Remembering Joe Long - Bass Guitar Player For Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons

 

Joseph L. LaBracio
 aka Joe Long

Joseph Louis LaBracio was better known to his family and fans as Joe Long. For over a decade he was the bass guitarist for the group Frankie Valli and The  Four Seasons. Mr. Long passed away on April 21st of this year, 2021 due to effects of the Covid virus. 

Sadly Mr. Long was the second member of the group to pass away as a result of this insidious disease. The Season's original guitarist, Tommy DeVito died on September 21st of last year from the Covid virus. 

The Original Four Seasons

I know that some of you may not have been around in 1962, but I certainly was and remember that year when The Four Seasons came out with a huge hit song called Sherry. There were certainly a lot of great songs that came out that year, but for me Sherry stands out as one of the best.  

I can recall those days when my friends and I were out on the school playground were belting out, "Sherry, Sherry Baby..." in our little squeaky voices.

The Four Seasons had developed a unique style of combining East Coast Doo-Wop harmony with 1960's Rock and Roll. They were at the top of charts during the early 1960's. Not too long after Sherry, The Four Seasons had another hit record with their song Big Girls Don’t Cry. And their hits kept on  coming.

Jersey Boys

You may have seen the musical Jersey Boys, or even watched the movie. If so then you are aware that The Four Seasons were far from being an over night sensation. This group of guys had been making music together more than 10 years by working in clubs, bars, and even playing music bowling alleys before they became an "overnight sensation."

Their success and constant touring brought about numerous personal and family problems and tensions.  This eventually caused their guitar player, Tommy DeVito, and bass player, Nick Massi to quit the band. 

Nick Masi

The first one to leave was Nick Massi in 1965. He was tired of touring.  Massi (Nicholas Macioci) in addition to playing bass, he been the original vocal arranger and bass singer for The Four Seasons.  After leaving The Seasons he went on to arrange vocal harmony for some other well known groups and worked as a recording studio engineer.

Tommy DeVito

Tommy DeVito, the original guitar player and baritone vocalist, stayed on through 1970 when financial and personal problems lead him to leave the band. This left only Bob Guadio, the guy that wrote most of the songs, and Frankie Valli to ride out the group's success. 

Though Valli was experiencing a lot of success as a solo artist, The Four Seasons still had contractual obligations to their record company and to their fan base. They needed a band.

Charles Calello 

The Four Season’s arranger for instrumental parts and vocal parts was Charles Calello. He stepped in briefly as their bass guitarist, but Calello was a very busy man who had his own career arranging music for other projects.  So it was Calello that hired Joe Long. 

Joe Long

Joe Long, aka Joseph LaBracio, was a genuine Jersey Boy from the town of Elizabeth.  He was a classically trained string bass player and pianist who studied with Alfonse Strazza, the principal bassist for the New York Philharmonic. 

However Long sustained a severe right hand injury with a machine during his day job at The Singer Sewing Machine Factory. This forced him to give up his dreams of playing symphonic classical bass viol. 

To keep up with his musical career, he switched to playing electric bass and he was able to make a modest living playing in clubs in New Jersey and New York area.

Joe Long with Frankie Valli
 and The Four Seasons 

In a 2018 interview, Long spoke about joining the group: “At the time, I was aware of the Seasons, because they were having all those hits, and they were a Jersey group. I can’t say that I was a big fan, because I was not a big fan of rock ‘n’ roll music. I was playing with show groups in the area, which played rock ‘n’ roll, but mostly played rhythm and blues, which is more associated to jazz … you know, Fats Domino and that era, where the roots were right out of jazz music, jazz-blues.” 

In an earlier 2004 interview, Long said that when he first joined the band, “I was hired as Nicky’s replacement. "I had a booking agent at the time, a guy named Frankie Fame. He also booked the Four Seasons when they would play locally. When Nick Massi left the band, my agent told the group that he thought he had just the right guy for them, a guy that also played bass and had the same vocal range." 

Joe Long in the Studio
 with Valli and Bob Crewe

"Frankie (Fame) took me to meet Tommy DeVito. We had a chat. He liked what I had to offer. Then they arranged a meeting with Frankie (Valli), Bobby (Guadio) and then another with Tommy a couple of days later. Bobby Gaudio laid out a few charts and said, 'Sing this, sing that.' They liked me. They hired me on the spot. That was early 1965."

Joe Long went on to say, "Before I did anything on stage (with the Four Seasons), "I got a call from Tommy. He said, 'Be at the airport. We're flying to California.'  So three or four days after I was hired, we did a string of TV shows. I had never done that. It was crazy." Long recalls that his first actual live show with the Four Seasons took place at West Virginia University in front of about 6,000 people." 

Gaudio, Valli, Callas, Long

Prior to the show, Long was told he would rehearse with Calello, the Four Seasons' Newark-born arranger. "Charlie was supposed to rehearse me on singing parts and bass guitar parts," 

Long went on to reminisce, "I kept attempting to make appointments. He'd say, 'Be at the house tomorrow at 8 o'clock.' I'd show up, but he wouldn't be there. He had so much going on. Charlie was one of the most successful arrangers and producers at at that time. He worked on hundreds of hits. He really didn't have time to train me." 

