 and with sound engineer George Schowerer hoping to establish which of the sessions were recorded on the new 16 track machines at Mirasound Studios.  Charlie Calello left and returned but just ‘when’ we have now been able to establish. Charlie Calello had left in December 1965 but 3 tracks arranged by him would appear in early 1967 (as ‘B’ sides) posing the probability that these were left over from 1965 sessions. (He can hear himself singing on ‘Dody’ – released Feb 1967). Charlie eventually returned for ‘I Make A Fool Of Myself’ in June 1967. He worked on many sessions during 1967 through to 1970 after his exclusive producer role at Columbia in 1966. He even played piano on ‘Genuine imitation Life Gazette’ LP.

This sessionography also contains reference to the ‘unique’ STEREO mixes Bob Crewe prepared and issued in 1968 on the ‘Edizione D’Oro’ 2 LP compilation of hits. By then the studios had the latest technology and STEREO sound was reaching a previously unheard standard with 16 track recording on the latest sessions. His review of the surviving masters brought several alternative versions in a superb STEREO sound stage, but surprisingly NONE of these vinyl masters appear to have survived or appeared again on CD. At least we have these digitally preserved. There is lot’s more research to come including our review and preservation of all the 45 MONO mixes in our archive in 24 bit 96Khz sound (ie better than CD quality) and then maybe the STEREO versions of the recordings in the sessionography. It is a fact that much of the 4 track recordings mixed to STEREO during 1965 at the STEA-Philips studio are poorer quality (‘ping-pong’) STEREO which can’t be easily corrected with no multi-track masters surviving…..but with advances in STEREO processing by computer a better re-mixed sound stage may eventually be possible.

Once the recording moved to Mirasound in 1966 the sound quality improved immensely as we will consider in our forthcoming ‘Mirasound Studios’ story. Why Gaudio and Valli haven’t researched and fully archived all of their MONO and STEREO versions remains a mystery.? This sessionography shows the asset base they have (or may have?). But with little money to be made from it on CD as their music and audience ages, we will have to take the lead in preserving the best recorded quality available from mint vinyl.

But for now enjoy studying Part 4 of our Sessionography here (version 5) or check out the other Parts.(here)

 

CD Discography Up-date and a 'Surprise' find!

It sometimes gets to be a bore when a record company re-issues a collection of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons work without any apparent recognition of what the fan base might want……but sometimes the most un-inspiring collection of ‘mis-matched’ tracks can reveal something new.

 

This is the case with the mastering on Working My Way Back To You (2011) - Audio CD by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons Rhino BGJXT8

This CD which appeared in the UK in February 2011 had largely been ignored by us as it didn’t appear to contain anything new. As part of our CD Discography update our music detective and sound engineer Eliot Ness decided to take a closer listen. And he was surprised at the sound content.

Up to recent times we have all hung onto the fact that the original vinyl and the early CD re-issues was what captured the ‘original’ sound of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. After all Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio and the group set out the ‘sound’ in their original mixes and changing that surely amounts to ‘heresy’ and a distortion of the ‘truth’??. Well that may be some peoples opinion and is valid to some extent….but when a sound engineer is aware of today’s technology and production techniques and takes the time to bring the best out of the productions in a re-issue, then it makes the result an interesting listen.

 

That is what our ‘Sound Guy’ Eliot found and he was so impressed he did a comparison with the compilation re-issues since 2000 that represent the ‘modern sound’ of our fave artist(s). If you have this collection we feel sure you’ll find the detailed review by Eliot Ness (click here) a great compliment to your listening again to this CD.

The CD’s Mastering Engineer Nick Watson of www.fluidmastering.com is happy that we found this collection had some benefit for fans…..”I have to say it comes as a pleasant surprise to find that there are people out there appreciating the sound quality on a release like this, which must be just the latest in a long line of re-issues of the same material on CD.”

