That 'Four Seasons' Sound

The ‘Song’ as a Project – Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

In the recent interview with Charlie Calello by Anthony and George, Charlie said that each song and each album ‘was a project, and when completed, we moved on’.

 

As a former Project Manager I relate to seeing all of the catalogue we assembled in my big 4 year project with Snapper Records as mini projects in themselves.

 

And that has always been my approach since working with my late friend and Sound Engineer Stefan Wriedt. As he taught me how to use software to eliminate imperfections in the surviving recordings, as we poured over each album and the tracks within.

 

As with all artist in the analog age, these were mini opera’s put together from multi-tracks recordings. At first from 4 track up to 16 track by 1967 and 20/24 track by the early 1970s. Ever more complex sound and quality. Listening to Charlie’s recollections in interview and studying the arranging and production skills of Bob Crewe and later Bob Gaudio we can see how arrangements went from simple manufactured ‘pop’, with few instruments, to huge mixes on 16 and 24 track with multiple guitars, strings and horns.

 

By 1966 that was beginning, and just when the sound was changing and expanding with such anthemic elements…..the Four Seasons sound became ‘lost’ as Frankie Valli focused on his solo successes. By a strange coincidence the same thing happened 10 years later.

 

The 1970s began with the awesome arrangement of ‘Love Isn’t Here[like it used to be],a superb lush and complex arrangement, and finished with ‘Soul/Heaven Above Me’. However the decades story of creative music remains incomplete with the missing tracks with many ‘projects’…….NOT available for us to analyse or understand.

 

The recent Motown Unreleased CD shows just how 16 track recording and top production, sound engineering, instrumentation and vocal backing were available at Motown. We can study each track as a project before ‘they’ moved on…….but even Andrew Lloyd Webber bemoans the way Record Companies ignored artists wishes re a project and cast them aside…...after all the artists would pick up the tab for the studio and production costs. And that was the policy at Motown.

 

Mowest and Motown in the early 1970s were a ‘mess’. In his book ‘To Be Loved’ Berry Gordy speaks of his relationship turmoil not just in his personal life but in the corporate world. He says of the period 1971 to 1975…...’what had worked for me in the past was working against me’…..’the executive chain of command was fuzzy’.” He sacked Barney Ales and had to give Stevie Wonder an ‘open book’ contract to keep him at his most creative. He literally could not cope with the film-making process [he and his people ‘had no experience’ he says] for ‘Lady Sings the Blues’ and ‘Mahogany’ plus Stevie Wonder's near fatal road accident added to his woes. His ‘intimate’ relationships with Chris Clark and Diana Ross [both before and after she married another man and had a child], make his comment that these were ‘confusing times’, very apt. What chance did MoWest Records in LA have have?. ‘Smokey [and other main artists] refused to move to California. He[Smokey] was scared stiff of earthquakes’ he says in his book. His life as he describes it was ‘emotionally hurting’ when he signed the Four Seasons in October 1971 just months after Diana Ross gave birth to a child that was his!! Diana acknowledged this and told her new husband. Their intimate relationship would resume and run through the films and the next few years.

 

And Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were in the middle of this chaotic company with Berry Gordy's 'maelstrom' throughout this period with few singles and albums but dozens of ‘canned’ recordings!!!!. Berry Gordy’s landmark mistake with the group was to choose ‘Walk On, Don’t Look Back’, instead of ‘The Night’ for US release in August 1972. His in-house team, ‘The Corporation’ were chosen to keep the writing/publishing royalties, rather than Bob Gaudio and Al Ruzika on 'The Night'. At the same time Frankie had serious hearing problems and Bob Gaudio and Brit had serious personal issues. The 4 Seasons had their own personal and group membership issues but still created great music 'projects' and by 1974 Frankie and Bob found new ‘partners’ and had assembled the best group line-up since the original group and a world wide resurgence followed by the mid decade. A lesson in resilience which shines through on CD 22 of the Snapper Box Set.

 

And so whilst we can enjoy the superb detail and constructs within the Motown Unreleased that ‘escaped’ in 2023, we can’t see the projects and understand fully the ‘experiments in artistic expression of the period because so much is still unreleased.

 

All we can do is keep a focus on the Rare and Unreleased tracks and enjoy their superb productions. Maybe someday someone will convince whoever will be the Four Seasons Partnership[or it’s successor] that a full analysis of how, despite Berry Gordy’s ‘chaos’,  Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe and the group were gonna come back through this period to achieve success.

 

New ‘projects’ awaited them. But not all would get finished or released.......

 

 

How Important Is A Career Box Set in 2020?

It seems amazing to see the Four Seasons UK Fan Club still exists in 2019!!! Well really it is now a social media fan group, but with a web site full of the data we have assembled and published. We've been posting blogs about the groups career and back story since 2006 in Casey's 'Chameleon' blogand post 2011 'That 'Four Seasons' Sound blog.And it is amazing how much we have covered. So we go again!

We've had over a year now to contemplate the arrival next year from Snapper Records of London of a 40+ box set.

Well it is one of the least important things in life, but nonetheless we've achieved somethings that wouldn't have happened perhaps if we hadn't called for a properly re-mastered and presented career set and unreleased tracks on behalf of fans. This box set is one of the results of our efforts. As with most artists who own most of their back catalogue the Partnership and Rhino/Curb/ACE etc have always been thinking of timing of projects to persuade fans to part with their hard-earned money.......just as Vee-Jay/Philips/Warner/Private Stock et al did back in the days of vinyl.

To newer fans this will maybe sound strange but some of us have dozens of albums and CD's of every Frankie Valli/Four Seasons song ever!!!!!. So to strange people like us we needed something that would show us that this Box Set may definitely be the most important release ever.

So when London based Snapper Records told us their plans for a career spanning box set based on their 'brand' and quality presentation of the Four Seasons catalogue we were understandably interested......and when they said Bob Gaudio was enthusiastic about it they got our attention. A meeting in London revealed the plans were to include in a career spanning box set 40 + albums a large portion of unreleased.....and 'what did we want included?'they asked.

Lynn Boleyn and I in unison said the 'Motown Unreleased'!

You have to remember that both Bob Gaudio and Harry Weinger of Universal Motown stated back in 2008 that there weren't any unreleased'completed'Motown tracks . And imagine our surprise when Snapper announced that Bob Gaudio 'had unreleased tracks from every decade'. And he was prepared to release them.......well what a surprise and so by then we were getting excited!!.

Over the last 10 years we have researched and demonstrated a potential 30 to 40 Motown Unreleased tracks in paper records as 16 track or Stereo versions in the NYC vault[from their 1971 to 1974 contract with the label] . So the Motown Unreleased Campaign I[Ken Charmer] started 2 and a half years ago has made all this data available and this has been shared with the Partnership and Snapper. And we have posted You Tube videos of some of these songs [from demo acetate/tape] demonstrating this fact. The aim was to show that 'yes...it did still exist....and should be preserved ...and released'.

Well whether that exercise has been completed in depth and all 16 track tapes researched we do not know but we hear that only 14 tracks have been 'approved'by Bob Gaudio. Lynn Boleyn and I are extremely disappointed and it would be easy to be negative re the current proposals for the Box Set.

In response to our disappointment Snapper's Ian Crocket responded....“I must stress that with respect , your fellow Four Seasons collectors will not be familiar with the sets we produce. Nobody is producing box sets to the size quality  and standard that we do and what must not be forgotten is the amount of  additional content that is included (coffee table book, signature, vinyl, memorabilia etc). In my experience when fans eventually receive their purchase through the post they are generally blown away by the weight and size which is reflected in the comments on line. Whilst the unreleased Motown is key it is not the be all and end all, and we must not lose sight that this is a career retrospective.”

So after careful consideration we agreed on the following joint statement on behalf of the fans......”It is great that Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli are on board and that Bob has already approved 14 unreleased Motown tracks for inclusion along with two live show recordings.  We hope that Snapper will be encouraging Bob to agree to further unreleased Motown tracks being included and also unreleased tracks from every era where we have been informed by Bob there are also unreleased tracks. We appreciate that Ian is working hard to make this box set a huge success and the more unreleased tracks that can be included the better.’

Notwithstanding the status of the catalogue in terms of career spanning material there remains no comprehensive set available and so such a compilation may be deemed value for money for some. Since 1988 and the real advent of CD [according to my count on George Ingram's US CD discography] there have been.....

• 33 plus Hits or Compilations of selected tracks on CD or Box Set

• 26 individual albums or 2fer CD sets

• 1 original album of new tracks

• 1 album of retrospective songs[Covers]

• 1 Christmas album of new recordings

• 1 Classic albums Box Set[FV/Four Seasons]incomplete career wise

• 1 Classic albums Box Set Frankie Valli Solo] incomplete career wise

Snapper said re this planned collection.......”I’m confident we will also have a disc of Partnership unreleased/alt takes as well as the 2 live performances [Bachelors 3 and Lucifer's] the 2 unreleased BBC tracks and the MONO vinyl, the books are also going to be very well received if previous experiences are anything to go by.  Obviously we are still going to strive to make this the best Four Seasons release ever and with the content we already have I’m confident we are well on the way.”

So as we await with interest what comes together we will continue to review our research re the catalogue and in particular the Motown Period and the sessions that resulted in both superb releases and the 'unreleased' we have so long campaigned to hear. We do hope there will be more..and we get detailed feedback.....and so re the known 'unreleased' tracks completed at Motown? The campaign goes on.

Ken Charmer and Lynn Boleyn

 

The Four Seasons MOTOWN Artists Cards

In researching Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons period at Mowest/Motown 1971/74 it might have been helpful to know sound engineers who either worked at the label or know the recording process from those times or are familiar with the tapes like Russ Terranawhose initials appear on some as the mixing engineer. One note shows up to 43 STEREO mix-downs by him of 'The Night' between 1972 and 1975.

So why are these cards so important now in 2019 and what can they tell us?

Well they reveal a raft of information re unreleased but completed tracks that indicates their existence and location.

When Motown moved to LA from Detroit in 1970 they adopted a different system for recording, storing and releasing recordings.

This was the Motown 60000 series of Master Numbers and this can be seen here.

http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=3900

These Master numbers appear on the released 45 as seen in the Cat45 listing above.

As fans we have tried to analyse the approach to session and recording management and decode some of the data records from the time based on the Analogue Tape Index and the Artists Cards.

What I believe happened was that studio sessions that resulted in a completed 16 track song generated a Master Nr [for example 60516 – Walk On Don't Look Back].

An Artists Card was produced[a simple card index] which showed the Title/Artist/Producer/Master Number/ Tape Number. The Tape Number [1^stLocation] was a 4 digit code preceded by a predominantly P[Production Tape] or T[Temporary/Safety-Evaluation Copy]. Example Tape P2110 – The Night. Notes exist of mixes and dubs made and stored on many T Tapes.

The relationship with P and T Tapes has to some extent been clarified. I have a listing from the Tape Index relating to the P Tapes. These are the main Production Tapes with up to 16 tracks in sync from sessions. The big question is was a vocal lead laid down. Only playing the tapes will reveal this as tape boxes do not always reveal the accurate contents. STEREO mix-downs should also exists as these are the final Production versions for Evaluation through the Quality Assessment process meetings. There are famous stories re these reviews and evidence from Motown TCB Newsletters indicate unreleased completed tracks by the group were being assessed in January 1972 for possible single and album release. Several songs listed there appeared on the 'Chameleon'. Several have never been heard since. T tape copies existed of many tracks indicating they were completed as STEREO mix-downs. Some remain as 16 track and have never been played back since.. Research to find if these still exist but this research exercise hasn't extended to them at this point in time.

The Artists Cards were subsequently used to note transfers and copies as they are made [They are generally to T tapes but sometimes P tapes ] and this shows their locations[Master Mix/Remix] and 'Dub Cuts'.

Codes [in the Comments column] are hand written or typed and these need translation..They include.......

1. 16tRhy – which I assume is a 16 track copy

2. 02tsmx – which I assume is a stereo mix

3. SR6smx – which is a mystery but likely to be a type of stereo mix

The above Example is of an Artists Card which shows a track we found on cassette salvaged from the session, proving it existed. The track has been shared in our Facebook group.The Master Nr [not noted here] is in fact 60752 confirmed by other Motown Spreadsheets.

Sometimes there are references to the alternate 'Take' Numbers which in the case of The Night number 43.[The biggest hit.....by 1975 and the highest number of STEREO mixes made on the catalogue of the group at Motown]. Occasionally dates are shown and engineers initials. RT is probably Russ Terrana but others are a mystery. [The details behind this tracks production and surviving versions we hope to feature in the next year]

Some notes indicate that copies have been made to 'New Album' P Tapes clearly for pre-release.The Transfered/Temporay Tapes [T tapes] should be evaluated with reference to these Cards to identify copies [if necessay – should the completed tracks/mixes not appear on the Production Tapes]. Collating the Artists Cards with a Tape Index has shown over 30 tracks with Master Numbers by Frankie and the group that have never been released.Of course this analysis may be challenged by the people at Motown who know otherwise.?......but the tapes will speak for themselves!!

Will the transfer of these tapes to Bob Gaudio generate their release.? We will see, but at least the exercise has resulted in their'preservation'for posterity. Whether there is enough interest from the Partnership to invest the Sound Engineering time to mix-down to STEREO where necessary remains to be seen at the present time.? And how busy is Bob Gaudio to invest the Production time? It is perhaps also a question of what gets licensed in contract negotiations between Gene Zacharewicz at UMe and Snapper Records.

