May 13, 2012

In Honor of Mother’s Day–My Mother’s Eyes by Frankie Valley!

May 13th, 2012

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the marvelous moms out there! To salute you, here’s Frankie Valley’s (yes, that’s what the record says) fabulous rendition of “My Mother’s Eyes”!

3 Comments »

  1. Frankie Valli recorded “My Mother’s Eyes” three times…the other two were on the fake live Vee Jay album and on his first “Solo” album for Phillips…each version getting a little more sophisticated and with a lot more orchestration…Tommy DeVito’s guitar being just about all there is on this 1953 version. Frankie sang “My Mother’s Eyes” in concert throughout the 60s and even his 1967 “Solo” version couldn’t match his live performance of it.

    Listen to a Little Jimmy Scott recording and then listen to this 1953 Frankie recording to note the Jimmy Scott influence.

    Comment by David Cace — May 13, 2012 @ 10:50 pm

  2. “My Mother’s Eyes” was originally recorded by the old vaudevillian George Jessel in the 1929 movie “Lucky Boy.” Mr. Jessel would later become “Toastmaster General of the United States,” a self-proclaimed title I believe – if one wanted an MC for a show or a dinner he was your guy. My understanding, however, is that Frankie Valli’s first exposure to “My Mother’s Eyes” was from listening to Nellie Lutcher’s recording of the song. Ms. Lutcher was principally a Jazz singer who could also “crossover” to a main stream singer. Frankie listened extensively to Jazz music and a Newark DJ who went by the name of Symphony Sid.

    Comment by David Cace — May 14, 2012 @ 12:15 pm

  3. Wow, David! I just looked up “Symphony Sid”, and I couldn’t believe all the buzz surrounding the DJ that Frankie Valli listened to, and all the connections mentioned in the Wikipedia article to more modern versions of Alternative Jazz DJs, such as 60s “hippie radical” John Sinclair, who now lives in Amsterdam and does such an internet show. We had such a DJ here in Michigan, called “Frantic” Ernie Durham”, who Sinclair listened to growing up. There are so many “six degrees of separation” stories here, it’s hard to believe! Thanks for sharing that story, David.

    Comment by Ted Hammond — May 14, 2012 @ 2:22 pm

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