Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me) explained

Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me)
Cover:Opus_17_(Don't_You_Worry_'bout_Me)_-_The_Four_Seasons.jpg
Type:single
Artist:The Four Seasons
Album:2nd Vault of Gold Hits
B-Side:Beggar's Parade (from the album Workin' My Way Back to You and More Great New Hits)
Released:May 1966
Genre:
  • Pop-soul[1]
  • blue-eyed soul[2]
Length:2:32
Label:Philips
Producer:Bob Crewe
Prev Title:Peanuts
Prev Year:1966
Next Title:On The Good Ship Lollipop
Next Year:1966

"Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me)" is a song composed by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell and recorded by The Four Seasons in 1966 for their album Working My Way Back to You.

Background

"Opus 17" was the first hit with new full-time bassist and bass vocalist Joe Long.[3] The title meant that this was the 17th single released by the Four Seasons.

As was the case with another Linzer-Randell contribution to the Four Seasons catalog, "Let's Hang On!", "Opus 17" features a rhythmic vocal hook within each verse, but, unlike in most Four Seasons singles up to that point, the song uses very little falsetto from Frankie Valli other than in the closing coda; by 1966, Valli was tiring of singing falsetto and, over the next several years, would begin singing music that did not require it.[4] The song begins in F-sharp major, and goes up by half scale, until it reaches the coda in B major.

Billboard praised the "excellent vocal and instrumental production."[5] Cash Box described the song as a "pulsating, blues-soaked romancer with an infectious, Seasons-associated repeating, danceable riff."[6] Record World said it "gets rolling like mad and then modulates upward."[7]

Chart history

The song was released as the official follow-up to "Working My Way Back to You" and reached the #13 position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.[8]

Chart (1966)Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles[9] 33
New Zealand (Listener)[10] 9
South Africa (Springbok)[11] 12
UK[12] 20
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[13] 13
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[14] 9

References

  1. Web site: AllMusic. Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me) song review. Robert. A. Guarisco. 6 October 2022.
  2. Book: Stanley, Bob . Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. 1966: The London Look. 13 September 2013. Faber & Faber. 978-0-571-28198-5. 200.
  3. Web site: Miller . Stuart . Long . Joe . The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette Fansite - Joe Long: His Story . The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette . May 27, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040724113020/http://www.genuine-imitation-life-gazette.com/Bios/Long_Bio.html . 24 July 2004.
  4. Web site: Willman . Chris . 2014-06-06 . Frankie Valli on Jersey Boys and His Unlikely Success: 'The Way I Grew Up, It Was Basically Against All Odds' . 2023-05-31 . . en.
  5. News: Billboard. 2021-03-04. May 14, 1966. 18. Spotlight Singles.
  6. CashBox Record Reviews . May 14, 1966 . 18 . 2022-01-12 . Cash Box.
  7. Single Picks of the Week. Record World. May 21, 1966. 1. 2023-07-17.
  8. Book: Whitburn, Joel . The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition . Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 297.
  9. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1966-06-27 . 2018-10-06.
  10. http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=313#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 26 August 1966
  11. Web site: SA Charts 1965–March 1989. 5 September 2018.
  12. Book: Roberts , David . 2006. British Hit Singles & Albums. 19th. Guinness World Records Limited . London. 1-904994-10-5. 210.
  13. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 -
  14. http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19660625.html Cash Box Top 100 Singles,, 1966