Whilst we do not expect any confirmation for release [or otherwise] for some months we will have more soon re what has been salvaged/preserved and remains unreleased.

Ken Charmer – Tape Index Researcher 2018[Updated August 2019]

The Fight For The Four Seasons Masters

Most members of this group will be aware of the amazing sets of Beach Boys 'unreleased' and session tapes that have surfaced and been released since circa 2000. Much of this has been because of the need for copyright protection but MOST of it is as a result of the amazing work of this legendary sound engineer Mark Linett. This video interview tells the amazing story of what has been found and what has been salvaged. It is a must watch for the likes of Bob Gaudio/ Frankie Vall/Bill Inglot and the folks at Snapper Records.

Unfortunately I believe we are not going to get anything like this extent of forensic work done on the Four Seasons. Well not in my lifetime or Frankie and Bob's, I would say. This goes to the root of the complaint of Four Seasons since the age of CD. No-one has respected the work as Mark has done for the Beach Boys. OK the multi-track tapes and copies stolen from now defunct studio archives have helped the process for him and them. But the very fact that Jersey Boys was such a success has impaired any attention the Four Seasons archive has had. We've done more in capturing the vinyl dubs and creating a MONO Archive of the 60s 45s than anyone over the last 10 years, and the research of the Motown vaults paper archives have been confirmed by recent tape research and transfers. But whether it is cost pressures or time/resource restrictions we are now not optimistic that the planned box set will achieve anywhere near fans expectations.

The Motown 16 track tapes need research and time to uncover the dozens of tracks and alternate takes there. And the fact that only 2 track STEREO masters exist from the 60s [as we hear about in this interview re the Capitol sessions with the Beach Boys]were thrown together back in the 60s.

But we don't see that delivering on a major scale here and it appears our high hopes and expectations will be dashed. Not something we are not used to as Four Seasons Fans.

Whatever the reasons and excuses re the Four Seasons catalogue.......it will disappoint most even though we can see from Mark's open and frank interview the problems of past digital tape preservation and digital restoration. The key is you have to care for the music....the creative process and the sound and invest in preserving it and putting it out.

This is a stunning interview and a credit to a true archivist engineer of the highest skill.

 

But the real future for the catalogue of the Four Seasons will be Digital Extraction and Mark touches upon it in this interview. The only way to salvage Bob Crewe's final mixes and alternative takes [with Charlie Calello's arrangements]and create NEW Masters for the future generation of collectors is coming.

The push to start this has started and we will be leading that in whatever way we can whether Bob Gaudio or Frankie Valli [or Snapper] choose to invest in the process. Someone will.......and we will be leading the campaign. We go again.....the way to the MASTERS is DES.

More soon

Casey Chameleon

Press Release Summer 2019 - Preserving the Catalogue

In March I was bemoaning the slow progress of the proposed 40 album Box Set by Snapper and the Four Seasons Partnership with Major Corporate Record Companies [Warner/Rhino/Curb and Universal Motown]

Well now it is summer and coming up a year since the fan group committed to the concept developed by Snapper Records when they 'sold' the idea to the 'majors' and Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio. But because the list of tracks has to remain 'open' to be developed as research continues, formalising contracts was delayed and the investigation of the Master Tapes in the Motown vaults took time.

But News last week that Bob Gaudio has committed to being co-producer of the new Neil Diamond Bio Musical on Broadway prompted many fans to question his commitment to this 'Legacy' project.? And concerns have been expressed as most of the content of this set is already available and there will be no difference.?

Our recent work has reinforced the strategy of the fan group as we've developed it in the last ten years.....in our last post we said...The Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society has been calling vociferously for catalogue preservation on it's web site blogs since 2008, when the paucity of the physical CD catalogue and the missing masters stories gained strength. Then it became apparent that between 30 to 40 unreleased recordings by the group existed on 16 track 'multi's' in Universal Motown's NYC vault. As we gathered evidence of what might exist uncovering several acetate copies we got resistance from UMe and the Partnership that these existed. [Just the same refusal to admit to the assets and the need to preserve them that has existed for decades]. It took 2 years of publishing evidence of the archive tracks on Facebook in the Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign for a forward thinking Record Company to ask the experts[THE FANS]....'What do you want?'

We clearly stated.....THE UNRELEASED......and have had great news of this since.

Ken Charmer will bring you news of this during the summer on the Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Facebook Group.

But progress on the box set has been made and the reason why it has been so slow is based on 3 problems.

 

1. The provisional track list and contracts have taken time to complete but the contract with Warner is complete and something like 34 of the proposed 40 albums are transferred to Snapper. Questions remain as to whether these are NEW analogue/digital transfers or existing digital copies.? Also the Re-mastering proposals and the inclusion/availability of MONO 45 mixes where different to the album mixes still needs to be addressed?

2. The Motown Tapes were confirmed as found in January and it took time to set up the contract to address these. Bob Gaudio's commitment was clear in his proposal to review with Frankie ALL Masters with his vocal on them. He asked for 2 track mix-downs from the 16/24 Track tapes, and with Snapper paying for these transfers he offered to mix the 16 track approved versions for Snapper. A big breakthrough and he recognises how many of you want to hear these 'lost gems'.

3. The sheer workload remains a problem. Memoribilia has been photographed and a designer and writer appointed.....BUT with Snapper committed to several Box Sets for the Christmas market 2019 the on-going pace of this project will slow as an issue date of August 2020 is now targetted.

Confirmation that the 'Bachelors 3' Fort Lauderdale 1974 and the 'Lucifer's' Boston 1973 concerts was really good news and Bob Gaudio will edit and provide what he has from other studio sessions. Re-mastering transfers and collation of 'Unreleased' tracks will in our view not happen till early 2020, and in the meantime the fan group will focus on locating alternative sources for missing Masters only available on vinyl. But Bob's commitment can clearly be judged as definite by this quote re the researching of the Motown Tapes......”revisiting the past can sometimes be painful.  But apparently, there is a world of fans who would appreciate everyone’s efforts.”

The paper records [and cassette tapes from the studio] show Motown's tapes contain lots of unheard 'gems' and we will post re the potential finds during the summer as well as celebrating the decades of releases in the catalogue. Bob Gaudio has said he has 'unreleased' “from every decade” and we'll comment on what that might be. We are in regular contact with Snapper and whilst the transfer of the Motown material is still awaited, we will advise as soon as we know more.

Casey Chameleon

Salvaging the Sound of The Four Seasons – Part 1

Today on a morning debate TV show they asked.....'Will you live long enough to see Brexit?'

Well with an extension to the 'Brexit' leaving process looming......most UK people have lost any interest and are simply focusing on keeping 'body and soul' together. Well Four Seasons fans had better do the same!

Everything is running slow and for Four Seasons fans I'm afraid the story is the same. After the great enthusiasm of Snapper Records concept of a mega/luxury BOX SET of 40 albums spanning the career of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and the news of Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli's enthusiasm, it is becoming ever more apparent that 'delivery' is the problem. So we can ask the question.....'Will we live long enough to see Snapper's and our concept?' Bob and Frankie may also be asking that question.

The problem is, 'The Majors'...ie Rhino/Warners and more importantly Universal Motown.

Licensing and legal delays have prevented the completion of contracts....and although we had been promised a high proportion of 'unreleased'....'from every decade'......no news has surfaced on the Tape Archive review at the Partnership or from the Motown Archive research.

In many ways this is not a surprise. Whilst Rhino and the Partnership have regularly licensed tracks in their ownership, and were positive when the concept was launched....and Universal Motown saw the potential of the 'unreleased' track they were able for the first time to put before Bob Gaudio.......the administrative problems of licensing when you do not have a definitive 'final list' of tracks to be included appears to becoming problematic. Firstly this is the first time since 1988 that NEW transfers from the analogue tapes has been a viable proposition and the identification of material for inclusion cannot be underestimated. There are so many diverse problems re the Masters to be resolved. Also anecdotal evidence shows Universal Motown are renowned for not having a 'can do' approach to licensing and many projects in recent years[and still today] have been bogged down in their 'processes'. Other licensees have been tearing their hair out and abandoning projects because Universal will simply find excuses for not licensing songs. There is too much evidence for anyone to argue that this criticism is unfair.

In the meantime Snapper and the fan group members have been positively gathering 'memorabilia' from our archives to illustrate how the groups music was presented in the media in past decades for potential inclusion in the proposed /Book'.

On the music catalogue side we have been commencing a 'forensic' review of what is important to be included and the limitations of surviving Masters. What fans want[as far as we know from vinyl and CD issues] has been documented and this has been shared with Bob Gaudio as our 'wants list'. Questions of copyright and royalties payments on 'live' recordings have arisen and at present remain unresolved and the content....remains unclear.

Snapper are not unfamiliar with such problems and have both the determination and experience to manage such issues, but how much time it will take and the compromises necessary are just emerging several months into the design development.

We continue to back the idea of a project that is based on fan input/wishes, as this would be the first time ever in the history of the group that it has happened and we have great confidence in Snapper's leadership and drive. Their track record shows this.

In our forthcoming blogs we will be tackling issues that have become an intrinsic set of problems for the sound we have and what legacy will the groups catalogue leave. The question is how much work is necessary to salvage, repair and issue a representative version of their 'body of work'. We'll be posing questions and potential solutions. But can the music industry be moved by the innovative ideas of a small independent Record Company [with the backing of the artists] and the fan group? It is a bit like the question....'Can 'democracy' survive?'.....Only time will tell......hang in there everyone. We owe it to the next generation of fans.

Casey Chameleon

Next time …..Part 2 - Repairing the 1960s Catalogue.

 

2019 NEW YEAR 'Press Release'

Happy New Year to followers and Facebook group members from Lynn Boleyn, George Ingram, Ray Nichol and myself.

2018 was a 'special year' in the history of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

• It was a year we discovered more unreleased tracks from the past since the 1975 release of 'Inside You'!

• We were able to bring all of the data we have on the groups history up to date on our revised Web site in November

• This was followed by the 'Farewell Tour' of the UK by Frankie and his Team for several memorable concerts to huge audiences.

• The release of Charlie Calello's biography 'Another Season' in November [just out on Amazon.co.uk]

• But perhaps more importantly it was the year we helped 'connect' Bob and Frankie with a high quality Record Company who want to celebrate the history and 'legacy' of their careers.

Not bad for a group that started as a small UK fan club 48 years ago.

Lynn told me that during the concert 'meet-ups' people were asking her.....'What is left now after a 'Farewell Tour?' Is it the end of the road? '

Well not as long as we can keep breathing that is!!

2019 may be the biggest year of our lives 'musically' as 'The Project' takes shape.

In January we hope contracts will be concluded on the 40 album box set featuring we believe 'unreleased tracks from every decade of the Partnerships existence. Tape research has started and the 'wishlist' of album tracks 45s and known 'unreleased' has been supplied to Bill Inglot and Bob Gaudio and Motown Universal have mobilised tape research of the 1971 to 1973 archive tapes. Live 'quality sound' shows are being researched to capture the legendary sound of the group from the 60s and 70s.

This blog will keep you informed of progress as will the Facebook group[The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign]

What could surface has already been amazing. In November we published 2 previously unheard unreleased but 'completed' Motown tracks from the Chameleon album sessions and before Christmas we heard Snapper Record's contact with the BBC Archive manager has unearthed 2 radio recordings for a Saturday morning 'Top Pops' show from 1963 when the Four Seasons visited the UK for a brief tour. 'Big Girls Don't Cry' and 'Ain't That A Shame'....LIVE at The BBC. Amazing news.!

Super rare photos are also emerging for the box set book and work starts this month on the memorabilia of unique material to illustrate the musical dynasty the group created. We will, during the year in our blogs, be revisiting album releases and special MONO and STEREO rarities that need to be included. The whole set will include amazing 'unseen' and 'unheard' material.

Whilst the aim is a 2019 release, we and Snapper are working together to bring the best ever Four Seasons product to the fans...with the support of Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli and their team.

So as I said Happy NEW YEAR 2019 to all involved and to you 'the fans'

Ken Charmer

The 'Chameleon' Sessions Re-Visited

Back in 2011 I started to document the travesty of mis-information that 'faithful' and 'trusting' Four Seasons fans have had to suffer for what was then 37 years. It is now over 43 years since we were told.......nothing was left in the vaults.

In one of my blog posts[15^thJanuary 2011] I was able to reveal the existence of completed 'unreleased' tracks by the group still lying in the Universal Motown vaults when I said....

”Since The Four Seasons left Motown in 1974 and the subsequent release of the ‘Inside You’ album (Motown M6-852S1) in September 1975, fans have questioned whether any other tracks remained left in the vaults.

Rumour and myth have circulated since and it is amazing that no definitive answers have been found. But now in what is to me a ‘shocking’ disclosure we can prove that the answer is YES completed masters do exist and with examples and research we will show all fans the potential which has been wasted.”

Well I have been documenting and sharing data and music re this lost period ever since in a Campaign to get someone to act and preserve and release up to 50 tracks unheard since the 1970s.

And now just as another piece of evidence arrives, others realise the potential ....... there is a possible acknowledgement by Bob Gaudio to Universal Motown......and some hope emerges that, finally, these sessions will be researched. We've established real interest from Record Companies and some hope a project will ensue.

