Whenever we take a musical journey like that, it brings back memories. I have always known that my favorite Four Season songs were those that were considered the "Motown influenced" collection -- "Let's Hang On," "Working My Way Back To You," and my ultimate favorite "Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'Bout Me)." These were all clustered around the time I was starting to listen to the radio religiously.
I have a very specific memory of hearing "Let's Hang On" while riding in the car with my dad, a sunny day on Center Ridge Road, which at the time curved through the Ohio farmlands of Northeast Ohio. It was fall of 1965, and we were still not allowed to listen to "our music" in the car because my mother had no tolerance for it. But my dad always let us listen to rock-n-roll and actually seemed to enjoy it, which made him one cool dad.
This memory tells me something significant -- it meant that my mother was not with us. Given the time frame, I know that my mother would have been home with a small baby, and that
perhaps my dad was visiting his mother on a Saturday afternoon because
this would have been a short time after her own mother died -- a death
she admitted she never got over. I am certain at least one brother was with me, and maybe more. My dad would often stop at a farm stand called Dusty Millers, and I know
that I couldn't bear to let my dad turn off the car if a great song was
on the radio. And the Four Seasons -- they had great songs and ruled
the airwaves.Tomorrow would be my dad's 85th birthday -- a number I can't get my mind around since he died at 68. I will bake his favorite cake -- yellow with chocolate frosting. I will think about how much he'd enjoy Jersey Boys -- the movie or musical. And I will thank him for the gift of music that he implanted in my heart and soul.
"Let's Hang On"
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