 

“I'm very pleased to know that you enjoyed the CD and think it compares well against others. However, it is not an album that I would necessarily make reference to in our promotion or website. I had sources of unknown origin that had previously been mastered (maybe several times), that were digital and didn't sound very good, and I had little time. Of course I wanted to get the best out of the material that I could, but I don't think the end result comes close to how good it would have sounded if I had had the opportunity to re-master this stuff from analog tapes! Then, we would have been talking about a dramatically better-sounding CD”

Of course we find in today’s CD market with the price of CD’s so low and the profit margins so meager compared to a decade or two ago that a job like this comes in with a tight budget, and we can be pretty sure that if  Nick hadn’t been commissioned to do the job, then it would have been done by another rival studio that would have maybe simply normalized the levels but not done much else - whereas it is clear from Eliot’s analysis that time was spent eq-ing where necessary and fixing faults wherever they were significant (in most cases)

It is very likely that the sources where simply 16/44 mastered files sent by Rhino UK, and there is no way of knowing where each file originated from, except to say that they would have been from CDs in their catalogue. It is a very annoying development in today's record business, that record companies now have their catalogues archived as digital files which can be ordered up from a database (which of course saves the cost of proper archiving). This means that from the point of view of a mastering engineer, his options, and the information he has to go on when choosing the best sources, are severely limited.

It is clear from Eliot’s review that , in the case of the Four Seasons files used here, that much of what Nick had to do was about *Un-doing* some extreme and unmusical EQ and even compression that was evident in the source files. Many were (- to our ears in recent CD compilations -) too heavily EQd and heavily compressed. Correcting this to make them sound more 'natural' is what Eliot found in his review. Some have had some quite radical treatment which whilst overall gives a good set doesn’t work in every case. Perhaps this is due to the source material being beyond ‘repair’.

With regard to ‘flaws’ in tracks, Nick could recall only a little of this CD as many projects have come by him since….”All I can say is that if a flaw can be removed without compromising the recording, and it seems worth the effort, and isn't part of the original recording but is a result of later damage, then I'll probably remove it. Sometimes I'm surprised on mastered material that flaws haven't been taken out - but I guess mastering engineers who don't have restoration experience don't look for those things or don't have the tools to deal with them.”

We suspect that like many ‘corporate’ record company re-issues, the client wanted to send some files and receive back ASAP a double CD compilation, with minimum fuss. So from their point of view, that's what they got. However we as fans see it as a situation where the mastering engineer is working with some important and classic material under non-ideal circumstances!

We have to count ourselves fortunate that this mastering engineering recognized the importance of these tracks historically and responded with a very listenable collection. Obviously the visit by Frankie and TV promotion took sales into the top 20 CD’s at the time(11^th place on the chart in May 2011) and the popularity of ‘Jersey Boys’ clearly helped.

The ‘modern sound’ of this CD may not include mixes that appeal to all long-standing fans but perhaps the sound is compatible with the stage show production approach.( i.e. maybe ‘louder’ and more ‘up-front’) The fact is that it continues to keep the group sound and profile available to today’s audience. To check out the whole back catalogue of CD issues visit our ‘mega’ CD discography at http://www.seasonally.co.uk/CDDiscog.htm

We’ve added more detailed reviews of the sound quality (click on the pictures with a colour code - ‘Green’ represents the best sounding) and check back in your collection to find the good, the bad and the plain ‘ugly’

This collection hits the ‘Green’ button!!

Some would say that this collection is still a ‘mismatch’ of tracks and we need a serious set of re-issue projects. So in case anyone in ‘high places’ wants to know what the fans want - here it is

• A collection of original 1960s 45  masters all re-mastered properly
• Sets of ALL of the STEREO masters for the 1960s albums to replace the ACE /Curb collections/Collectors Choice collections with flaws and missing tracks corrected
• The researching, re-mastering and issue of the large number of unreleased tracks at Philips, Motown and Warner Bros.

Now is that too much to ask????

Casey Chameleon

Updated Sound Logs

• RHINO(UK)BGJXT8
• Comparison Chart(xls file)
• RHINOR2-70974
• RHINOR2-71490
• CURBD2-77713
• ACECDCHD620

 

Frankie Valli - Unreleased

When you follow a 77 year old vocalist nearing the end of his career you don’t expect new singles and ambitious projects. But Four Season Frankie Valli has just stunned his fans by allowing the issue of a terrific song from a project in 2007 recorded at his home studio.

