December 8, 2007

Four Seasons Vintage Posters!

December 8th, 2007

Thank you to Four Seasons’ historian David Cace for this amazing piece of 4 Seasons’ memorabilia!

24 Comments »

  1. David knows that I attended the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons concert at Paterson State College on January 17th 1970. I sat in the first row, because my roommate was president of the assembly committee and saved me a front row center ticket. David was also there, but I didn’t get to know him until 37 years later when our paths crossed again due to our many, many times seeing Jersey Boys. History has a way of repeating itself!

    Comment by Beverley Micciche — December 8, 2007 @ 6:32 pm

  2. Thanks David, I love looking at old posters, and wouldn’t it be great to spend $3.00 to see Frankie Valli today :) Jody

    Comment by Jody Cardillo — December 8, 2007 @ 8:17 pm

  3. Interesting to see the various ways the group is headlined… The Four Seasons, The Four Seasons featuring the Sound of Frankie Valli, Frankie Valli With the Four Seasons, Connie Francis and the Four Seasons. (Wait, how did Connie slip in there… just kidding, of course. Katie Agresta has worked with Connie, too; such a small world.) It’s nice to see Joe Long in several photos.

    David- are those posters with the pictures inside the word FOUR- actual baby pictures of the guys?

    Comment by Audrey — December 8, 2007 @ 8:33 pm

  4. Yes Audrey, those are actual baby/youth pictures of the Four Seasons. I believe the one of Bob Gaudio is easily identifiable; the others may take a while to figure out. Connie Francis – another Belleville NJ native. Must have been something in the air in that greater Belleville/Newark area at the time. What great entertainers from that area.

    And Jody, don’t forget, for $3 dollars you got a chicken in the basket dinner too in addition to the show. For the one o’clock show which was open to kids I was 15 year old David, but for the 9 o’clock show my “borrowed” draft card said I was 18 year old Daniel Powers whose eyes had magically turned blue. That night was the first time I got to see the 4 Seasons in a nite club setting. Quite a different show that 9 o’clock performance. I remember Tommy DeVito doing a song about a guy in the army who got a dear John letter from his girlfriend telling him of all the things she been doing with his best friend. Not a song for the 1 o’clock crowd or the generic “G” rated shows I had been seeing previously. This was the first show I saw the 4 Seasons without Nick Massi. Charlie Callello was the bass player and singer that night. Thankfully Joe Long came into the group a few weeks later. Mr. Callello is a great arranger but he was not a performer. Frankie and Tommy did all the between song banter that night.

    Comment by David Cace — December 8, 2007 @ 9:31 pm

  5. Hi David!
    These clips are awesome…thanks for sharing the memorabilia! I was born in Jersey City, NJ and now have my Mom & Dad to thank for my acclimation to Franki Valli & the Four Seasons. Beginning as early as a toddler while breaking a “glass table” in Atlantic City, NJ…another story according to my parents & the infamous Four Seasons!
    All the Best!
    Cynthia

    Comment by NewJerseyLasagna — December 8, 2007 @ 9:31 pm

  6. WOW!! Chicken in a Basket and the Four Seasons, Hey that could have been another name for the Boys :) Thanks David, I love your stories. Howard told me I could find anything I needed to know about the Four Seasons from you..I’ll remember that..Jody

    Comment by Jody Cardillo — December 8, 2007 @ 9:44 pm

  7. Cynthia

    Jersey City! Your parents will know the Stanley Theatre and the Loews Theatre where two of the flyers are from. Both were built around the same time as Radio City Music Hall and hold slightly less, maybe about 4 thousand people. The Stanley has been completely refurbished by the Gehova’s Witnesses and the Loews is currently undergoing a refurbishment by a local not for profit group. Great acoustics in both places. The group renovating the Loews holds film festivals there and I took my kids to see an Abbott and Costello film festival there recently and I could still hear Frankie’s finishing note on “My Mother’s Eyes” reverberating in the Loews Theatre.

    Comment by David Cace — December 8, 2007 @ 10:12 pm

  8. David,

    Thank you for this wonderful post. I am remembering the names and faces – Connie Francis (I think she sang a song about the “”Four Seasons” called “Where the Boys Are” (just a joke). However, after seeing the show today in San Francisco and meeting a number of new Jersey Boys family members like Angel, Mila (Milady), Kathy (MamaLucy), Linda, Lauren AVila, Lorraine Avila, I just realized that Jersey Boys fans could sing a new rendition of “Where the Boys Are.” It seems that the more people I meet, the more I realize how “ubiquitous” Jersey Boys fans are. Some of them become “Ubiquitous” by flying all over the country to”Where the Boys Are.” Linda Soo Hoo flew to La Jolla this afternoon to see JLY perform at Des McAnuff’s tribute gala.

    I will be posting on the Forum but loved reading and learning from your blog comments, David.

    Best regards to all. IE

    Comment by irene eizen — December 8, 2007 @ 10:27 pm

  9. Great posters, David.

    I hope they found the Ed Sullivan December 9, 1962 Four Seasons clip for tomorrow’s 45th anniversary of their performance, the first time many of us saw the Four Seasons for the first time on TV. For many of us, it was much more special than the 1964 Beatles Sullivan performances.

    Comment by Ted Hammond — December 8, 2007 @ 10:51 pm

  10. David,

    What wonderful treasures. Thanks for sharing them on the JBB. I always get a kick out of seeing these types of items, certainly 4 Seasons, but really anything related to this era. You not only have an uncanny ability to remember details of performances from so long ago, but you also possess an incredible collection of memorabilia from that time.

