The Shear Range of Material That Bob Crewe Produced Is Unbeliev- Able
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The shear range of material that Bob Crewe produced is unbeliev- wonders. But no one on the radio demo brought 4 Seasons producer able. He was writer/co-writer on 917 then could match Mitch and com- Bob Crewe to a Detroit perfor- songs according to the BMI listings pany for pure visceral excitement, mance where The Rivieras opened and if you add to that the work of no one else could make the hair for The Dave Clark Five. They Charles Calello and Bob Gaudio, stand up on the back of your neck torched the hometown audience for you will guess that our collecting and a wild-eyed gleam creep into 90 minutes, Crewe was hooked, of tracks has a long way to go. your eyes because you just know and in February, 1965, the five With the range of songs we have that SOMETHING WAS GOING TO Detroit teenagers relocated to New found we can group tracks and HAPPEN. The records worked York City and bided their time for a styles to some extent and for because they perfectly captured few months playing Greenwich ‘Seasons’ Connections Volume 4 the kinetic frenzy of the live perfor- Village clubs for survival money. we have picked out some of the mances that had been the group's What followed was a wild two-year Northern Soul styled tracks to give stock in trade since they first ride trough the star making this mix an up-tempo upbeat sound joined forces in Detroit early in machinery of the record industry that some say is our best mix yet. 1964. Born William Levise, Jr., that brought them fame but no for- Perhaps Bob’s best known song on Ryder was performing as Billy Lee tune and tore the group apart in the the Northern Soul scene is our open- in a high school band called process. Not that the first Mitch ing track, ‘Break-out’ (New Voice Tempest before turning heads in a Ryder & The Detroit Wheels single, 811) by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit black Detroit soul club called the "I Need Help", exactly set the Wheels. It has become an anthem in Village. They joined forces as Billy charts afire. That waited until late the clubs of England. Lee & The Rivieras and by mid- 1965 when "Jenny Take A Ride!" But how did Bob Crewe come to pro- summer had attracted a fanatical climbed to #10 as The Wheels duce such a brassy, punchy soulful local following that caught the ear welded Chuck Willis' "C.C. Rider" sound? Mitch’s bio tells us much. of Motor City DJ Bob Prince. Prince to Little Richard's "Jenny, Jenny", “With Ryder, it wasn't attitude or began booking Lee & The Rivieras and cannily tossed in an advertise- public outrage or politics that gen- as an opening act at a club/casino ment for their live show along the erated the charge you could simply north of Detroit, but their live per- way That approach bordered on hear it in the music. Ryder hit dur- formances were so potent that the becoming a formula, particularly ing the mid-'60s when AM radio unrecorded group was soon head- after "Break Out", the first attempt was going through a golden era lining over major Motown artists. at a bigger, brassier sound, only courtesy of Motown, Stax, the Prince then arranged for The made it to #62 and the ballad British Invasion, Aretha, JB, and Rivieras to record a tape in "Takin' All I Can Get" barely any number of garage band one-hit Badanjek's basement, and that cracked the Top 100. Late in 1966, the "Devil With A Blue Dress On" & "Good Golly Miss Molly" medleys exploded over the airwaves and indelibly stamped the high energy Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels sound on anyone within an earshot as they hit #4 on the charts.” ‘Break-Out’ was a Gary Knight, Herb Bernstein composi- tion that should have fared better than the 5 weeks it spent on the Billboard chart after its release on 28th May 1966. At least it gained a cult status with the Northern audiences. Whilst Bob Crewe was finding a dynamic sound in the mid sixties, Bob Crewe With Bob Gaudio at the recording session for ‘Can’t Take My Charles Calello was being recruited Eyes Of You”. Courtesy George Showerer Library by artists other than the Four Seasons to bring his arranging and an impact. Charles again from his early on, I’ll tell you something I conducting talents to their music. interview with Stuart Miller in 2003:- learnt from Crewe. Bob asked me Clara Ward was to benefit with an “The same time that we were mak- to do