No one can ever say that Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons are back on the road again because, in truth, Valli never stopped performing.
Thursday at Wolf Trap, Valli will perform a trunkful of the doo-wop hits that have defined the group since their inception in 1962. Valli’s tenor falsetto is the hallmark of originality in songs like “Walk Like a Man,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and one of the most famous tunes on the planet, “Sherry.”
“I was very lucky,” Valli said. “I had an incredible two-and-a-half octave range.”
It was this vocal characteristic that would give the group its signature sound. After six decades in the business and 46 songs that found their way to the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Valli is still asked over and over again about his favorite recording.
| Onstage |
| Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons |
| » Where: Wolf Trap’s Filene Center, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna |
| » When: 8 p.m. Thursday |
| » Info: $45 in-house, $25 lawn; 877-WOLFTRAP (965-3872); wolftrap.org |
“I guess ‘Rag Doll’ would be an important song and of course ‘Sherry,’ ” he has answered more times than anyone can count. “It’s like saying to someone, ‘Well you have these twelve kids now, which one of these kids do you think is going to be the most successful, or the one they talk about?’ ”
But Valli’s star was rising at a time in musical history when the competition was fierce, especially with the rise of the Beatles and myriad American and English rock groups. Still, he was a steadfast performer, true to his sound while marching with the times.
These days on tour, in addition to the songs that made him a star, Valli also salutes the decade that produced so many fabulous hits, one that prompted him to record his latest studio album, “Romancing the ’60s.” In it are updated versions of such pop jewels as “Spanish Harlem,” “Take Good Care of My Baby” and, with a nod to “Jersey Boys” fame, “On Broadway.”
“These are songs that were all favorites of mine in the ’60s,” Valli has noted.
No doubt, many or all are special favorites of Wolf Trap’s audience, as well. These are, quite simply, the songs that have woven gold thread into the fabric of that unforgettable musical decade.
