The influential record producer and co-writer of ‘Rag Doll’ and ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ lived in Scarborough.
News | Posted Yesterday at 11:36 PM | Updated at 6:29 AM
By Dennis Hoey PPH Staff Writer
Songwriter and record producer Bob Crewe, who discovered and co-wrote songs for The Four Seasons in the 1960s, including numerous hits that led to his inclusion in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, died at his Scarborough home Thursday morning. He was 83.
Dan Crewe of Cumberland said his brother had been living at the Piper Shores nursing care facility in Scarborough since he fell and injured his brain three years ago.
“He created The Four Seasons,” Dan Crewe said by telephone Thursday night. “But he will be remembered for the actual songs he wrote, the quality of those songs, which are now considered the standards of the rock ‘n’ roll era.”
The long-running Broadway show “Jersey Boys” and a 2014 movie by the same name directed by Clint Eastwood were based on the lives and careers of bandmates in The Four Seasons. Actor Mike Doyle portrays Crewe in the film.
After deciding that he didn’t want to become an architect, he started recording demo records and writing songs. Crewe and Frank C. Slay went on to co-write hits such as “Silhouettes” for The Rays and “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” for Freddie Cannon, according to his brother.
Dan Crewe said his brother’s character and “striking good looks” elevated him to teen idol status, landing him on the cover of 16 Magazine and appearances on early 1960 talent shows like those hosted by Dick Clark.
MCRFB note: For the rest of this Portland Press Herald Bob Crewe article (September 11, 2014) please go here.
Dennis Hoey | Copyright © 2014, Portland Press Herald
Bob Crewe, one of the greatest most talented record producers of the 50’s 60’s and 70’s. I often ask myself why isn’t he spoken of as Spector and Wilson are? Crewe by far has surpassed many that are often spoken of with little mention of his work or influence.