The Four Seasons boxed set is slowly being digested and so far it has yielded some very precious moments.
Disc 30 - Back In Action - The Lost Disco Album - Recorded a while before, but consisting of some of the best new music to arrive along with the group's 1980 tour of the UK, this has original and extended mixes of such greats as Passion For Paris/Soul/Heaven Above Me/Let It Be Whatever It Is and would eventually become the Frankie Valli album Heaven Above Me. I love long versions so this one is right up my street. The track back in Action is previously unreleased and is as good as the rest. Brilliant!
Disc 41 - LIve at the Steel Pier 7th July 1972 - Essentially the same line-up that I saw at Sheffield Fiesta the same year. A greaty recording and a powerhouse of a show that pounds through hit after hit plus a couple of never recorded live show classics. Magnificent!
Disc 42 - Live at Lucifer's, Boston, 1973 - Interesting because it is a second show where the audience is largely the same as for the first show, so they perform some unusual choices that they disn't always include. The medley of Ronnie/And That Reminds Me/Candy Girl/Tell It To The Rain comes off well, and the version of C'Mon Marianne complete with monster falsetto intro is amazing. Also The Night and A New Beginning from the then-new Chameleon album plus a Sinatra spoof section as they were flying off to join him for his concert in Nevada. Not the best technical quality but historically fascinating and good enough to listen to.
Disc 43 - Live at Batchelors III, Fort Lauderdale, June 1974 - Arranger, keyboard player and New Four Season Lee Shapiro has his skills deep into the new arrangements for this show, which includes some fantastic contemporary medleys such as the classic Bridge Over Troubled Water/Long and Winding Road/I Will Taste The Wine/MacArthur Park in its full concert version. Listen out for a first performance of My Eyes Adored You as well. Lovely. What a great show, recorded from the mixing desk and recorded well.
More reviews to follow, but those four CDs are well worth inclusion and the effort it cost to pull it all together.