On ‘All Or Nothing At All’, Artie Shroek has done an arrangement of an accapela styled vocal backing with Valli singing lead and it has just appeared on You Tube.

Not available anywhere else this version of Frank Sinatra’s break through record from 1943 (actually recorded in 1939) is surprisingly good for three reasons. Firstly the arrangement of a Hi-Los type harmony background allows Valli to singer against a vocal background group sound once again. He has always sounded best in this vocal setting. Artie and his son have done a superb backing vocal.

Secondly Frankie’s vocal styling is excellent given the vocal range he now has at 77. It is reminiscent of his Solo/Timeless album work back in the late 60s.

Finally it is such a great song and works perfectly in this arrangement.

This song has a long history. A Sinatra fan filled in this background….” The three (important) studio recordings of this song epitomize the three stages in Sinatra's singing persona: The Harry James cut (1939) is Sinatra the Crooner, singing for a predominantly female audience; the Don Costa cut (1962) is Sinatra, the Sadder-But-Wiser-Guy singing for a predominantly male audience; the Nelson Riddle cut (1966) is Sinatra the Swinger, singing for ALL audiences, everywhere, for all time.”

Valli’s version provides a strong alternative appreciation in an appealing style. The best we have heard from Frankie in a long time. Thanks Artie for sharing this.

Here is Sinatra’s original.

More please say the fans and we will monitor developments and reactions to this track.

This comes amidst the news from our Motown research that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons have 31 ‘listed’ unreleased Masters in the 60000 series (60516 to 62217 and a total of 56 listed from research to date)which are confirmed on records as on 16 track tape in the Universal Motown vaults. We are reasonably confident that the tapes still exist. There are 11 mix-down on 2 track stereo tapes containing unheard recordings of some of these and many that may need mixing. This news also gives a new slant on the groups departure from Motown.

In March 1974 Valli did a (final)session of 3 tracks with Bob Gaudio which it now seems was destined for a NEW album(according to records). Tapes P5084 and 85 contain a number of stereo mix-downs from the 16 track masters designated for the new album. Records indicate this may have been for the listed, but we know, unreleased album ‘Inside Out’ MW788.

Tracks mixed down include…

My Eyes Adored You

Whatever You Want

You Can’t Hold On

Love Isn’t Here

Hickory

Lovers

Hymn to Her

Sun Country

The Night

Touch the Raincild

Inside You

Now we know that Motown had been promising the group an album release for over 12 months (since Feb 1973) and with the end of their contract and their unwillingness to believe Motown and to sign up re this album, their departure left the album shelved on stereo master tapes. Songs like the unheard ‘Whatever You Want’ and ‘You Can’t Hold On’ were all slated to appear but a year later when the group was riding high from their success at Warner Curb, only a few made it onto the hastily released ‘Inside You’ album MW852 (assembled on Tapes 5536 and 5537)

We will keep pressing Valli/Gaudio and Universal re an historic release for this unheard and unreleased material and hope to speak with Frankie re this situation in June…….. but for now enjoy Frankie from 2007 and look out for our forthcoming story of how Bob Crewe saved Frankie Valli’s solo career in 1973 and 1974 when he joined Motown as a writer/producer.

Casey Chameleon

The Four Seasons MONO Archive - GONE Records

The Four Seasons Sound Archive started with us going back to 1961 and searching out their first 45 when as the then Four Lovers they got another chance to record with Crewe under yet another name. And once again they tried for a hit

As we reported in The Rise To Fame Of The Four Seasons……”Crewe leased one of their masters to George Goldner's Gone Records; by then, they were calling themselves The Four Seasons. Somehow with his music industry network of friends he was able to engineer a recording session in November 1961, for George Goldner's Gone label, and the 2 sides ‘Bermuda’ and ‘Spanish Lace’ were released on Gone #5122 by the end of the year. Our Billboard review picks these up in the 3rd February 1962 edition with an ad and a spotlight single review. The choice of material is a mystery as Linda Scott already had a pop version of ‘Bermuda’ ("The Bell Sisters" #7 pop hit in 1952) out and receiving heavy publicity in Billboard. The Seasons ‘doom laden’ performance gave no clue as to their potential whilst ‘Spanish Lace’(a song Bob Gaudio had already done in 1961 as an instrumental under the name Turner Di Sentri) was more of the material that they had served up in previous years…competent if uninspiring doo-wop.”

