The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons | |
---|---|
Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons at the Royal Albert Hall , London, June 2012 |
|
General information | |
origin | Newark , New Jersey |
Genre (s) | Rock , Pop , Pop / Rock , Rock 'n' Roll , Doo Wop |
founding | 1953 as the Variety Trio |
Founding members | |
Frankie Valli | |
Vocals, guitar
|
Tommy DeVito |
guitar |
Hank Majewski |
Nickie DeVito | |
Billy Thompson | |
Current occupation | |
singing |
Frankie Valli |
Vocals, keyboard
|
Bob Gaudio |
Vocals, bass |
Don Ciccone |
Drums |
Gerry Polci |
? |
Larry Lingle |
? |
Jerry Corbetta |
former members | |
guitar |
Bob Grimm |
guitar |
John Paiva |
Vocals, bass |
Nick Massi |
Vocals, bass |
Joe Long |
Vocals, bass |
Charlie Calello |
Drums |
Gary Wolfe |
Keyboard |
Lee Shapiro |
Vocals, guitar
|
Tommy DeVito |
The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop group from Newark , New Jersey .
history
The Four Seasons emerged in 1960 from the Variety Trio . Frankie Valli , Nickie DeVito, Tommy DeVito, Hank Majewski and Billy Thompson later appeared as Varietones and recorded the single You're the Apple of My Eye as Four Lovers in 1956 . They later released the single Come si bella as Frankie Valle & the Romans . 1960 Majewski left the band and was replaced by Nick Massi. As Village Voices they took Redlips and as Billy Dixon & the topics was I Am All Alone .
Nick DeVito soon left the band. First came Charlie Calello as a replacement for a short time, then Bob Gaudio . From 1962 the band was called Four Seasons . They worked as choristers for Danny & the Juniors and Freddie Cannon . Gaudio was a first-class composer who created a hit wave for the Four Seasons in 1962. Vee Jay Records followed shortly after each other with Sherry , Big Girls Don't Cry , Walk Like a Man , Ain't That a Shame by Fats Domino , Candy Girl and Marlena as well as the albums Sherry & 11 Others , Big Girls Don't Cry and Golden Hits , a sampler .
The band moved to Philips Records in 1964 . That year the albums Dawn and Rag Doll and the hit singles Dawn , Stay , Ronnie , Alone , Rag Doll , Save It for Me and Big Man in Town were released . Throughout the 1960s, the Four Seasons continued to thrive with many singles including Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye) , Girl Come Running , Let's Hang On! , Don't Think Twice (It's Allright) , Working My Way Back to You , Opus 17 , I've Got You Under My Skin , Tell It to the Rain , Beggin ' , Can't Take My Eyes Off You , C' mon Marianne , Watch the Flowers Grow and Will You Love Me Tomorrow .
Then in 1969 they created the concept album The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette , in which they incorporated psychedelic elements, which the critics did not like at all. The single Patch of Blue also flopped. In 1970 the album Half & Half came out, on which only half consisted of Four Seasons songs, the other half were "solo" productions by Frankie Valli.
DeVito retired from the band in 1970 and was replaced by Bob Grimm, and drummer Gary Wolfe was added. The double album Edizione d'oro was released .
Motown's white branch , Mowest, signed the band in early 1972. However, the band only became active again in 1975. Gaudio and Valli hired Don Ciccone (formerly The Critters ), Gerry Polci, John Paiva and Lee Shapiro. In 1975 they got another hit with Who Loves You . In 1976, December '63 (Oh What a Night) and Silver Star followed, as well as the albums Who Loves You , The Four Seasons Story and Greatest Hits .
When the Beatles cover We Can Work It Out (late 1976) and the album Helicon (1977) were only moderately successful in the charts, Valli said goodbye to the band.
In May 1980, the Four Seasons began a reunion tour with Polci, Ciccone, Larry Lingle and Jerry Corbetta. The record Reunited (1981) flopped and in 1985, again with Valli, the LP Streetfighter was not a great success. In 1990 the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . In Europe they came back to the top 10 of the album charts with the sampler The Very Best Of 1992. In 1988 and 1994, remixes of December '63 by Ben Liebrand also hit the charts again. After that no more songs appeared, even if the band has not officially split up.
