Raspberries: "Side 3" moved the band into Who/Small Faces-inspired rock
Written: Aug 28 '04 (Updated Oct 18 '08)
Product Rating:
Pros: The album, featuring the Hot 100 hits "Tonight" and "I'm A Rocker," peaked at #128.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: Great album. Available on "Power Pop, Volume Two," an inexpensive, single British CD with both Raspberries' "Side 3" and "Starting Over" albums on it.
Don_Krider's Full Review: Side 3 [Slipcase] by The Raspberries
Looking back, Modern Drummer magazine in its September 2000 issue dusted off The Raspberries' third long-player, "Side 3," and praised it as "one of the most joyous pop-rock albums ever... young and lusty tunes rivaling Cheap Trick, Badfinger, and Kinks singles in sugary distortion rush."
The magazine especially praised the band's maniac drummer, Jim Bonfanti, saying, "Always pushing the beat, Jim was like a dream combination of Keith Moon and Ringo Starr."
1973:
When Raspberries' began recording their third album, "Side 3," in 1973, they were on top of the world.
Their first two albums, "Raspberries" and "Fresh" in 1972, had hit # 51 and # 36, respectively, on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. Their first four singles had made the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, all in the less than one year.
Three of those singles had gone Top 40 ("Go All The Way," "I Wanna Be With You" and "Let's Pretend"), with "Go All The Way" peaking at # 5 and selling 1.3 million copies in the U. S. alone (reportedly, the boys' home state of Ohio bought up 100,000 copies alone).
Not bad for a bunch of 23-year-olds about to turn 24.
There was a backlash, though, since Eric Carmen was credited with writing and singing lead on all of the band's Top 40 hits. Everywhere, the press wanted to interview Eric. Eric became the "star" of the band, something that created some resentment among other members of the group.
Raspberries' members (guitarist/keyboardist Eric Carmen, lead guitarist Wally Bryson, bassist Dave Smalley and drummer Jim Bonfanti) entered the Record Plant recording studio in New York with producer Jimmy Ienner in mid-1973 to record their third album for Capitol Records, "Side 3." The friction in the band is apparent in that the band's members, for the first time, weren't writing songs together any more.
"Side 3":
Probably my overall favorite Raspberries' album, "Side 3" is essentially the album that best captures what Raspberries sounded like live: raunchy, guitar-driven rock 'n' roll with gorgeous harmonies and melodies. The sound is closer to The Who, The Small Faces and Free than to the band's earlier Beatles/Beach Boys leanings (though those are still in evidence here).
It was Raspberries' intent to expand their audience beyond the young teenagers and aging rock critics who loved them, a very risky proposal.
The release of "Side 3" marked the band's peak in popularity. Capitol Records celebrated the album's release with a concert atop its headquarters building in Los Angeles. The band was booked to do several TV appearances --- a Bill Bixby Thanksgiving special, "The Mike Douglas Show," "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" and "American Bandstand" (which used a Capitol promo video for "Tonight").
A headlining tour began in September, 1973, a month after the album's release, with a sell-out gig at Carnegie Hall being a highlight (celebrities attending included Paul Stanley of Kiss, Todd Rundgren of The Nazz and Gene Cornish of The Rascals, and audience members held up banners saying "Flushing loves The Raspberries").
But for some reason, the single "Tonight," peaked at only # 69. After three straight Top 40 singles, the band suddenly couldn't come close to the Top 40. The album stiffed at # 128.
A second single, "I'm A Rocker," peaked at # 94 and a third single, "Ecstasy," faield to chart at all when released in February of 1974 (a first for the band). With all the singles being written and sung by Carmen, the band's other members started openly blaming their lead singer and Capitol's choice of singles for the band's suddenly declining success.
There's some logic to that. Raspberries already had pop fans in their pocket. Teenagers are an undependable fan base (love you one minute, then love somebody else the next minute), so the band did need to expand its sound and capture a broader audience.
If Capitol, instead of releasing only Carmen's songs off of "Side 3" as singles, had put out Wally Bryson's "Last Dance" (as Byrdsy a tune as you'll ever hear) or Dave Smalley's "Should I Wait" (tell The Eagles to move over, there's a new kid in town), maybe radio would have played the tunes and found the band new fans. Perhaps if Carmen's "Ecstasy," the song closest to "Go All The Way" in pop energy and feel, had been the first single instead of the third, maybe the band's core audience would have been appeased. Lots of "ifs" in rock 'n' roll.