    Comment by Len Gersten — December 9, 2007 @ 2:07 am

  11. O gosh, Ted, I nearly forgot about that Ed Sullivan appearance. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t they only do “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, and not “Sherry”?

    David, thanks for a wonderful retrospective. And yeah, Jody, David is remarkable. Indeed, David has answered every one of my questions candidly, and never shies away from the tough ones. I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing David’s Four Seasons Room in his home, after making it through the growls of his dog Sunday (who weighs twice as much as I do) and David’s disabling of his security system (OK, by turning a key!).

    And David, as long as we’re lauding you, is that John Payne/Rhonda Fleming story accurate, or did it have some help from the wit of Mr. Rick Elice??

    Comment by Howard Tucker — December 9, 2007 @ 7:13 am

  12. The mention of the Stanley Theater in Jersey City brought back another memory from my college days. I saw the Beachboys and the Grassroots perform there.

    Comment by Beverley Micciche — December 9, 2007 @ 7:43 am

  13. Ted,
    Wow! It doesn’t seem like it could be 45 years ago! I was so young then…Most people attending the play are seeing it for the first time and so don’t read the JB Blog, so they will not know the heightened significance when they see the clip of Ed Sullivan introducing The Four Seasons TODAY. I wish I had tickets today so I could tell the people sitting near me about this special bit of history. You along with David Cace and Charles Alexander are true historians. Thanks for sharing!

    Comment by Beverley Micciche — December 9, 2007 @ 8:21 am

  14. David, These are wonderful posters!! I saw The Four Season in Lenox, MA at Tanglewood in 1974-75 or so. Thank you so much for posting this, hope to see you sometime soon! Wanda

    Comment by Wanda — December 9, 2007 @ 10:21 am

  15. The Ed Sullivan Shows were the best! I also remember seeing Frankie on The Mike Douglas Show Christmas Day.Thea

    Comment by THEA — December 9, 2007 @ 1:25 pm

  16. My recollection, Howard, since we didn’t have VCRs or DVDs in 1962 and I have to depend on memory, is that they only sang “Big Girls Don’t Cry”. I did see the rerun in the spring, so that’s actually my recollection from both times.

    Comment by Ted Hammond — December 9, 2007 @ 3:43 pm

  17. No Howard, “Big Girls Don’t Cry” was not a Rick Elice creation. Years and years ago I remember it being reported that the movie that the line came from was a John Wayne movie, but it was actually a John Payne movie called Tennessee’s Partner, also staring a future president. I have done a casual look for this “B” western but have not been successful in locating it, so I have not actually heard the line as reported in the Bob Gaudio little monologue in Jersey Boys.

    Beverly, our spouses are going to start to talk – I too was at the Beach Boys and Grassroots concert at the Stanley. The Grassroots put on a much better show than the Beach Boys. Actually the Beach Boys were awful with a capital A. I remember them standing around asking each other what song they should do next. The 4 Seasons put on a show and entertained people. The Beach Boys that I saw that night in 1969 or 1970 had no show and the theatre was only half full as I recall.

    Comment by David Cace — December 9, 2007 @ 4:51 pm

  18. “Big Girls Don’t Cry” is not a Fergie creation either, kids! Shame on her for taking the song title!

    David, I attended both a Frankie Valli/Four Seasons concert and a Beach Boys concert this summer. The Beach Boys seemed like it was just another ho hum performance. John Stamos got more applause than they did. Frankie performed like there was no tomorrow, and put everything he had into it! I did see a small venue Beach Boys concert a few years ago that was great. Adrian Baker (who has toured with both groups at one time or another) even sang “Sherry” at it!

    I have recently purchased both a Beach Boys and Grass Roots “Best Of” CD collection, and I listen to the Grass Roots much more than the Beach Boys.

    Comment by Ted Hammond — December 9, 2007 @ 6:32 pm

  19. David,
    Yes, I remember the Beach Boys were quite rude. The Grassroots opened the show and that was a good thing, because the Beach Boys actually asked for requests from the audience, someone would shout out the name of a song, and then on purpose wouldn’t play it. I left with a bad impression of the group.

    Comment by Beverley Micciche — December 9, 2007 @ 9:12 pm

  20. Great posters and wonderful history/trivia/clandestine meetings (JUST KIDDING!!) from David and Beverley!

    Comment by LuluThompson — December 10, 2007 @ 12:04 am

  21. David: You have some awesome memorabilia and interesting memories of growing up around the Four Seasons and seeing them perform when you were a teenager. As someone from the west coast who only saw them sporadically on TV and listened to their albums constantly, I treasure your memories. I want more, more, more I tell you!!

    Comment by LindaL — December 10, 2007 @ 10:28 pm

  22. This is a great website! I found it by googling Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons posters. We just took our 8 year old daughter to see Frankie in San Bernadino. We are trying to find a poster of him or he and the four seasons. Do you know where I could find one???
    Thank you.

    Comment by Bruce Kaufman — December 16, 2008 @ 11:06 pm

  23. Hi David Was Wondering Ive Got A Poster Of The Four Seasons(24×36)The Four Of Them Standing In The Middle.Top Left Four Sets Of Eyes ,Top Right Four Sets Of Hands Ive Had This Poster A Very Long Time Trying To Find Out Information On It When It Was Taken Thanks Tony

    Comment by tony stotz — December 26, 2009 @ 7:55 pm

  24. Tony

    What I believe you are referring to is the poster that accompanied the Philips release, 1969 or 1970, called Edizione D’Oro, which was in effect a greatest hits double album.

    David

    Comment by David Cace — December 27, 2009 @ 9:05 am

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