The Proud One (song)
| "The Proud One" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Osmonds | ||||
| from the album The Proud One | ||||
| B-side | "The Last Day Is Coming" | |||
| Released | May 24, 1975 | |||
| Recorded | November 11, 1974 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 3:02 | |||
| Label | MGM Records 14791 | |||
| Songwriters | Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe | |||
| Producer | Mike Curb | |||
| The Osmonds singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"The Proud One" is a 1966 song written by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe and originally performed by Frankie Valli as part of his debut solo album, The 4 Seasons Present Frankie Valli Solo. A minor hit for Valli, it became a top-40 hit (and easy listening chart-topper) for The Osmonds with their 1975 cover version of the record.
Frankie Valli version
Background
"The Proud One" was the first single released in an effort to relaunch Valli's solo career as a side project from The 4 Seasons. (Valli had briefly been a solo artist in the 1950s, most successfully with the minor hit "My Mother's Eyes," before joining The Four Lovers, the group Valli fronted before the formation of The 4 Seasons.) Valli and Gaudio had originally planned on releasing "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" as the lead-off single from the new project, but reluctance on the part of the Seasons' label Philips Records (stemming from concerns about the band's stability after Nick Massi's 1965 resignation) prompted them to release "The Proud One," a record more in line with the Seasons' established stylings and sound, as the lead-off single.[1]
Chart performance
Valli's version, which featured the Seasons on instrumental backing but not vocals, peaked at #68 in the U.S.[2] and #64 in Canada.[3]
Reception
Billboard claimed that "the electric sound of Valli is used to perfection in this powerful ballad, stating that the "easy-go dance beat [is] effective."[4] Cash Box said that it is a "powerhouse" and that "the Valli sound holds the moving, teen-oriented tale of love together and the sweeping arrangement adds a must spin again quality to it."[5]
The Osmonds cover
The Osmonds recorded the song and released it in the spring of 1975. It was their final appearance in the US Top 40, peaking at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, and their only number one on the Easy Listening chart, where it spent one week at number one in September 1975.[6] The song also reached number one in Ireland.[7]
Chart history
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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See also
References
- ^ Willman, Chris (June 6, 2024). "Frankie Valli on Jersey Boys and His Unlikely Success: 'The Way I Grew Up, It Was Basically Against All Odds'". Parade. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
- ^ Frankie Valli, "The Proud One" Chart Position Retrieved February 21, 2015
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1966. Retrieved 2018-03-10.
- ^ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. October 22, 1966. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. October 22, 1966. p. 24. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 187.
- ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know".
- ^ RPM Adult Contemporary, September 27, 1975
- ^ Irishcharts.ie Archived 2009-06-02 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved August 25, 2008)
- ^ New Zealand Top 40 Singles, 18 August 1975
- ^ UK Singles Chart Official Charts (Retrieved August 1, 2008)
- ^ "The Osmonds Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2026.
- ^ Billboard allmusic.com (Retrieved August 25, 2008)
- ^ Bac-lac.gc.ca
- ^ "Britain's best selling records of '75". Record Mirror. London: Billboard. January 10, 1976. p. 12. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
- ^ Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1975
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
External links