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Frankie Valli & Four Seasons - Jersey Beat: Music of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
CD DetailsArtist: Frankie Valli & Four Seasons Brand: VALLI,FRANKIE & FOU Edition: Music CD Format: Box set, Original recording remastered CD Release Date: 2007-06-05 Music Label: Rhino Soundtracks: Music CD 1- Sherry [Disc 1]
- Big Girls Don't Cry [Disc 1]
- Walk Like A Man [Disc 1]
- Ain't That A Shame [Disc 1]
- Candy Girl [Disc 1]
- Marlena [Disc 1]
- Peanuts [Disc 1]
- Alone (Why Must I Be Alone) [Disc 1]
- Stay [Disc 1]
- Little Boy (In Grown Up Clothes) [Disc 1]
- Dawn (Go Away) [Disc 1]
- Big Man's World [Disc 1]
- Marcie [Disc 1]
- Silence Is Golden [Disc 1]
- Huggin' My Pillow [Disc 1]
- Ronnie [Disc 1]
- Rag Doll [Disc 1]
- Save It For Me [Disc 1]
- Big Man In Town [Disc 1]
- Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye) [Disc 1]
- Betrayed [Disc 1]
- Toy Soldier [Disc 1]
- Girl Come Running [Disc 1]
- Let's Hang On! [Disc 1]
- Don't Think Twice (It's All Right)[Disc 1] -- The Wonder Who?
- The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore) [Disc 1] -- Frankie Valli
- (You're Gonna) Hurt Yourself [Disc 1] -- Frankie Valli
- Pity [Disc 1]
- You're Ready Now [Disc 1] -- Frankie Valli
- Cousin Brucie Go Go [Disc 1]
Music CD 2- Working My Way Back To You [Disc 2]
- Can't Get Enough Of You Baby [Disc 2]
- Everybody Knows My Name [Disc 2]
- Comin' Up In The World [Disc 2]
- Beggars Parade [Disc 2]
- Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me) [Disc 2]
- I've Got You Under My Skin [Disc 2]
- The Proud One [Disc 2] -- Frankie Valli
- Tell It To The Rain [Disc 2]
- Beggin' [Disc 2]
- Can't Take My Eyes Off You [Disc 2] -- Frankie Valli
- C'mon Marianne [Disc 2]
- Lonesome Road [Disc 2] -- The Wonder Who?
- Around And Around (Andaroundandaround) [Disc 2]
- I Make A Fool Of Myself [Disc 2]-- Frankie Valli
- Watch The Flowers Grow [Disc 2]
- Raven [Disc 2]
- To Give (The Reason I Live) [Disc 2]-- Frankie Valli
- Will You Love Me Tomorrow [Disc 2]
- Good-Bye Girl [Disc 2]
- Saturday's Father [Disc 2]
- Electric Stories [Disc 2]
- Something's On Her Mind [Disc 2]
- Idaho [Disc 2]
- Genuine Imitation Life [Disc 2]
Music CD 3- And That Reminds Me (My Heart Reminds Me) [Disc 3]
- The Girl I'll Never Know (Angels Never Fly This Low) [Disc 3] --
- She Gives Me Light [Disc 3]
- Patch Of Blue [Disc 3]
- Heartaches And Raindrops [Disc 3]
- Lay Me Down (Wake Me Up) [Disc 3]
- Where Are My Dreams [Disc 3]
- Sleeping Man [Disc 3]
- The Night [Disc 3]
- My Eyes Adored You [Disc 3] -- Frankie Valli
- Swearin' To God (Single Version) [Disc 3] -- Frankie Valli
- Who Loves You [Disc 3]
- Our Day Will Come (Single Version) [Disc 3] -- Frankie Valli
- December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) [Disc 3]
- Silver Star (Single Version) [Disc 3]
- Fallen Angel [Disc 3] -- Frankie Valli
- Rhapsody [Disc 3]
- Grease [Disc 3] -- Frankie Valli
- East Meets West [Disc 3] -- with the Beach Boys
- Streetfighter [Disc 3]
- Hope And Glory [Disc 3]
Music CD 4- Big Girls Don't Cry [DVD] -- from The Steve Allen Show (2/14/63)
- 1964 Medley: Sherry/Walk Like A Man/Big Girls Don't Cry/Dawn (Go
- Working My Way Back To You [DVD] -- from Hullabaloo (2/7/66)
- Can't Take My Eyes Off You [DVD] -- Frankie Valli from The Bitter End
- Let's Hang On! [DVD] -- from Top Of The Pops (2/25/71)
- Saturday's Father [DVD] -- from The Kraft Music Hall (7/3/68)
- (You're Gonna) Hurt Yourself [DVD] -- Frankie Valli from The Joey
- I've Got You Under My Skin [DVD] -- from Top Of The Pops (2/25/71)
- Dawn (Go Away) [DVD] -- from Los Angeles Coliseum Concert (11/25/72)
- Who Loves You [DVD] -- Promo Film (1974)
- Rhapsody [DVD] -- Promo Film (1976)
- December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) [DVD] -- Promo Film (1975)
Music reviews of Jersey Beat: Music of Frankie Valli & The Four SeasonsMusic Review: A REAL revelation, honest to gosh...the east coast Beach Boys perhaps??? Rating: 5 Stars
This set literally blew me away...literally, like where was I??!!?? I have to be honest, I saw this set and thought, hmmmm, nice packaging, then I saw it for a great price, so I thought I'd bite. Rhino recently put out the 2CD "Definitive Pop Collection", which was decent, but I thought a better collection could be done...then I saw this set.