Cover versions
The Walker Brothers reached the English Top Twenty in 1966 with The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore and remained the front runner for three weeks. The Tremeloes covered Silence Is Golden in 1967 . In 1975 The Bay City Rollers topped the UK charts for six weeks with Bye, Bye, Baby . In the same year, The Osmonds recorded The Proud One and reached number 22 on the American charts.
musical
Jersey Boys is a jukebox musical by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe thatpremieredon Broadway in2005. It tells the band history of the Four Seasons and became a worldwide success. There have been productions in London's West End , Las Vegas, Chicago, Toronto, Melbourne and other Australian cities, Singapore, South Africa and the Netherlands. Jersey Boys won four Tony Awards in 2006 - also in the "Best Musical" category - and the Laurence Olivier Award in 2009 for"Best New Musical". Many of the band's hits are used in the musical, including Big Girls Don't Cry , Sherry , December 1963 (Oh, What a Night) , My Eyes Adored You , Stay and Can't Take My Eyes Off You .
filming
In 2013 the musical was filmed under the title of the same name . Directed by Clint Eastwood , who was also a co-producer . In the lead roles - as in the musical - the Grammy winner for the best show album John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli and Erich Bergen as Bob Gaudio can be seen. The biographical drama premiered on June 5, 2014 at the Sydney Film Festival . The film started in German-speaking cinemas on July 31, 2014.
Discography
Studio albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | |||
1962 | Sherry & 11 Others |
UK20 (1 week) UK |
US6 (27 weeks) US |
Chart entry in UK only in July 1963
Producer: Bob Crewe |
1963 | Big Girls Don't Cry and Twelve Others | - |
US8 (19 weeks) US |
Producer: Bob Crewe
|
Ain't That a Shame and 11 Others | - |
US47 (12 weeks) US |
Recording: Stea-Phillips Sound Studios, New York
Producer: Bob Crewe; last studio album on Vee Jay Records |
|
1964 | Born to Wander | - |
US84 (9 weeks) US |
|
Dawn (Go Away) And 11 Other Great Hits |
- |
US6 (25 weeks) US |
with Frankie Valli, producer: Bob Crewe
contains several doo-wop covers |
|
Rag Doll | - |
US7 (26 weeks) US |
with Frankie Valli
first album almost exclusively with songs by Bob Gaudio |
|
1965 | The 4 Seasons Entertain You | - |
US77 (13 weeks) US |
with Frankie Valli, producer: Bob Crewe
|
1966 | Big hits by Burt Bacharach … Hal David… Bob Dylan |
- |
US7 (26 weeks) US |
|
Working My Way Back to You |
UK-
gold
UK
|
US50 (15 weeks) US |
with Frankie Valli, producer: Bob Crewe
|
|
1967 | New gold hits | - |
US37 (25 weeks) US |
with Frankie Valli, producer: Bob Crewe
contains seven new and three previously released songs |
1969 | The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette | - |
US85 (11 weeks) US |
|
1970 | Half & Half | - |
US190 (2 weeks) US |
with Frankie Valli; Producers: Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio; last Philips album
contains half of the solo recordings by Frankie Valli |
1976 | Who Loves You |
UK12
gold
(17 weeks)UK |
US38 (31 weeks) US |
Singing: Bob Gaudio, Don Ciccone, Frankie Valli, Gerry Polci, John Paiva
all songs written by Bob Gaudio and his wife Judy Parker Producer: Bob Gaudio; first Warner album; Recording: The Sound Factory, Hollywood |
1977 | Helicon | - |
US168 (5 weeks) US |
all songs are again from Gaudio and Parker; Producer: Bob Gaudio
|
literature
- Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 236f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .
- Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book of American Singing Groups. A History 1940–1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 384-388.
- Miller, Jim (Ed.): The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll . New York, NY: Rolling Stone Press / Random House, 1976, pp. 85-87.
Web links
- Biography in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (English)
- The Four Seasons at Allmusic (English)
- The Four Seasons at Discogs (English)
- The Four Seasons in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Discography at 45cat.com
swell
- ↑ On the group The Four Lovers and other predecessor groups of the Four Seasons see Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940–1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 209f
- ↑ For the title Sherry see: Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition. New York City, New York: Billboard Publications, 1992; P. 117
- ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Four Seasons in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- ^ The official British Records Charts 1955–1987
- ↑ The Billboard Book of US Top 40 Hits
- ↑ Box office / business for Jersey Boys - Filming Dates. In: IMDb . Retrieved July 31, 2014 .
- ↑ Chart sources: Singles UK
- ↑ US albums: Joel Whitburn: Joel Whitburn presents the Billboard Albums. 6 edition. Billboard Books, New York 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .