Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

Archive for the ‘Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ Category

Release Round-Up: Week of July 1

Release Round-Up: Week of June 24

Who Loves You: Rhino Celebrates “Jersey Boys” With Box Sets For Frankie Valli and Four Seasons, First Bob Gaudio Anthology

Next Friday, June 20, marks the highly-anticipated opening of director Clint Eastwood’s film adaptation of the smash 2005 Broadway musical Jersey Boys. With John Lloyd Young reprising his Tony Award-winning performance as Frankie Valli opposite a cast of theatre and film veterans including Christopher Walken as Jersey mobster Gyp DeCarlo, Eastwood’s film promises to bring the gritty story of Valli and The Four Seasons (Nick Massi, Tommy DeVito and Bob Gaudio) to an even wider audience than ever. Rhino is marking the occasion of the film’s release with four sets covering every aspect of the group’s immense legacy: an original soundtrack recording featuring new and vintage recordings alike; two career-spanning album collections for The Four Seasons and the solo Frankie Valli, respectively; and the first-ever compendium of the songs of songwriter-producer and founding Season Bob Gaudio. The soundtrack arrives on June 24, while the remaining three collections hit stores the very next week, on July 1.

Most exciting might be The Classic Albums Box from Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. This 18-CD box set includes nearly all of the group’s original albums released between 1962 and 1992:

Sherry & 11 Others (1962)
Big Girls Don’t Cry And Twelve Others (1963)
The 4 Seasons Sing Ain’t That A Shame And 11 Others (1963)
Folk-Nanny (1963)
On Stage With The Four Seasons (1965)
Dawn (Go Away) And 11 Other Great Songs (1964)
Born To Wander (1964)
Rag Doll (1964)
The 4 Seasons Entertain You (1965)
The 4 Seasons Sing Big Hits By Burt Bacharach… Hal David… Bob Dylan (1965)
Working My Way Back To You (1966)
New Gold Hits (1967)
The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette (1969)
Half & Half (1970) – one side of the Four Seasons, one side of Valli solo
Who Loves You (1975)
Helicon (1977)
Streetfighter (1985)
Hope + Glory (1992)

The Classic Albums Box is the first time the group’s catalogue has been available in one package. It contains all of the group’s core albums with the exception of 1962’s The Four Seasons’ Greetings (also known as The Four Seasons’ Christmas Album), the 1968 compilation Edizione d’Oro (which features unique stereo mixes and alternate takes), 1972’s Motown-controlled release Chameleon and 1981’s Reunited Live. (Of these, Edizione is still awaiting a definitive compact disc reissue.)

A complementary box is being released for the solo albums of Frankie Valli, and includes all of his studio LPs with the exception of the Motown release Inside You (1975) and his most recent LP, Romancing the Sixties (2007). Frankie Valli’s 8-CD Selected Solo Works box set includes:

The 4 Seasons Present Frankie Valli Solo (1967)
Timeless (1968)
Closeup (1975)
Our Day Will Come (1975)
Valli (1976)
Lady Put The Light Out (1977)
Frankie Valli…Is The Word (1978)
Heaven Above Me (1980)

After the jump, we have more details including the full scoop on Bob Gaudio’s Audio with a G and pre-order links and more for all titles! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

June 11, 2014 at 12:42

Posted in Bob Gaudio, Box Sets, Compilations, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, News, Reissues

Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye): Final “The Complete Motown Singles” Volume Bows

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They did it.

Nearly nine years after the first volume in Hip-O Select’s The Complete Motown Singles box set series was released, the 14th and final entry in the series, Volume 12B: 1972, will be released on December 10, just in time for the holidays.

