Editing The Four Seasons (band) (section)

===1964–1965: From Vee-Jay to Philips===
In January 1964, after several successful albums but a lack of money from Vee-Jay, the Seasons left Vee-Jay and moved to [[Philips Records]], then a division of [[Mercury Records]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0UEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22vee-jay%22+%2B+%22four+seasons%22+%2B+crewe+%2B+%22philips+records%22&pg=PA6 |title=Billboard – Google Books |date=1964-01-18 |access-date=2011-07-16}}</ref> In the 1965 settlement of a lawsuit between the two parties, Vee-Jay retained release rights for all material the band recorded for the label. Vee-Jay exercised those rights liberally over the following year. The group was obligated to deliver one final album to Vee-Jay, which they did in the form of a "faux" live LP. At the same time, Vee-Jay was overwhelmed when it found itself as the rightsholder not only to the Four Seasons, but [[The Beatles]], which it had acquired in a sidecar deal with [[Frank Ifield]] in 1962;<ref>[http://www.archer2000.com/chronicles/Labels/VeeJay.html Chris Norby, "Vee-Jay label"], '' Archer2000.com''. Retrieved 19 January 2017</ref> unable to meet demand for both bands, and with the Beatles' rights eventually reverting to [[Capitol Records]] in October 1964 after another protracted legal battle,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/howtheybecamebea0000pawl|url-access=registration|quote=gareth how they became the beatles.|title=How they became the Beatles|via=[[Internet Archive]]|publisher=E.P. Dutton|access-date=2012-08-14|isbn=9780525248231|year=1989}}</ref> Vee-Jay was finally declared bankrupt in 1966. With the bankruptcy, The Four Seasons' Vee-Jay catalog reverted to the band, who promptly licensed the rights to Philips.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AhEEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22vee-jay%22+%2B+auction&pg=PA7 |title=Billboard – Google Books |date=1966-08-13 |access-date=2011-07-16}}</ref> 

The change of label did not diminish the popularity of the Four Seasons in 1964, nor did the onslaught of the [[British Invasion]] and [[Beatlemania]]. However, "[[Dawn (Go Away)]]" was kept from the #1 spot on the Hot 100 by no fewer than three [[The Beatles|Beatles]] singles in the March 21, 1964, edition (two weeks later, the top five slots were filled by Beatles singles). In a two-record set dubbed ''[[The Beatles vs. the Four Seasons|The Beatles vs the Four Seasons: The International Battle of the Century!]]'', Vee-Jay created an elaborate two-disc package that the purchaser could use to write on and score individual recordings by their favorite artist. The discs were reissues of the albums ''[[Introducing... The Beatles]]'' and ''[[Golden Hits of the Four Seasons]]'', featuring each original album's label, title, and catalog number. Today, this album package is a collector's item.<ref>{{cite web|last1=York|first1=Robert|title=The Beatles vs the Four Seasons|url=http://www.eskimo.com/~bpentium/beatles/seasons.html|website=The Beatles at the Web Spot|publisher=Robert's Web Spot|access-date=9 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009043442/http://www.eskimo.com/~bpentium/beatles/seasons.html|archive-date=9 October 2011}}</ref> Valli credited the band's continued success in the face of the British Invasion to staying true to their original mission of an original sound and not trying to imitate British acts.<ref name=vallis2023interview>{{Cite web |last=Willman |first=Chris |date=2023-08-27 |title=Frankie Valli on the Four Seasons' Legacy and Their Massive New 45-Disc Boxed Set: 'We Didn't Want to Try to Sound Like Anybody Else' |url=https://variety.com/2023/music/news/frankie-valli-four-seasons-boxed-set-ultimate-collection-interview-1235705611/ |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>