Critics loved "Side 3." Rolling Stone magazine praised the album for an "instrumental feel (that) does inspire flattering comparisons with 1966-67 Who," while The Navy Times' "Soundings" section noted that "Bryson, Carmen and Smalley can write highly listenable songs."
Even today, Modern Drummer magazine in 2000 dusted the album off, gave it a "8" on a scale of "10" rating and said, "'Side 3' is one of the most joyous pop-rock albums ever."
Praise from critics, however, didn't save the album, but Raspberries' music on "Side 3" is generally looked upon now as one of rock music's brightest moments. As Paul Stanley of Kiss recently said, "They were awesome!"
The album in 1973:
Capitol Records in the U. S. originally released "Side 3" as a vinyl LP (versions in cassette and 8-track as well) in 1973. The vinyl version is a collectors' item since the LP cover was die-cut (not square like most LPs) into the shape of a basket of Raspberries, with a gatefold cover that opens to reveal the image of a vinyl LP covered in raspberries and cream with the image of a spoon --- in 1964, Capitol wanted you to "Meet The Beatles," in 1973, Capitol wanted you to "Eat The Raspberries."
For the first time, no photos of the handsome members (their faces, folks, their faces!) of Raspberries appear on the album's front or back covers. Inside, in an extra sleeve around the record itself, is a photo-packed record sleeve with numerous photos of The Raspberries recording at The Record Plant in New York City --- the photos are by Bob Gruen, famous for his crossed arms, sleeveless T-shirt photo of John Lennon in NYC.
The CD today:
Capitol has never had a U. S. release for "Side 3" on CD. In Japan, the album has been issued on CD twice in the 1990's, but is an expensive import. The good news is that two Raspberries' albums, "Side 3" and "Starting Over," are available on a single CD on Britain's RPM Records label, "Power Pop, Volume Two" (http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-6ED3-383263A-38553A17-prod5).
Eight of the nine tracks will have broad appeal, while the last track, "Money Down," is more of a guitarist's piece to showcase the brilliant guitar-work of Wally Bryson (with "love 'em and leave 'em" lyrics the very married Wally now wishes he had written differently).
The tracks:
"Tonight" (since covered by Motley Crue and Chicago's Off Broadway), "Last Dance" (since covered by Swinger), "Makin' It Easy," "On The Beach" (since covered by Kyle Vincent, Scott McCarl and The Rubinoos' Tommy Dunbar), "Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak," "I'm A Rocker," "Should I Wait," "Ecstasy" and "Money Down."
Recommendation:
You just can't go wrong with Raspberries' "Side 3" if you love late '60's/early '70's pop-rock. The band's music is Pop Music 101 for anyone who is a serious student of music; a joyous blend of styles inspired by The Who, The Small Faces, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Byrds and The Eagles.
The tunes:
"Tonight":
"Tonight" shakes and shudders under the powerhouse drumming of Jim Bonfanti and short, gutsy, ringing guitar-work from Bryson and Carmen.
On NBC-TV's Saturday morning kids show, "Go!," in 1973 the band lip-synched to their hits in a special hosted by deejay Don Imus. The show was built around the making of the single "Tonight," showcasing how hard producer Jimmy Ienner pushed the band's members in the studio, recording the chorus of "woh, tonight" over-and-over-and-over again until he was sure he had enough layers of harmonies for the tune.
The sound is BIG! Bigger than Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound --- this is Jimmy Ienner's Great Wall Of Sound (Ienner also produced Lighthouse, Three Dog Night, Grand Funk, Blood Sweat & Tears, The Bay City Rollers and the "Dirty Dancing" soundtracks).
Carmen is positively "horny" here, with the band singing in unison "tonight, I'll be with you tonight" in the background:
"...you looked too young to know about romance (oh, yes you did) / but when you smiled / I had to take a chance / and be with you tonight / I'll be with you tonight / tonight, you'll love me too, tonight / woh, baby tonight / I'll make love to you (woh, tonight)..."
Listen to Bonfanti's drum fade-out --- short, sweet and awesome!
"Last Dance":
Wally Bryson's sweetest moment on record (he's also recorded with The Choir, Fotomaker, Tattoo and others over the years) is a beautiful country-pop tune. The hard-rocking Raspberries become The Byrds ("Turn, Turn, Turn") here with jangly guitars and Neil Gilpin's fiddle on this swinging little number.
Bryson sang this on TV shows such as "Don Kirshner" and a Bill Bixby Thanksgiving special. It should have been a single.
