The Raspberries are back with a sound that is true to the high standards they achieved in their glory days of the 1970s.

Three veterans of the band have reunited for this effort in 2000, the band's fifth album and their first without Eric Carmen (who was on tour with Ringo Starr's band at the time), their first studio album since 1974.

Raspberries 2000

"The Raspberries" circa year 2000 (with their years in the band) are Wally Bryson (1970-75; lead guitar, rhythm guitar, tambourine and vocals), Dave Smalley (1971-73; bass guitar, acoustic guitar and vocals) and Scott McCarl (1973-75; acoustic guitar, tambourine and vocals).

Helping out are drummer Jesse Benenati of The Tearaways (a group that backed Scott live at LA's Poptopia Festival in 1998 and on the 2001 Shoes tribute album, "Shoe Fetish") and Brian Barham keyboards (strings, piano, organ, accordion and tympani).

The album was produced by Wally, Dave and Scott with Steve Boyer. It was engineered by Ken Roberts (who produced John Jones "One Moment In Time" CD; Jones was producer of Duran Duran's "Ordinary World" CD, but is a recording artist as well).

This is the first Raspberries album done without legendary producer Jimmy Ienner (Lighthouse, Three Dog Night, Grand Funk, Bay City Rollers, Blood Sweat & Tears, Candy, Eric Carmen's 1975 solo album, the "Dirty Dancing" soundtracks). It's also the first without Eric Carmen, lead singer on the band's four Top 40 hits of 1972-74 ("Go All The Way", "I Wanna Be With You," "Let's Pretend" and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)").

Eric's absence has disappointed some fans, and I understand that, but Wally, Scott and Dave recording as "The Raspberries" (the previous four albums, with Eric, were by "Raspberries," trivia buffs will note) are a joy to hear. Their performances here match their best music as members of Raspberries.

Background

In 1970-71, drummer Jim Bonfanti, Eric, Wally and original bassist John Aleksic (a John Lennon sound-alike) were drawing crowds of a thousand people to small Cleveland bars. A bidding war among eight record labels led to the band being signed to Capitol Records that year.

Aleksic reportedly "didn't fit," so rhythm guitarist David Smalley was brought into the group. Dave had sung lead on The Choir's 1967 hit "It's Cold Outside" (Jim and Wally were also veterans of The Choir). Dave's addition to the band followed his service in the Army in Vietnam, where, as a helicopter gunner, he had been wounded when his copter was shot down.

This basket of 'Berries went into the studio and cut their first self-titled album which was released in 1972. This lineup produced six Hot 100 Billboard singles and three Top 200 LPs in 1972-73 (the debut hit #51 and the second album, "Fresh," hit #36). They also got a Gold Record Award for their #5 hit, "Go All The Way," which sold 1.3 million copies.

The band was everywhere on TV: "Go!," "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert," "The Midnight Special," "American Bandstand," "The Coliseum Concert," "Bill Bixby's Thanksgiving Special" and "Flipside".

In November 1973, two months after headlining at Carnegie Hall, with the band smiling from the cover of "Hit Parader" magazine's November issue, Dave was fired from the band over musical differences with Eric. Jim quit the group in support of Dave.

Enter Scott McCarl, a Lennon sound-alike, a left-handed bass player who looked like Todd Rundgren, and who had been a roadie for the female band Vixen ("Edge Of A Broken Heart"). Also brought in was drummer Michael McBride, who'd recorded with Eric and Wally in Cyrus Erie (and with Eric in The Quick; he was also Wally's brother-in-law at the time).

This lineup produced one low-charting LP, "Starting Over," and the Top 20 hit (the band's seventh Hot 100 hit in just two years) "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" before calling it quits in April 1975.

Eric Carmen went solo (intially with Michael as his drummer, 1975-76), scoring a Gold Record for both his debut solo album and the single "All By Myself" (the first of eight Top 40 hits for Eric in 1975-1988, including the Top 5 hits "Make Me Lose Control" and "Hungry Eyes").

Wally, Dave and Scott

Wally scored a #88 album in 1978 with the self-titled Fotomaker debut. He scored two Hot 100 hits in 1978 with Fotomaker also: "Where Have You Been All My Life?" and "Miles Away."

Wally has recorded with Tattoo (1976), two albums with Fotomaker in 1978, with Michael Stanley (the 1985 CARE Sessions with Wally, Dave and Jim on backup vocals; that effort included Ben Orr of The Cars, another Clevelander), with The Sittin' Ducks (1998), and with son Jesse as The Bryson Group in recent years.

