Comments on: Arranger Charles Calello on The Frank Truth Podcast!

By: Ray Ricci

Ray Ricci — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:11:13 +0000

I remember a song that I really liked that Charlie did for Robert John “If You Don’t Want My Love”. I didn’t know until years later that Charlie did the arrangement, yet I was drawn to it.

“Lightning Strikes” is another great arrangement. It really stood out and unlike anything else that was out there at the time.

In a strange way I hear a similarity between “The Name Game” and Amy Winehouse’s “Re-hab” mostly the arrangement but also the vocal.

He said something in the interview that rang true with me. The cords he used on the Four Seasons records sounded different, they fit the songs and not the simple repititious standard cords you would here on other records by other bands of that time.

I know Bob Crewe claims he was the 5th Season, but for my money it was always Charlie (in the studio, at least)

By: Ted

Ted — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:45:50 +0000

I noticed that they played “The Clapping Song” on Dancing With The Stars last week but I wasn’t close enough to the TV to tell if it was the Shirley Ellis version arranged and produced by Charlie Calello. I heard “The Name Game” on a “real” oldies station recently and was hearing Charlie’s great horn arrangements.

If you want to see a concise listing of all of Charlie’s Hot 100 songs, try this link.

http://www.charlescalello.com/Hit_Records.htm

Some other notable Non Hot 100 Charles Calello arranged and/or produced songs include Bubbling Under song “Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache” by the Bandwagon, and the first two recordings of “Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby” by The Four Seasons and The Toys from 1965. The Toys single didn’t chart, and the Four Seasons album (“Working My Way Back To You”) that had it charted a week before The Toys album. So the Four Seasons had the first CHARTED track of CGEOYB.

By: Noebie

Noebie — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:39:53 +0000

i found mr. calello to be very cordial, and a natural story teller

i hope he’ll make himself available for additional interviews in the future – and i’ll be very interested in learning more about the book he has in the works – he mentioned it very briefly when we were on the phone

thanks for linking to the interview

cent’anni!

By: Audrey

Audrey — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:11:06 +0000

Great interview (just under 30 minutes). I hope others will make a point to catch this podcast.

With the varied posts on the JB Blog, I keep learning another layer of the music industry as well as interesting tidbits along the path of success for these guys.

The interview notes that Mr Calello has had more ‘Top 10′ hits than any other arranger with 15 Grammy nominations. That kind of high level longevity speaks for itself. Continued success to him!

By: George O'Brien

George O'Brien — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:58:27 +0000

Susie-
Awesome interview. Charlie always comes through with good stories about the creation of FV and Seasons songs. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

George

PS And around the 16:00 minute mark, he got my attention talking about how he sets his new iPod on random to listen to all the songs he’s been associated with over the years. Where else have I heard that? Check out the original song I posted about a month ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4q0d-n5nDc