Joe Long

"Gaudio, Valli and DeVito didn't know that I still hadn't had a single rehearsal. Finally, the night of  a West Virginia concert, I had to go on without a single rehearsal. He went on to say, "That's when fear set in. I was well trained -- I studied music, I played a lot of shows -- but none of that helped when I had to go in front of 6,000 people without a rehearsal. I had to go on my gut feeling. I had to figure out what parts to sing, what to play on bass." 

 "I found myself going from obscurity to being in the No. 1 band in the world." 

He continued by saying that within a year he was MC’ing the bands shows, and was conducting the musicians whenever we used an augmented orchestra. He was going out doing promotions and actually doing more than what Nick had been doing.  

1973 Concert Advertisement 

I personally was fortunate to see Frankie Valli and The Four Season four times during the 1970's when the group had undergone some personnel changes. Joe Long was the bass player at all those concerts and Lee Shapiro was the music director. Gerry Polci was playing drums, and Demetri Callas was playing guitar at the first concerts, then John Paiva was on guitar and vocals in 1975. 

All the shows were great, especially the last time I saw the group at a small venue in a supper club. And yes, Joe Long was introducing Frankie and some of the songs. It was one of the best and the loudest concerts that I ever attended.  

Joe always looked happy when he was performing. His demeanor put me in my of the guys in Louis Prima's band, Sam Butera and The Witnesses.  Those guys were always smiling and appeared to be having a great time when they were on. That's the image I have of Mr. Long when he was with the group.

Genuine Imitation Life Gazette

As time went on Joe Long said that he was not a fan of the new direction in which the group was headed. He said, “My biggest disappointment was Genuine Imitation Life Gazette because that should have been a hit if only because for no other reason that there was some great writing and some great performances,”  This album came out during a period when other groups had released concept albums such as Sgt. Pepper, Pet Sounds, Tommy and others. 

2019 Radio Interview

In a radio interview he stated his favorite remembrance of  being a member of The Four Seasons was traveling with and performing for Frank Sinatra. 

The original members of The Four Seasons had done a favor for Sinatra’s mother by putting on a free performance for a charity she supported. Frank Sinatra never forgot their generosity, and he was later very gracious to the group. 

In 1975, after being a member of the group for more than a decade he left. This event occurred shortly after the release of their song, "Who Loves You."

Joe Long

After leaving The Four Seasons in 1975, Joe put together a rock band called "LaBracio" and then a jazz group called " Jersey Bounce." He later became an insurance agent. He also did computer work for the financial firm, Dunn and Brandstreet.

Joe Long Way

In 2014, as a tribute the city council of Elizabeth New Jersey renamed a section of High Street to Joe Long Way as a way to honor their favorite son. He lived in a section called Petersburg.

Joe Long was recently remember in comments and tributes by his friends Frankie Valli, Gerry Polci, Lee Shapiro, and Robby Robinson as a wonderful and gracious man, who was a talented singer and bass player, a terrific musician, and a good friend.  

Joe Long with The Four Seasons

Joe Long was a left handed player who had a very interesting style of playing bass that probably was a result of the years of playing the string bass as his primary instrument. I have to say he always looked like he was having a good time when he was on stage. 

I have read that once Paul McCartney met Joe Long and declared, "It's Joe Long, the second best left-handed bass player in Rock and Roll." Always quick with a comeback Joe replied, "What do you mean second best? Come on now!"

Long with Hagstrom F-400 bass 

Long seemed fond of the Fender Jazz Bass, but he also played a couple of other unique bass guitars.  In one appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show he played a white 1966 Hagstrom F-400 bass guitar. This was an instrument from a Swedish manufacturer. 

Long with Ampeg AEB-1 bass

In other performances he used an Ampeg AEB-1. This instrument was more like a string bass than anything out there at the time, but it was played like a bass guitar. 

Ampeg AEB-1 bass (R) 

The instrument had a scroll head similar to that on a string bass, a pickup that consisted of two magnets and two large coils – nested in a block of epoxy which would translate the acoustic vibrations of the strings, bridge, and diaphragm into electrical impulses for amplification. It also had F-shaped cuts in the body, reminiscent of those on an upright bass. This bass also came in a fretless model.  The Ampeg Company headquarters was in Linden, New Jersey which just is a short drive from Elizabeth, New Jersey, Long's home town.

Joe's Jazz Bass

However Joe Long usually played his vintage 1960 white Fender Jazz Bass that had 'stacked knobs' which came on the first generation of J-Basses to control the twin pickups. The upper knobs were to control volume, while the lower knob controlled the tone and EQ. Joe generally left the metal hand rest and string cover on his Fender bass guitars. 

Joe Long with 1970's Fender Bass
and Ampeg Amplifier 

In later years Long played a sunburst 1970's Fender Jazz Bass with a bound neck and block pearloid inlays. This bass had the two volume, one tone control panel. 

In most images of Joe Long playing bass guitar in Four Season's concerts he can be seen using an Ampeg SVT bass amplifier. 

Joe Long was a terrific bass player, singer and musician. He was a gentleman and a class act, and he is forever etched in the history of one of the 20th Century's most iconic bands.

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