And coincidentally, as hope arises of a release, we are able to re-visit P Tapes 2105/2110/2111 and the rehearsal recordings for tracks that would eventually surface on the group's 'only' album release whilst under contract there. The Chameleon Sessions Re-visited is a set of rehearsals of tracks that would when complete comprise a very different and 'progressive' Four Seasons album. Critics and fans have said since how significant an album it was artistically and some [like me] rate it as the groups best ever album[notwithstanding the cult following of 'Genuine imitation Life Gazette']

11 tracks, 8 of which would [when complete] create a stunning album. One in instrumental form, raising the question of whether it was ever completed with vocals, and 2 completed and unheard tracks which have never been released which sound really good. Up-tempo driving Four Seasons songs completely different to the album eventually created[but none the less stunning]

This is also our chance to hear, for the first time ever, studio session work pre-release with missing dubs, differences in instrumentation and alternative vocal elements. We all know it has happened with the Beach Boys Sessions and this is a 'snatched' example of Bob Gaudio working up the songs to their final Masters. On our Facebook Campaign Group we will share these moments re-mastered as we bring to fans the Sound Engineers dubs[presumably the legendary Russ Terrana's acetates] salvaged from cassette tape.

And now these are perhaps a prelude to what Universal Motown can do with the support of the artists?. Is that support 'real' and will the project happen? Well in the words of the Bob Crewe penned song amongst these early sessions by the group at Motown......'Time Will Tell'?

Casey Chameleon

Fan Club Anniversaries and The Motown Unreleased

As 2018 develops as probably Frankie Valli’s final touring year we are able to celebrate 2 anniversaries. This blog has been running for 7 years this month and February is the 2^nd Anniversary of the formation of The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign on Facebook. Our 253 members are able to share news, views and music in a very easy way and Lynn Boleyn and I use the blog to regularly publish news and research re the group’s tours, former group members and the back catalogue of music.

Our initial posts in 2011 [when re-visited] show a situation of ‘The more things change….the more they stay the same!’ with us reflecting back then on the paucity of releases and management of the Four Seasons brand. The values we advocated back then have still not been achieved by the Four Seasons Partnership, but in the meantime the ‘Jersey Boys’ cash-cow has made Bob and Frankie a fortune. I guess that ‘trumps’ everything?[if you'll excuse the double entendre]

But as we celebrate these 2 anniversaries in February 2018 two things stand out.

Firstly our ‘brand’ has become firmly established as a linked ‘fan club’ community and information centre for the few hundred international friends who want to share their common interest. The old style newsletters and e-mail groups have literally been ‘retired’. Facebook is too easy and powerful a tool today.

Secondly, our joint ‘positivity’ through Facebook and our blog that eventually our voice will be heard. Our focus remains strong on discovering and celebrating music we have never heard; and we continue to believe that we can one day convince the artist we admire and respect to help release this music unheard for over 45 years. That is perhaps because as a result of the shared objective we have in the last few years unearthed and shared more ‘unreleased tracks’ than in the whole of the previous history of the group. The recent release of the ‘Lost and Found Vol 3’ which followed our April 2017 CD of ‘The Best ‘Unreleased UK Collection 2017’ demonstrates this.

That in itself is a positive outcome. So over the next year I’ll be continuing our efforts [God willing!]. But we are adapting to change.

We now know from our Motown network that the release of the 50 plus tracks in the Motown vault at UMG by Frankie and the group is ‘just a phone call away’!!!!!

We have good reason to believe that it simply needs Bob Gaudio to pick up the phone and ring Harry Weinger at UMG and he would initiate the project to recover the tapes and the unheard music and release a second Motown Anthology – The Unheard Masters. Harry as he has previously shown wants to be a friend to ‘the stars’ and in so doing strengthen the Motown Brand. He has done it many times before and will do it again. It just needs the artist to give it the ‘green light’ and he will we believe empower the legal and commercial processes. With this in mind we will devote this year’s research to the project plan for when that happens.And we will 'reach out' and try to establish a dialogue with Bob, Frankie or their representative. Whether that achieves dialogue we'll continue to publish the latest we can for fans

That is the more positive approach than the alternative which is to wait till Bob and Frankie ‘pass away’ with the release to then be a posthumous tribute to their time at Motown.

In the forthcoming months we will outline the sessions from the groups Motown period and the tape research strategy for the engineers and compilers we know are ready to work on the project. BG/FV only have to say 'go' and we will be ready.

We will also continue our salvaging of re-mastered rare, live and ‘unreleased’ tracks to be shared on the Facebook group. It will take time but we hope to bring group members more treats during the year. Thank you all for your continued support and ‘likes’.

Ken Charmer

 

[Previously unseen photo courtesy of James DiNapoli: Photographer Bobby Valli]

Addendum April 1^st2018

This will be our last subscription blog post with links to our web site. We'll explore News posts in the future

Lynn Boleyn and I have been discussing the future of our collaboration to maintain fan access to data and news re Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons given Frankie Valli's Farewell Tour and impending retirement. So as of today we are closing this blog and moving all support services to fans to our Facebook page ' The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign'.This has over the last 2 years become our research base and discussion channel for all historical research and data re the group. I'm mindful that the web site www.seasonally.co.ukis in need of an update to preserve and provide access to ALL the data and articles published since April 2006 in George Ingram's Newsletter and in Discographies, our 1970s E-Book and past blog posts.

The aim is to continue to supply this data long term as a key reference for the most accurate historical data for releases and recording sessions by the group and the articles and research published to date. 'Chameleon's blogand 'That 'Four Seasons' Sound' blog will still be accessible and our past articles will crop up whenever you do an internet 'search' re the 'Four Seasons'. Published blogs will be accessible through the web site and our on-going research will continue to be published on our Facebook page. We are also researching using the non-subscription Typed blog service or a possible Facebook Page totally devoted to the forthcoming UK tour for attending fans. Lynn and I will advise re this by Summer 2018. 

Our e-mail response address remains [email protected]

Thanks to Typepad for their support. See you on Facebook

The Four Seasons Motown 'Un-released' Group Status Report 2017

The Facebook group established in February 2016 is going strong and as the year ends we have sent Motown CEO Harry Weinger, [the executive responsible for the Motown Anthology 2008] our End Of Year : Status Report.

In it we outlined our aim which remains to research and recover all aspects of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons recording career and share this with fans. Whilst our focus is primarily on the Motown tracks still in the vaults, we are now focused on ALL 'un-released' tracks. So this report tells fans what we have told the CEO of Motown responsible for the only 'Official' Motown CD release by Frankie and the group this century. The first 'official' release of their time at Motown.

The facebook group contains the data we have re the Motown vault but in addition we have made some astonishing finds on acetates dating back to the early 60s on Frankie and the group. Acetate recordings of early pre-Four Seasons have recently surfaced and will be 'released' [shared] next year with the facebook group and we now know of and have re-mastered the Motown acetates made by Bob Crewe and made Frankie fully aware we have these and we have informed him what Motown have in the vault.

We corresponded with Harry Weinger the UMe CEO before the 2008 Anthology [he asked for our help] as he did the tape research re the 'Released' tracks and we were able to confirm the tracks released in the US and UK on that collection. My intention in writing this time has been to update him on our research status at the end of 2017 and to ask him to ensure that our information is available to his archivists/researchers and of use, as and when he has the resources, approvals and support for a release of the many 'completed' but unreleased tracks we now know are on 16 track master tape or already digitally recovered. We know of several 'digitization' programmes this century but only know of one main researcher who currently does in depth work on the tapes and that is Keith Hughes. His work and reputation as a detailed Motown researcher is second to none. DFTMC web site is a 'work of art' documenting Motown releases. But he is, as far as we know, not an employee of UMe[on a permanent basis], and we are unaware of any current digitization or specific research programmes he is involved with for Motown [apart from the forthcoming Motown Unreleased 1967 download/CD set].The DFTMC database only extends to 1972 and includes limited Four Seasons releases and none of the 'un-released'

There is only one Motown researcher we trust implicitly and that is Paul Nixon and he is interested in our project aims. For that reason we've copied him with the latest version [July 2016 revision] of the key file on which we have collated information re Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons material recorded at Motown In our Excel spreadsheet we identify the P Tapes [and some T Tapes] and Motown Master Nrs[where known] with titles, songwriters, producers etc. This is, we believe, the most comprehensive record of the material by them at Motown to date and the essential reference point for any research into this period of recording by them. It is also almost certainly the biggest gap in their recording history and the [probably]biggest cache of 'unreleased' music by Frankie[solo or with the group] in existence. But if there are other paper records and information available we have offered to help and make this record of data as comprehensive as possible. It will need to be for the legal 'approvals' process. We are grateful for the anonymous donation of data sources that has enabled this data record to be compiled over several years but it is only a starting point. We also have full lists of the Motown Masters and Artists Cards for the period. These also detail the Stereo Masters [when mixed for potential release] and their location.

We will in our blogs next year be outlining how any future research projects should take place ….....and we know that will happen[Frankie Valli is just TOO IMPORTANT an artist] …...we are trying to ensure that team has the most comprehensive info available and a proper plan of research.

We will extend our research and explain how WHENEVER anyone researches these tapes they will be able to focus on the 6 specific phases of Frankie and the groups recording sessions from 1971 to 1973. For our next years blogs and research we are enlisting the help of an MBA in Project Management to design a strategy for research that is comprehensive but cost effective with sound engineering resources. We'll highlight the tapes relating to each phase and the producers involved and what they, Frankie and the group aimed to achieve. All this should direct research of the analogue tapes specifically rather than the more random research from general digitization programmes which we know have gone on in the past. We only know so much but we believe the internal research is incomplete. A specific artist project can be initiated by Universal Motown to extract known digital tracks and to research the analogue tapes for finished and unfinished[un-mixed] 'multi-tracks'. We have evidence of Digitally Mastered 'completed' tracks found to date but we can see not all the tapes have been 'found' or researched despite the work that uncovered un-released tracks for the Motown Anthology in 2008.....nearly 10 years ago. We'll say more re this in our publications during 2018.

But finding all the P and T tapes we list, we realise, may not be the easiest of tasks given what we have heard [even from Harry himself in interview] about the state of the tape vaults. Whilst the Detroit tapes have some order we believe the LA tapes are somewhat 'disorganised'. Obviously the source tapes are the final key research point but may well contain 16 track recordings not 'mixed down' but equally so these tapes may contain unknown songs NOT listed by the 'Motown interns' at the time. We have been told that many of these tapes have probably not been listened to since the sessions. The priority is to ID, find and gather ALL the relevant tapes from the vaults and verify and complete digitization for research. Informing this is our 2018 programme of research.

We do know that tape research was done for the Anthology set and that 2 previously unreleased versions of songs appeared on that compilation......which shows that not only the STEREO MASTER tapes of the original albums were the source tapes for that project and proves that what remains is not simply demos and incomplete rehearsals as has been maintained up to 2008 by Bob Gaudio. But we are now into the post Jersey Boys period and with the sad loss recently of Bob's wife Judy Parker it is impossible to judge how Bob will react or approach the group's history.

But moving past that followers of this blog will know we have approached both Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio to try to assess if they[and their heirs] have ANY INTEREST in this music, and THE JURY.....remains out on that at present.....but we may get an answer as we keep them informed of our research.......ever the optimist.........'with Motown...you never know'!!!!

So as we approach the year end our next compilation of 'Best' sound quality 'Un-released' is 'in the studio' and more historic and rare 'live' material is 'in the works' for 2018. A Happy Christmas and Happy New Year to all our followers. Casey Chameleon

Five Lessons Learnt From A 'Successful' Motown Unreleased CD Release

Over the summer we've seen the emergence of one of the most successful 'Motown Unreleased' CD's for many years. Brenda Holloway's ' Spellbound' is full of rare and unreleased tracks many of which have surfaced during the last 2 years and have only been available as mp3 downloads. This CD set is fully re-mastered from 8 track and in great sound.

The anticipation[almost hysteria] in the build-up to it's release provided a substantial pre-order and fuelled by 'word-of-mouth' on speciality Facebook groups and the Northern Soul scene the CD achieved a UK Top Ten album position in the weeks following it's released and a second pressing as copies quickly sold out. In this day-and -age of dying CD sales this is pretty phenomenal.

But what are the lessons learned from this release and does it give hope to Four Seasons fans that the large 'cache' of unreleased Valli/Seasons tracks may soon achieve a similar fate?

Well to me there are five important 'lessons' to be learned from this release not only for collectors but for Universal Motown Group and the independent Record Companies that seek to license such tracks and invest in such release programmes.

• Facebook groups are a clear market for unreleased material in new CD compilations. With ever increasing numbers of people gathering in interest groups that research Motown 'treasures' or rare and vaulted material it's pretty obvious that marketing is easier than ever .....thus targeting sales with little or no financial investment.

• Quality control of 'sound mixes' is still an important consideration with 'hard copy' wav files preferred by collectors to mp3 downloads.

• Artist involvement is a major marketing necessity. Brenda was fully involved with Cherry Red Records and producer Paul Nixon to help compile and approve this release.

