April 30, 2015

Throwback Thursday: The Four Seasons Performing at Charleston Southern University, 1969! #tbt

April 30th, 2015

Joe Long, Frankie Valli, and Tommy DeVito in 1969 performing at Charleston Southern University (Photo Credit: Charleston50.com)

Fabulous classic photo of the Four Seasons (well, three of them!) taken in 1969 when they were performing at Charleston Southern University. Sorry there’s no shot of Bob Gaudio playing “like a madman” on the keyboards!

4 Comments »

  1. Looks like they’re in the middle of a comedy bit. Great pic.

    Comment by George O'Brien — May 1, 2015 @ 2:18 pm

  2. I believe you are correct George. With Joe, Frankie, and Tommy fighting for the microphone, and with Frankie pointing to himself makes me think that it was probably the part in “How Do You Make a Hit Song” where each member claims “It was me” in taking credit for the success of “Sherry” (with Bob at least saying the words but off to the side behind his organ…stage left)

    The song starts out with each member making a case for what made “Sherry” a hit song, e.g., Bob saying it was Frankie’s voice, Frankie saying that Bob was responsible because he wrote the song, Tommy says that what makes a hit song are the “intangible” qualities like Nick’s solo bass part…“Why Don’t You Come on,” and Nick/Joe saying it was Tommy’s guitar introduction to “Sherry” that “caught the public’s ear”…without which the listening public would have not have gotten “as far as the chorus”…“you have to like a song right away.” After exchanging these magnanimous kudos to each other, they all have a change of heart and say “It was me.” Finally, they all agree that they were just “lucky.”

    It is really a great stage song which the 4 Seasons did for many years in the 60s even after Nick Massi left the group with Joe Long taking Nick’s part. For those not familiar with the song it can be found on the Vee Jay “Live on Stage” album (on stage that is in a recording studio not in front of a live audience). Seeing the song performed live, however, was a real treat.

    Comment by David Cace — May 5, 2015 @ 5:36 pm

  3. Here’s a link to the album cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndYAnkNoR2M

    Comment by George O'Brien — May 6, 2015 @ 4:10 pm

  4. Thanks for the link George. i am sure visitors to the Jersey Boys Blog will enjoy the song. I would also recommend that for anyway using this link that they should also listen to that other great stage song from that album “Mack The Knife.” This is a customized “Mack The Knife” written for the 4 Seasons and featuring the magnificent voice of Nick Massi. People using this link should be careful as I clicked “Mack The Knife” and got “Day In/Day Out.” To get “Mack The Knife” click on “Brotherhood of Man.”

    Comment by David Cace — May 6, 2015 @ 8:19 pm

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