It's a sweet, uptempo piece about young love:
"...if I had the chance with you / I'd ask for the last dance with you / we'd dance away into the night / when I get my chance with you / I'll make enough romance for two / we'll dance away into the night..."
Toss in lots of fiddle playing, some hand-claps and a chorus of "come on dance" and I challenge you to sit still. The harmonies here are to die for.
"Makin' It Easy":
Dave Smalley came into his own on "Side 3" as a songwriter. His three tunes are all great here.
Smalley explored different themes on "Side 3." For "Makin' It Easy," he's a Rick Nelson/Stone Canyon Band rocker with a girl trying to trap him into marriage. As the band rocks out, Smalley tells the girl:
"...'you've had too many lovers to know it's me / you better find somebody else, I wanna be free / makin' it easy, for me to be movin' on / makin' it easy, for me to be a long time gone..."
"On The Beach":
Perhaps the most adoreable tune on the album, "On The Beach" was part of a long line of Beach Boys' tributes by the band (with "Drivin' Around" on their "Fresh" album and "Cruisin' Music" on their "Starting Over" LP, you could depend on at least one faithful Beach Boys'-styled cut on every album).
Here The Raspberries become Lesley Gore ("California Nights") meets The Shangri-Las ("Remember (Walkin' In The Sand)") dancing with Beach Boys' rhythms and the sound of seagulls.
Carmen's electric piano drives the tune, while Bonfanti's drumming marks change after change, as Bryson's rhythm/lead guitar-work and Smalley's throbbing bass power this driving tune.
It's innocent. It's sweet. Its harmonies are heavenly. The chorus is catchy-as-anything in this little pop melodrama:
"...ooh, I wanna woo you, all night on the beach / 'cause we've got all summer to learn how to love / on the beach / they don't expect us 'til tomorrow / I'll have us back again by two / we'll take the car and slip away / there'll be no one there to say / just what we should or shouldn't do / ooh, I wanna / oh, I wanna woo you, all night on the beach..."
"Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak":
Raspberries had stopped wearing matching suits on stage by the time they recorded "Side 3." Eric and Wally were wearing shoes with heels like glam rockers, while Vietnam veteran Dave Smalley wanted to grow a mustache and wear jeans on stage. His songs tended to be aimed at an audience closer to his 23 years in age, while the other guys' tunes seemed to him to be aimed at teenagers.
But 23-year-olds have heartaches, too, and "Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak," penned and sung by Smalley, rocks hard (the little guitar jam at song end is outstanding):
"...don't you know that it's hard to get over a heartbreak / it's not so easy to do / hard to get over a heartbreak / I need your love to pull through / ... / can't you see it's not easy? / can't you see it's not fair? / can't you see me cryin'? / can't you see that I care? / you got my love if you want it / just let me know and it's there..."
"I'm A Rocker":
Once dedicated by former Epinions.Com Music Category Lead KCFoxy to me (love ya, Casey), "I'm A Rocker" is Eric Carmen's autobiography. I was 16 when this came out in 1973, and my sister, Patti, was all of three.
My little sister, at 3, had a crush on Eric Carmen. It was the hair, I think, mountains of shag-cut brown hair on a 5-foot-9 guy who was thin as a rail. Anyway, on Bill Bixby's Thanksgiving show that year the band lip-synched to "Last Dance" and "I'm A Rocker" (a year later, the show was re-run minus "I'm A Rocker," again on Thanksgiving Day).
We were watching the show from the Thanksgiving dinner table at home and when Eric sang the line, "I've been a boogie since I ditched the stroller" my little, blue-eyed sister says, "Ditched the stroller?," looks at me, smiles, then laughs, "That's funny!!!" To her, she and Eric Carmen now were bonded by a common love of riding in strollers.
Anyway, on "I'm A Rocker" Carmen rips T. Rex's "Bang A Gong (Get It On)" at times, but the tune is better than a rip-off. Bryson and Carmen trade guitar riffs over the rhythm section's throbbing bass and battered cymbals (the energy of drummer Jim Bonfanti is mind-boggling to this day to me).
Carmen sings:
"...I get this feelin' when I hear that beat / I gotta jump and get up on the table / 'cause when that rhythm and blues electrifies my shoes / I get the message like it came by cable / ... / I'm a rocker, I'm a roller / I've been a boogie since I ditched the stroller / so come on, hold me tight / we can rock the night away..."