• Record Companies with belief in the project and the launch process are essential. ACE Records lost out to Cherry Red in licensing this music and they must be 'devastated' at getting that wrong. But the big future problem appears to be UMG[we are currently researching their policies and processes for future releases]

• Such projects need a top compiler/producer with knowledge of the artist and the market[ie collectors like us]

What this demonstrates is that there is still a substantial demand for the release of tracks from the vaults of UMG [ie Motown Unreleased] and everyone we contact whether a Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons fan club member or collector of their music..... knows the strength of their 'brand' …...their 'image' is huge. They remain top stars of the 60s and 70s music scene. Their unreleased music is clearly in demand as the steady growth of members of this group has shown. This is a project waiting to happen. So what is the problem.?

There are Record Companies who license tracks from UMG and top compilers who would promote the project IF......UMG and The Four Seasons Partnership would support it.

BUT the recent decision by UMG to cease third party licensing of tracks to independent record companies not only threatens to stop ALL new projects but threatens perhaps the role and purpose of those collector labels. Some projects are in the pipeline and will 'probably' surface in time...... but this is a real threat to collectors of this material and a huge disappointment to Four Seasons fans.

Our role is to publicise the lack of transparancy by the parties[i.e. artists and track owners]. Our sister blog site 'That 'Northern Soul' Sound' will consider this in more detail as we bring the situation to the attention of the Four Seasons Partnership. Then there is the Corporate 'animal' that is UMG? Whether they respond or not only time will tell. We won't hold our breath based on past experience.......but past experience doesn't always shape the future. Times are changing and the Facebook groups are becoming stronger and more influential. More questions than answers again!!! Hope remains that sense will prevail and the UMG policy will change in the light of this clear enhancement to Motown's music image. More when we have it!

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.

Hope for the future of vaulted tracks?

I've been complaining about the lack of good compilations of Frankie Valli/Four Seasons material[including bonus tracks] for some years and whilst it is easy to focus on The Four Seasons Partnership and a lack of understanding or action re this , it is not as simple as it sometimes appears. We often think THEY should relate to our wishes and design good compilations for us. But would we buy again when we have all the tracks on CD.?......and if there are not enough vaulted tracks to create a bonus to persuade buyers, is there any point in a release.? Music is after all a product.

Let's examine some of the fan views and some of the current music industry realities.

Here are some typical and understandable comments from fans.....”Frankie and Bob continue to not fully understand the true collector...their feeling is it doesn't have mass appeal and tracks need remastering or remain unfinished. The true collector DOES NOT CARE... a release of these songs would be for the true fans that have stuck with them all these years...once AGAIN another volume of BEACH BOYS unreleased tunes has hit the market with all the flubs,mistakes,false starts,studio banter instrument tuning, alternate versions and yes even unflattering versions. so Frank and Bob need to get with it, we don't care if someones voice cracks or they coughed or sneezed during a take or that someone was off tempo,these make the recordings even more endearing to us” said Jim Valenti in our facebook group. In response Chuck Walker makes a good point.......”Jim has a perspective similar to mine. How about a challenge....back in January of 1964 Frank and Bob responded to "Surfers Rule" with "No Surfin' Today. Is it time to respond today, but instead of redoing the redo's provide something which clearly shows the creativity of the group. Granted they may not think everything is the best, but how many of the 4 Season 'also ran' songs have become hits for other artists. "Like You" from the recent [Unreleased free bootleg] CD shows they had creativity long long ago and the Motown stuff continues in that vein. Or could it be that the bad taste left by those problematic years over powers all else.? I for one think some of the"unreleased" I have heard via Casey Chameleon's work is better than what was included in some of the released albums. Just one persons perspective.”...and Jim agrees....... “Chuck you are 100% correct about some of the unreleased that has made their escape out, Frank and Bob are using the argument about the material not being up to their standards,standards what standards when nonsense like "GYPSY WOMEN" and most if not all of the Romancing the 60's and Hope and Glory were considered up to their standards and worthy of releasing.......for over 40 years now since the 70's they skimped on LP tracks, most having only 10 songs but some having 8.. just on that short coming alone the fans deserve some extras”

Good arguments perhaps....especially when we see collections like this from the Beach Boys

https://theseconddisc.com/2017/07/review-the-beach-boys-1967-sunshine-tomorrow-and-wild-honey-stereo-lp/

“This release, mastered for fine sonics by Mark Linett, is a worthy successor to such similarly collector-oriented collections as Hawthorne, California, and more recently, The SMiLE Sessions and the 50th anniversary presentation of Pet Sounds.  Conventional wisdom has it that Brian Wilson abandoned his ambitions following the demise of SMiLE, but this release reveals that he instead channeled his considerable energies and remarkable musical instincts into a different but equally valid direction: one of apparent, back-to-basics simplicity – which is often the most difficult and complex quality to achieve.  The creatively fertile music by Brian, Mike Love, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston on 1967: Sunshine Tomorrow was in many regards out of time, existing in a vacuum removed from the other sounds of The Summer of Love – hence, the original, poor chart placement of Wild Honey.  Yet this rootsy, rocking, soulful, and quirky yet still unmistakable iteration of The Beach Boys has aged well in the context of the band’s entire career.  Aren’t you glad for Sunshine Tomorrow?” says the second Disc review and is targetted at a known and well researched 'group' of fans.

So there is evidence of well managed archive releases and major pop artists farming their back catalogue and master tapes. A body of work that represents your musical life....your 'art'. The economic model for collectors sets for record companies remains based on both short and long term sales.

The biggest set of 'unreleased' Four Seasons/Valli tracks remains in Universal Motown's [UMe]vaults and their policy, in recent years as CD sales have declined, has been to move away from product release themselves leaving 3^rd Party record companies to lease tracks from the vaulted archive. ACE have been the most prolific over the last few years. But the level of competition between such companies seems to have reached a damaging level for the collectors. Anecdotal evidence suggests recent projects have seen ACE, Caroline Records and Cherry Red vying for release of vaulted tracks with projects switching labels but failure to progress to release. Rumours have surfaced that UMe have suspended 3^rd party licensing and that the CEO of archive material [Harry Weinger}has moved to California to a new role[possibly for Universal mainstream artists] and a potential void in personnel, and projects of archive material is a fear for us collectors for the future.

The CD market today has shrunk so much many fear for the future of re-issues/vaulted material particularly as older collectors pass away. The economics of re-issue/vaulted material remains a fine judgement. Companies need to feel confident a product can sell at least 1000 units in the first place. Any growth could take sales to 3000 units which would mean a very successful project in todays marketplace. Compare this with the noughties when Cellarful Of Motown Volumes were selling 7/10,000 units. Such sales today of rare older material seems impossible.

But there is a clear market that could enable both UMe and the 'independents' to successfully utilise the vault. Todays Facebook groups related to Rare Motown material contain nearly 2,300 dedicated members [whilst the main Motown group has over 64,000 members] all potentially purchasers of good product. They regularly share You Tube tracks and discuss artists rarities and classic tracks. Record company execs would argue that You Tube access to downloads and CD sharing are too damaging to sales to risk some projects and that may be true in some cases and some artists. Most facebook group members would want a product rather than downloads. They are 'collectors' and NOT casual music 'consumers' like the younger 'streaming' subscibers. Their interests and markets are narrow but they are coming together into an information sharing environment. A name like Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons is known to everyone today and not just Motown collectors. Many find it hard to believe no record company will tackle the subject. A fear that The Partnerships 'attitude' will be negative. But we believe that may not be the case as we speak to the 'inner circle' after concerts. The test of rare music sales we think will be the next few months as we see milestone releases testing the market and my personal theory re the future for archive and back catalogue material.

Cherry Red Records are about to release a 2 CD set of unreleased vaulted material of Brenda Holloway, a classic but little-known artist[outside Motown collectors]. This will contain properly re-mastered versions of poorer quality 'cheap' downloads recently issued. [a trend followed by UMe in recent years.]

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/spellbound-rare-and-unreleased-motown-gems/

The Motown Treasures Facebook group poll also found Cellarful Of Motown Vol 5 to be the most wished for release and rumour has it this is planned and that will, I believe, demonstrate that the best market for vaulted material is 'facebook groups'. Social media PR will I believe be the best avenue for sale of rare music wanted by collectors of classic 60s/70s material.

'Second Disc' the re-issue blog demonstrates the range of artists collections targeting such collectors. The problem remains the licensing of material and 'clearance' of such material for issue.

At UMe 'quality control' sessions review 'approaches' re potential compilations to assess their 'contribution' to the 'corporate' image and the available catalogue. This happens in both the UK and again in the US before any compilation can be put forward for approval. A lengthy process that needs careful management. Experienced compilers know this process is fraught with disapointment. And it seems to be getting worse! But what if The Four Seasons Partnership promoted the approach and if a leading music artist or producer championed such an idea?.... would the bureaucracy move better? I sometimes wonder if problem solving in the 'clearance' process is the real issue. When Harry Weinger stepped in in 2008 we got the Motown Anthology set.

The problem perhaps with the Four Seasons Partnership is that they have been locked into their Rhino licensing deal for so long and they appear to no longer have someone like Bill Inglot managing the masters and compiling collections. Compiling collections is in many ways 'an art form' and it needs a knowledge of your audience as well as your material. Thus the benefits of a social media group is vital to designing and compiling sellable CD collections as well as finding the best compilers who can manage the process.

In future blog posts I'll be revisiting how this nearly happened with the Motown unreleased and focusing on their best rarities collections in the CD era whilst trying to find an approach to generate a viable project for Four Seasons fans. Casey Chameleon.

 

The 'Unreleased' - Status Report - Summer 2017

Pulling together my collection of the best sounding 'unreleased' tracks has been a real treat this year and to make it available to as many people as possible who collect Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons music has generated great encouragement for the research to continue. With a recording history of 55 years it remains necessary to make Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio aware of this 2017 collection as we press for research and release of those efforts left collecting dust in the Motown Universal vaults and in the Partnerships archive.

So before I move on to sleeve notes for this years UK 'Unreleased' collection, [our 'best' discoveries to date]let me sum up what we know today about Four Seasons 'related' unreleased tracks that need to be researched and released.

There is no evidence to suggest any tracks remain from the Vee-Jay days as all the masters were passed to Philips after the court settlement in 1964. All were released apart from a rumoured copy/re-recording of the Village Voices songs.

It is apparent some 'project' tracks could exist in demo/acetate form from the 1963 pre-Philips months when sessions were done with Larry Santos and the 4-Evers but whether these survived we do not know.The Four Seasons had no contract whilst in litigation but did backing work which seem to have created some Valli solo work which could have survived on 'demos'.

Philips sessions are documented and we have listed the unreleased recordings in our session masters listing on our web site where paper records have listed these. No listing has surfaced for the final sessions at Philips which we have heard have left several tracks in the Partnerships archive...some [we are told] may be incomplete.

The Motown period we now know contains the most completed but still unreleased tracks with at least 30+ tracks known to be on Motown Tapes or as completed masters [There is some evidence of partial 'digital' recovery of some]. The ownership issues around these tracks remains an issue [surfacing in 2008]with the Partnership lawyer[and allegedly Bob Gaudio] refusing to acknowledge their existence and Motown Universal not willing or able to negotiate over this. From 2021 these tracks if unpublished MAY revert to the Partnerships ownership under copyright law. Our Facebook group Campaign continues to publicise these and call for their release.

Private Stock recordings seem to be all released and we have no indication of 'lost' material but according to anecdotal evidence from the Four Seasons members at the time a full 'second' album was recorded at the 'Helicon' sessions and remains in Bob Gaudio's control.

Some evidence exists in paper records that suggests the Mercury vault has unreleased tracks from Bob Crewe's final sessions for the 'Heaven Above Me' album.

We have a track left over from the 'Streetfighter' album and we heard that before that an album was recorded in 1983 but was never picked up by a record company during a music industry recession. There are no doubt later sessions which remain unreleased and rumours abound of tracks no-one has heard throughout the 90s and up to today.[at Valli's private studio]

This all demonstrates the potential 'treasure' that exists for music detectives battling against a management that has always denied the existence of such material. Why? You may well ask. With so many artists today trawling their past for such material we continue to be amazed that we are the only researchers calling for such material to be issued. But if we keep the research going perhaps one day someone will agree this music should be made available to music historians and fans in a commercially produced series.

If anyone knows more or can add to this 'status report' then let me know and I'll keep the record of potential sources up to date.

Casey Chameleon

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 Traumas of Motown and the 'Lost' Music

For some people 'Pet Sounds' is the 'ultimate' album....the best ever mixture of songs, sounds, melodies, harmonies and arrangements they have ever heard.

For me though it is the 'changing colours' Bob Gaudio saw in the 'Chameleon' sessions that match anything that Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys conjure up. Love them though I do.....'Chameleon' is just....'me'

I didn't feel it at the time (late 1972)......I didn't 'hear it' till 1975.....well not quite.!

I rejected it first time after hearing the 'Prelude-A New Beginning' and the opening chords of 'Sun Country'. I'd popped into Boots The Chemist in Runcorn Shopping City to sound test it in their record booths(yes they still had them back then). It was not the Four Seasons I knew from my 'Dawn' and 'Rag Doll' albums. They had moved on to adulthood and left me behind!!

But by 1975 I had changed and like a growing child I was taken by the 'changing colours' Bob Gaudio saw in the magnificent music on this album.

