This group was caught in the middle between the doo-wop era and the beginning of the self-contained vocal/instrumental groups like the Beach Boys and the Beatles. This was no problem back in the day, as they rode a fairly long string of hit singles like "Sherry" and "Walk Like a Man" from the end of the Fifties through the mid-60s, then made a minor comeback in the disco era with "December 1963," not a holiday tune, though disco revivalists might quibble. Getting back to 1962, the original release of this album, the Seasons mostly succumbed to the pressure to treat the holiday with (too much) reverence, as seen elsewhere with Jackie Wilson and the Beach Boys. Like the Boys, the Seasons did a few tunes in their signature style and devoted the rest of the album to heavily orchestrated versions of traditional carols, including no less than four medleys. The Beach Boys, however, got a whole side of the vinyl LP for their original Christmas tunes; the Seasons only got two unique tunes on the whole album, both released as singles in their day, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," both worthy of a holiday mix tape. The album was later issued as The 4 Seasons Christmas Album on Philips and Rhino, and is currently on offer from Curb/Warners. I should probably mention "Christmas Tears," the B-side of both singles, along with "The Christmas Song" and "White Christmas," as better examples of the Frankie Valli solo career, about which you can draw your own conclusions. UPDATE: I originally mentioned the version of "Jungle Bells" as a band original, but it turns out that song is a public domain kids' song about animals celebrating Christmas.
The Four Seasons Greetings, The 4 Seasons (Vee Jay)
This group was caught in the middle between the doo-wop era and the beginning of the self-contained vocal/instrumental groups like the Beach Boys and the Beatles. This was no problem back in the day, as they rode a fairly long string of hit singles like "Sherry" and "Walk Like a Man" from the end of the Fifties through the mid-60s, then made a minor comeback in the disco era with "December 1963," not a holiday tune, though disco revivalists might quibble. Getting back to 1962, the original release of this album, the Seasons mostly succumbed to the pressure to treat the holiday with (too much) reverence, as seen elsewhere with Jackie Wilson and the Beach Boys. Like the Boys, the Seasons did a few tunes in their signature style and devoted the rest of the album to heavily orchestrated versions of traditional carols, including no less than four medleys. The Beach Boys, however, got a whole side of the vinyl LP for their original Christmas tunes; the Seasons only got two unique tunes on the whole album, both released as singles in their day, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," both worthy of a holiday mix tape. The album was later issued as The 4 Seasons Christmas Album on Philips and Rhino, and is currently on offer from Curb/Warners. I should probably mention "Christmas Tears," the B-side of both singles, along with "The Christmas Song" and "White Christmas," as better examples of the Frankie Valli solo career, about which you can draw your own conclusions. UPDATE: I originally mentioned the version of "Jungle Bells" as a band original, but it turns out that song is a public domain kids' song about animals celebrating Christmas.
No TrackBacks
TrackBack URL: http://www.mistletunes.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/455
Leave a comment