The Raspberries: Very Best Of...?
Written: Jan 16 '03 (Updated Dec 02 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Power pop classics such as "Go All The Way" and "I Wanna Be With You."
Cons: CD booklet should have been much better. Song selection is questionable.
The Bottom Line: A great-sounding CD full of hits, but hardly the band's "very best" material. Errors and omissions in the CD booklet mar the set's collector's value.
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| Don_Krider's Full Review: Very Best Of by The Raspberries |
The Raspberries are enjoying a resurgence in Great Britain, where the Cleveland-based rockers never had a hit record during their brief career.
The Cherry Red Records label in England has just released the latest compilation of their material entitled "The Very Best Of The Raspberries."
Yet another compilation
For a band with only four studio albums, you have to wonder if they need another "greatest hits" collection (there's more than a half-dozen collections already out, including "Capitol Collectors Series," "Raspberries Best," "Power Pop: Volume 1," "Power Pop: Volume 2," "Greatest Hits" (two different versions released in 1995 and 2000), and Zap Records' (a British label whose CDs are manufactured in France) "Overnight Sensation: The Very Best Of The Raspberries").
This set
All 20 songs have been previously released, but there is some great material here.
Raspberries hit the Billboard Top 200 album charts with all four of their LPs, with their self-titled debut going to # 51 and their second LP, "Fresh," hitting # 36, between 1972-74.
The band scored seven Hot 100 singles, with four hitting the national Top 40, during those years. Their signature song, "Go All The Way," sold 1.3 million copies and earned them a Gold Record Award in 1972.
All seven hits appear in this collection.
The songs
The album includes 20 of the band's 39 recorded studio tracks: "Don't Want To Say Goodbye" (written by Wally Bryson and Eric Carmen, the tune hit # 86 in 1972), "Go All The Way" (written by Carmen, the tune hit # 5 in 1972), "I Wanna Be With You" (written by Carmen, the song rose to # 16 in 1972-73) and "Let's Pretend" (written by Carmen, the song hit # 35 in 1973).
Also, "Drivin' Around" (written by David Smalley and Carmen), "Tonight" (written by Carmen, it hit # 69 in 1973), "I'm A Rocker" (written by Carmen, it squeaked to # 94 in 1973) and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" (also by Carmen, it rose to # 18 in 1974).
Also, "On The Beach" (Carmen), "Money Down" (Bryson), "Cruisin' Music" (Carmen), "I Don't Know What I Want" (Carmen), "Party's Over" (Bryson), ""Ecstasy" (Carmen), "Starting Over" (Carmen), "I Reach For The Light" (Carmen) and "All Through The Night" (Michael McBride and Carmen).
Also, "Should I Wait?" (Smalley), "Rose Coloured Glasses" (Scott McCarl) and "Waiting" (Carmen).
The band
Formed in 1970 in Cleveland, Ohio, by multi-instrumentalist Eric Carmen and drummer Jim Bonfanti, the band went through initial personnel changes before adding lead guitarist Wally Bryson in 1970 and rhythm/bass guitarist David Smalley in 1971.
Carmen and Bryson had recorded together previously in Cyrus Erie ("Get The Message"/"Sparrow") in 1969. Bryson had also recorded with Bonfanti and Smalley in The Choir in the mid-to-late 1960s (The Choir's "It's Cold Oustide" hit # 68 in Billboard in 1967).
Smalley joined the band after a tour of duty as an Army helicopter gunner in Vietnam in which he had been wounded.
Carmen had worked previously as a keyboardist for Oliver on that artist's "Prism" album in 1970 (which included Oliver's performance of Eric's "Light The Way"). He also recorded with The Quick in 1969 on Epic (a band that featured future bandmate Michael McBride, who also had recorded with Bryson and Carmen in Cyrus Erie).
Prior to The Raspberries, Cleveland's biggest acts had been The Poni-Tails ("Born Too Late", a # 7 hit in 1958), The Outsiders ("Time Won't Let Me", # 5 in 1966), The Choir (as previously mentioned) and The James Gang (featuring Joe Walsh, with "Walk Away," # 51 in 1971 being their highest-charting single).
