Maryland Soundman Bob Goldstein’s Gig with The Four Seasons!
February 4th, 2011
The Four Seasons, 1969: Joe Long, Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, and Bob Gaudio
Tim Smith has a terrific interview with Bob Goldstein, a soundman from Maryland who toured with The Four Seasons for nearly two decades. Goldstein shared some fantastic memories of his days on the road with the Seasons. Here’s a preview:
“I dropped out of college and went on the road with the group in 1967,” Goldstein said. “Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were always audio-centric. They were very meticulous performers. I never worked with artists who were more demanding — in a good way, causing me to think about what I was doing.”A couple of years into the touring, Clair Brothers asked Goldstein to work on another project, but he felt he couldn’t walk away from the Four Seasons. He stayed with the group, while also building up his own audio company, Maryland Sound International, which went on to become a major enterprise based in Northwest Baltimore.
Goldstein stayed with the Seasons until 1985.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “They were an amazing group of guys. They were my favorites; they still are.”
Goldstein’s on-the-road anecdotes include a gig the group shared on Long Island with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. “You can imagine who was in the audience,” he said. “When I took a breather in the parking lot, I saw FBI agents talking down license numbers. It was right out of ‘The Godfather.’”
Then there was the time he was pulled over for speeding in Florida on his way to set up for a gig. One of the group’s guitar players was in the truck smoking pot, so Goldstein jumped out to intercept the cop before he could smell it. Suddenly, a car flew by carrying other group members; one of them, Tommy DeVito, “started making faces out the window,” Goldstein said. “The cop jumped back in his car and chased after them. He gave them a ticket. I didn’t get one.”
Visit BaltimoreSun.com for the full interview. Great stuff!
Good grief – What are those clothes our favourite group are wearing in that photo !!
Everytime I have seen FV&4S at UK Concerts or on Utube clips or Album covers, they have always been smartly attired and looked the superb professionals they are. (Apart from GILG perhaps)
I thought they never acknowledged current fashions either musically or clothes. They never really went hippy – did they ?
Never seen anything like this picture before.
Can any of our USA based friends put me right ?
Comment by Brian — February 4, 2011 @ 1:04 pm
This picture is used, from the waist up, on the “And That Reminds Me” picture sleeve accompanying the 45 single release.
Comment by David Cace — February 4, 2011 @ 4:50 pm
I especially like the part about Tommy’s decoy.
Love him or hate him…he seemed to alweays have your back.
Comment by Ray — February 6, 2011 @ 10:19 am