The year 1972 marks, for many, the end of the “classic Motown” period. Label founder Berry Gordy moved label operations from Detroit to Los Angeles, and many of his most treasured acts were in periods of transition. Diana Ross was long a solo artist away from The Supremes, while Smokey Robinson would part ways with The Miracles in 1972 – the same year both The Four Tops and Gladys Knight & The Pips would break off from the label. At the same time, though, several of the label’s acts were coming in to their own, from The Temptations’ psychedelic soul styles, the increasing independence and experimentation of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye and even the shine of the spotlight on solo members of The Jackson 5, namely frontmen Michael and Jermaine.

Included in the 100 tracks across five discs are some choice rarities, including Marvin Gaye’s beautiful (but long-lost) holiday single, “I Want to Come Home for Christmas” b/w “Christmas in the City,” an unissued solo single from longtime label songwriter Valerie Simpson, a duet by G.C. Cameron and Willie Hutch that never made it to an album with Hutch’s vocal, and even rare sides by several pop acts who made their name away from the Motown roster, including Lesley Gore, Bobby Darin and Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons.

Packed, as always, with a bonus replica 7″ single (The Temptations’ classic “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”), The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 12B is loaded with notes and essays from Abdul “Duke” Fakir of The Four Tops, Susan Whitall of The Detroit News, journalist Bill Dahl and compilation producers Keith Hughes and Harry Weinger, who “contribute series postscripts that offer back stories of the Motown tape vault, session logs and tape cards.”

The Second Disc has, of course, spent most of its existence lightly prodding Harry, UMe’s vice-president of A&R, for information on the TCMS series; when we set up shop in 2010, the series had seemingly stalled at Vol. 11 the year before. Vols. 12A and 12B would not materialize until this year, though I certainly speak for both Joe and myself (not to mention countless readers and fans around the world) that the work has been well worth the wait.

On December 10, that wait is finally over. After the jump, you can pre-order your own copy of the set.

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Mike Duquette

November 13, 2013 at 10:13

Posted in Bobby Darin, Box Sets, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, G.C. Cameron, Gladys Knight, Jermaine Jackson, Lesley Gore, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, News, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, The Jackson 5, The Miracles, The Supremes, The Temptations

Baby, It’s Burt: “The Warner Sound” and “The Atlantic Sound” Compile Rare Bacharach Tracks

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In his 85th year, Burt Bacharach has kept a pace that would wear out many a younger man. In addition to performing a number of concert engagements, the Oscar, Grammy and Gershwin Prize-winning composer has released a memoir, continued work on three musical theatre projects, co-written songs with Bernie Taupin and J.D. Souther, and even penned a melody for Japanese singer Ringo Sheena. Though Bacharach keeps moving forward, numerous releases this year have looked back on his illustrious catalogue. Universal issued The Art of the Songwriter in 6-CD and 2-CD iterations to coincide with the publication of his memoir, Real Gone Music rescued his three sublime “lost” 1974 productions for Dionne Warwick from obscurity, and Warner Music Japan reissued the near-entirety of Warwick’s Scepter and Warner Bros. tenures under the umbrella of Burt Bacharach 85th Birth Anniversary/Dionne Warwick Debut 50th Anniversary. Two more titles have recently been added to that Japanese reissue series: The Atlantic Sound of Burt Bacharach and The Warner Sound of Burt Bacharach. These 2-CD anthologies are both packed with rarities and familiar songs alike for a comprehensive overview of the Maestro’s recordings on the Warner family of labels.

The Warner Sound of Burt Bacharach is the more wide-ranging compilation of the two, drawing on recordings made not just for Warner Bros. Records but for Valiant, Festival, Elektra, Reprise, Scepter, and foreign labels like Italy’s CDG and Sweden’s Metronome. This 2-CD set is arranged chronologically, with the first CD covering 1962 (Dionne Warwick’s “Don’t Make Me Over,” her only appearance on the set) to 1978 (Nicolette Larson’s “Mexican Divorce”), and the second taking in 1981 (Christopher Cross’ Oscar-winning chart-topper “Arthur’s Theme”) to 2004 (Tamia and Gerald Levert’s “Close to You”).