Then along came The Raspberries, who preferred to be called just "Raspberries" on their albums.
The producer, Jimmy Ienner
Producer Jimmy Ienner (John Lennon always referred to him as "The Duke" because he was the bass vocalist on Gene Chandler's "Duke Of Earl") "discovered" the band in 1971 when he got a demo tape of the band (the four tracks appear on the "Greatest Hits" collection released briefly by Capitol in 2000, but pulled from circulation soon after when the band members went to court over royalties they say they've never received).
Ienner, and bother Donnie Ienner (who was most recently Columbia Records' president), went to Cleveland to catch the band performing live. They brought executives from all the major labels with them.
Seeing a local band drawing crowds of 1,000 or more people to their shows evidently excited the label execs. A bidding war followed among eight record labels, with Capitol being the eventual winner.
Jimmy Ienner, already producer of Lighthouse ("One Fine Morning," # 24 in 1971), would produce all The Raspberries albums. Among his engineers on those sessions were future super producers Shelly Yakus and Jimmy Iovine.
On an episode of the syndicated TV series, "Flipside," Ienner commented in 1973, "Raspberries are the fastest hit-making entity I've ever worked with."
Ienner eventually produced such acts as Three Dog Night, Grand Funk Railroad, The Bay City Rollers, Janey Street, the "Dirty Dancing" soundtracks, Eric Carmen's first solo LP and Blood, Sweat & Tears.
The performances
Ienner's production and the band's four distinct, diverse talents combined to make some of the best music of the 1970s. Along with Badfinger and Big Star, they've become known as "The Godfathers Of Power Pop."
Among the artists to list them as influences are Bruce Springsteen, Kiss (Paul Stanley attended their Carnegie Hall gig and also admits to stealing the intro to "Go All The Way" for the Kiss song "Deuce"), Axl Rose, Enuff Z' Nuff, Jellyfish, The Posies, Kyle Vincent and a host of others.
The band's recorded performances are a pure pop wall-of-sound.
In a documentary for the NBC-TV series "Go!" released in 1973 and hosted by Don Imus, Imus showed Ienner having the band record each track over-and-over until they were "just right," often having the band members record layers upon layers of vocal harmonies for hours on end.
The resulting recordings were incredible, but often hard to duplicate on stage (I saw The Raspberries perform live in 1973 and they were truly great as a live band).
The best tracks
"Go All The Way":
The band's biggest hit, "Go All The Way," was a monster hit on AM radio in 1972 (in Louisville, I can still remember deejay Coyote Calhoun kicking off his 6 p.m. show on WAKY-AM every night with a howl (his trademark sound) and a message of "this is your daily Raspberries' reminder" using this tune; these days, Calhoun is a multiple winner of Billboard's "Program Director Of The Year Award" for his work at Louisville's country station, WAMZ-FM).
Eric Carmen wrote the song, but Wally Bryson created the guitar intro based on a chord pattern he discovered while in The Choir --- Wally feels he should have been given a co-writer credit on this, but Eric differs and owns the copyright.
That point aside, "Go All The Way" is a rocker from start-to-finish, full of sweet Beach Boys' harmonies floating on a wave of Who power-chording. Like The Rolling Stones' "Let's Spend The Night Together," the subject was a bit risque in 1972 (considering the band's "teenybopper" tag from some critics, it's funny to recall that the song was banned by the BBC in England for a time).
"... I never knew how complete love could be / 'til she kissed me and said / baby, please go all the way..."
"I Wanna Be With You":
Jangly guitar-pop with a drum roll intro that reminds one of The Ronettes' "Be My Baby," "I Wanna Be With You" was the second of three Top 20 hits for the band:
"...if we were older / we wouldn't have to be worried tonight / baby, oh I wanna be with you..."
Imagine four guys in matching white suits ala The Four Seasons, with short, carefully-styled hair, playing rock with Beatles' smiles, Hollies' harmonies and Small Faces' aggression --- well, as the "New Musical Express" in England reported, "They've set the music industry on its ear."
