Raspberries return with "Live On Sunset Strip," produced by Mark Linett and Eric Carmen
Written: Jul 19 '07 (Updated May 24 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip, Deluxe Edition, features 2 audio CDs and a 5-song DVD.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: Liner notes by Bruce Springsteen.Top 40 hits:"Go All The Way," "I Wanna Be With You,""Let's Pretend,""Tonight" and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)."Produced by Mark Linett and Eric Carmen.
Don_Krider's Full Review: Live on Sunset Strip [Digipak] by Raspberries
The first thing that grabbed me about Raspberries Live On Sunset StripDeluxe Edition Digipak (a 2-CD, 1-DVD package) when I received a review copy in the mail was the sticker on the package which says "liner notes by Bruce Springsteen."
I know Bruce Springsteen ("Born To Run," "Born In The USA") doesn't usually write liner notes for albums, so it is apparent this a special album to him.
So, album in hand, I then, after gently removing the outer package wrap, nice and sweetly, much as you would gently embrace a lover, opened the Live On Sunset Strip's Deluxe Edition's tri-fold package and saw a 1973 photo of Raspberries at New York's legendary Record Plant.
I then slipped from a compartment underneath that photo the CD booklet with a 2005 photo of the band playing live in Los Angeles at the House of Blues, causing a feeling of deja vu for this Raspberries fan --- I actually slipped the booklet in and out of the compartment a couple of times to get the effect of the two photos, the 1973 shot by Bob Gruen (famed for photographing John Lennon) and the 2005 shot by Gene Taylor (who has photographed Raspberries since their earliest days) showing the same group members 32 years apart.
Opening that package, slowly and lovingly, was like opening the wrapper around the cardboard vinyl LP of Starting Over in 1974 for me (and imagine my excitement at finding an unexpected poster of the band in that vinyl package so many years ago). Back then, it had been a year between albums, which seemed like an eternity to this then-17-year-old. Now, 33 years after Starting Over first appeared, Live On Sunset Strip may mark an even longer wait for a new album, but this is a wait that has proven to be worth my time once again.
Even as a guy who is no longer a teenager, there is a sense of recapturing one's youth as you open the package; the sense of a moment worth savoring, as Raspberries are a tasty musical treat, a delicious ice cream sundae tempting you to dig into it.
You open the CD booklet, and on one page are Springsteen's glowing liner notes written in March of 2007 in which he praises Raspberries as "THE great underrated power pop masters".
On the opposite page is a previously unpublished photo from the collection of John Lennon girlfriend May Pang of John Lennon in a Raspberries sweatshirt while promoting the Mind Games album in San Francisco decades ago. In the photo's caption, May Pang writes, "John loved wearing shirts of the bands he really liked."
Art direction and cover concept of the package is by Bernie Hogya, the very talented man who created the "Got Milk?" advertising campaign (you probably remember the advertisements with milk mustaches on celebrity faces ad blitz). The Live On Sunset Strip cover concept shows a building plastered with Raspberries promotional concert posters and a Flying V guitar leaning against the building (the first guy I ever saw playing a Flying V was Raspberries' guitarist Wally Bryson back at a Raspberries concert in 1973).
Hogya is webmaster of EricCarmen.Com and edited the DVD's concert footage with Kent Hagen (footage shot by Hagen and Jim Bullotta). The CD booklet was designed by Al Kaston.
You see, unlike the '70s (which did see guys like Todd Rundgren and Paul Stanley in the audience for the Raspberries' show at Carnegie Hall and a Best Album Award from Rolling Stone magazine for the Starting Over LP) when Raspberries weren't considered worth a look by music snobs, Raspberries now have some major fans behind them helping to promote them this time out, with 2007 marking the 35th anniversary of the band's million-selling, Top 5 single from 1972, "Go All The Way" (recently named one of Blender magazine's Greatest Songs Ever).
You doubt that Raspberries is an influential band? Well, attendees at the band's reunion concerts on the 2004-05 tour were folks like Rick Springfield, Jon Bon Jovi, Little Steven Van Zandt, Max Weinberg, Paul Stanley of Kiss, Gilby Clarke of Guns 'n' Roses, Kyle Vincent, with members of Blondie, Fotomaker, The Romantics, The Go-Gos, The Bangles, The Runaways, The Sex Pistols, Survivor and dozens of other acts.
These are indeed heady times for Raspberries. Joe Walsh of The Eagles and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith have been photographed with members of the band backstage. Rick Springfield and Paul Stanley of Kiss wrote articles for their own websites talking about the joy of seeing Raspberries in concert again.