"Should I Wait":
Even Eric Carmen had to admit that Dave Smalley wrote a great song with "Should I Wait." He was stunned. He said later, "I thought the arrangements, the harmonies and everything were just one of the nicest blends of Dave, Wally and I that ever saw vinyl."
"Should I Wait" reminds one most of The Eagles, but it's a timeless country-rock ballad with the sweetest harmonies you'll ever want to hear. Smalley, a 6-foot-1 motorcycle-riding sweetheart of a guy speaks from the heart here and it's beautiful:
"...don't you know you're gonna lose / if you love somebody that don't love you? / you'll believe him when he's untrue / but I can't bear seein' him break your heart in two / I've let it happen much too long / should I wait, hopin' you'll find out on your own? / it's me who's loved you for so long..."
"Ecstasy":
In a May 2000 interview (http://www.ericcarmen.com/archive/052100.html), Paul Stanley of Kiss admitted that his song, "Wouldn't You Like To Know Me," from his self-titled solo album "borrowed" from two "Side 3" album tracks saying, "Yes, it's 'Tonight' and it's also a little of 'Ecstasy.' It's my Raspberries' homage."
Eric Carmen becomes Steve Marriott of The Small Faces on "Ecstasy," which features killer power-chording and the band's gorgeous harmonies:
"...ecstasy, when you touch me I'm in ecstasy / no one else could do the things you do / let me please you, too, tonight / ecstasy, when you kiss me I'm in ecstasy / no one else could make me feel this way / tell me that you'll stay tonight..."
The song is played so fast and furiously that many a broken guitar string tried to interrupt the band in concert I've heard.
"Money Down":
A little bit Free, a lot of blues and some dirty lyrics drive Wally Bryson's "Money Down." Guitar players adore it, but it's hard to play the tune at a family gathering:
"...little woman think I got a heart of stone / 'cause I just wanna love 'em and leave 'em alone..."
It's hard to dislike the tune, however, when Wally's lead guitar is so darn enjoyable here.
Personal note:
I saw Raspberries on their "Side 3" tour (I still have recordings of radio promos of that Louisville, Ky., gig in my collection).
In Louisville, the band, two month's after Carnegie Hall, was lowered on Saturday, November 17, 2003, to playing the Doss High School Gymn. Tickets were --- hold your hats --- $3.00 advance, $4.00 day of show! Those prices were cheap even by 1973 standards.
The band was scheduled to take the stage at 8 p.m. They actually took the stage at 8:30 p.m. WAKY-AM sponsored the show and program director Johnny Randolph explained to the crowd of a depressing few hundred people that the opening act had cancelled, but Raspberries were on their way from the Holiday Inn.
That was okay with me. This was my first major rock 'n' roll show (somehow The Irish Rovers and Up With People! don't count), even if it was a high school gymn with me squat-legged Indian-style in the fourth row of the chairless gymn floor.
I had a half-hour to commit everything to memory. I was determined that when "Eric, Wally, Dave and Jim" (I had long ago made their names part of my brain waves, just like I had "John, Paul, George and Ringo" a decade before) took the stage, nothing would be forgotten. Mental snapshots would have to do, complete with mental captions.
Guitar stands with more than enough guitars. Double-stacked Marshall amplifiers. The drum kit on risers with a large "Raspberries" sign that seemed to light up on the riser (not the drum kit) whenever the bass drum was hit during the show. Lots of microphones and colored lighting.
Then they took the stage. Drummer Jim Bonfanti in a long-sleeved, bright yellow shirt looked too serious to be happy. Bassist Dave Smalley looked friendly and laid back. Eric Carmen was smiling, wearing a mod '60's-flowered blue shirt, while lead guitarist Wally Bryson had a T-shirt with musical notes on it, a mod coat and a cap (a "Raspberry beret," if you will).
A sideman announced, "With five hit singles and three hit albums, Capitol Recording artists, Raspberries..." All to polite applause (I wanted to rush the stage --- but I behaved, trained military brat that I was).
Opening with a few bars of The Beatles' "Ticket To Ride" (as if to say, "call us Beatle-imitators if you will..."), the band broke into four straight hits (saving "Go All The Way" for the night's finale), then did a piano medley from their first two albums, followed by gorgeous covers of "Be My Baby" and "Locomotion," along the way to the show's closing.
The most notable thing was Wally Bryson. He loves the stage. He danced around as he played. He stomped his foot in time with the music, his 6-foot-1 lean frame causing the stage to actually shake under his foot-stomping energy.