On the Elektra label, Love scored a hit with “My Little Red Book,” presented here in its mono single version. The composer didn’t care for the band’s melodic liberties, but the Sunset Strip rockers’ version is today better known than the Manfred Mann original. From the Reprise catalogue, you’ll hear the great arranger Marty Paich with a swinging instrumental version of “Promise Her Anything,” a genuine Bacharach and David rocker originally recorded by Tom Jones. Trini Lopez’s groovy “Made in Paris” is also heard in its mono single version. Morgana King is sultry on a Don Costa arrangement of “Walk On By.” Buddy Greco delivers a hip “What the World Needs Now,” and Tiny Tim makes the same song his own. Ella Fitzgerald puts her stamp on “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” produced like Tiny Tim’s “World” by Richard Perry. Another production great, Wall of Sound architect Jack Nitzsche, brings a touch of class to the Paris Sisters’ dreamy “Long After Tonight is All Over.”

Numerous tracks on the first CD come from the worldwide Warner vaults. The two stars of the original Italian production of Promises, Promises – Catherine Spaak and Johnny Dorelli – are heard in their beautiful, low-key performance of “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” as released on the CDG label. The Sweden Metronome label yields Svante Thuresson’s “This Guy’s In Love with You,” Siw Malmkvist’s “I Say a Little Prayer,” and one of the strangest songs in Bacharach and David’s entire catalogue, “Cross Town Bus” as sung by the Gals and Pals in English. Australia’s Festival label – the original home of the Bee Gees – has been tapped for Noeleen Batley’s “Forgive Me (For Giving You Such a Bad Time)” and Jeff Phillips’ “Baby It’s You.” The treasures on the Warner Bros. label proper are just as eclectic, from Liberace’s gentle “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” to The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band’s torrid “I Wake Up Crying.” Harpers Bizarre’s “Me Japanese Boy (I Love You),” with an atmospheric Nick DeCaro arrangement, is another highlight. The Everly Brothers truncated Bacharach’s melody to “Trains and Boats and Planes” but their harmony blend is at its peak in a 1967 recording.

The second disc of The Warner Sound emphasizes latter-day R&B as Bacharach branched out with a variety of lyricists. Chaka Khan is heard on “Stronger Than Before” by Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager; Earth Wind and Fire on “Two Hearts” co-written with Philip Bailey and Maurice White; Tevin Campbell on “Don’t Say Goodbye Girl” co-written with Narada Michael Walden and Sally Jo Dakota; and Randy Crawford on “Tell It To Your Heart” from Bacharach and Tonio K. Mari Ijima’s original version of “Is There Anybody Out There” – penned by Bacharach, John Bettis, James Ingram and Puff Johnson – is a welcome surprise; the song was recorded in 2012 by Dionne Warwick on her Now album. Ingram is also heard with “Sing for the Children.” On the 1993 track, co-producer/arranger Thom Bell channeled Bacharach’s classic flugelhorn sound to great effect. Old favorites are also revisited and reinterpreted on this disc via Everything But the Girl’s “Alfie,” The Pretenders’ “The Windows of the World,” Linda Ronstadt’s “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” Anita Baker’s “The Look of Love,” guitarist Earl Klugh’s “Any Old Time of Day” and frequent Bacharach collaborator Elvis Costello’s “Please Stay.” With big hits (“Arthur’s Theme”) alongside rarely-anthologized gems (the George Duke-produced “Let Me Be the One” performed by Marilyn Scott), there’s something for everybody here.

After the jump: check out The Atlantic Sound of Burt Bacharach! Plus: track listings with discography and order links for both titles! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

October 1, 2013 at 10:08

Posted in Aretha Franklin, Burt Bacharach, Carmen McRae, Chaka Khan, Compilations, Connie Stevens, Dionne Warwick, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Costello, Everything But the Girl, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Hal David, Love, News, Percy Sledge, Sergio Mendes, Stacy Lattisaw, The Drifters, Vanilla Fudge

Where Were You When We Needed You: Latest Volume of “The Complete Motown Singles” Arrives in June

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Let’s dispense with the “Get Ready” puns: after a four-year wait, Hip-O Select’s Complete Motown Singles series inches closer toward the finish line with Volume 12A: 1972.

