November 22, 2010

The Crowd Goes Wild: Five Years of Jersey Boys–Paley Center for Media Recap, Part Two

November 22nd, 2010

(Photo Credit #3-16: BroadwayWorld.com)

This is the second in a three-part segment on the amazing Q&A event at the Paley Center for Media on November 8, The Crowd Goes Wild: Five Years of Jersey Boys, which featured original Four Seasons members Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli and JERSEY BOYS writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. The event was moderated by Late Night with David Letterman’s musical director, Paul Shaffer. In Part One, Paley Center for Media President and CEO Pat Mitchell welcomed the audience with rare television footage from The Four Seasons and Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio shared some amazing insights about the group and their unique sound.

As the Paley Center for Media Q&A event continued, Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli reflected and reminisced about their struggles, The Four Seasons’ early success, the group’s heyday, and the hits that topped the charts.

Paul Shaffer remembers being completely blown away by the opening of Sherry, “with the Cha Cha and that guitar!”

Bob Gaudio recalled, “At first, it was a lick that was played on the piano and a great bass line by Nicky [Massi] and some great studio guys on that record.”

Shaffer asked, “So, The Four Seasons weren’t self-contained?”

Frankie stated, “With the exception of a drummer, we were a self-contained band, but at first we didn’t have a band on the road.”

According to Valli, that all ended after a gig in Columbus, Ohio when they were teamed up with a circus band without keyboards. Following that disaster, the Seasons toured with their own instruments and their own band.

“We were one of the first groups who toured with their own sound system from the Clair Brothers,” said Valli. “We wanted to make sure our concerts sounded like our records.”

Asked about The Four Seasons’ heyday, “It was great doing the four-part harmony, like on Steve Allen,” said Gaudio, “but there was nothing like doing your own thing with Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, and Walk Like a Man—writing, composing, performing…”

Regarding the uniqueness of Valli’s vocal talents, Gaudio told the audience, “He could sing Mary Had a Little Lamb and make you cry with the passion in his voice!”

When Shaffer mentioned the group’s third chart-topper, “Walk Like a Man,” Gaudio explained, “It was such a dichotomy with that high voice surrounded with the harmony—it had such power and it was very inspiring—like a 60-voice choir.”

Frankie added, “Tommy [DeVito] really had problems with ‘Walk Like a Man.’ I’m not too sure he really liked the title.” [laughed]

Shaffer asked Bob and Frankie, “You guys were on an interesting side of the law at times. But what about having hit after hit?”

Frankie revealed, “Even after we had three number one records in a row and then, Dawn only peaked at number three, I panicked and said, ‘It’s over!’ I was so skeptical after struggling with The Four Lovers and Bob with The Royal Teens. I was so unsure.”

Due to his skepticism, even after three chart-toppers Frankie wouldn’t buy a car like the other guys; he continued to drive a “junker” for two years. When he finally purchased a home, he bought a two-family, so that rent would be coming in if the hits stopped.

Shaffer asked Valli and Gaudio, “You guys had an absolutely incredible run for about 15 years and now Jersey Boys?”

“Lots of things we had planned from the very beginning—getting the group off the ground and my solo recording career, but in the early days, we were cautious talking about what our lives were like,” Valli admitted. “We thought the radio would stop playing us and our record sales would stop.”

When talking about putting their story on the stage and telling it all, Bob said he asked Frankie, ‘Are you ready for this?’”

“At this point in my life,” Valli reflected, “who cares?”

Yet Valli noted that they were careful not to hurt other people. “We walked on eggshells to make sure we wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Valli said.

As he motioned to Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, Shaffer stated, “When it was time to tell your story, you ended up with the two best possible guys who created such a great musical that was both funny and poignant!”

In Part Three, the panelists talk about how The Four Seasons story progressed from an idea to a script at La Jolla Playhouse to a major Broadway hit.

2 Comments »

  1. We’ve talked about it before, but if “Dawn (Go Away)” had been released shortly after it was recorded, and not delayed by the Vee Jay problems, it would have been #1, and not competing with the “irrational overexuberance” (OK, I borrowed that from Alan Greenspan :) )of Beatlemania. The big radio stations really didn’t stop playing their records until about mid-1968, and that was disturbing to fans as well. There was a lot of good mainstream material out then too, but the psychedelic and protest era is probably what hurt FV4S airplay the most. When the 1970s brought back less serious themes as the Vietnam War ended, the airplay returned.

    Comment by Ted Hammond — November 22, 2010 @ 3:32 pm

  2. Paul Shaffer has been a long time admirer of the Four Seasons.

    Paul Shaffer and his band provided the music at the 1990 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies when the Four Seasons were inducted along with the Four Tops, Simon and Garfunkel, Hank Ballard and so many other great performers and writers like King and Goeffin and Holland Dozier and Holland.

    For more information on the Four Seasons induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame see Jersey Boys Blog entry dated January 17, 2010.

    Comment by David Cace — November 24, 2010 @ 8:46 am

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