"Let's Pretend":
Few songs are as pretty as the rock ballad "Let's Pretend". Though it peaked at only # 35, it spent 16 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100. The tune's spirited hopefulness reminds one of The Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice":
"I can't sleep nights / wishing you were here beside me / can't help feeling / that's the way it ought to be / you know we could run away / but I couldn't bear to hear / the things they'd say / oh no / baby let's pretend / that tonight could live forever / if we close our eyes / and believe it might come true..."
The "horny" tunes:
Though the music took on a hard edge by their third album, "Side 3," Raspberries had an increasingly teen image with music fans --- rockers like "Tonight" ("...all I ever wanted to be / was in your arms tonight..."), "I'm A Rocker" (not to be confused with the Chuck Berry tune; "...I'm a rocker, I'm a roller..."), "Ecstasy" ("...just wait 'til I get you alone / ecstasy...") and "On The Beach" ("...oh, I wanna woo you, all night on the beach...") simply led critics to comment that Carmen seemed extremely "horny" in his songs.
Meanwhile, Bryson was writing hard rock, Free/Humble Pie-styled blues rockers like "Money Down" and Smalley was writing Eagles/country-tinged tunes like "Should I Wait?" (which is gorgeous, by the way).
Conflicts over direction led to the exit of both Smalley and Bonfanti in November 1973. Bryson and Carmen, however, decided to remain with the band.
"Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)":
The band returned in 1974 with their final album, "Starting Over," featuring new bassist Scott McCarl (seek out his solo album, "Play On," from 1997, for some great Beatles-inspired rock) and new drummer Michael McBride.
Borrowing from The Left Banke ("Walk Away Renee") and The Beach Boys ("Good Vibrations"), Carmen created a pop masterpiece with "Overnight Sensation" (Capitol put his original title of "Hit Record" in parentheses without telling him because they thought a song called "Hit Record" couldn't possibly become a "hit record").
Carmen sings, "Well, I know it sounds funny / but I'm not in it for the money, no / I don't need no reputation / and I'm not in it for the show / I just want a hit record / want to hear it on the radio..."
Ienner's wall-of-sound is fully realized here, with Carmen's dream of a "hit record" becoming a fact as you actually hear the song emerge from an AM radio during the tune (an effect copied by many acts since then).
The song was named "Single Of The Year" by Rolling Stone magazine (which also named their album, "Starting Over," as one of the year's seven best LPs).
The band adopted a very hard rock stance for the final album, but retained the gorgeous harmonies they were known for
"I Don't Know What I Want":
The ultimate Who tribute song, it borrows heavily from The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "I'm A Boy," with Carmen singing of teen frustration:
"...they all say that I'm not getting younger / and I'd better make up my mind / man, you'd think I was committin' some kind of crime / 'cause I don't know what I want..."
Missing in action
I'd argue with some of the choices as "very best of The Raspberries" here. Scott McCarl's "Rose Coloured Glasses" appears here, but his much better lead vocals on the rockers "Play On" and "Cry" (both written with Carmen) are sadly absent.
Equally missed are Bryson's Byrdsy "Last Dance" and Smalley's rockin' "Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak."
The CD booklet
The 12-page CD booklet actually has to unfolded to poster-size to be read, which is rather undesireable, to say the least.
The liner notes by Joe Foster include inaccuracies (his chart rankings, for instance, are incorrect when one checks them against Joel Whitburn's Billboard reference books) and omissions (he mentions post-Raspberries recordings by band members but doesn't include, for instance, Bryson's recorded work with Fotomaker (including two Hot 100 hits) and The Sittin' Ducks, or McCarl's work with Glider and solo, or McBride's work with Don Kriss & The Vettes).
The discography includes some errors as well. Additionally, while the discography includes pre-Raspberries recordings by band members, it doesn't list any post-band recordings by the individual members (certainly Carmen's solo work, including the million-selling # 2 hit, "All By Myself," should be noted).