Jon Bon Jovi told Fox News about Bruce Springsteen turning him onto Raspberries' music. And Springsteen, on tour in 2005, was praising the Raspberries on stage as he dedicated a song to the band at several concert stops.
*** NOTE: The October 12, 2007, USA TODAY highlighted Raspberries 2007-08 Tour kickoff gigs in New York City (a pair of shows at the Highline, Oct. 13 and 14, 2007) in an article at http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-10-11-raspberries_N.htm?csp=34 . The band has since done two shows in California and one in Cleveland. Details on the tour are at http://www.ericcarmen.com ***
This collection:
The 16-page CD booklet for Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip includes lyrics to the 21 songs in the Deluxe Edition. Those 21 songs are featured on two CDs in the package (Raspberries-colored CDs, mind you).
Additionally, the Deluxe Edition comes with a wonderful 5-song DVD (colored white, to be different from the CDs and perhaps as a reminder of the matching white suits the band wore in its early days) filmed at the band's reunion tour show at the House of Blues in Los Angeles on October 21, 2005. All the CD tracks were recorded live by Mark Linett, a long-time Raspberries fan and Grammy-nominee famed for his work with Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys.
Captured among the CD's 21 songs are 19 band-written tunes that include all seven of the band's Billboard Hot 100 singles, including the Cash Box and Record World Top 10 hits "Go All The Way" and "I Wanna Be With You". The remaining two tracks on the Deluxe Edition's two CDs are covers of The Who's "I Can't Explain" and The Searchers' "Needles And Pins", songs never previously recorded by the band.
The Deluxe Edition has a suggested retail price under $25 and is available at brick-and-mortar retail outlets beginning July 31, 2007, or at online retailers like Amazon.Com (where it can be pre-ordered now in advance of its July 31 release date).
There are two other editions as well --- a commercial 13-song CD (no DVD) Standard Edition that retails for under $15, also available at retailers, and a limited Special Collector's Edition, sold only through the band's website ---http://www.raspberriesonline.com/special_edition.shtml --- for $125 plus shipping and handling (which has fan goodies not in the two commercial retail packages, including a 21-song DVD with more performances than the commercial release has).
The Deluxe Edition
I'll tackle the Deluxe Edition of Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip for this review. If your pocket book can afford it, this under $25 list price collection is well worth your money. It hits the streets July 31, 2007 (like many journalists, I got an advance copy from the label a week ago, hence this early review).
This is the band's first new album in 33 years, produced by Grammy-nominee Mark Linett (who has worked with Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, Paul Simon, The New Cars, Frank Zappa, and many others) and Eric Carmen (Raspberries' lead singer, the performer of such solo hits as "All By Myself, "Make Me Lose Control" and "Hungry Eyes").
The engineers are Paul Santo (Aerosmith) and Paul Sidoti (Boxer).
The two CDs in the Deluxe Collection contain 21 songs: "I Wanna Be With You," "I Can't Explain" (a cover of The Who classic), "Play On," "Tonight," "Should I Wait," "Nobody Knows," "Makin' It Easy," "Come Around And See Me," "If You Change Your Mind," "Let's Pretend," "Last Dance," "Needles And Pins" (a remake of The Searchers hit that was co-written by Sonny Bono) and "I Can Remember",
Also, "Party's Over," "Don't Want To Say Goodbye," "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)," "Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak," "I Don't Know What I Want," "Ecstasy," "I'm A Rocker" and "Go All The Way."
The 5-song DVD in the Deluxe Edition of Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip features live video footage of Raspberries performing "I Wanna Be With You," "Tonight," "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)," "Ecstasy" and "Go All The Way".
The official Rykodisc page for the Deluxe Edition is at: http://rykodistribution.net/artist_title.php?artist_id13102&media_id=20746
The page for the Standard Edition (trimmed to 13 songs and without a DVD) is at: http://rykodistribution.net/artist_title.php?artist_id=13102&media_id=20747
The songs:
Ever talk to people who saw a concert but sit in different areas of the same concert hall? Depending on where you are seated, your listening experience may be totally different from someone else's (the guy in the balcony won't hear the sound the same way as the girl directly in front of the amplifiers or the gal seated dead center of the auditorium due to the acoustics of a particular venue)
As a result, a live recording can be a mixed bag to make, but in this case the sound people behind Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip have created an album worth hearing repeatedly. In many cases, perhaps due to some tweaking here and there (a necessary evil found in all live recordings), Mark Linett and Eric Carmen have produced a live recording that sounds better than the original recordings on some tracks.
I repeat: some of the songs sound better than the original Jimmy Ienner-produced recordings. There is a bottom to the mix now, a more noticeable rhythm section, clearer vocals, and a fuller sound. Raspberries now sound more muscular on the rockers than ever before.