Now, I figured, I wanted a well-done proper anthology of their work, so I can put it all into proper perspective. I knew, and loved, a bunch of their hits, and Frankie's solo hits, but not them all, so I wanted to hear them all, in chronological order. I originally thought Frankie and the Jersey boys to be prefabricated, with songs by outside songwriters, and no more than a guilty pleasure. I figured, if I didn't enjoy it, I knew I can sell it to a friend who loves their work.
Well, I opened it up first and went right to the 84-page booklet, nicely put together by-the-way. Saw the main essay was written by none other than Dennis Diken from one of my fave powerpop bands, New Jersey's own Smithereens!!! It's well-written and VERY insightful. THEN, I saw all the tributes under each of the songs, by everyone cool, from Little Steven Van Zandt (from Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band, the Sopranos and his own Underground Garage radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio), UK guitarist Johnny Marr (From the Smiths, Pretenders, The The and now Modest Mouse), Brian Wilson, Cher, Neil Sedaka, Neil Diamond, Joe Pesce, Billy Joel, even Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, and a ton of others...so I couldn't wait to listen.
Oh...My...Gosh. I was floored. One thing I didn't know...pretty much ALL the songs were written by the band's keyboardist Bob Gaudio...he was the Brian Wilson of the band, him and genius producer Bob Crewe. Frankie Valli, even though he wasn't a songwriter, he had a voice like an alien, almost a freak of nature, unique and finely-tuned...one part classic crooner, one part rock & roller. Vocally, the 4 Seasons were like the Beach Boys, similar influences and the way the band evolved. The productions were very ARTFUL. Radio did this band no favours. They didn't show the band from an artistic angle, just a hitbound one, which is a bad thing. As the band evolved and became less commercial, the hits dried up, but they became better, musically. They even dabbled in psychedelia in 1968/1969, with their artistic masterpiece, the album "Genuine Imitation Life Gazette", which sold a little, not as much as their prior work, and most people don't know the genius level at work on this opus. It's their equivalent of "Sgt Pepper's", "Pet Sounds", "Smile", "Head", "Odessa", "Battle Of The Bands", etc, you get my drift.
Even after the band hit a dry period and Bob became just the band's songwriter behind the scenes, and 4 new 4 Seasons were indoctrinated, the band evolved even further on the "Who Loves You" and "Helicon" albums in the mid-to-late 70s. As the 4 Seasons entered the 80s and 90s and now, they never stopped growing, but records appeared less frequently. Frankie's solo work always was of a high quality as well, but different from the band's. Now, with the Broadway show "Jersey Boys" playing to sellout crowds, the genius of their work will finally be appreciated and will garner their due...it did from me, but I don't feel guilty though, I blame radio, ESPECIALLY oldies stations, for this heinous crime against this great band.
This genius group is well-documented on this packed-to-the-gills 3CD/1DVD boxset. All 3 CDs are 79 minutes and change, so they are filled to the brim with no room for more, with 99% of their charting hits, B-sides, overlooked album tracks and rarities, all in proper perspective. The 4th disc, a DVD, is a nice 40-minute souvenir, with TV appearances, live concert clips and 3 promo vidclips from the mid-to-late 70s. What struck me was that up until 1975, the band didn't have a drummer (and no drummer appeared with them on TV either...just studio drummers on their recordings)...usually, I'd say this is a bad thing, but then again, ABBA didn't have a drummer in their lineup, just studio players. Also, Frankie was VERY low-key and modest, and in the mid-70s, he went from a Wayne Newton look (that moustache, ouch!!) to almost Eric Carmen-ish during the comeback. And, in the mid-70s lineup, their DRUMMER was their lead singer on "December, 1963"!!! Interesting.
Anyhoo, one of the most revelatory boxsets I've ever heard in my life, and I now count them up there with the Beach Boys and Byrds as one of THE best, most innovative pop/even powerpop bands that ever was...AND finally, with many acts around this long, a boxset would be enough, all you would need in your collection...nope, with these fellas, I WANT THE CATALOGUE, and I saw their 24(!) studio albums (band and FV solo) were reissued on Collector's Choice as remastered 2-fers in 2006, so I will buy those, probably the first one being "Working My Way Back To You/Genuine Imitation Life Gazette".
Investigate pronto...and prepare to be floored...I was, and I thought they were cheese originally. NO WAY!!! One of America's true treasures, and NOTHING is subpar or 2nd rate, even their 80s and 90s work!!!
More Jersey Beat: Music of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons free music reviews: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Description of Jersey Beat: Music of Frankie Valli & The Four SeasonsNo Description Available. Genre: Popular Music Media Format: Compact Disk Rating: Release Date: 5-JUN-2007
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