It does mention the reunion album from 2000, when Smalley, Bryson and McCarl recorded as "The Raspberries" (remember, the first four albums, with Carmen, were recorded as "Raspberries") a fine 6-song CD entitled "Refreshed."
Recommendation
Throw away the error-filled CD booklet if you want to because it's the music you actually want anyway.
This is not a bad set for a beginning fan. Die-hard fans will want to add it to their collections even if they already own the tunes.
However, for an inexpensive look at the band's entire recorded catalog, get the RPM Records (England) releases "Power Pop: Volume One" and "Power Pop: Volume Two" (each album has two complete Raspberries albums on a single CD, with great liner notes by band historian Ken Sharp and interviews with all the band's members).
JUST RELEASED
Live On Sunset Strip (Deluxe Edition of 2 CDs and a DVD recorded during the 2005 reunion tour) By Raspberries, a 2007 Rykodisc release with liner notes by Bruce Springsteen and a photo of John Lennon in a Raspberries sweatshirt in the CD booklet, produced by Mark Linett and Eric Carmen: http://www.epinions.com/content_393207123588
A history of the 2004-2005 reunion tour (Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti) has been released: "Raspberries TONIGHT!" by Bernie Hogya and Ken Sharp with photography by Gene Taylor --- a full-color, 100-page paperback book: http://www.epinions.com/content_217001201284
On the web
Official Raspberries website: http://www.raspberries.net
Official Eric Carmen website: http://www.ericcarmen.com
Related reviews
"Reflections: Side 3 - Songs From The Raspberries Fan Community" by various artists is a tribute album that benefits the VH-1 Save The Music Foundation: http://www.epinions.com/content_271718911620
The Sittin' Ducks featuring Wally Bryson of Raspberries with Dan Klawon and Kenny Margolis, Wally's bandmates in The Choir (see their "Choir Practice" CD): http://www.epinions.com/content_239152434820
Capitol/EMI's 24-bit digitally remastered CD "Greatest" by Raspberries was released in May of 2005 in the U. S. and Europe. It features all 7 of Raspberries Hot 100 singles, has 20 tracks and runs 78:53 minutes: http://www.epinions.com/content_186044681860
Jim Bonfanti (Raspberries) and his group Boxer released a new CD in 2004, "By The Seat Of Our Pants": http://www.epinions.com/content_180171804292
Wally Bryson (Raspberries) and Jesse Bryson, with friends, deliver great sounds on The Bryson Group's 16-track CD "Dry": http://www.epinions.com/content_177981263492
My review of the 17-track British CD collection, "All By Myself: The Best Of Eric Carmen": http://www.epinions.com/content_175776566916
My review of Eric Carmen's "Tonight You're Mine" album: http://www.epinions.com/content_124870692484
My review of the 2003 EMI release, "Back2Back Hits: The Raspberries & The Babys": http://www.epinions.com/content_110347390596
My review of The Choir (Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti's band) CD "Choir Practice": http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-49D-59376F6-385D8FD9-prod3
My review of Eric Carmen's (Raspberries) "Boats Against The Current": http://www.epinions.com/content_113921527428
My review of Dave Smalley's (Raspberries) "Internal Monologue": http://www.epinions.com/content_112634596996
My review of Fotomaker's (Wally Bryson's group) "The Fotomaker Collection": http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-5210-68AD5D7-38600918-prod2
My review of the Epic Records International (Japanese import) 2002 CD reissue of the 1979 Eric Carmen-produced Euclid Beach Band self-titled LP: http://www.epinions.com/content_110009618052
My review of "The Best Of Eric Carmen": http://www.epinions.com/content_68549119620
My review of The Raspberries "Refreshed": http://www.epinions.com/content_20892847748
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Driving
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Epinions.com ID:
Don_Krider
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 in Music, Musical Instruments |
 - Top 200 |
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Member: Don Krider
Location: USA
Reviews written: 301
Trusted by: 972 members
About Me:
Fan of power pop (Raspberries, Badfinger, Cheap Trick, The Knack, Romantics, Slade,Sweet...) --- "Play On"!!!
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