Watching the film 'Love and Mercy' based on the life of Brian Wilson this weekend and the traumas of Brian's life made me realise that Bob Gaudio may feel that the traumas they suffered during the Motown Years make re-visiting the 'unreleased' tracks from the period too much. The whole period from the end of their Philips tenure through Motown and the re-birth of Valli's solo career and the rise of a NEW Four Seasons 'sound' is almost another film script in itself. From the depression at Philips to the broken promises of Berry Gordy it was a rough ride. And with Bob Crewe's bankruptcy and aftermath, Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli's marriage break-ups, Frankie's battle to save his hearing and the collapse of the group in 1973 it was a downhill spiral. But also a period of re-birth with Frankie's new love and marriage, Bob Crewe's return and Bob Gaudio's partnership with writer and soon to be wife Judy Parker…....together with a new and musically talented band …....it is all a great back-story to the music.

But the music largely remains unheard 'lost masters' sitting in an air-conditioned vault in NYC. Trapped and without the love of doting fans. Unlike The Beach Boys music!

How can this be.?

The reason why Brian Wilson is 'iconic' is because of his motivation. There is clear evidence he was pursuing music for spiritual reasons, for the art and for the love of creating, to make a valid contribution to the world of music. Is there any evidence that this was the case with Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio?

Some would argue 'yes' as evidenced by 'Genuine Imitation Life Gazette' and 'Chameleon'. Whilst the former is a 'social/satirical commentary', 'Chameleon' explores human and adult perspectives on love and relationships with great perception. And it is shaped by experience. Things didn't get to be an easy ride at Motown. Are the traumas of the time still too painful or are there so many legal and commercial barriers that art and creative talent can't surface to tell the story of the re-birth of what we see as an 'iconic' artist and group.

What we have we genuinely treasure. Well I do. The Motown Years remain my 'companion'.....my 'Pet Sounds'.....the 'unreleased' the equivalent of 'Smile'.

Gradually people are discovering these lost 'connections' hopefully through our 'facebook' group although so much remains unheard. Someday their time will come and people will wonder how so many great tracks remained lost for so long.

Ken Charmer

And it remains a mystery how artistic gems like this are not given a much higher profile.

 

 

Four Seasons Fans Best Ever Time?

Every Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons fan will have a specific memory of or relationship with the Motown period. For existing fans in 1971 after the excitement of the UK tour it was from all accounts a time of great optimism. By 1973 it was a time of perhaps great frustration at the lack of releases and promotion and a cancelled tour.....but by 1975/76 it was the most enthralling of times with the co-existence of so many Four Seasons identities. It was by far the most exciting time of their careers and the best of all times to be a fan. We had the 1960s Vee-Jay and Phillips sound being re-visited from 10 years before in The Four Seasons Story, The Close-Up album and The Who Loves You album with the NEW Four Seasons Sound and squeezed in we had the 'Chameleon' and 'Inside You' albums from Motown.

Truly an unbelievable and diverse range of styles and performances but all truly great music. That was the time to discover or re-discover the uniquely varied sound of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. And the 'Inside You' album was an amazing look back into the vaults at Motown to sample some of the unheard 'experiments' to find that 'hit' sound and the handful of singles that had been released since 1971. And to hear 'The Night' and 'Who Loves You' coming out of our radio's as they climbed the charts was fantastic. This was the peak, the moment, Top 10 again....and then along came December 63(Oh What A Night) to make them Nr 1 again. The culmination of years of dogged hard work and pain.

And that, it appears, is what Mowest/Motown was.

But we didn't know what had happened at the label(s) and we didn't know the musical journey. We still don't. But now we do know of and have heard a lot more, than back then. When we first heard 'Inside You' and 'With My Eyes Wide Open' which even Frankie and Bob Gaudio had not heard for 2 years and which was released without their permission/approval in 1975 , we were rightly blown away. Simply superb Crewe/Gaudio writing and producing at a new level and sound to anything before with Motown's superb studio and musicians and the most advanced 16 track recording.

But by 1975 they and Bob Crewe had moved on and they didn't want to go back. They had developed NEW material and signed to new labels so really couldn't look back with no ownership rights to the material. But fortunately for them, we hadn't forgotten this timeline, and like 'sweets' we relished the then 'recent relics' from the vault. Frankie and Bob hoped the Motown Years would just fade away and be consigned to the 'non-hit' era best forgotten. But 'The Night' (a Nr 7 UK chart hit and Northern Soul anthem) and The UK Appreciation Society have never let that happen.

And now (with us finally persuading The Four Seasons Partnership and Motown Universal to release their Motown 'released' material on CD for the first time in 2008 ) our latest research finds have provided the clearest picture ever of the 'Lost Motown Masters' by Frankie and The Four Seasons in their most diverse and most prolific experiments still in the vaults....unheard for 44 years.

We now have all the Master Nrs list completed from Motown records. It shows 53 Masters of which a massive 31 remain unreleased. And there are a rumoured 20 plus tracks not researched.

How differently fate might have been if Motown had realised what they had and been better at promoting and selling it. That 1975/76 euphoria may not have happened like it did? But it would have sometime as quality will always rise to the surface in music as long as someone cares enough to make sure it does. Well we are doing that in our Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign on Facebook as we demonstrate the Motown Treasures being neglected in the Motown Universal vaults. What had been rumour has become fact. This is the unheard and unappreciated creative work from 1971 to 1973 which we now know exists. And our Campaign aims to generate enough interest and enthusiasm to make someone agree, the 'Lost Tracks' are the 'missing link' back to fame and glory. They should be preserved and RELEASED.

Below are just some of the songs we want to hear properly re-masterd from the vaults....BY FRANKIE VALLI AND THE FOUR SEASONS ...the fight for this goes on!!!!!

 

 

  

Motown Unreleased - The case for their freedom

Many music artists from the 1950s to the 1980s with maybe only one hit or a handful of albums in their career have had their original recordings researched and compiled such that the art of their creative talent has appeared on CD in the last 15 years. So how could an artist with in excess of 80million records sold have around 45 studio recordings still languishing in storage vaults nearly 50 years after their creation?. This remains one of the enigmatic mysteries of the Four Seasons history.

Maybe because we have worked so hard as an Appreciation Society committed to research and the documentation of Frankie Valli's musical history we have been the benefactors of music data that others have stumbled upon and gifted to us which the creators strangely wanted to ignore. That seems to be the case with the story of the Four Seasons period at Motown. It seems we are almost the best equipped to tell the story of that period.

During the 1990s information was leaked from Motown UK that there were a number of unreleased tracks from the group and Valli in Motown's huge collection of tapes. This was confirmed during the noughties when a UK Motown CD compiler established these existed and proposed a UK CD release. The Four Seasons Partnership quickly reacted to quash such a project and it was not until 2009 that Motown Universal's CEO negotiated with the Four Seasons Partnership for a release of the Anthology CD collection of the 22 recordings by Frankie and the group that had been released on vinyl only during the period 1972 to 1974.

That was it.! Or so we thought. The tracks from the 1990s listing and the UK compilers project still remained unheard....unreleased. Why? It is a reasonable question. Do they no longer exist as the Partnership's lawyer has contended.?. Or are we to believe they are unfinished and not appropriate for release as has been contended by Bob Gaudio and accepted by Motown Universal?

Certainly not......because since then as a result of anonymous donations of data we have been able to document a long list of tracks, tape references and master numbers which we have made available via our website in the Motown Tape Index. The 2009 release itself confirms the quality with two previously unreleased versions replacing the vinyl versions. This data creates more questions than answers and as we finish our research we are able to share questions and analysis which makes the suppression of this music even more strange. We plan to do this over the next year.

Back in 1971 Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli accepted Berry Gordy’s commitment to work closely with them and bring back the success they had achieved in the 60’s with a new sound. The deal signed with the label in the fall of 1971, following negotiations between Gordy and Valli himself, involved Gordy taking personal charge of guiding them back to the top, with his team of writers and producers, collectively known as The Corporation.(made up of Berry Gordy, Freddie Perrien, Alphonzo Mizell and Deke Richards)

 

There are four distinct phases of the groups contract at Motown. Originally signed to Mowest they worked intensely initially with existing producers  A Valli solo album appears to have been considered too before the second phase and Bob Gaudio's own penned songs reflecting his thinking which resulted in a progressive adult contemporary album (he had failed to achieve commercial success at Philips with Genuine Imitation Life Gazette albeit some artistic acclaim) That album was to be titled 'Chameleon'. Not intentionally it became regarded as a 'concept' album. Single releases failed and Motown seemed to lose sight of this masterpiece’s strengths with failed promotion and mis-management. Such failure oft repeated during the 1970s by the company would contribute to the failure of the Mowest label. In 1971 when Motown moved to LA they had 9 Top Ten hits in the UK. By 1973 this was down to 4. Mowest’s failure to achieve much market success led Gaudio to somewhat abandon the group for his Motown in-house producer role whilst the group was troubled by internal conflict and changing personnel by 1973.

Phase 3 laid the seeds for potential success when Bob Crewe returned having signed as a writer/producer following recovery from financial troubles and nervous exhaustion after the collapse of his Crewe labels. He re-generated a new anthemic Seasons sound briefly before Valli sacked the group and started again recruiting a new line-up.

Phase 4 was the new album project Crewe and Gaudio seemed to have established with Motown which would lead to several top quality songs being demo'd in late 1973.With a quality 45 release in early 1974 success should have followed.

The failure of Motown executives at this time wasn't to be tolerated by Valli, Gaudio and Crewe as they saw potential being ignored or being under-promoted yet again. Leaving the label was the only option with a gem of a track and some potential tracks under consideration by Gaudio and Valli and the new highly skilled group line-up.

New deals for Valli's solo identity and the groups emerging new sound needed companies and Execs with insight and the distribution/marketing potential to create the success their talent deserved. Hence the Private Stock and Warner-Curb contracts that followed in 1974.

Quickly realising the error of their ways Motown rifled through the vaults to issue the 'Inside You' album as they owned all the tracks now left in rhe vaults. Two albums and a handful of single sides the legacy for3 years hard work

Nothing has appeared since with over 45 tracks now known to be recorded and on Tapes listed in our Motown Tape Index. A more detailed profile of all the work they did at Motown where they left 45+ tracks sitting in the vaults has been described in our Motown History of the group Parts 1 and Part 2.(see below) Check out the links. As we said initially, this is a most amazing situation in 2016 when the group's legendary status has been so reinforced since 2007 by the hugely successful musical Jersey Boys.

Would a release of this material prove successful?

If Bob and Frankie stepped back to look at the big picture of their career they would see this period as part of a journey from the desperate days of the debt crisis at Philips and their experimental attempts to revive the group and Valli’s reputation which led to the formation of a NEW Four Seasons band that gave the group their most successful hit ever and the finale to Jersey Boys. They will never be able to deny this fact or to have the world not recognise the achievements of Gerry Polci, Lee Shapiro, Don Ciccone and John Paiva. We just won’t let this happen.

Celebrating the rise from those desperate times was largely at Motown and we.can’t see how with the right Record Company and promotion that this would be a milestone collectors set. The quality of material has been demonstrated by the 'Inside You' album and the few demos that have surfaced since 2009. But more importantly this is a hugely important part of the groups and Motown history. It is musically a lost period.....'the missing link'. But whilst it would perhaps rekindle just what troubles surrounded the people involved during the period it would show how the individual brilliance of Valli, Gaudio and ultimately Bob Crewe created the second coming for two separate and brilliant acts, Frankie Valli AND a NEW Four Seasons which forms the finale of Jersey Boys.

But as with a Chameleon this group is changing colour as we close our focus on the history of the group in the 60s and start our CAMPAIGN TO FREE THE FOUR SEASONS FROM THE MOTOWN VAULT. Join our soon to be facebook group and help create the pressure necessary to bring this long overdue set of music to a deserving public. The fight to hear these lost productions is just beginning.

Ken Charmer

Read our detailed story of the time at Motown in our two articles

Part 1

Part 2

And get a copy of the Motown Tape Index here

Our Facebook Free The Four Seasons Unreleased from the vaults Campaign page is now up and running

The Four Seasons Sessionography – Part 5 The Motown Years

There isn’t much original research surfacing these days re the Four Seasons career, as legal negotiations continue re the unpublished story Tommy De Vito co-wrote with late Four Seasons fan Rex Woodard and it may be sometime till we see this original story on which (allegedly) Jersey Boys is based. And Charlie Calello’s book is still being edited so little new there.

However we do have some interesting detail re the mid-sixties period coming along later this year as we all prepare in the UK for Frankie Valli’s UK Summer Tour 2012. We’ll get reviews and views posted here in due course.

With no NEW music surfacing for collectors we have had to be content this year compiling our data re Four Seasons recordings and releases in the 50s to 70s sessionography series from a template developed in Word by Tom Cramlington.

We are glad we have now been able to complete this with the last section.

When it came to the Motown Years sessions (1971 – 1974) we discovered that so much material is unreleased that we needed a new layout to combine the released and unreleased and the master numbers and other data available.

We decided to combine all that we had into an Excel spreadsheet that would easily distinguish the two groups of recordings.

So on our Sessionography web site (see here)

http://www.seasonally.co.uk/Sessionography.htm

 we provide a link to this file so the world can see the extent of the work Frankie and the group did at their labels and elsewhere.

Or get the file for the Motown sessions directly here.

http://www.seasonally.co.uk/Sessions/MotownTapeIndexJune2012.xls

Please read our amended Introduction notes re this and if you want to read our previous blog notes re the story of the releases indicated as on the Tapes Index in the Motown vaults you will find this below in two Parts.

