When I heard that Tommy DeVito, co-founder of The Four Seasons and inspiration for the 2005 musical Jersey Boys, had died of complications from COVID-19 I found this CD on my shelf. I was an early fan of The Four Seasons and bought their albums. With Frankie Valli as the lead singer, Bob Gaudio (formerly of the Royal Teens) on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on electric bass and bass vocals the band created a unique sound. That lead to a string of hits in the Sixties.
I also enjoyed the musical Jersey Boys (you can read my review here) with the story of how The Four Seasons came together. And I loved hearing the songs that I grew up listening to. Are you a fan of The Four Seasons? Do you have a favorite song? GRADE: A (for both the CD and the musical)
Track List:
| 01 | Big Girls Don’t Cry (enhanced original version) | The Four Seasons | ||
| 02 | Sherry | The Four Seasons | ||
| 03 | Why Do Fools Fall In Love | The Four Seasons | ||
| 04 | Stay | The Four Seasons | ||
| 05 | Marlena | The Four Seasons | ||
| 06 | Big Girls Don’t Cry / Dirty Dancing Rap | The Four Seasons | ||
| 07 | Gypsy Woman | The Four Seasons | ||
| 08 | Book Of Love | The Four Seasons | ||
| 09 | December 1963 (Oh What A Night) | The Four Seasons | ||
| 10 | Who Loves You | The Four Seasons |
I have always detested The Four Seasons. So. no favorite song. Saw them once on a bill with Check Berry which is why I went. Frankie Valli spent the whole time off key.
Steve, I’m impressed by the number of music groups and artists you’ve seen!
I used to go on a weekly basis to see bands when I was younger. I still went a lot until several years ago. I saw just about everyone I wanted to see except for a couple bands like The Doors. I would not have gone to see the Four Seasons on their own.
Steve, one of my big regrets in Life is not going to see more great groups and artists when they were touring.
I like the Four Seasons. My favorite song by them is “Let’s Hang On,” which doesn’t appear to be in this collection.
But Deb, do you know the abominable cover version of “Let’s Hang On” by Barry Manilow? Truly hideous.
Jeff, I’m not familiar with Barry Manilow’s version of “Let’s Hang On” but I’ll take your word for it. Sounds dreadful!
Deb, I have other more expansive collections of The Four Seasons but this is the one I found quickly. I need to get more organized!
(nods)
I wasn’t a big fan but did find a few of their songs to be very effective ear candy. The song I liked most was “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, which was actually recorded by Frankie Valli rather than the group.
Michael, Frankie Vallie went on to enjoy a successful solo career. He had a big hit with “Grease (Is the Word).”
That’s my favorite too, Michael.
Rick, I had a feeling you were a Four Seasons kind of guy.
Wasn’t a too big fan – just Big Girls Don’t Cry brings up nice memories.
Anyway my friends at university would have called me crazy – even the Beatles were to sweet/kitschy/soft/romantic for us, only really hard Rock was accepted.
Wolf, The Four Seasons and a lot of early Sixties groups didn’t make the transition to the musical changes of the Seventies.
Actually The Beach Boys are about the only pre Beatles band that developed and did anything worthwhile.
Another part of my youth has been ripped away, R.I.P. Tommy DeVito.
Jerry, another Covid-19 death. But, Trump says we’ve “turned the corner” so everything will be all right.
Since I feel that I suddenly grew up walking on the boardwalk in Ocean City, N J to “Sherry Baby”, (1962)I will choose that one. I can remember the music coming from a pizza place, which was new to me too. Their music isn’t inherently great, but it was perfect for evoking a time and a certain age. Fourteen for me. And it was fun to dance to.
Patti, you’re right, a lot of the High School dances I went to featured The Four Seasons songs.
Yes, I was a fan. And we loved JERSEY BOYS. We saw it on Broadway on CHristmas Eve 2006. Several years later, in London, a woman told us that if we were over 60 we could get tickets to any show produced by Cameron Mackintsh (Cats, Phantom, Les Mis) for TWENTY POUNDS each, for the best tickets available. We got tickets for JERSEY BOYS and sat in the center of the stalls (orchestra), which was great, A couple of the guys who had played the roles on Broadway were in it too.
I recommend (for fans) these collections instead –
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – Greatest Hits Volume 1:
Sherry
Big Girls Don’t Cry
Walk Like a Man
Ain’t That a Shame
Candy Girl
Marlena
Stay
Dawn (Go Away)
Ronnie
Alone (Why Must I Be Alone)
Save It For Me
Big Man in Town
Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby Goodbye)
Girl Come Running
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Volume 2:
Rag Doll
Let’s Hang On
Working My Way Back to You
Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Me)
I’ve Got You Under My Skin
Tell It to the Rain
Beggin’
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
C’mon Marianne
Will You Love Me Tomorrow
My Eyes Adored You
Swearin’ to God
Who Loves You
December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)
Grease
Of the early (Vee Jay) records, I always liked Walk Like a Man (and I loved when Dave Barry said, “Every time I hear Frankie Valli sing Walk Like a Man, I want to say ‘Frankie, sing like a man!'”). I like Dawn and Ronnie and I’ve Got You Under My Skin and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.