This five-disc set includes every single side released by Motown during the first half of 1972, a time of transition for the company. Berry Gordy had already moved his Detroit-based media empire westward to Los Angeles, leaving some of his flagship groups in a transitional period. The Jackson 5 still had their hits, but not with the blinding intensity of their earliest years (though Michael still enjoyed hits off of his solo debut Got to Be There). Marvin Gaye released a one-off single, “You’re the Man,” in between two masterpieces (1971’s What’s Going On and 1973’s Let’s Get It On), while Stevie Wonder began his journey as a fully in-control adult artist with “Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)” from Music of My Mind. Both Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and Martha & The Vandellas released their farewell singles in this era, while a new up-and-coming band named The Commodores released their first.

It was certainly a unique time there, and now, it’s coming home, The Complete Motown Singles-style. That means gorgeous book packaging with a bonus 45 (devoted MoWest’s The Blackberries, whose single “Somebody Up There” actually was never issued as a 45), multiple essays (including by Motown engineers Russ and Ralph Terrana, Susan Whitall of The Detroit News), and track-by-track notes by Bill Dahl and producers Keith Hughes and Harry Weinger.

The box ships from Select on May 31 and from all retailers June 11. Hit the jump for a full track list and Amazon pre-order link!

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Mike Duquette

May 10, 2013 at 08:27

Posted in Box Sets, Compilations, Edwin Starr, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Gladys Knight, Michael Jackson, News, Stevie Wonder, The Commodores, The Four Tops, The Jackson 5, The Miracles, The Supremes, The Temptations

Release Round-Up: Week of April 16

Rhino Flashback Revives Frankie Valli’s Vintage “Hits” Compilation

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It’s time for another 4 Seasons flashback, or Flashback, as the case may be. In January, Rhino’s budget Flashback imprint reissued two vintage compilations from the Jersey boys, 1965’s Gold Vault of Hits and 1966’s 2nd Vault of Golden Hits. Flashback is now turning its attention to the group’s lead singer, Frankie Valli, for a straight reissue of his 1978 solo compilation LP Hits due in stores on April 16.

The man born Francis Castellucio in Newark, New Jersey had his first taste of solo stardom in 1967 when “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” written and produced by his usual 4 Seasons team of Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, ascended the U.S. pop charts all the way to No. 2. It was far from Valli’s first solo record, though. His very first released recording, 1954’s “My Mothers Eyes” by “Frankie Valley,” was sans group. But by 1956, Valli had joined with The Four Lovers, the group that eventually morphed into The 4 Seasons. That group’s history is well-documented: two consecutive No. 1 hits in 1962 (“Sherry” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry”), fifteen charted singles over the next two years, including six Top 10s and two No. 1s. Valli wasn’t relinquishing his spot with the 4 Seasons when he struck out on his own and charted his first solo hit with 1966’s No. 39 record “(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself.” Solo LPs arrived from Philips in 1967 and 1968, but Valli returned to the group, and didn’t headline another proper solo album until 1975’s Closeup. (He did, however, record a number of solo tracks and singles during the group’s 1971-1973 stint at Motown, from which Berry Gordy’s famous label assembled the album Inside You.)

There’s more about Frankie after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

April 15, 2013 at 12:43

Posted in Compilations, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, News, Reissues

Release Round-Up: Week of January 22

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Billy Joel, She’s Got a Way: Love Songs (Columbia/Legacy)

The romantic side of the Piano Man is featured on this new compilation. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Rodriguez, Searching for Sugar Man (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

One of the most captivating catalogue music documentaries of 2012 is now available on DVD (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) and Blu-Ray (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)!

