Joe Long, a former member of the Four Seasons and a performer who grew up in Elizabeth, has died. He is shown in this 2014 file photo. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media)
By Bobby Olivier | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Joe Long, a former member of the legendary Four Seasons doo-wop group and a New Jersey Hall of Famer, died Wednesday morning. He was 88.
Long, an Elizabeth native, died of complications due to COVID-19, according to Anthony Newell, a close friend and member of the Jersey Four tribute band, of which Long was the musical director.
Long replaced “core four” member Nick Massi in 1965, becoming the first replacement for a band that has since seen several dozen members come and go. Long, a classically trained member of the New York Philharmonic, played bass guitar and sang backgrounds for the group until 1975.
“They were looking for a guy, and I fit the bill,” Long told NJ Advance Media in 2016. “I was in the right place at the right time.”
During Long’s tenure, the band notched several more hits beyond its “Sherry” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry” heyday a half-decade earlier, including “Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Me)” in 1966 and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” and “C’mon Marianne” in 1967.
The band was also still immensely popular in concert. Long recalled his nerve-wracking first performance with the group, before 6,000 fans in West Virginia — and without a single rehearsal.
“That’s when fear set in,” he said. “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.”
After his Four Seasons exit, Long formed the rock group LaBracio (named for his original surname) and later a jazz group called Jersey Bounce. He remained well-known among some of music’s greats, too — Newell said Paul McCartney used to call Long “the world’s second-best left-handed bass player” (after McCartney, of course).
Long eventually moved to Long Branch and retired from music, but began to advise and perform with the Jersey Four eight years ago, often coming on stage to perform a handful of Four Seasons hits.
“The crowd would go crazy,” Newell, the group’s drummer, told NJ Advance Media.
When the Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, Long was not included as he was not considered an original member.
“That’s crazy,” Long said in 2016. “There’s a lot of people in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who are not originals. Secondly, they said I wasn’t on enough hits. But in the final count, I was on at least as many hits as Nick Massi. So there was some resentment there, some of it directed at the group. I think with their power, they could have resisted. But it’s all water under the bridge now.”
Long was presented several honors in his home state. A street in Elizabeth was renamed Joe Long Way in 2014, and in 2018, the artist was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
Long with his children Kimberly and Joey in 2014, when his hometown of Elizabeth dedicated Joe Long Way to the singer.
In his final years, Long enjoyed seeing Frankie Valli in concert — the singer would always recognize Long while on stage, Newell said — and helping out with the Jersey Four.
He and Newell often spent Sunday dinners together, and this past Monday, Long spoke to Newell from the hospital.
“He said, ‘Get the raviolis ready. I’ll be home soon,’” Newell said. “He was a sweetheart.”
Bobby Olivier
Joe Long, bassist for the Four Seasons, dies at 88
https://ew.com/music/joe-long-dead-four-seasons-bassist/
