Now 81, Bob Gaudio was the keyboardist and a vocalist for the Four Seasons and co-wrote many of the group’s hits, including “Sherry,” “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night),” and (for Frankie Valli) “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” He also produced six albums for Neil Diamond, as well as the soundtrack album for Diamond’s “The Jazz Singer” and his chart-topping hit duet “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” with Barbra Streisand.
Gaudio masterminded the music for the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” and did the same for “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.” He spoke from his home in Montauk, New York; our conversation has been edited for clarity and space.
Q: When we talked around the time of “Jersey Boys,” I remember you saying that you wanted to replicate the way the audience heard the Four Season songs originally, back when they were young. Did you do the same with Neil Diamond’s music?
A: Well, that was my intent. I made demos in my studio in Nashville of what I thought could and should be in the theater. My wife is a pretty amazing singer so I had what I needed in order to play with the arrangements. But we had a pretty high-powered creative team and my assumption always was that they would rip those things apart. Are the arrangements in the show as I intended them to be? Probably 70%. Some songs in the show, such as “Money Talks,” are not Neil’s interpretations but they turned out to be lovely. I tried to leave enough room for people to do what works on stage.
Q: You knew Neil’s work incredibly well.
A: I produced a lot of his songs.
Q: How do you view his oeuvre, looking back?
A: I always categorized Neil as being a concert act. Most of his songs were performed in concert form with a lot of room for him to change the arrangements. With Frankie (Valli), he stays as close as he can to the originals. We did that since we started, partly because the Four Seasons were on Dick Clark (“American Bandstand”) every other week lip-synching. We were in a different world from Neil. “Jersey Boys” was very dramatic but the truth is that when the Four Seasons were on stage, our feet were nailed to the floor.
Q: Diamond’s concert performances were famously loose.
A: From the time he hit the stage in California with “Hot August Night,” he got an incredible reaction.
Q: And he had a great band.
A: A lot of the stuff I did with Neil was with his band. They weren’t studio musicians but they were very capable. They were the same people who played with him on the road. So they all thought the same. On stage, Neil just had a lot of drama. The first time I saw him at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, I remember watching this show that sounded fantastic and then 20 string players suddenly came up from the floor. They had not played a note before. They were just the kicker.
Q: I saw him once. Very exciting.
A: Neil had this incredible knack when it came to pacing a show. Theatrics beyond anything I had ever seen.
Q: Pretty different from the Four Seasons; you guys were so old-school.
A: Did you know Neil opened up for us once? He probably won’t admit it or even remember it but he did. We had the same management, Fred Weintraub, the owner of the (Greenwich Village coffeehouse) The Bitter End.
Q: I’ve already seen “Beautiful Noise” twice. Once in Boston. Once on Broadway. In Boston, a few folks in my row were three sheets to the wind when they walked into the theater. “Sweet Caroline” was quite something.
A: Yes. One problem that we had in Boston was you don’t necessarily want to pay $300 for tickets to a Broadway show and have people in front of you standing up the whole time like it’s a concert. But the show is based on what Neil wanted to portray to his fans and to the world.
Q: Which is what, exactly?
A: The point is, the man had troubles. Entertainers go through hell. They ruin their families. They ruin themselves. There are huge rewards but it is a sacrifice. I would struggle to come up with even five names of artists who were happy when they were out on the road. Neil is like Frankie in that he can’t stop performing, but now he can’t anymore. That’s a terrible thing to have to live with, and Neil wanted to let people know through the show that there is an in-between. That is what we are trying to portray.
Q: What a career he had.
A: Neil could sing almost anything his way. He’d always be recognizable after about eight bars and you can’t say that about a lot of people. His records inherently worked with his voice, gravel and coffee, as we say in the show. And he reached your heart as soon as he opened his mouth.
Q: Your favorite Neil Diamond music?
A: The soundtrack album, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.” But I relate most to “America,” having had parents who were immigrants. I can’t help but appreciate what this country has done for my parents and grandparents. “America” could have been a Broadway show all on its own.
“A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical” runs Nov. 12-24 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St.; tickets and more information at www.broadwayinchicago.com
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