The Blue Nile, A Walk Across the Rooftops / Hats: Deluxe Editions (Virgin/EMI)

Slated for release in the U.K. late last year, these two double-disc expansions of The Blue Nile’s first two LPs, featuring many rare and unreleased recordings, are on the schedule today, as well. (A Walk Across the Rooftops: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. – Hats: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Buck Owens, Honky Tonk Man: Buck Sings Country Classics / Don Rich, Don Rich Sings George Jones (Omnivore)

Two never-before-released sets from two legends of Bakersfield are coming from Omnivore! (Buck Owens: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. – Don Rich: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The Pogues, The Very Best of The Pogues (Shout! Factory)

A new Pogues compilation – according to the label, the only one in print in the U.S. right now. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons, Gold Vault of Hits / 2nd Vault of Golden Hits (Rhino)

Two original 4 Seasons compilations, released by Philips in 1965 and 1966, work their way to CD from Rhino. (Gold Vault: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. – 2nd Vault: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Say Anything, All My Friends Are Enemies: Early Rarities (Equal Vision)

A three-disc set featuring Max Bemis and his emo ensemble’s first self-released albums. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Written by Mike Duquette

January 22, 2013 at 07:35

Posted in Billy Joel, Buck Owens, Compilations, Don Rich, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, News, Reissues, Rodriguez, Say Anything, The Blue Nile, The Pogues

Tagged with Release Round-Up

Let’s Hang On to Two Volumes of Frankie Valli and 4 Seasons’ “Gold Vault of Hits”

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Whether you consider them the East Coast answer to The Beach Boys, or rivals to The Beatles (as on a famous Vee-Jay LP compilation), Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons have had a long, illustrious career. Despite having scored his first hit with the Seasons back in 1962, Valli has hardly slowed his pace over the years, overseeing companies and productions of the 2005 musical Jersey Boys, readying a film version, and recently performing a concert on Broadway with a new line-up of Seasons. The vocal group’s CD release history has been a checkered one, but Rhino is adding two new additions to the catalogue with the reissue of Gold Vault of Hits and 2nd Vault of Golden Hits. Both titles are set for release tomorrow, January 22.

These two reissues of original “greatest hits” collections mark the first domestic Seasons discs in a number of years. Collector’s Choice launched a comprehensive album reissue program in 2007 which was the best such campaign since Ace’s splendid, if now all but impossible-to-find, reissues of the mid-1990s. (Many of the Seasons’ albums were also made available in budget releases from Curb, some with altered track listings.) Rhino commemorated the rich musical legacy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees in 2008 with the 3-CD/1-DVD box set Jersey Beat, and Hip-o Select unveiled the long-awaited The Motown Years the very same year. Gold Vault of Hits was first released on the Philips label in 1965, with its follow-up 2nd Vault of Hits arriving the next year, in 1966. Both of these titles have been previously released on Curb, but Rhino’s new editions restore the original album artwork as well as the original track sequences.

After the jump: what 4 Seasons favorites will you find on these two new reissues? Hit the jump! Plus: pre-order links and complete track listings! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Joe Marchese

January 21, 2013 at 10:02

Posted in Compilations, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, News, Reissues

The Second Disc

Archive for the ‘Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ Category

Release Round-Up: Week of July 1

Release Round-Up: Week of June 24

Who Loves You: Rhino Celebrates “Jersey Boys” With Box Sets For Frankie Valli and Four Seasons, First Bob Gaudio Anthology

Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye): Final “The Complete Motown Singles” Volume Bows

Baby, It’s Burt: “The Warner Sound” and “The Atlantic Sound” Compile Rare Bacharach Tracks

Where Were You When We Needed You: Latest Volume of “The Complete Motown Singles” Arrives in June

Release Round-Up: Week of April 16

Rhino Flashback Revives Frankie Valli’s Vintage “Hits” Compilation

Release Round-Up: Week of January 22

Let’s Hang On to Two Volumes of Frankie Valli and 4 Seasons’ “Gold Vault of Hits”

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