The Real Jersey Boys Really Rocked!
June 21st, 2007LACityBeat.com’s Robert Holdship has a marvelous article that defends the real Jersey Boys–the Four Seasons.
Holdship notes that as recently as three months ago, Robert Hilburn once again wrote in the L.A. Times that the Four Seasons don’t belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Of course, this belies Brian Wilson describing them to me 14 years ago as “the East Coast Beach Boys,†proclaiming “they made great records,†or the Rolling Stones calling them their favorite American band in several 1965 interviews.
Ironically, the reporter’s love affair with the band (because they were a band, despite their Spinal Tap-ish revolving drummers) began when his Mom bought me a Stones record and his younger brother, Barry, The Four Seasons Gold Hits. And while big girls may not cry, big boys didn’t sing like that – and image-wise, the Four Seasons, even at their height of fame, were never the hippest of rock bands, especially after the British Invasion … which, over the years, sometimes hurt their legacy.
In retrospect, though, the Four Seasons took doo-wop music, that most romantic expression of love, and merged it with the grandest of subsequent pop-rock traditions. Like Brian Wilson, they built on Phil Spector’s production techniques (hell, the drum intro on “Rag Doll†is “Be My Babyâ€). Yeah, they seemed “unhipâ€â€¦ but then there was that magical fuzztone guitar riff on “Let’s Hang On,†one of the most electrifying of its type to blare out of AM radios in the mid-’60s. Bobs Gaudio and Crewe created mini street rock operas on many of those 45s, often about life and love on the poor side of town. Overpowering in their emotionalism, there’s no question that tunes like “Big Man In Town†had a major influence on fellow Jersey boy Bruce Springsteen, who later titled one of his own tunes “Walk Like A Man.â€
Read the full article on LACityBeat.com.
My husband and I, along with a packed house at the Ahmanson Theatre enjoyed the show. We gave them a standing ovation and I wouldn’t be surprised if they get one after every show. They were awesome!!!
Comment by Paula Gonzales — June 21, 2007 @ 11:49 am
After so many years of listening to their songs starting in the early 70′s, it is great finally knowing who made the music and how they got the ideas for their songs. Jersey Boys is now an American institution, and I’m proud to say it!
Who would have thought that if the play was not written, most would still be clueless as to the true identities and stories behind the Four Seasons.
I’m glad to have been exposed to their music at an early age, and especially thankful to the neighborhood car club while growing up when they always cruised each evening and we could hear “Sherry”, “Walk Like a Man” and “Dawn”, plus others.
I’ve heard they were coming to the SF Bay Area for two shows this Summer….. It would be great to experience watching them again in person, 25 years after my first Frankie Valli concert….. “Yup, still going strong like that pink bunny rabbit in that commercial”……
Comment by Mike B. Magbaleta — June 21, 2007 @ 2:48 pm