Dave and Jim were together in Dynamite, who recorded an unreleased album, in 1973-75, then parted ways. Jim went on with the nucleus of Dynamite as the band Windfall for a time. Dave recorded his first solo album, "Internal Monologue," in 2003 and Jim's band Boxer released the CD, "By The Seat Of Our Pants," in 2004.

Scott, after an album with the band Glider in 1977, released a solo album, "Play On," in 1997, that made most critics' Top 10 lists that year.

Eric's last US studio album (his sixth since 1975), "I Was Born To Love You," was released in 2000. It had been released previously (with an extra track) in 1998 in Japan as "Winter Dreams."

Michael seems to have dropped out of the music business. He did record with Don Kriss & The Vettes and performed in a few Cleveland bands in the '70s after being dismissed from the Eric Carmen Band. His Keith Moon-style drumming on "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" was one of the reasons Bruce Springsteen's drummer, and leader of Conan O'Brien's TV band, Max Weinberg chose that Raspberries track for inclusion in his third volume of the CD series "Let There Be Drums."

The release of a new version of Raspberries "Greatest Hits" in 2000 (with four previously unreleased demos from 1971) remains in limbo. Some copies of that Capitol album did make it out via the BMG Music Service that year.

Now

In 2004, Raspberries reunited yet again, this time with Eric, Dave, Wally and Jim, doing a 10-concert tour in 2004-2005. A live CD and/or DVD has been promised from that tour.

In 2005, Capitol Records released a new "Greatest" album (minus the bonus tracks on the 2000 "Greatest Hits" CD that was never officially released).

Raspberries 2000

In July 1998, Scott, Wally, Dave and Jim played two gigs in Cleveland doing Scott's solo material, staging a Choir reunion set, and performing the lesser-known album tracks from Raspberries' albums.

In April 1999, Billboard announced that Raspberries had reunited with Eric, Wally, Dave and Jim for a reunion tour and an album. No tour and no album came about. In 2000, Eric joined Ringo Starr for a tour.

Wally, Dave and Scott decided to record as The Raspberries in 2000 without Eric and Jim (who reportedly decided not to participate at the time). The resulting album, recorded in just one week, was "Refreshed," whose title is a reference to their 1972 classic "Fresh" album. It was released in October 2000 on Legendstar Records.

The "Refreshed" album

"Refreshed" is a stunning album that I highly recommend (three critics --- one of them being me --- voting in Dave Marsh's Rock & Rap Confidential/Addicted To Noise International Writers Poll named it one of 2000's Ten Best Albums). Its praise has been sung in publications such as Amplifier and Goldmine (Goldmine's John Borack calling it, "Superb. Amazing. Catchy as hell.").

It's a short album --- it's an "EP" (extended play) with just six songs running a total of less than 18 minutes. They are glorious songs, though, and worth listening to time and again.

Wally, Dave and Scott each wrote two songs for the album, each singing lead on their own songs (Dave and Scott sing co-lead vocals on "Pop Teasers").

Dave's "Pop Teasers" is a stunner, with searing lead guitar by Wally and some great lyrics. Gael McGear of the '80s girl group The Poptarts had made a post on AOL's Raspberries music message board that lamented the delays involved in getting a Raspberries reunion going, calling the guys "Pop Teasers," a phrase Dave loved and decided to make a song with.

He sings about the ill-fated, not-to-be reunion tour from 1999 from the perspective of a fan:

"You said there would be a tour / you put-it-off all summer / I packed the cooler / left work early man / what a bummer / Go on and play, pop teasers / I checked my email everyday / I need some confirmation / I call my pop friends man / I just can't get no information / Go out and play, pop teasers..."

It's also an introspective tune, as Dave and Scott sing co-lead: "They're old; they're going gray / Their gear is covered with dust, yeah / We'll resurrect them one more time..."

It's a great rocker, with the guys sounding like Kiss as they yell "Yeah." (In fact, Paul Stanley of Kiss loves the 'Berries, having seen them play Carnegie Hall in '73, he talks about them often in interviews.)

Dave's "Someone Like You" is great country pop --- a musical sister of his own "Should I Wait?" from the 'Berries "Side 3" album. Think of the prettiest Eagles' tunes ("New Kid In Town") and you'll have an idea of how beautiful this track is.

Dave sings a love song to his lady: "Most of my life / I've walked down empty streets / Searching for something I've never found / I used to wonder what I would do / If I ever met someone like you..." Beautiful.

Wally Bryson revives "When Is Your Dream?" in an alternate version from the one he recorded as Wallop in 1993 on the compilation "Yellow Pills Volume One".

