Track Listing

1. Sherry
2. Big Girls Don't Cry
3. Walk Like a Man
4. Candy Girl
5. Marlena
6. Dawn (Go Away)
7. Stay
8. Ronnie
9. Rag Doll
10. Silence Is Golden
11. Save It for Me
12. Big Man in Town
13. Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby Goodbye)
14. Girl Come Running
15. Let's Hang On
16. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - The Wonder Who?
17. Working My Way Back to You
18. Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'Bout Me)
19. I've Got You Under My Skin
20. Tell It to the Rain
21. Beggin'
22. Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Frankie Valli
23. C'mon Marianne
24. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
25. Who Loves You
26. December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84376 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Big girls don't cry and big boys don't sing like that ... except in the romantic musical world of doo-wop. And the Four Seasons were the grandest culmination of that genre, producing hit singles that were often epic teen mini-operas. Producer Bob Crewe borrowed liberally from Phil Spector (definitive proof: the drum intro to "Rag Doll" is damn near sampled from "Be My Baby"), and even Brian Wilson has called them "the East Coast Beach Boys." A condensation of Rhino's three-disc 25th-anniversary collection, Anthology neglects "The Proud One," probably their final classic moment--but 24 of the 26 tracks here cover the group's '62-'68 golden era, pausing only momentarily for the misguided late-'70s "disco" comeback. Truly great stuff. --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews

The Most Recognizable Falsetto in Pop History
From 1962 to 1967 the Four Seasons had eighteen Top Twenty hits (including their cover of Dylan's "Don't Think Twice" recorded as The Wonder Who). And they're all here along with their two mid-Seventies smashes "Who Loves You" and the million-selling "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)." Nearly every hit was written or co-written by group member Bob Gaudio, and all featured the most recognizable falsetto voice in pop music belonging to Franki Valli.

What makes their string of hits all the more amazing is that more than half of them came in the wake of the British Invasion. In fact, "Rag Doll"--only one of two million-sellers in their career--was the only chart-topper by a male vocal group in 1964. [According to the liner notes, the song was inspired by a girl who cleaned the windows of Gaudio's car as he was stopped at a light.] And to illustrate the Four Seasons' influence on the music scene, it was that single's B-side ("Silence Is Golden") that was covered note-for-note by the Tremeloes that gave that British band the biggest hit of their career.

With Bob Crewe's Phil Spector-inspired production and Charles Callelo's arrangements, the Four Seasons hits included "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man" and "Rag Doll"--all No. 1's.

If you have the disposable income, you might want to spring for the 3-CD 25th Anniversary Collection, which features their lesser hits and most of Valli's solo singles. However, this single-disc collection has all the essentials and is the one release that all except the die-hard fans will really need. ESSENTIAL

A staggering anthology
This collection includes every famous song this group put out in their heyday from 1964-69 plus some songs that weren't so popular after Frankie Valli departed.

The notes to this CD include a bit of history on how the group burst onto the scene in the early 1960s and rode a string of number one hits in 1964 from "Dawn" to "Stay" to "Ronnie", "Rag Doll", "Silence Is Golden", "Save It For Me" and "Big Man In Town".

I was a mere 13 years of age in 1964, the year Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater for the presidency, and I thought these songs came from much later when I was in high school. It wasn't until I leafed through this nostalgic notes that I learned what a child I was when this great group was making hay.

The AAD recording is fine by any standard and, with 26 great songs crammed onto a single CD, the memories come often. This group also has a two-CD set costing a lot more money that includes a lot of songs you won't remember, so stick with this one. You won't be sorry.

the four seasons have a bunch of greatest hits cd's..
But this one tops them all. All of the songs on this CD are excellent and will hold a special and dear place for you in your heart. All of the songs you've heard as a child, in films, on the oldies station, are here. It will bring back so many memories... Rag doll, dawn, walk like a man, big girls don't cry. This album will make you want to dance and sing along to the songs. You all should go out and get it!