The band:
Band members Eric Carmen (rhythm guitar, keyboards, vocals), Wally Bryson (lead guitar, vocals), Dave Smalley (bass, vocals; who had successful open heart surgery in December of 2006) and Jim Bonfanti (drums, percussion, vocals) have become more experienced as musicians over the years and it shows.
Adding to the sound are the threesome known as "The Overdubs," who accompanied the band on the tour as backup musicians. The band used sidemen when it toured in the '70s, as well, like most bands do, allowing band members who sometimes played two instruments on album tracks to concentrate on one instrument in concert.
"The Overdubs" are Paul Sidoti (guitar, keyboards, vocals; who played with Jim Bonfanti in the band Boxer, with Eric Carmen's solo band, and who is also the guitarist for Taylor Swift's band as well), Billy Sullivan (who has worked with Eric Carmen solo, as well as Mark Lindsay, Gary Lewis, and others) and Jennifer Lee (keyboards, vocals; who also has worked with Eric Carmen solo and is a veteran of albums with Cleveland rocker Michael Stanley).
The sound
What's stunning to this long-time fan is how wonderful Raspberries sound here. You expect it on the band's own hits, but the test for a band is how well they play someone else's songs. During their original career of 1970-1975, Raspberries would include cover songs at gigs on tour, but on record they wrote all of their own songs, a rarity for artists of the time.
The songs:
On Live On Sunset Strip, the band offers two cover songs on a Raspberries album for the first time, The Who's "I Can't Explain" and The Searchers's "Needles And Pins", both of which are stunning.
On "I Can't Explain," the band lovingly recreates Pete Townshend's classic via Bryson's sizzling lead guitar, Carmen's dead-on Roger Daltrey impression and Jim Bonfanti's energetic kit pounding. To sound as good as The Who is quite an achievement, and Raspberries succeed here.
On "Needles And Pins," the band's Merseybeat influences proudly shine as they play with a vigor and a macho swagger that gives new life to the British Invasion classic ("...because of all my pride, the tears I gotta hide, oh needles and pins..."). Either tune would have made great Raspberries' singles in a more singles-oriented time.
Eric Carmen's lead vocals on his original compositions are usually on the mark, though you can detect some difficulty in reaching those very difficult high notes on "I Wanna Be With You" and a couple of other tunes. Nothing wrong with that, though, because I still rate Eric as one of the five best lead vocalists in rock, and there's plenty of evidence of that talent here (when he nails a seemingly impossible vocal high note on his piano masterpiece "I Can Remember" on Live On Sunset Strip there's no doubting Eric Carmen is still a musician to be admired).
Raspberries current lineup recorded the band's first three albums (Raspberries, Fresh and Side 3) in 1972-73, but that lineup changed when Bonfanti and Smalley exited the group in 1973.
For the band's final album, Starting Over in 1974, the band brought in left-handed bassist Scott McCarl (who had recorded previously with Yellow Hair and had been a roadie with the all-girl group Vixen) and drummer Mike McBride (at the time, he was Bryson's brother-in-law, and had played with Carmen and Bryson previously in Cyrus Erie, who recorded for Epic in the late '60s).
Since McCarl and McBride aren't part of the reunion, the recordings on Live On Sunset Strip mark the first time Bonfanti and Smalley have recorded songs from the Starting Over album: "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)," "Party's Over," "I Don't Know What I Want" and "Play On".
For this Raspberries fan, that is the test of this reunion. I know and love the Starting Over album so well that I wasn't sure how much different the new versions would sound to my old but still good ears.
As much as I love the work of McCarl and McBride, I have to admit that these new recordings of old favorites by the band's current lineup are often better than the original versions.
Which means that it was stunning to hear Carmen singing the lead vocal originally sung by McCarl on "Play On".
The performance, written by Carmen and McCarl back in 1974, is fascinating because Eric's vocal is truly wild here, including screaming vocals ("nobody screams better than Eric Carmen," according to Rick Springfield in an interview) --- when a guy at age 56 as Carmen was in 2005 can still send shivers up my spine with a vocal, well, that's talent folks.
In fact, Raspberries new versions of the songs from Starting Over are every bit as good, if not better, than the original versions. And hearing Bonfanti's Keith Moon-ish style of drumming on "I Don't Know What I Want" is proof of that man's brilliant playing style (highlighted not too long ago in an article in Modern Drummer magazine).
On "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)," the band's Top 20 hit from 1974 which Rolling Stone magazine named the Best Single Of 1974 (and which still ranks in the Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singles Of All-Time), Carmen's lead vocal is every bit as good as it was in 1974, with an even more fiery guitar solo by Bryson.