 

Rex Woodard says in Billboard in 1981…”Massi remembers how Crewe came to record the first Four Seasons record, ‘Bermuda’:” He did things right on the spot. One day we were fooling around in the studio and he hears us singing ‘Bermuda’. He comes in and say..” Let’s record it”..”Wow! I said. We’re not ready; we’re not even doing it right!.” He recorded it anyway and released it.”

"The first success I had with The Four Seasons . . . was a record called 'Bermuda',” Crewe recalled in later years. "It was a minor hit out of Philadelphia, but . . . nothing was really happening beyond Philly.” The single fails to chart and they begin playing at the Martell Sea Breeze Resort in Point Pleasant Beach in New Jersey as The Four Seasons or perhaps The Four Lovers.

Rex Woodard said…”Despite fascinating tales to the contrary, the “Four Seasons” identity came about pretty much at random for this particular record. When this flopped the name was indefinitely discarded.”

‘Bermuda’ proved to be a punchy ‘bass-laden’ stomp much different from the light and romantic version by Linda Scott which achieved more success in the charts at the time. 

A version of the Seasons attempt at the song has turned up on CD in STEREO on Spotlight on Gone Records – Collectables’ but it lacks the bass and punch of the 45 which is our selection for the archive. At 7 seconds in on the MONO 45 version there is a Spanish Guitar over dub that does not appear on the STEREO version. About that place on the STEREO version is a slight echo of the guitar in the background like it was on a separate track of the tape but not used. The STEREO version somehow losses the impact of the 45 but does show the detail in the instrumentation. A definite collectable.

The flip-side ‘Spanish Lace’ a Crewe composition was typical of their Four Lovers sound at that time.

It’s MONO CD appearance on the ‘The Gone Story’ on UK Westside(a now defunct label) is in an alternative version(Take1) lacking the strong instrumental background of the 45 but the STEREO version on ‘Spotlight on Gone Records – Collectables’ is much better and an essential collectors item.

The 45 would be re-released in October 1962 after the success of ‘Sherry’ and ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ but without chart success. Billboard of 20^th October 1962 included this review….which seems to regard ‘Spanish Lace’ as the A-side.

The songs would also appear again on vinyl in 1963. Paul Urbahns tells us the story…”Guest Star 1481, contains many tracks by The Barons but ‘Spanish Lace’ is there along with ‘Bermuda’. The only two Four Seasons songs on this 4 Seasons album.

Guest Star was a promotionally priced label manufactured by Synthetic Plastics of Newark NJ. The category of promotionally priced albums means they generally sold for $1 (one dollar) or less. The purpose was department, food and discount stores could advertise these albums....with well know stars names... so folks would come to the stores to look at the albums, and while there they would purchase something else, perhaps pillows, sheets or something.

Guest Star really used a bait and switch attitude when it came to

these albums, but based on their price (a dollar or less) they were actually good value. I say bait and switch because the cover would show a well known and popular artist, like Louis Armstrong or Al Hirt and only have two or three songs by that artist. The rest would be filler by some other artist or custom recordings by some unknown session singers. The Louis Armstrong album, had two songs by Louis Armstrong accompanied by Duke Ellington..the rest of the album was a studio singer credited as Jimmy Shore doing a bad Louis Armstrong impersonation. If you look at it as a two song album for $1 it’s pretty good value as single as that time cost about the same they had two songs and were mono.

Guest Star had issued an album called "Oh Julie" by the Crescendos in 1962 with 8 songs (Guest Star GS- 1453)  Normally these promotionally priced albums had 10 songs. But apparently that was all they could find.

Info on this group is here with cover and label shots of the GS album.

http://www.colorradio.com/crescendos.htm

A year later when the 4 Seasons were popular Guest wanted to put out an album. A fairly nice drawing of the group was prepared and they licensed the two Gone songs from Roulette (who owned the Gone catalog),

Two songs don't make an album so they took the 8 song Crescendos album and added the two Four Seasons and they had a new 4 Seasons album. Since the other 8 songs had been issued on another album, still being sold in the same bins as the Four Seasons album, they renamed the Crescendos "The Barons" but they are the same recordings.