Jeff, I’m pretty sure I have the CD collections you recommend around here somewhere. Loved JERSEY BOYS!
Jackie tends to like the “B” side (remember them?) of records. Her favorite Beach Boys song was “Don’t Worry Baby” (the flip side of “I Get Around”). She likes “Silence is Golden” (flip side of “Rag Doll”), which became a hit for The Tremeloes (#1 in the UK, #11 in the US). Also “Let’s Hang On.” Also: “Marlena” was the flip side of “Candy Girl.”
Jeff, I remember mentioning “B” side songs in one of my MARKETING classes and the students blank expressions showed me that they had no idea what I was talking about.
George, what would your students have said if they heard this last cut from Side A of Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band’s SEE REVERSE SIDE FOR THE TITLE album?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOCXU_G_cjY
Jerry, my students would have been befuddled by the last cut from Side A of Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band’s SEE REVERSE SIDE FOR THE TITLE album!
I’m fond of the later recordings “Beggin’,” “Tell It to the Rain,” and “C’mon Marianne,” Frankie and the Boys in full melodramatic mode. The Four Seasons were ubiquitous on the radio all the way from my 7th Grade year through high school.
Fred, that “7th Grade year though High School” matches the same window for The Four Seasons songs that I experienced.
Re:
Will You Love Me Tomorrow
For a moment you had me there because I remember this title by Goffin/King (my favourite songwriters …) as “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” in the original version by The Shirelles.
And now I wasn’t sure whether we are talking about the same song – but I looked it up, there a dozens of cover versions – a sign for something extraordinary good.
Wolf, covers of hit songs were common in the Sixties and Seventies. Carole King sings a moving version of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” And, she wrote the music to the song (Gerry Goffin wrote the words).
I remember hearing Carole King the first time with Tapestry (bought it immediately!) and thinking:
Very good, but why does that woman cover so many of my favourite songs?
And then I read that she had written the music for all of them …
Wolf, I was amazed it took Carole King so long to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
I saw Jersey Boys with my friend Sally at a theater in Chicago.
People were dancing in the aisles during the finale and there were numerous encores. The audience was mainly our age and VERY enthusiastic.
I consider The Four Seasons classic rock.
Beth, for folks of our generation, The Four Seasons provided part of the soundtrack to our lives.
I always considered The Four Seasons to be part of the previous generation like Doo Wop and Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon. . Especially with their greased back 50’s hair. The soundtrack of my life was the British Invasion, Motown, Stax-Volt, The California Bands and The Velvet Underground.
Steve, was David Bowie part of your soundtrack?
I agree with Steve, probably was too old (born in 43) for some of that 60s music – which sounded like 50s stuff. At least I was lucky that I got my pop music education via AFN – which played songs for those soldiers in Germany.
Elvis was one of them for a time …
I wonder what kind of music later generations of soldiers listened to.
Wolf, I know a lot of friends who served in Viet Nam loved “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” by The Animals.
George, re “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”
I don’t know if that’s a joke but I read somewhere that Trump used the famous Animals song The House of the Rising Sun in one of his “shows”.
Eric Burdon said that he was alright with that, a song of whores in a bordello fit perfectly into Trump’s environment – but he would have preferred them to play “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”shows”.
PS and rather OT but very interesting:
The authors of this song Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill were Jewish like many of their colleagues in the Brill Building up to Carole King and Phil Spector – and they wrote many songs for Black musicians.
Wolf, the Trump Campaign has been sued by several groups and artists for using their music without their consent.
I was in high school for “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like a Man”. Thus those are my favorites. I love Vali’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”, and it was ‘our song’ in a romance I had in college. I liked that high pitched sound, and often get the Tokens hit “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, another favorite, mixed up with the Four Seasons.
I’m a big fan of the Four Seasons and also loved Jersey Boys! If I had seen it one night later I would have seen an appearance by Bob Gaudio! I liked most of the songs mentioned above plus a B side called Connie-o!
On the minus side, I saw a TV show with Frankie Valli, who was doing a Vegas performance! He just paced back and forth across the stage looking at his feet and never acknowledging the audience! A couple of times he said, “You’re marvelous,” or “Thank you, you’re dynamite,” like he’d just woken from a deep sleep!
Bob, some older artists deliver robotic performances. Perhaps the thrill is gone…
George-Bowie yes but that was early 70’s not 60’s. The person I connected most to would be Springsteen and that was the mid 70’s.
Steve, you’ll understand why I asked about Bowie next week.