BBs and Frankie Valli (and marriage ramblings, San Fran Etc.)

[Rich E P]

So I picked up Jersey Beat - the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons box set the day it came out and I am still listening non-stop.  Anybody else give it a go?  If not, I highly recommend it.  Great collection, booklet, mastering, song choice and worth every penny.  As a small kid it was always Valli #1, Beatles #2, and Beach Boys #3.  As I grew older and delved deeper into the beach boys catalogue they took over the top spot.  But I have never lost appreciation for the Seasons writing, vocals (beautiful arrangements), and production.  Gaudio, Crewe and the killer vocals of Valli at their best were a near unbeatable team.  I've always been a sucker for a great falsetto.  Brian's and Frankie's are quite different but both other worldly in their beauty.  The Beach Boys / Valli collaboration East Meets West was always a guilty pleasure.  Though full of 80's cheese production values,  the vocal performance of each Beach Boy and Frankie are quite solid.  Any other thoughts on this track?  Apparently it is Gaudio who produced and arranged it (Gaudio and Crewe wrote it).  I have heard some say he made sure that Valli shines a little brighter on the track but I feel it is a pretty even handed affair.

Slightly off topic, I am getting married in a few weeks (woo-hoo!) and we will be honeymooning in San Francisco (Aug 19 - 26).  Though I have been many places in California both my fiancee and I have both never been to San Fran.  Has anyone seen the San Fran production of Jersey Boys?  I want to go, but all the good tickets seem to be gone already and the ticket agencies are asking $360 or more for two good seats.  Ouch!  Any suggestions on how to get a decent seat at a reasonable price.  The cost of the wedding alone is already stressing me out.  How about recommendations for good cd shops?  (Though I have already been warned about spending too much time music shopping on the honeymoon...)

[endofposts]

Jersey Boys is a great show, though I have to admit I've only seen the first cast that was in town (they moved onto LA, and the show was recast with actors who will take it to Chicago at the end of September). If you're willing to sit apart, you probably can get good seats.  Not a great idea on a honeymoon, perhaps!  I'm surprised you can't get a couple of decent seats together, because the show supposedly hasn't been selling out lately.

There is one alternative if you have some time to spare:  rush seats.  They only cost $25 each, and you can get up to two (and they will be together, most usually).  The catch is you have to be there at a certain time to get them.    For evening performances, the rush tickets go on sale at 6:00 PM; for 2:00 PM matinees on Weds, Sat, and Sunday, rush goes on sale at 12:00 noon.  If you get there about 90 minutes before the sale time, you should be guaranteed a pair.  They have 17-25 total rush seats.  Most are in the very front row.   You can't see the back of the stage, but you do get to be right up close to the performers, and it's a heck of a lot of fun to be that close to musical performers singing and dancing.    It's a great deal.  You can enjoy a nice dinner and shopping in Union Square while waiting for the show to start, or a nice lunch if you do the matinee show rush.

For CD shops, Amoeba in the Haight is nice, though a little hard to get to if you don't have a car, and sometimes hard to find parking if you do. 

[matt-zeus]

I've always been a sucker for a great falsetto.  Brian's and Frankie's are quite different but both other worldly in their beauty. 

Frankies is a bit more Shrill than Brians, but when Brian does his falsetto in the late 70s its more shrill and closer to Frankies (think of 'She's got rhythm') most particularly on 'Sherry she needs me' on which he sounds very much like Frankie IMO, and it's also about Sherry, is there a link perhaps?

[Jon Stebbins]

I've always been a sucker for a great falsetto.  Brian's and Frankie's are quite different but both other worldly in their beauty. 

Frankies is a bit more Shrill than Brians, but when Brian does his falsetto in the late 70s its more shrill and closer to Frankies (think of 'She's got rhythm') most particularly on 'Sherry she needs me' on which he sounds very much like Frankie IMO, and it's also about Sherry, is there a link perhaps?

The Beach Boys played Sherry in their set list regularly while it was a hit in summer to late '62. There's a story about how Brian taught it to them in the restroom of the Azusa Teen Club in Dave Marks new book.

[tpesky]

Wow I never knew that!! I really do need to get that book ASAP!! That makes more sense then as to why it was in the setlist later on with Adrian Baker.
I did not know they ever covered it before that with the original lineup. Besides the ones in the 64 concert album and Brian/Al doing Runaway, do we know of other songs they covered to fill out their setlists in those early days?

[Jon Stebbins]

here's a set list...
http://members.tripod.com/~fun_fun_fun/8-17-63.html

[tpesky]

Wow I never would have guessed they were covering all that material, definitely interesting!

[Jon Stebbins]

Wow I never would have guessed they were covering all that material, definitely interesting!

I think its cool they were covering Louie Louie since '62, long before the Kingsmen's hit version. Its because David and Carl were hip to the Richard Berry 45. If the BB's had covered it on the first or second LP they would have beaten the Northwest groups(Raiders, Wailers, Kingsmen) to the punch on that one.

[Breakaway]

I really enjoy "East Meets West."  I think everyone (Valli and the Beach Boys) sounds good on the track- the vocals are my favorite thing about the song. Plus, it's just a cool idea that you don't see much- two groups that are often compared vocally singing together about their "rivalry."  A very underrated and just plain fun song, in my opinion.