Comments on: In Honor of Mother’s Day–My Mother’s Eyes by Frankie Valley! http://jerseyboysblog.com/in-honor-of-mother%e2%80%99s-day%e2%80%93my-mother%e2%80%99s-eyes-by-frankie-valley/6047 Dedicated to Jersey Boys, the Tony Award-winning smash hit Broadway & international musical of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Tue, 23 Jan 2018 04:11:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Ted Hammond http://jerseyboysblog.com/in-honor-of-mother%e2%80%99s-day%e2%80%93my-mother%e2%80%99s-eyes-by-frankie-valley/6047/comment-page-1#comment-651148 Ted Hammond Mon, 14 May 2012 19:22:15 +0000 http://jerseyboysblog.com/in-honor-of-mother%e2%80%99s-day%e2%80%93my-mother%e2%80%99s-eyes-by-frankie-valley/6047#comment-651148 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.

]]> By: David Cace http://jerseyboysblog.com/in-honor-of-mother%e2%80%99s-day%e2%80%93my-mother%e2%80%99s-eyes-by-frankie-valley/6047/comment-page-1#comment-651083 David Cace Mon, 14 May 2012 17:15:39 +0000 http://jerseyboysblog.com/in-honor-of-mother%e2%80%99s-day%e2%80%93my-mother%e2%80%99s-eyes-by-frankie-valley/6047#comment-651083 “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.

]]> By: David Cace http://jerseyboysblog.com/in-honor-of-mother%e2%80%99s-day%e2%80%93my-mother%e2%80%99s-eyes-by-frankie-valley/6047/comment-page-1#comment-650825 David Cace Mon, 14 May 2012 03:50:56 +0000 http://jerseyboysblog.com/in-honor-of-mother%e2%80%99s-day%e2%80%93my-mother%e2%80%99s-eyes-by-frankie-valley/6047#comment-650825 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.

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