Now in addition to the two 4 Seasons Gone songs in excellent quality, you also get the Crescendos hit "Oh Julie" all on one album for a dollar or less. Not very honest..but good value. This album sold recently on ebay for over $10

The MONO and STEREO versions are stored in separate archives but whilst we are building a MONO Archive from vinyl we will feature details of different versions including MONO and STEREO as we have above.

Next Time…The early Vee-Jay hits, A’s and B’s and different versions

 

 

The Search For The Masters

Casey’s back ……..and I am once again delving into the Four Seasons catalogue to find lost gems and back-stories.

When you have been collecting music on records and CD’s for nearly 50 years you would think that firstly, you own them and secondly, that over the years the sound of those original 60s records would have improved, given that the original tapes have been digitally re-mastered.

As I have commented before today, in 2011 ‘improvement’ is not the case when it comes to CD releases and, when it comes to the Four Seasons catalogue. Tests carried out on our CD discography published on our web site have shown the recent deteriorating quality of the digital masters since their first appearance on the new sound medium in 1988. The Pleasurize Music Foundation continues to battle to get CD quality back to the levels of the sound quality we got from our old vinyl.(apparently with some success as their web site shows).

So can an old collector like me get my Four Seasons collection sounding as ‘original’ as possible. If the appalling re-mastering of  Jersey Beat is anything to go by, expecting Rhino and The Four Seasons Partnership to issue the original masters in good sound quality is a waste of time. ‘Sherry’ on the Jersey Beat Box Set has an (RMS) loudness level twice that of the original 45. It just isn’t the same song!!

So can I re-master my own collection. Well yes,( I have the music and the technology to do it) as long as I don’t share it ………because the Partnership still owns it.! (well maybe I can if I use one of the new sharing web sites….see more below)….. It remains amazing that in 2011 it is still illegal to share music with friends that you purchased as a teenager. I have already covered this subject at Chameleon’s blog in “‘Are You Really Serious About Music?’ Part2” and now it seems the natural progression is for music and radio web sites to enable music sharing – LEGALLY!

 

With today’s technology and the ability to digitize original vinyl at 24 bit and a sampling rate of 96khz (compared to CD at 16bit/44khz) it is we believe possible to get close to the original tape masters provided we can find clean and unworn vinyl? So what is the best source for the original masters in the absence of a definitive collection from the Partnership’s vaults. Albums or 45’s, that is the choice?

Some argue that the Partnership don’t even have copies of the original masters in some cases. We covered this briefly in the ‘Four Seasons 'Best' Mixes’. As we develop this series of articles we will delve deeper into the back-catalogue and reveal what we believe now only remains on vinyl.

Paul Urbahms gave us a reason for pursuing the 45’s as we tested digital recordings from vinyl….’Two factors that can influence this are that the 45 groove is larger (and not the microgroove used for LP’s) and the stylus is allowed to swing further left and right during the disk mastering process. Also, a 45 rotates at a faster speed which can mean better quality sound reproduction. Coupled with this is the high performance of today’s cartridges and styli. The main drawback is the quality of the original vinyl. Singles cost about 8 cents a piece to manufacture in those days and that includes  printing labels, song royalities, and pressing the records so they were made very cheaply.”

Another factor is the pressing plants used, and the individual master tapes they were supplied. Differences in the length of a second or two are commonly found on the vinyl 45s produced by East Coast and West Coast plants, when hundreds of thousands of copies were demanded. Finding the best masters will not be easy.

We argued a case for the proper re-mastering of the Four Seasons catalogue on more than one occasion and top sound engineers recognize a MONO recording can be re-mastered and sound as good or even better than a STEREO which is poorly mastered.

Steve Hoffmans says…“It’s all in the mastering. Digital is a great medium. Any CD can sound good….. It takes a good mastering engineer! : Stereo is better but it’s not about stereo vs. mono, it’s about which classic song has the best mix. If the stereo mix “nails it” it’s the mix to listen to. If the mono mix “nails it”, it’s the mix to listen to.”