something and I said, "You album “Hang Your Tears Out To Dry” ing records, Motown was making can’t do that Bob". He said, Verve 5002 in 1966. records. So we listened to Motown "Charles; if you can’t, someone Born in Philadelphia on August 21, records and we tried to emulate the else will". So, there was no musical 1924, Clara Ward is widely acclaimed Motown records. And imitating the thought that Bob ever had that I as one of the greatest soloists in Motown records, because we didn’t didn’t try to create to give him what gospel history. Touring the country have the same players, and he wanted in a particular area. So if with her backing group, the Ward because we didn’t have the same I went into the studio and he said, Singers, she propelled gospel out of electronics or the same sound, we "Charles, the strings should go the church and into the nightclub, were in pursuit of trying to get that down" and I thought he was going where glitzy costumes and pop-style sound which we never were able to to make a mistake, eventually after performance gave the music glamour duplicate. But in the process we making a lot of records with him, I and commercial appeal never seen created our own thing. So we realized that he really had a direc- before in gospel music. always had a reference point when- tion and I would try to help him The single we feature here was ‘The ever we went into the studio. We accomplish what he was hearing. Right Direction’ (Verve 10412). A didn’t go in blindly, looking for all And watching Gaudio and Crewe Schroeck-Loring composition it fea- of the ideas in the studio. We had a work, Gaudio being extremely non- tures a great guitar and brassy intro concept and tried to follow that flexible and Crewe being somewhat to what was to become another concept and in the process maybe flexible, Gaudio also knowing that Northern Soul dancer’s anthem during arrived at a different direction, but this was primarily his brain child, if the 70’s. Clara’s positive upbeat vocal had a definitive direction when we he thought the idea was working makes this song easily likeable. went in. he’d let it go. “ In the context of ‘directions’ and Bob If you understood the personalities, Back to the early years now for an Crewe’s unique ability as a producer the arguments between the two example of how the experiments working with Charles Calello we found Bobs, Bob Gaudio being very found a new direction. Although Hal evidence in compiling this collection mechanical and methodical and Miller and the Rays (frequently The of how they worked together from Bob Crewe being off the cuff, you Four Seasons) were not achieving Charles Calello himself. At the time of put those two elements together much success with their releases, many of these recordings the influ- and there was always going to be their up-tempo ‘’On My Own Two ence of competing labels was having some kind of friction. Well, very Feet’ (Amy 909) should have been a hit. Complete with typical Crewe drum next week. Charles Calello arrangement. intro and Hal’s falsetto end it is a very We’ve already heard the soulful voice Back to our old friend Hal Miller and danceable track again reflecting the of Chollie May on Volume 3 and here the Rays(aka The Four Seasons) on positive feel to many of the tracks on we feature the ‘A’ side of her Gaudio an early 60’s single ‘Are You Happy this selection. This is not surprising – Valli Production in 1964. ‘You Will Now?’(Perri 1004). A Bob Crewe , given the writing team of Crewe, Never Get Away’ (Gold 212) was a Sid Bass composition, Crewe uses Rehak and Rambeau and the Four rare Calello penned song which just the Seasons in a chanted backing of Seasons punchy backing. rocks along. Probably backed by the “Yea, Yea, Yea, Yea” . This is a cred- Bob Crewe occasionally took an Rag Dolls or the Angels, Chollie does itable outing for the group as backing opportunity to produce soul flavoured this great song and arrangement full vocalists. tracks on labels like Cameo Parkway. justice. But why are Charles Calello To keep our soulful feel to our mix we His solitary single with Dee Dee penned tracks so rare? Charles said once again returned to the intense Sharp was to produce a wonderful of his writing capability:- vocal style of Mitch Ryder and The piece of feel good girl sound that “Writing songs to me was some- Detroit Wheels 1966 single ‘Takin’All matches anything he was to do later thing I always liked but never I Can Get’ (New Voice 814).