Throwback Thursday: Photo of The Four Seasons on the Genuine Imitation Life Gazette LP, 1969 #TBT
August 4th, 2016
The Four Seasons (Bob Gaudio, Joe Long, Frankie Valli, and Tommy DeVito)
Let’s go back to The Four Seasons in 1969, with a photo from their Genuine Imitation Life Gazette LP, definitely the most unique, and perhaps underrated albums from the quartet. In recent years, so quite a few music bloggers have discovered the LP and have provided some interesting reviews and insights.
In a 2002 interview with Ken Sharp in Goldmine magazine, Bob Gadio stated, “One of the disappointments of our career for me on a creative level was the Genuine Imitation Life Gazette album. It was just something that I had to do at that time. It got wonderful reviews, but obviously it was not an acceptable piece from us. Everybody was expecting Top 40.”
This has to be one of the best 4 Seasons albums ever put out, next to their chameleon album. The lyrical content and instrumentation is something to listen to. I wish Gaudio would have stayed with this concept because it was sure different for its time. Should anyone come across a copy or purchase one, you will not be disappointed. This is coming from a long time fan.
Comment by George perez — August 9, 2016 @ 2:28 pm
Just saw Paul McCartney in concert at Hershey Park and I am reminded that Bob Gaudio stated about John Lennon concerning “GILG”:
“I had dinner with John Lennon and May Pang in NYC – There were about four or five, six people there. We had a wonderful conversation about it. He said that it was one of his favorite albums”.
Comment by Jerry — August 10, 2016 @ 11:10 am