This time out he adds accordion to the tune, which is a surprisingly good touch. It's a sweet ballad, which reminds me of John Lennon's "#9 Dream" in Wally's vocal style (Wally can have the sweetest Choir-boy voice, as in The Choir's "When You Were With Me," or can scream with the best of them, as on Fotomaker's "Name Of The Game").

Wally's a very cool guy. Married with children (son Jesse was a guitarist with Qwasi Qwa (a Cleveland recording group whose debut album was produced by Wally; Qwasi Qwa won the 1997 Mountain Dew High School Rock-offs competition and was named "Best Americana/Pop Band" in a Cleveland Free Times' readers poll in 2001).

Later Jesse was a member of Rosavelt before joining his dad in The Bryson Group for the album "Dry."

Wally is part-Cherokee Indian, giving him an exotic facial appearance, wearing his hair waist length, often braided in the Cherokee-style.

Wally's's also a hell of a guitar-player. His songs are great, too (with 'Berries he wrote or cowrote the four demos that got the band signed; he also co-wrote with Eric "I Saw The Light" and the band's first hit, "Don't Want To Say Goodbye," which featured Eric and Wally singing co-lead).

"Rock 'n' Roll Kids"

His second entry on the "Refreshed" album, "Rock 'n' Roll Kids," is a tribute to a band of musicians trying to age gracefully in a tough music industry.

Wally writes an autobiography here: "It wasn't easy / with the music in his head / And his fingers / pulling the strings on a stick / ... / And the one thing he's learned / from his rock 'n' roll life / Is rock 'n' roll belongs to the kids / take it kids..." and the aging "kids" who are The Raspberries "take it," showing they can rock with the best of them.

Scott's two contributions are Carmen-styled power pop gems, "Would You Say Yes Again?" and "Love In My Eyes."

"Would You Say Yes Again?" is by-the-book power pop, but Scott really shines on "Love In My Eyes."

On "Love In My Eyes," Scott laments, like a Beatle in 1965 (the Lennon-quality in Scott's voice is stunning), about a love that isn't meant to be: "You said you'd give me love, all the time / Said you were the one, and now I find / You're livin' a lie / That ain't love in my eyes..."

It's great to have an album of new material from The Raspberries. Even better, I'm happy to report that The Raspberries exceed all expectations and achieve a sound that is at once likeable, meeting the high standards The Raspberries set for themselves in the '70s.

Sure, some of Eric's fans may lament Eric's absence, but rejoice in the return of three talented musicians with a Raspberries album that offers a glorious addition to The Raspberries treasure chest.

The album is available through Raspberries.net. I have only seen the CD in a few retail stores, such as the legendary Ear-X-Tacy in Louisville, due to its independent release (i.e., not on a major label).

Just released:

The original Raspberries lineup (Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti) did a reunion tour in 2004-2005 and the result is 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

Related reviews

"The Sittin' Ducks" by The Sittin' Ducks, this 1998 CD features Raspberries' Wally Bryson with his Choir bandmates Dan Klawon (who was also in Tattoo with Wally and The Quick with Eric Carmen) and Kenny Margolis: 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

Wally Bryson and his son, Jesse Bryson, with friends, deliver great sounds on The Bryson Group's 16-track CD "Dry": http://www.epinions.com/content_177981263492

Wally Bryson and Kenny Margolis of The Choir were also members of The Sittin' Ducks, who appear on the compilation CD "Talkin' Baseball": http://www.epinions.com/content_21746650756

Released in July of 2004, the official book biography by Bernie Hogya and Ken Sharp, "Eric Carmen: Marathon Man": http://www.epinions.com/content_153762500228

My review of the Collectable Records 2004 CD release, "All By Myself," a collection of Eric Carmen hits: http://www.epinions.com/content_147186945668

My review of Eric Carmen's "Tonight You're Mine" CD: http://www.epinions.com/content_124870692484

My review of former Raspberry Dave Smalley's first solo album, 2003's "Internal Monologue": http://www.epinions.com/content_112634596996

My review of "Back2Back Hits: The Raspberries & The Babys": http://www.epinions.com/content_110347390596

My review of "Greatest Hits" (2000 release with previously unreleased demos): http://www.epinions.com/content_25727504004

My review of "The Very Best Of The Raspberries" (released in 2002): http://www.epinions.com/content_87143779972

My review of "The Best Of Eric Carmen":
http://www.epinions.com/content_68549119620

My review of "Raspberries Preserved - A Tribute," which features 21 different power pop acts (including Scott McCarl) covering Raspberries' songs: http://www.epinions.com/content_116234227332

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Romancing