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The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette

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The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette
Studio album by
The Four Seasons
ReleasedJanuary 1969
GenrePsychedelia[1]
Length44:50
LabelPhilips
ProducerBob Crewe, Joe Long[2]
The Four Seasons chronology
New Gold Hits
(1967) 		The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette
(1969) 		Half & Half
(1970)

The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette is a 1969 album by American rock band the Four Seasons. Member Bob Gaudio teamed up with Jake Holmes to create a psychedelic concept album which adjusted the band's stylings to the changing times of the late 1960s.[3] Instead of love songs, the band tackled subjects such as war and racial tension.[4]

The album's packaging was also distinctive, with the cover being stylized as a newspaper and the sleeve containing an eight-page newspaper-like insert that also had specially-done color underground comics strips by Skip Williamson and Jay Lynch.

The first single issued seven months before the album's release (June 1968) was "Saturday's Father" (Philips 40542), backed with the track "Good-bye Girl". It only bubbled under at number 103 on the Billboard Hot 100. A second single with both sides culled from the album, "Idaho" and "Something's on Her Mind," was released in March 1969 as Philips 40597. Both sides barely crept into the Billboard Hot 100, at number 95 and number 98, respectively.[5]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

In a review for AllMusic, Donald A. Guarisco says the album "lives up to its reputation as the most bizarre album in the Four Seasons' catalog", describing it as "a concept album that casts a satirical eye on American life." He calls it "relentlessly inventive, skillfully constructed, and never dull" and "a stunning example of the artistry of the Four Seasons at their most ambitious."[1]

The Dangerous Minds web site reports that at a 1970s dinner party Gaudio was told by John Lennon that Genuine Imitation Life Gazette was one of his favorite albums.[6] The same site says that after Frank Sinatra heard the album he hired Gaudio and Holmes to create his album Watertown, on which Valli also assisted.[7]

Joe Long, who was credited as co-producer on the album, considered it his favorite album of the ones he recorded with the Four Seasons.[2] Valli, who initially did not want to record the album and anticipated it would be a career mistake,[8] has also grown to appreciate the record for its uniqueness and the cult following it has earned.[7] Tommy DeVito was adamantly against recording the record[8] and quit the band not long after its release, stating that he had "had it" with the band.[9]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks written by Bob Gaudio and Jake Holmes, except as noted.

  1. "American Crucifixion Resurrection" — 6:50
  2. "Mrs. Stately's Garden" — 3:15
  3. "Look Up Look Over" — 4:42
  4. "Something's on Her Mind" — 2:49
  5. "Saturday's Father" — 3:14
  6. "Wall Street Village Day" — 4:27
  7. "Genuine Imitation Life" (Jake Holmes) — 6:16
  8. "Idaho" — 3:02
  9. "Wonder What You'll Be" — 3:31
  10. "Soul of a Woman" — 7:14

Personnel

[edit]

Partial credits from AllMusic.[10]

The Four Seasons

Additional musicians

  • Charles Calello – arrangements, conductor
  • John Holmes – percussion, hi-hat
  • Joseph Cassiere (aka Joey Cass) – drums
  • Vincent Corrao – guitar
  • Anthony De Angelis – woodwind
  • Richard Natoli – woodwind
  • Salvatore Piccolo – trumpet
  • Emmanuel Green – concertmaster
Production staff
  • Bob Crewe – producer
  • Roy Cicala – engineer
  • Shelly Yakus – assistant engineer
  • Frank Scrsggi – coordinating producer
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Don Snyder – design, photography
  • Desmond Strobel – graphics [11][12]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Guarisco, Donald A.. The Four Seasons – The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Trevelise, Steve (February 21, 2019). "Joe Long dishes on 'Jersey Boys,' time with the Four Seasons". WKXW. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Chapman, Rob (2015). Psychedelia and Other Colours. Faber and Faber. ISBN 9780571282753.
  4. ^ Kaplan, James (2016). Sinatra: The Chairman. Knopf Doubleday. p. 798. ISBN 9780307946935.
  5. ^ Joel Whitburn, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1993, (Billboard Books, 1994) ISBN 0-89820-105-5
  6. ^ "'The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette': The 4 Seasons' unheralded mini-masterpiece of vocal psych pop". DangerousMinds. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
  7. ^ a b Willman, Chris (2023-08-27). "Frankie Valli on the Four Seasons' Legacy and Their Massive New 45-Disc Boxed Set: 'We Didn't Want to Try to Sound Like Anybody Else'". Variety. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  8. ^ a b Mark, Voger (July 2, 2016). "Four Seasons singer a real Jersey". Nj.com. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  9. ^ Elfman, Doug (June 1, 2009). "How a Jersey boy worked his way back". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  10. ^ Guarisco, Donald A. "The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette The Four Seasons / Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  11. ^ "The 4 Seasons* – The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette". Discogs.com. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  12. ^ "The Four Seasons – The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette: Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
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