I also learned that chewing massive wads of gum was how some singers keep their throats moist. Eric and Wally both chewed massive wads of gums.
It was a cute night, too, with (looking at the stage) Dave on the left, Eric center-stage and Wally on the right (with Jim behind them all). When Eric gave up the spotlight to Wally to sing "Last Dance," confused local spotlight workers kept the "spotlight" on Eric.
Eric was grinning, trying to walk the spotlight over to the right side of the stage so they would put it on Wally (pointing to Wally time-and-again hoping they would get the hint). Wally took it all in stride, but it was a sweet gesture when Eric went over and stood behind Wally, forcing the spotlight crew to pay attention to the fact it was Wally singing and not Eric (when he left Wally's shadow, this time the spotlight stayed on Wally, until Eric sang again).
They closed the show with "Go All The Way." It was the song that brought the audience to life --- recognition from an audience of kids who didn't seem to know who Raspberries were until then. A dozen girls jumped up to dance in front of the stage.
Eric Carmen took a stance that looked like 1964 John Lennon to me. Never has a rock performer had more charisma than Eric Carmen did as he sang "Go All The Way" at that moment in time. Never has a band looked or sounded cooler on stage. Then the night was history (the audience stomped and clapped for an enore, but none came, I suspect because whatever agreement they had with the venue didn't allow them to play after 10 p.m.).
Still, I was in heaven for 90-minutes and I will forever remember the show as one of the best I've ever seen (even seeing The Beach Boys, The Guess Who, Eric Clapton, The Byrds, Herman's Hermits, The Monkees, Ringo Starr and dozens of other acts in the years since hasn't ever come close to being as good as this show was).
Those are the little moments forgotten at rock 'n' roll shows. Thanks for letting me remember them here.
One other moment, though. I had discovered that I had hair in 1973, and by the time I saw Raspberries I had grown it long (over the ears and styled, at least). I liked to comb my hair, a lot (kind of like the tough guy in "American Graffiti" that year played by Paul LeMat).
A girl I was talking to at the show took my comb because I was combing my hair a lot after the show, so I pulled out another comb and she said, "I don't believe you!" I explained, "I always carry more than one comb..."
Then, outside, after the show, there was a van that carried the guys' equipment and a beat-up station wagon, both with Ohio license plates and parked at the doors to the school. I knew they had some connection to those Ohio-lads in Raspberries.
So I'm standing there in my waist-length, Army green-colored, U. S. Navy-issued jacket my father had gotten me during his Vietnam years. I was 6-foot-1 and blue-eyed skinny as four cute girls came up and asked, "Are you with the band?"
Deeply honest (hitting myself today), I said, "No, I'm not." The girls walked away and I pondered what might have happened if I had said something different, but then that really wouldn't have been me (curse your niceness, Don Krider!!!).
During the following week after that Saturday, November 17, 1973, show, Raspberries did an interview on WGAR-AM in Cleveland (somehow my radio in Louisville picked it up on a Sunday night), appeared on that "Bill Bixby" Thanksgiving special and then appeared on "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" series the following Saturday.
Later that month, Dave was fired from the band and Jim quit the group, beginning another hard day's night for Raspberries. The band, with Eric and Wally, continued on for one more album, "Starting Over" in 1974, before splitting in 1975.
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 byBruce 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
Raspberries other albums (check out the album cover images, now online):
"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
Capitol/EMI's 24-bit digitally remastered CD released in May of 2005 in the U. S. and Europe, "Greatest," features all 7 of Raspberries Hot 100 singles, has 20 tracks and runs 78:53 minutes: http://www.epinions.com/content_186044681860
On tour to rave reviews as a sideman on Raspberries' 2004-2005 tour is guitarist Billy Sullivan (personally chosen by Eric Carmen for the tour). My review of Billy's solo album, "All-American Popster," appears at: http://www.epinions.com/content_170531917444
The official Raspberries' website: http://www.raspberries.net
The official Eric Carmen website: http://www.ericcarmen.com
The official Wally Bryson website: http://www.thebrysongroup.com/
The official Dave Smalley website: http://www.davesmalley.com/
The official Jim Bonfanti website (featuring his Cleveland band, Boxer): http://www.boxerrocks.com
Special thanks:
To Epinions.Com Music Category Lead Shelly, aka Lambchops (http://www.epinions.com/user-lambchops), for adding Raspberries' "Side 3" to the Epinions.Com musical database.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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