And the real effort to create the ‘sound’ and capture the listener by Bob Crewe, Charlie Calello and the group was on the 45. So for our first Masters Project, the search is on to find the best MONO masters and get them to a good listening level for 2012.(exactly 50 years since the release of ‘Sherry’)

Although the initial research showed that there are differences in mastering , the ‘Golden Hits of the Four Seasons’ (VJLP 1065) has become a reference LP to compare with the 45s as Paul Urbahms says….. “it is probably the closest anyone will get to the Vee Jay mono masters unless someone has access to the master tapes.“

Well the start of my project has to be the sessionography which tracks the timeline of the recordings and their appearance on vinyl. Then I can trace back to the albums and the 45s and check which contain a best original version? Not so easy.! Often the album versions are different to the 45 and the when it comes to the stereo versions some are extreme wide ‘ping-pong’ stereo most common in the early 60s. But STEREO is another subject we will get to in time.

Our web page for the Four Seasons sessions is now able to cover the Gone and Vee-Jay appearances of the Four Seasons (see Section 3 or this direct link) and the Masters they recorded whilst at the latter doomed label. The collapse of Vee-Jay after excesses and corruption and non-payment of royalties, resulted in the legal case to recover their masters and own their music. This is part of the group’s history and the Section 3 sessionography tracks the development of the group and their sound during this period.

 ‘Sherry’, of course wasn’t their first recording as the Four Seasons, when in November 1961 they adopted the name and recorded a song they felt sure would be a hit.(according to a quote by Nick Massi) They would however appear under another name ‘Billy Dixon and The Topics’ (Lost Lullaby/Trance : Topix 45 – 6008) in January 1962 ( before Bob Gaudio’s ‘Jersey Boys’ moment of genius happened and ‘Sherry’ was born).

Then whilst ‘Sherry’ was being ‘shopped around’ from label to label for release the (again named) Four Seasons went back into the studio to record the B-side ‘I’ve Cried Before’ (according to Tommy De Vito) in preparation for a release. Never released on (legitimate) CD this has side has only appeared as a Frankie Valli solo version on ACE CD 507. Is the original 45 MONO master lost?

And then there are the alternative takes of several tracks including the ones that appear as alternative STEREO versions on Bob Crewe’s first STEREO ONLY album ‘Edizione D’Oro’ in 1968, raising questions about what has happened to the original masters. ? And very few of these STEREO versions have appeared on CD. The ACE release of this album contained many mono versions.

A clear example of a lost Master is  ‘Goodnight My Love’ (from ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry and 12 others’ – VJLP-1056) which has never appeared in STEREO on CD or since it’s early and mid 60s appearances on vinyl at Vee-Jay and Philips.

We now believe the ‘Live On Stage’ album (VJLP 1154) released in 1965 may have been recorded in 1963. Billboard reported that “the group were taking a month off touring to perfect their routine” for the Copacabana summer performances and that show was based on the ‘lounge show’ songs and performances from their Four Lovers days. This was exactly what would appear in 1965. The collection was not released at the time as they re-focused on the teen audience after the success of ‘Candy Girl’ and ‘Marlena’ . These tracks by comparison had an un-Four Seasons sound and an artificial studio audience dubbed onto the songs but amazingly the album even appeared in great STEREO. The MONO version of ‘Little Boy In Grown Up Clothes’ that appears on Jersey Beat without background audience noise for the first time on CD unfortunately has loudness levels way above the original vinyl (Vee-Jay713).

Our research shows new listeners to the group are getting a raw deal on currently available CD compilations and so back to the 45s we will go. Our references will be the USA Singles Discography and the UK Singles Discography(to check out the high quality Stateside vinyl issues)

We’ll update the blog with our finds and any alternative versions and where you can find them. And maybe we will be able to legally share the results if the new ‘8tracks.com’ web site is anything to go by . It states….“legally share your own online mixtape, a streaming playlist with eight or more tracks”

Casey Chameleon April 2011

 Part 2 with details of our finds amongst the first releases on vinyl will appear soon.

A Partnership in ‘name’ only?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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