November 1, 2009

Frankie Valli Singing ‘To Give’ at The Bitter End in 1968

November 1st, 2009


Video of Frankie Valli singing “To Give (The Reason I Live)” at The Bitter End in 1968. This amazing song, written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968.

7 Comments »

  1. This was Frankie Valli’s first song to appear on the Adult Contemprary Chart, peaking at #17 according to Joel Whitburn’s publications. Listening to it now, it should have been another standard on a par with CTMEOY. Those years without big hits, from about 1968-1974, were lost years in the industry, without these having become much bigger hits.

    Comment by Ted Hammond — November 1, 2009 @ 12:56 pm

  2. I love this song. I think it could have been another show stopper in “Jersey Boys”….well, maybe in the movie. How about right after Tommy and Nick leave the group?

    Comment by Howard Tucker — November 2, 2009 @ 10:25 pm

  3. What a beautiful song! Bob Crewe’s lyrics are quite poignant and in keeping with the mood created by Bob Gaudio’s music. And Frankie Valli goes a splendid job on what appears to be a rather difficult song to sing. Bravos to all concerned!! I could definitely see this song included in a movie version of the show, Howard.

    Comment by Len Gersten — November 3, 2009 @ 12:55 am

  4. I couldn’t agree with you folks more. This song has “Broadway Show Stopper” written all over it! It has a real “Man Of LaMancha Ffeel”. The lyric seems to fit Frankie’s life and work ethic perfectly. Maybe if it was a top 10 song it would have been considered.

    Comment by Ray — November 3, 2009 @ 12:14 pm

  5. What amazes me about Frankie’s singing of “To Give” in this venue is that it is a small venue, the acoustics were limited, and he is singing such a powerful song to a recorded music track. Frankie’s best TV performance of “To Give” was on the Joey Bishop show where he did “To Give” with a live orchestra and he hired his own violin section to accompany the Joey Bishop orchestra. The sound was much better than the “Bitter End” performance but no TV performance can match Frankie singing “To Give” in a concert auditorium with the full acoustical effect. “That was the best.”

    Comment by David Cace — November 3, 2009 @ 1:17 pm

  6. I think that the older generation may not have been prepared in the late 1960s for Frankie Valli to upstage Frank Sinatra and others as a singer of Standards. They seemed inclined to accept Standards from Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John much more quickly, though. I guess we can only hope that other great songs like “To Give” are recognized in the future.

    For a 1970s treat, have a listen to Frankie’s release of “We’re All Alone”, the first charting SINGLE of the Boz Scaggs’ song. It also has an elaborate orchestral arrangement like “To Give” has.

    Comment by Ted Hammond — November 3, 2009 @ 5:45 pm

  7. I love this song so much!!! I want it played at my funeral. I notice that only men commented. I love Franki Valli, he is one of the best there is.

    Comment by Junie — April 1, 2010 @ 11:48 am

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