• ‘The Mowest Story’ (now available as a pdf file here)
• Bob Crewe at Motown Download the FULL story as a pdf here

We hope to speak to Frankie Valli on his UK tour in June 2012 and see if he has any interest in the unreleased material still within the Motown vault. 

Casey Chameleon

 

The Four Seasons at Motown - Part 2 (cont'd)

Aka ‘How Bob Crewe Saved Frankie Valli’s 'Solo' Career”

The Four Seasons period at Motown represents for many long-standing fans a ‘lost opportunity’. It was then, (with few releases and little promotion) and remains so today with a sparse and unrepresentative Anthology CD set from Hip-O-Select.

Perhaps some younger fans wonder why this should be important as they happily celebrate the original group’s music in the fictitious stage play ‘Jersey Boys’. Why is a period that produced NO hits at a fading  label so important.?(it would subsequently  lead to a UK Top Ten hit with ‘The Night’ – now being performed in concert by Frankie Valli for the first time for nearly 40 years).

Well simply put, it is important because the released music does NOT properly represent the work of the group and its producers over the period of their contract. Another distortion on the reality of their history: just like Jersey Boys. 40+ tracks remain on tape…many unheard and some on 16 track tape that remain un-mixed. This is more than their released catalogue of work at the label.

Only recently has information surfaced to indicate the extent of the work they did at the famous label and the remaining lack of interest of both Universal Motown who own the masters….and Valli and Gaudio who appear uninterested in its existence.

In our first blog note on this period ‘The Mowest Story’ (now available as a pdf file here) we described the optimism of their early activity on the Mowest label and now we extend that story to 1974 and their departure from the label. Based on recently acquired Tape Index information regarding 16 and 24 track tapes, we can see what was (and if adequately stored should still be) in the Universal Motown vaults. 

This second period is important because the group did actually fall apart, and Frankie Valli was left ill and alone at what was arguably the lowest point of his career. But the Tape Index information reveals just how hard Valli, the surviving group members and various producers, in particular, Bob Crewe worked to recover the 40 year old Valli’s career - and how the eventually succeeded.

Whilst we are still unable to hear much of this work (with so many tracks worked on remaining unreleased) it paints a fascinating prelude to the return to fame of the hugely talented vocalist and his NEW band of Four Seasons who would take the charts by storm during the mid 1970s.

Download the FULL story as a pdf here

At present the current story of their history, ‘Jersey Boys’, continues to be promoted as the definitive bio. But evidence and events this year will, we believe, lead to a more accurate perspective on both the shows sources and the group’s musical history. We have always argued that another storyline exists and should be told. But with a film script pending and so much hype tied into the ‘Jersey Boys’ image it is unclear how long that focus will persist.

It, unfortunately, remains doubtful that anyone can persuade Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio to support a CD project to research this lost period in the group’s history…and a bit of accuracy as to their music making efforts. It is more likely such a thing would eventually be a tribute to the ‘late’ Frankie Valli CD.  But as we owe Bob Crewe so much for the success of the group and Valli…….we have to pose the question. Can miracles happen?!!

Casey Chameleon

 

Motown's 'Four Seasons' Archive Preservation - Part 2 : The Mowest Story

“(Don’t you know? Ahhhhhh-hhhh-hhhh) Today that world is over. (Don’t you know? Ahhhhhh-hhhh-hhhh) You cannot live it over.(Baby, live it over) You’ve hit the bottom-side you nearly died. A chosen few can get to tomorrow, beg or borrow. You wrote the song, now you’ve got to sing along.”

A New Beginning ( B.Crewe – B.Gaudio) opening lyric to ‘Chameleon’ album (1972)

One period of the Four Seasons career that remains little known is the Mowest/Motown contract and on the 40^th anniversary of them signing, we are only just beginning to understand the story of their recordings at the label(s). Now that we have the Universal Motown Tape index we can see the work that they did (at least the info listed, although this is likely to be incomplete) and be amazed that this period generated at least 45 recordings that have not been released and in many cases not been heard since, as no research and restoration project has been launched.

 So what do we really know about how the Four Seasons came to sign with this Motown label?.

 

The fact is that the group by this time (1971) had literally fallen apart with Tommy DeVito’s departure at the end of their contract at Philips and Bob Gaudio’s pending retirement from touring.(His last tour of the UK would be in autumn of 1971) Signed up musicians fulfilled the group’s gigs and Joe Long stage managed the shows and to some extent the identity of the group as their MC. But there would be a very good reason for employing the best musicians and finding a new direction and sound.

 

[The Four Seasons line-up in 1970 for a BBC Top Of The Pops TV performance - right to left - Bob Grimm, Joe Long, Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio]

Berry Gordy the Motown President and owner was moving his operation to the West Coast and in 1971 he launched Mowest Records, which would be based in Hollywood. It is claimed that his original plan was that the Motown label would be superseded by Mowest Records once the move had been completed. However, it soon became apparent that this new label would turn out to be the home for a number of white acts. The next step in the Four Seasons Partnership’s search for a future took place in late 1971 when Ewart Abner (ex-Vice President of the now defunct Vee-Jay label)  who held an executive position at Motown and was a friend of Frankie Valli, heard that the group were looking for a label to record upon.  A speedy phone call to the Motown Corporation President, Berry Gordy, resulted in the group signing with Tamla Motown in October 1971.  They were the second white group ever to do so and were placed upon the newly formed Mowest label.

A recent article by  Greame Thompson  in the Guardian UK reveals the background to the MoWest label….”If success was purely a question of aesthetics, then Mowest could have ruled the world. The label logo certainly deserved to be stuck to the centre of any number of hit records: a generous slice of bright blue Pacific framed by a golden sunset and the equally golden California sand, it promised fine times and good living. The reality of its brief tenure, however, proved less blissful.

The existence of Mowest, one of Motown's more obscure subsidiaries, is attributable to a very American impulse to head west and prospect for gold. By the early 70s, Motown supremo Berry Gordy was already inching his Hitsville operation from Detroit to California. Motown had run a Los Angeles office since 1963, while Gordy had been living in the city since the late 60s. Mowest, a wholly west coast enterprise with its base in LA on Sunset & Vine and a studio in Romaine Street, was formed in 1971 as an expendable advance party for the final phase of Motown's westward creep.

"For Gordy it was a transitional thing," says Don Peake, a member of the legendary Wrecking Crew group of LA session players,but you may be less familiar with his work in the multicultural seven-piece Odyssey, who released their only album on Mowest. "Mowest was their first arena to test the waters out there and foster talent in the area."

During the September tour of the UK the writing of much of the what was to become the Gaudio inspired ‘Chameleon’ album took place, as Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli accepted Berry Gordy’s commitment to work closely with them and bring back the success they had achieved in the 60’s with a new sound. The deal signed with the label in the fall of 1971, following negotiations between Gordy and Valli himself, involved Gordy taking personal charge of guiding them back to the top, with his team of writers and producers, collectively known as The Corporation.(made up of Berry Gordy, Freddie Perrien, Alphonzo Mizell and Deke Richards)

In Novemebr and December the group worked extensively in the studio on a supposed Frankie Valli solo album and a group effort.. TCB Motown’s monthly newsletter in January 1972 reported….”The group has already finished recording an album with 15 tracks in all being cut at the Mowest studios in Los Angeles. It is thought that a single will be taken from these sessions”. Now we can see that the Valli solo tracks were Motown Classics which Mowest’s producers (allocated to the label by Berry Gordy) Al Cleveland, Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson and Hal Davis produced.

Al Cleveland has a long and distinguished writing career, initially for New York artists on the Wand/Sceptre labels such as Dionne Warwick(e) and Tommy Hunt, as well as Gene Pitney before moving to Motown, where he provided songs for Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, the Marvelettes, David Ruffin, the Four Tops and Chuck Jackson before hitting the big time with a co-authorship of Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On?" and "Save the Children."

Jerry Marcellino and Mel Larson had worked with the Jackson 5 and  would have big hits with 12 year old Michael on “Rockin’ Robin” and “Little Bitty Pretty One” during 1972.

What we can now see is that the still unreleased song ‘My Heart Cries Out To You’(Tape P2060/P2082) was co-produced by Marcellino and Larson as a potential single. Steve Bailey the USA fan club President managed to get into the sessions that finished the song. He wrote on a newsletter at the time….” Frankie had already done lead vocal and musical tracks were finished. Joe(Long) and Demitri (Callas) with Mel Larsen did background tracks and then Frankie did some doubling and backgrounds. It is a fantastic song. Maybe the new single. I sure hope so." ‘Lovewell’ (Tape P2111) was also mentioned re this session.

Frankie Valli also recorded the The Four Tops ‘Baby I Need Your Loving’  with the same producers and had Al Cleveland producing the Smokey Robinson song (see also Mary Wells and The Temptations), ‘What Love Has Joined Together’ (Tape P2079) plus the Marvin Gaye song he co-wrote ‘Save The Children’(Tape P2079). Also Hal Davis recorded a stylish up tempo version of ‘Just Look What You Have Done’ (the Brenda Holloway classic) which was released as a promo Motown PR-10 (12") in Oct 1975 and was included on the ‘Inside You’ albums trawl back through the master tapes that year.

 

Bob Gaudio had in 1971 also signed a contract with Motown as song writer/producer and although he was no longer touring with the group, he remained their producer. His songs for the groups sessions Valli described as a ‘concept album’, but that was after it was complete. Gaudio says he was just writing constantly as ideas came into his head and he was not thinking in terms of a hit song. The concept came after, when he listened to the recordings and he heard ‘colours changing constantly’. The opening song ‘A New Beginning’ was in fact a year and a half old and had been penned with Bob Crewe before he and Gaudio had a major fallout. Gaudio at the time said that this was one of the ‘better things’ he and Crewe had written together. But being a ballad it was not thought strong enough for single release by a group with a reputation for up-tempo songs.

 

The ‘Chameleon’ LP [Mowest 108], which included the aptly titled ‘A New Beginning’ as the first track was a breathtaking example of West Coast pop of the early Seventies - to many an unusual excursion for the group who for so many years were the sound of New York. The album, which everyone could see had a conceptual feel, received massive critical acclaim from the music press - although artistically and musically brilliant, record buyers would need time to adjust to this sound and the promotional budgets would not accept that. When tracks like “A New Beginning” were performed in concert the fans had become so locked into the oldies style that they failed to appreciate the new direction, destroying the group’s belief in the new sound. The album Bob Gaudio said was based on a fairly ‘legit’ production approach with heavy rhythms, bass and drums, and full orchestrations using Charlie Calello, Dave Blumberg and Joe Scott as arrangers. The album was held up by technical problems at the new studio. Gaudio worked tirelessly getting the sound right.(eg De-essing Valli’s voice)

‘Love Isn’t Here/Poor Fool’ Mowest 5011F (2-72) was the first release from the album and Mowest just didn’t have the management to promote the single or the subsequent album. They didn’t have the personnel to get the radio promotion and couldn’t ‘sell’ the new sound (it just wasn’t a Motown sound). Gaudio said that “ Motown can’t go on living with the same sound…they have to diversify” in a 1972 interview. “There does come a point where even the Four Seasons (60s) sound gets to be a drag, after a while….after 42 hits… I don’t want to hear it no more…there are a lot of people who have to feel that way”, he comments. Ironically, how times and attitudes change and today 40 years on that sound is making him millions in 5 shows world wide via Jersey Boys whilst his Mowest/Motown material remains largely unheard.

Why Motown failed to see the potential of ‘The Night’ remains a mystery. A single was scheduled for release on Mowest during 1972 and was allocated to Mowest 5025 but only appeared as a white label promotional single in the USA. People commented at the time that the whole album just didn’t sound like a Four Seasons album. As Gaudio responded…’if it doesn’t sound like the Four Seasons, then who does it sound like. The harmonies are the same but there may be less of them and Frankie Valli is still Frankie Valli. He has his own sound. Certain companies can’t sell certain type products and ‘Love Isn’t Here’ was one they just weren’t ready for. But it has been a slow building process at Mowest and they have to get into the ‘white’ market because it is awfully big and they are trying desperately.”

Several songs not produced by Gaudio didn’t make the album from Tapes P2105, P2110,P 2111 and 2113 including  Oh Girl, Everything Is Gonna Be Alright(B.Moss), What It Is(Whitfield-Strong), Girl, Don't Take Your Love From Me(W.Hutch), Love Well, Loving You-That's My Thing, That's All I Want From You, Wigs and Lashes( A Miracles album track), Time Will Tell and an alternative fast version of Gaudio’s production ‘You’re A Song’ . All ended up staying in the vaults as Gaudio concentrated on his own songs with Crewe, Ruzika and with wife Brit who had been separated from Gaudio for some 18 months before their reconciliation in 1972. In March, the Seasons long time writer and producer Bob Gaudio had retired from the group and was replaced by the 20 year old Clay Jordan from LA . He began working as a Motown producer with Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and Martin and Finley.

Not prepared to leave it just to Bob Gaudio, Berry Gordy continued to try to find success for Valli with other producers. Willie Hutch with ‘Thank You’ in early 1972 and a Hal Davis session resulted in a master tape (P2134) which included the unreleased Where Love Ends, I'll Make It Up To You and Stop, Look And Listen (To Your Heart) which would be a Diana Ross-Marvin Gaye release later in 1973.

The Corporation followed up by writing ‘Walk On, Don't Look Back’ (Tape P2205), specifically for Valli's high pitched vocal style. This was after release of the album ‘Chameleon’ in May 72 had created little market impact. The record, a classic case of deja vu, had everything a Four Seasons hit from eight years earlier had. Unfortunately, this was 1972, sounds had changed and already Gordy was starting to get sidelined with Diana Ross' movie career. ‘Walk On, Don't Look Back’ finally saw release in the USA on Mowest 5026 during August 1972(b/w /Sun Country). Unfortunately, there weren’t enough Four Seasons fans of this 60s sounding record in 1972……or more importantly, hearing this song on radio…to buy it in enough numbers. Gaudio remarked at the time that this release was as close to getting the Four Seasons today to do The Four Seasons back in the 60s as they could get. But personally HE couldn’t re-visit the ‘old style’

One other single was scheduled for release on Mowest during 1972 –‘The Night’; was allocated to Mowest 5025 but only appeared as a white label promotional single in the USA.  Sessions by Valli and/or the group with Hal Davis resulted in Torn Between Two Lovers (which would become a hit for Mary MacGregor in 1976) and Thank You For Yesterday both remaining unreleased. (Tape P2203). Amongst all the personnel changes efforts were made to resurrect the groups career as 1973 opened. Tracks still in the vault from these sessions include  I Will Love You Like A Man (P2225), After I'm Gone, Time Will Tell (P2206), Include Me In Your Life (recorded by Marvin and Diana) and Point Of No Return (P2304)

But although Bob Gaudio stated that he felt the relationship with Motown was “good and really together” in 1972, Mowest didn’t know what to promote as “their sound” and couldn’t see merit in these Valli session tracks. Gaudio commented  that Motown were only just realising their need to diversify and he quotes The Beatles as an example of how important this is in the way they “spread themselves” all over different music styles. He believed Motown were beginning to see their own potential with people like Marvin Gaye and The Jackson Five. But the market still identified a ‘Motown Sound’ (and still does today!). In retrospect we can see it has phases and evolved, but it remained ‘The Sound Of Young America’

Two more singles were released in the UK ‘The Night/When The Morning Comes’ (MW3002 in 10/72) and ‘Walk on,Don’t Look Back/Touch the Rainchild’ (MW3003 in 3/73) but without promotion and this would be the last we would see of the Mowest label. ‘The Night’ became an essential play (without achieving significant sales) at the Wigan Casino in Lancashire, England as the cult Northern Soul dance club scene began to gather momentum. By 1973 the releases seemed to have dried up and the group had virtually disintegrated working the oldies circuit with their sixties hits programme.

In retrospect the songs by a commercially faltering Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons constitute an unexpected purple patch in their and the history of Mowest according to the recent CD compilation ‘Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love’ – The Mowest Story 1971-1973. ’Chameleon’ represents the peak of the labels creativity thanks to Bob Gaudio and in no small part to the ‘temporarily retired’ Bob Crewe.

As Greame Thompson asks……..

 “If the music is this good, why was Mowest such a commercial failure? It lasted barely long enough to leave a trace, releasing just 10 albums and 40 singles, many of which failed to make it beyond the promo stage. Its only hit was Tom Clay's terrible spoken-word rendition of What the World Needs Now, the portentous oration intercut with socially provocative media reports.

Many of Mowest's troubles stemmed from a fraught relationship with its parent label. Dave Pell, a celebrated jazz saxophonist, producer, record executive and former president of the Grammys, was hired by Gordy to be "in charge of all Mowest's music, production and signings". At least that was the theory. In reality, "Berry was involved in everything," Pell says. "He was a strong record man and I really liked him, but I fought him every day. He hired me to change things, then stood in my way. It was like, 'What the hell did you hire me for?'"

There was, feels Pell, little impetus from above to make Mowest work. Motown's marketing men and pluggers were constantly preoccupied with Marvin Gaye, or Stevie Wonder, or extending the Jackson Five's run of hits. By comparison, Pell's ragged roster of obscurities, in-house writing talent, future stars and familiar names fallen on hard times seemed less than essential. On the rare occasions when an act did show a glimmer of commercial promise, they were swiftly spirited off to the mothership. The Commodores released their first two Motown-related singles on Mowest. When the second reached the nursery slopes of the R&B chart, Motown snapped them up for further development. "We were auditioning acts for Motown," says Pell. "Of course that was happening. 'It's too good for Mowest.' I heard that a couple of times. I felt we were secondary to Motown people, we weren't on the first team."

The label's image was also problematic. Motown was changing, but it retained a powerful core identity, whereas one of the charms of Mowest's output was its lack of any unifying aesthetic. "It was eclectic, open format, multicultural, crossing all sorts of boundaries," says the Canadian DJ Kevin Howes, who compiled Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love. "People want an identifiable style, and Mowest wasn't that bag, which may have been part of its downfall." Intrinsic to the aim of giving soul music a broader base was the idea of making the music a less overtly black proposition. This, too, alienated both audiences and artists. "Acts didn't really want to come with us because we didn't have the right image," says Pell. "And people weren't buying because they thought we'd made a vanilla Motown that didn't have the soul, the feeling, or anything else that was really Motown. Mowest didn't have an identity."

Perhaps that's why many musicians felt little personal investment in Mowest. Several were house songwriters and session players whose affiliations lay with Motown. Marilyn McLeod, who has written for Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops and Anita Baker, released one Mowest single, A Heart Is a House, as part of the Nu Page. "I wasn't signed up as a Mowest artist," she says. "I was signed up to Motown as a songwriter." Peake agrees: "I was a staff musician for Motown and I never really felt much of a distinction. While I was in Odyssey I was still making records in California with the Supremes and the Temptations."

Hamstrung by internal power struggles, identity confusion and a commercial profile somewhere south of low, Mowest lasted less than two years. By the time it folded in 1973, Pell had already gone. "I got fired for a story I won't tell," he says. "Gordy brought me into a room with 20 of his people and said: 'Here's what we're going to do, what do you think?' and I said, 'This stinks, it's a shitty way of doing things.' And I was gone, out of my office in five minutes."”

Bob Gaudio was aware of the ‘casualties’ of Berry Gordy’s new regime in LA and the resentment some felt that long-standing Motown artists were no longer there. Bob Gaudio recognized that albums where the future and ‘you couldn’t just rely on top ten hits all the time’ as he said, “albums are the thing that bring in really big, big money, and (in the past) they (Motown) never really took the time to make good albums…..they could win awards for some of the worst albums ever with B sides, C sides and even E sides on compilations” . But he believed the current issues of singles and albums in 1972 “was incredible” and “not typically in a Motown groove”. He quoted Michael Jackson’s ‘Ben’ as an example……and his attitude re the Four Seasons was uncompromising……. ”What the Four Seasons were, is not what they are and I understand it’s hard to accept but somewhere along the line they (the fans) need to stop putting down releases because they say…’It doesn’t sound like the Four Seasons that I know’…well OK it doesn’t but at some point they have to stop looking at it in that aspect….to open their ears and ask…..’Is it a good record?. Is it a hit record? Do I like the song?….forget it is The Four Seasons ….and that’s a problem….but somewhere along the line it will break through because it if you make ‘good product for long enough’  somewhere along the line somebody is gonna have to buy it…I really believe that.”

Gaudio has always been and remains a seeker of ‘commercial success’ rather than being focused on ‘artistic direction’ although he always wrote solely from ‘where his head was’ at the time. He staunchly believed ‘Chameleon’ was NOT un-commercial when you look at the ‘current charts’ of late 72 as he was interviewed by UK Fan Club President Stuart Miller. He felt that the success of artists like Gilbert O’Sullivan with songs that are surprising hits showed what was possible… “it was a commercial record….but if Frankie Valli sang it, would it be accepted?”….he asked. Fans have to move on he correctly stated….and “HE couldn’t remake ‘Sherry’!.”

But by 1973  ‘Chameleon’ had failed to generate any success. (although ‘The Night’ thanks to the Northern Soul scene would gain a Top Ten position in the UK in 1975 and generate an LP release of some of the vault tracks mentioned above…proving Gaudio’s comment about ‘good product’ to be correct). But with Mowest in 1972 – “the product was simply lost amongst the changing cultural tides and lack of promotional power” as Kevin Howes aptly says in this new CD compilation of the label.

Graham Thompson concludes…..”By 1973 Mowest had fulfilled its primary function of preparing the ground for Motown to make its permanent base in Los Angeles, which it did in 1973. In the end, Pell believes: "Motown didn't fit, out in California, I thought they were very uncomfortable." History largely backs him up, and yet had its adventurousness been enthusiastically harnessed and its output properly promoted, Mowest could well have mapped a viable route for Motown to follow. Several songs on Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love predict the popular soul trends of the near future: the sleek, orchestrated shimmer of Philly, the polished sheen of disco. The new sounds, in fact, that by the mid-70s had made Motown seem increasingly irrelevant as it became over-reliant on a handful of waning big-hitters.”

The vaults index reveals that there are at least two albums full of unreleased tracks from this period by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. A project of ‘Valli Sings Motown’ and ‘The Chameleon Sessions’ with alternative versions and unreleased tracks would we believe make a very sellable collectors CD release. All tracks characterized by Frankie Valli’s distinctive vocal style and the sleek sounds commented on above. Eventually they may see release.

Perhaps in the circumstances the Four Seasons (by then a sacked group– 25^th March 1973 - retaining only Valli and bassist Joe Long) didn’t have much of a chance at Mowest. Its internal management frailties are clear. But they were still signed to Motown and 1973 would see a return of one man who could perhaps save them By late 1972 Bob Crewe was negotiating a writing and production deal with Motown.

Casey Chameleon

Next Time – Part 3: How Bob Crewe Saved Frankie Valli’s Solo Career

Thanks to George Ingram, Ken Charmer, Stuart Miller and Frank Rovello for information re this period.

THIS ARTICLE IS DEDICATED TO FORMER FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE FOUR SEASONS UK APPRECIATION SOCIETY – STUART MILLER

Stuart sadly died in a motor cycle accident in Manchester in May 2011. He was 58, a father of 4 and a grandfather. His contribution to our society is documented here. Stuart’s crowning glory’s were a bootleg vinyl album of rare Four Seasons recordings in 1971 and a comprehensive interview with Bob Gaudio in September 1972 which is, we believe is the most ‘definitive’ portrayal of Bob’s role with the group and enabled the writing of this article. Thanks Stuart, for giving us the inspiration to keep the stories and the music in our heart’s and ears.  Sorry that you wont get to hear the ‘lost tracks’ mentioned above.

Frank Rovello has posted the full interview here

 

Motown's 'Four Seasons' Archive Preservation - Part 1

I keep getting e-mails from fans of The Four Seasons asking “what is the latest news on the unreleased tracks in the Motown vault?. Is there any chance of any of it being released?” And they keep coming even nine months after we highlighted the demos of some of these in Chameleon’s blog at the start of 2011. So this is our latest assessment.

There are we now KNOW over 40 unreleased tracks ‘named’ as existing on 16 track tape sitting in the Motown vault in we believe an air-conditioned unit in New Jersey. What is more we now know which tapes exist and what the Motown data records show “should be on the tapes”. Knowing Crewe and Gaudio’s attitude to recording it is unlikely the recording sessions are incomplete. During the Detroit period many of the backing tracks were recorded separately and at a later date the lead vocal was added. Sometimes it wasn’t…..leaving incomplete songs…sometimes another artist used the backing track. We believe that during the Four Seasons Motown 70s sessions this may only have happened with a few of the songs: The Marvin Gaye –Diana Ross Duet ‘Stop Look and Listen to Your Heart’ for which Valli is alleged to have laid down a lead vocal. (Tape P2201 Master 60950) and the Bobby Darin recording ‘I Won’t Last A Day Without You’ which Bob Crewe produced with a Four Seasons ‘style’ backing with Bobby and which is also listed as covered by Frankie Valli (Stereo Tape 3912 )

 

We are currently analyzing the tape archive data to paint a better picture of the group’s spell at the label and how their tenure there failed to produce a hit record and why only 23 out of 70 to 80 recordings have surfaced.

 As for the question “what are the chances of these being released?” . Well we believe that is not the right question.

The risk of loss of masters is high. This research paper highlights the current situation…” Record companies are engaged intensely in providing customers with an alternative to Napster that will generate income for the record industry and prevent piracy of music. The major subscription Web sites for music will probably concentrate on contemporary music and the history of rock and roll (Surowiecki 2000). The universe of musical riches promised by celestial jukeboxes is not likely to include a wide selection of historical sound recordings that represent the full breadth of recorded music. This is certain to be true if they are not preserved and documented properly. If audio recordings that do not have mass appeal are to be preserved, that responsibility will probably fall to libraries and archives. Within a partnership between archives and intellectual property owners, archives might assume responsibility for preserving less commercial music in return for the ability to share files of preserved historical recordings.

All audio preservation is expensive; it is estimated that preservation engineers' studio time required for a recording averages three times the length of the source recording. Digital preservation holds great promise but it adds significant investment costs, such as the creation and maintenance of repositories and the generation of controlling metadata. Whether for lack of foresight or funding, libraries are not creating digital mass-storage systems for audiovisual works, which are common in broadcasting archives. We face an extraordinary dilemma: at a time when a greater range of audio is available to more people than ever before, and the means are finally at hand to preserve those sounds for posterity, we stand the greatest risk of losing them. “

We recently contacted Universal Motown Vice President , Harry Weinger to make a case for the urgent ‘preservation’ of these tracks rather than focusing on their release. In an e-mail to Harry we set out our concerns.… “Gathering information on the Four Seasons at Motown over the last year has been very fruitful in us finding recordings of acetates of Bob Crewe's productions during late 1973. If you have followed our blog you will have heard these on You Tube.

This of course adds to the belief that there is a good deal of material complete or suitable for mixing to completion by Valli and the group and which has never been released. 

We understand you have accepted Bob Gaudio’s position that this material is not to be released and that is his right and stems from his membership of The Four Seasons Partnership .(notwithstanding it is not owned by him nor is it all his work, it is Valli's and they are Partners) 

In gathering information we now have combined research from 1970s sources with info from anonymous people in Motown during the 1990s and compilation of a more detailed database of the P tapes in the Universal Motown archive and of the 60000 series of master numbers has been possible. We can now see on our lists the released and unreleased tracks on their master 16 track tapes. Like many Motown artists the lists of unreleased tracks in the vault continues to be a big focus for collectors as there are potentially so many.

As a result, the picture of the Four Seasons recording career at Mowest/Motown has become much clearer and we are optimistic that there are at least 45 tracks/recordings identified from data records of what should/could be on tape which have not been released. We realise the LA tapes indexing is not good and suspect that many have not been researched since they were recorded.

Our concern re this is with regard to the fact that these tapes are not digitized or preserved in a form that enables them to be finished/mixed down from multi-track(or even if this is possible)

It is clear from your own comments in interview for previous projects, that until the tapes are properly researched and digitized it is unclear what can be salvaged. That appears to be a core problem for Universal Motown’s Tape Archive and it isn't getting any easier as economic models for the release of music make life more difficult for you the tape owners. Obviously the biggest expenditure is in locating and re-mastering tapes. This process has to be gone through, whether the end result is a CD or an on-line piece of music. Maintaining Ampex or other relevant tape machines is a cost it seems some corporations are wishing to remove and the risk of loss of this art appears real.

From our perspective, The Four Seasons are and will remain very important artists in the history of pop music and the preservation of their recording history remains a key objective of our work.

We do realise that, whilst Bob Gaudio does not want unreleased material issued at present, there is still in our opinion an important project to be considered in researching and digitizing the results of the group’s sessions at Motown. Current research has already shown the importance(and quality) of Bob Crewe's compositions with Kenny Nolan in 1973 and other songs which relate to key writers and producers.

We can all see that the commercial exploitation of the tracks in the Motown Universal tape vaults remains difficult in a music retail climate that is reducing the commercial value of past  music year on year. However, from a art perspective every year sees the artistic and cultural value of these recordings becoming more and more important, and like newly discovered paintings by recognised artists this material will have high value in time.

Our project wish is to simply target the preservation of the material for future potential use rather than them being an unknown piece of work. Fans really are interested in this information and it is hard to see why Universal Motown would not wish to reach such a position. We think it is more important to confirm the status of recordings rather than to manage expectations re a release. The latter has become less important than the former given the age of the tapes and the artists/producers.

 Like all great creative output, it is inevitable that these rare works will appreciate in value. There can be little argument that a modest investment in reviewing and preserving the 'Seasons' Motown collection today will give everyone more freedom to develop new 'products' from it in the future, as appropriate.”

What we were highlighting was that Universal Motown are the ‘curators’ of this ‘art’ and it deserves the same respect as other historical art like film/video or paintings. The risks of losing this work was brought home to us by an article from Billboard in July 1997  “Labels Strive to rectify Past Problems”. Writer Bill Holland won an ASCAP-Deems Taylor award for this stunning overview of the industry and highlights horror stories of ‘lost assets’ (ie the master tapes) and how ‘mindless companies and employees’ sometimes simply threw them away or over-taped them. We believe this happened with the original Four Seasons masters stored at Bell Studios.

 

[The Apex MM-1000 16 track console came into use from 1970 onwards]

But Universal Motown are not stupid and are fully aware of the value contained in these tapes for the wide range of artists in their archive. The success of some of the re-issue projects by them and licensing companies such as ACE has led to superb output this year alone for Tammy Terrell, Patrice Holloway and Marv Johnston helps maintain interest in the archive.

Although we haven’t yet had a reply from Harry we believe our strategy is likely to be implemented. The evidence of this is in interviews Harry gave earlier this year and in this article to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Motown.

“NEW YORK -- It's a plain little room. The size of a small garage, maybe.

For Detroit, this is a very important 150 square feet. Housed here, on the fifth floor of an office building 500 miles from West Grand Boulevard, are the most valuable raw materials in the city's cultural history.

This is Universal Music's Motown vault, and these are Motown's original session tapes: the reels that rolled in the studio at West Grand, capturing what would become some of the most beloved sounds in popular music. These tapes are the sacred texts of Detroit music, and this is their sanctuary.

The little room is concealed behind secured doors deep in Universal's glossy Broadway headquarters. It's not a romantic-looking nook. Fluorescent lights, white walls, metal shelving.

But the contents are pure gold, and worth that much, too. Lining the shelves are hundreds of thin square boxes, many with crinkled, typewritten labels itemizing the songs inside. These reels have been on a lengthy journey -- from Detroit in the '60s to Los Angeles in the '70s to New Jersey in the '90s to Pennsylvania in the '00s to this little room in Manhattan today.

This vault is a way station for the tapes as Universal staffers do their work, creating digital archives, performing restoration work and -- most importantly -- extracting songs for an ever-churning array of Motown projects. When the reels aren't here, they're in heavily guarded, climate-controlled facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey with Motown's full archive of 30,000 reels.

Founder Berry Gordy Jr. says Motown's 50th anniversary is "really about celebrating the unsung heroes as well as the ones everybody knows." Years ago, those unsung heroes were fearless salesmen, patient artist trainers and other offstage personnel. Today they're the core team of six people in this office, along with staffers across the country, doing the work that keeps Motown's music thriving.

"Universal is the caretaker of the legacy, and we take that role very seriously," says Harry Weinger, vice president of Universal's catalog division. "Motown is still alive. It's not some creaky museum piece. It's real."

Down the hall from Universal's New York vault is the mastering room, a mood-lit space with a pair of leather couches and a stately console at the center. Studio A, they call it, in a tribute to Hitsville back in Detroit. Two vintage tape machines, the size of card tables, sit against a wall. They're rare, expensive and meticulously maintained. The last thing anybody wants is to see a stream of Motown tape go twisting and shredding into a real piece of history.

This is where staffers take the work of Motown's greats, transferring the old tapes into computer files for mixing and mastering. Scrutinizing the tape boxes brings little thrills. Each contains a track sheet from the original recording session, meticulously listing song titles, dates, personnel and the placement of instruments. (this is we know not correct as data re some of the tapes is very limited and often incorrect as they admit) Motown often cut several sessions on one reel. Pull a box off the shelf, and you might see "The Tears of a Clown" and "Standing in the Shadows of Love" side by side.

"We're following in someone's footsteps, and they've done beautiful work," says Weinger. "So sometimes you just want to touch the tape. You get the vibe of the session, the feel for it.".

"I always knew it would become valuable," Gordy says. "We were locked into the baby boomers early, and they followed us right down to where we are now. And now their kids, their grandkids, are getting a taste of something they loved so much."

So we believe the process of digitizing and protecting this heritage has commenced. There is no need to maintain a staff base (or sound engineers) in this day and age with projects and releases being licensed out and commercially successful (and so well done) by the likes of ACE Records. Sub-contractors (for example Sterling Sound) can undertake the preservation and digitization of ‘the assets’ and a specialist small team can over-see the process.

So what else makes us believe the Four Seasons Motown catalogue will be researched and preserved soon.? Well look what is coming in October at the 131st AES Convention (Friday, October 21, 9:00 am — 10:30 am) the subject is…..”Yesterday, Today, and Forever: The Art and Science Behind the Motown and Verve Catalog Reissues
Presenters: Kevin Reeves, Andy Skurow, Harry Weinger
The panel will discuss: What is catalog, and how are reissues conceptualized? The vault system: What is the process of finding the assets? And they will talk about how the technical engineering brings all the elements together for the final package.”

Whilst generic this will possibly focus on the above issues and how the archive team plans to go forward. Let’s hope someone asks the right question!!

Casey Chameleon

Next Time: The story of the sessions at Mowest and Motown and the chances of Valli, Gaudio, and Crewe agreeing to a release of the lost tracks 

 

 

 

Musical History Preservation

Ironically as The Beach Boys plan a mega release for November of the ‘Smile’ sessions from 1967 (see here), Four Seasons fans are forced to continue to tolerate the paucity of quality of the groups back-catalogue (it simply isn’t available on vinyl or in a re-mastered HQ sound)

 And this is so much more frustrating when we know that at least 40 unreleased tracks lie in the Motown vault and we know of around 10 tracks from the last Philips sessions and a full album of material from the ‘Helicon’ sessions still remain unreleased and unlikely to see the light of day. Equally so no biographies from key people who where part of the Four Seasons Story are emerging and there is amongst some of us a disturbing but not unsurprising ‘conspiracy theory’ as to why this is.

Perhaps the executives behind ‘Jersey Boys’ – The Show and possibly The Movie are  suppressing any attempts at an alternative story line emerging as they continue to rake in mega-profits from this production.

Having read ‘Dirty Little Secret’s of the Record Business’ and ‘Appetite For Self-Destruction’: excuse us for once again fearing the dominance of financial objectives over artistic preservation.

 In a week when we lost iconic people from the 60s music industry in Jack Ashford(of Ashford and Simpson), Jerry Leiber and Motown Matriach Esther Gordy Edwards it remains depressing that there is evidence of a lack of open-ness re the back catalogue from both the Four Seasons Partnership and Motown Universal. It continues to be a surprise why Record Companies remain so secretive about what they have and their potential projects and releases. They may argue it is about ‘managing expectations’ and the complex and costly legal and production costs of bringing original masters from the vaults today. Even Capitol issued a hasty denial when Al Jardine ‘leaked’ the news of the project for ‘Smile’ earlier this year. Surely someone somewhere cares about the true story of 60s and 70s music and that of the Four Seasons (apart from us)? For 40 years Motown Universal have hidden the history they have in their vaults and they still wont speak about it even when Frankie Valli has admitted recently that he and Bob have no ownership rights to the material and he can see no reason why a record company couldn’t release it.

 At least Capitol found a way to get the Beach Boys to acknowledge the importance of the ‘Smile’ sessions but perhaps it was the lucrative financial rewards from the spectacularly packaged box sets for collectors : and with master engineer Mark Linnet doing the re-mixing the result will be a collectors dream. Unlike the Jazz scene where an artists history is honoured, it seems things only happen in the ‘pop’ market when there is ‘big money’ to be made. And if that means promoting a fictional history, so be it!

Whatever the actions of The Four Seasons Partnership or the JB Executives, we will continue to campaign to dispel the myths of Jersey Boys and to get the truthful story out to the world. In fact much of this can be found in the Melcher Media – The Jersey Boys Book and in our series of article ‘The Rise and Fall Of The New Four Seasons”.

 OK I hear you say but “you ask four guys and you get four different stories” as the Jersey Boys script argues. Well we would rather believe Esther Gordy Edwards approach as told to us by Motown Alumni President Billy Wilson in his recollections of this great lady….”. Though few fans knew of her, historically she became one of the primary driving forces in the Motown camp. The eldest sister of Berry Gordy, Edwards worked part time with Berry Gordy in the early years of Motown's development, until in 1962 she decided to work full time with the label.  She was one of the original corporate board members of Motown Record Company along with Raynoma Gordy (Berry's second wife). She was the manager for virtually all of the Motown stars through the formation of the companies booking agency, Senior VP of Motown, and held numerous other jobs. She was also the founder of the Motown Historical Museum which she created in the 80's”…….He continues…”. "When I started moving with the alumni association she gave me so much insight on what the company was all about, I had to adjust my frame of thinking on what was true about the company and what was fiction; it was that conversation that still holds true to this day on how I look at Motown Record Company back in the day" said Billy Wilson President of the Motown Alumni Association. He went on to say ...The greatest advice she gave me was to quit reading the fiction that was put out, and ask the people that were there, then blend the stories, she said two people can be in the same room and see two different stories, the truth will come through the wash. I've held on to that advice like the gospel, and found it to be absolute; nobody could have given me better advice,”

So watch out for our research publications as the year closes as we publish our list of myths in Jersey Boys…..more on the Motown Tape vaults and the response to our plea for the digital preservation of the unreleased tapes. Plus we hope to unearth the story of how the Four Seasons nearly ended as a hit making machine in 1966. Taken from interviews with ‘the people who were there….the truth will wash through’ …believe me…and as for what is in the vaults…well if the ‘conflicted’ Beach Boys can be brought together to see the light and preserve their sessions, then maybe Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli can do a deal with Motown Universal?

 Casey Chameleon.

Check out the unreleased below:

–       16 Track Master Tape 2664

Hymn to Her

Lovers

You’ve Got to Make Your Tomorrow Tonite!

Plus…..their own master….

I Wonder Why