Despite what you may have heard, Frankie Valli isn’t ready to say goodbye.
“You know? Everybody is thinking that it is my last tour,” says the 89-year-old New Jersey native, who now calls Southern California home. “And I don’t know when my last tour is, personally. If I can continue to do this, as long as I’m not feeling ill, I’ll do it.”
Perhaps some of the confusion comes from this tour’s title – The Last Encores – which definitely sounds like something that would be used to mark a last hurrah. Yet, Valli says he’s not waving farewell to touring, but rather his intention is simply dial back some on the road work.
“After this year, we will slow down on the amount of things that we do,” he says. “Instead of 70 or 80 or 90 things a year, we will probably cut it down to like 30 or 35.”
Yet, why wait for future tours when you still see Valli on this one? The famed singer and his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group, the Four Seasons, are set to perform on Nov. 12 at the San Jose Civic. Showtime is 8 p.m. and tickets start at $65, ticketmaster.com.
The San Jose date is the chance to see a legendary performer whose recording career now stretches a mind-blowing 70-plus years, dating back to when the singer taped his first single — “My Mother’s Eyes” — under the name “Frankie Valley” in 1953.
“It’s been really great,” Valley says of a career that has spanned eight complaints. “I have no complaints.”
After making his solo debut, Valli’s would soon help form the Newark, New Jersey, R&B/rock act the Four Lovers, “which was basically the same personnel (as the Four Seasons) except for Bob Gaudio.”
Gaudio was busy at the time with his own band, the Royal Teens, which delivered the smash hit “Short Shorts” in 1958. Once Valli and Gaudio eventually met — and started collaborating together — it would prove to be a true game changer for both men.
“Bob and I got to know each other and we spent some time…
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