The Very Best of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons [Rhino 2002]

by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, The Four Seasons, Frankie Valli

Overview

The Four Seasons are often overlooked when lists of important bands of the 1960s are made. That really shouldn't be the case. With Frankie Valli's amazing bray of a voice backed by the solid harmonies of the other Three Seasons singing simple, powerful songs with great hooks and lots of musical surprises, they were really quite special. And Bob Crewe knew how to produce records that sounded great on car radios: the drums snap, the guitars crunch, and the voices jump out of the mix. The Four Seasons had a lot of really big hit songs: "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Dawn (Go Away)," and "Working My Way Back to You." This compilation rounds up all their chart smashes from their original incarnation in the 1960s plus two tracks ("Who Loves You" and the disco-fied "December, 1963 [Oh, What a Night]") from the mid-'70s. One could question the inclusion of solo tracks by Frankie Valli on a Four Seasons compilation. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," "My Eyes Adored You," "Swearin' to God," and "Grease" are all fine songs and hits as well, but sound out of place, as his solo style is nothing like the classic Four Seasons sound. It seems like a disservice to the group. Surely Rhino could have found a few more Four Seasons tunes to round out the disc -- maybe a song from their weird concept album, The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, or the should-have-been-a-smash "Silence Is Golden." Ignoring all that, this is still the best single-disc Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons compilation on the market (since Rhino has deleted their superior Anthology, which had more tracks and only one Frankie Valli solo number) and could easily be recommended to the casual fan. ~ Tim Sendra

Product Details

Release Date:	01/14/2003
Label:	Rhino
UPC:	0081227449421
Rank:	13199

Tracks

1. Sherry
2. Big Girls Don't Cry
3. Walk Like a Man
4. Candy Girl
5. Dawn (Go Away)
6. Ronnie
7. Rag Doll
8. Save It for Me
9. Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye)
10. Let's Hang On (To What We've Got)
11. Working My Way Back to You
12. Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'Bout Me)
13. I've Got You Under My Skin
14. C'mon Marianne
15. Can't Take My Eyes Off You
16. My Eyes Adored You
17. Swearin' to God
18. Who Loves You
19. December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)
20. Grease

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons   Primary Artist
Frankie Valli   Primary Artist,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
The Four Seasons   Primary Artist
Charles Calello   Bass
Tommy DeVito   Guitar,Vocals
Joe Long   Bass,Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Rhythm)
Gerry Polci   Drums
Nick Massi   Bass,Vocals
John Pavia   Guitar
Bob Gaudio   Vocals,Keyboards
Lee Shapiro   Keyboards

Technical Credits

Barry Gibb   Composer,Producer
Reggie Collins   Discographical Annotation
Gary Peterson   Discographical Annotation
Sheryl Farber   Editorial Supervision
Tony Pipitone   Associate Producer
Komeka Freeman   Product Manager
Randy Perry   Project Assistant
Lawrence Russell Brown   Composer
Pat Sierchio   Liner Notes
Robert Gaudio   Composer
Raymond Bloodworth   Composer
Daniel Hersch   Remastering
Tim Scanlin   Project Assistant
Maria Villar   Art Direction
Valerie Valera   Design
Amy Utstein   Project Assistant
Bob Gaudio   Composer,Producer
Bob Crewe   Composer,Producer
Bill Inglot   Producer,Remastering
Kenny Nolan   Composer
Cole Porter   Composer
Larry Santos   Composer
Lawrence Santos   Composer
Gary Stewart   Compilation Producer
Denny Randell   Composer
Sandy Linzer   Composer
Dave Schultz   Remastering
Judy Parker   Composer
Karl Richardson   Producer
Albhy Galuten   Producer