That the song sounds better, with Bonfanti and Smalley on board, is a tribute to this band and to this recording.
I'm blown away by the production and the outstanding vocals (they even recreate the famous "sound from an AM radio" that was on the original recording with the sound getting quiet, then getting bigger as it emerges from a transistor radio, to full blown live performance; neat then, neat now, and Bonfanti is exciting on the drum fill here).
Dave Smalley's lead vocal sounds better than ever on the boogie rocker "Makin' It Easy" (featuring a new opening that places the chorus at the song's start) and the fantastic rock 'n' roller "Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak" (I used to play that song to death back in the day because of its fantastic rockin' outro instrumental at the song's end).
On Smalley's Eagle-ish "Should I Wait", having Jennifer Lee from the Michael Stanley band on backing vocals is a neat touch --- this would make a great uptempo country duet for someone (hello Faith Hill). It's such a beautiful ballad that I wish more people would hear it.
Had Capitol records, the band's former label, released "Should I Wait" as a single back in 1973, I believe Raspberries would have attracted a broader audience, for the key to Raspberries has, like The Beatles, always been the four talented individuals in the band; they are all unique.
Wally Bryson, too, has never sounded better. His lead vocals on "Party's Over" ("...now I'm older and wiser, and a bit of a miser, and it's crazy but I don't want to quit...") are growling and gritty as the hard rock tune (think Free) requires, while the gorgeous, Byrds-inspired "Last Dance" is bright, uptempo country-pop at its best ("...couldn't you give me a chance for a while, given the time I know I could make you smile...").
Bryson's "Come Around And See Me," which sounded lightweight in 1972, now comes across as a more powerful pop tune. Gentle, swaying, sweet, all at once. Bryson and Carmen have an uncanny ability to sing sweetly one minute, and be screaming rockers the next, and it shows in the songs they write.
Carmen shines on album cuts like his "If You Change Your Mind", which is a fan favorite from the album Fresh. For me, the song worked when I was a shy, lonely teen and it works even more as a divorced adult --- romance is cool, and nobody sings about lost romance like Eric Carmen ("...so let me leave you now before I cry, I'll just go back to my room and hide, and never let no one inside to do this again...").
On the Carmen-Smalley-penned Fresh cut, "Nobody Knows", the band does the Beatle-ish song better live than they did on that 1972 album. That just impresses the hell out of me. Adding to the effect are audience hand claps to the chug-along beat (not unlike the sound of a train on railroad track).
On songs that people know better, such as The Small Faces-inspired rocker "Tonight" (the sexually-suggestive ("won't you sleep with me, baby?") Carmen-penned tune that reached the Top 40 in Cash Box magazine in 1973), the band actually sounds better than the original Jimmy Ienner (Three Dog Night, Grand Funk, Bay City Rollers, Lighthouse)-produced recordings.
There's amazing new depth and more energy on the Carmen-penned, T. Rex-inspired "I'm A Rocker" as well, with Bryson's lead guitar having even more sizzle here. Carmen and Bryson may want to kill each other at times, but together they are magic men --- a dynamic duo every bit as important together in Raspberries as John Lennon and Paul McCartney were in The Beatles.
"Let's Pretend" (Top 20 in both Cash Box and Record World in 1973) sounds sweeter than ever. Like The Byrds' "Turn, Turn, Turn" and The Beach Boys "Don't Worry Baby," it's an ageless tune, at least to this listener.
When Carmen sings, "I can't sleep nights, wishing you were here beside me," one need not be 16 to still feel that emotion at 50 when encountering the love of your life. Raspberries music is timeless.
On the Gold Record-winning "Go All The Way," ("baby, please, go all the way") the band shows it still has that magical something that first took them out of Cleveland and put their faces on the cover of Hit Parader magazine.
For guys in their mid-50s, they still sound like young men of 22. They are what one critic called in 1973 "a monument to youthful exhuberance". For me, after turning 50 this year, they take me back to my youth; they give me energy to live; they inspire me. To me, they are the All-American band that The Beach Boys once were. Mod men from Ohio (Carmen), North Carolina (Bryson) and Pennsylvania (Smalley and Bonfanti) who formed Raspberries because they love music.
Throughout both CDs, the audience's screams, yells, and cheers enhance the feeling that a good time was had by all one night in Los Angeles in 2005. The accompanying DVD only adds to that impression.
The DVD
The 5-song DVD that comes with the Deluxe Edition of Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip features a menu design by Bernie Hogya (you can play songs individually or select "play all" if you prefer) and opens with words in white lettering coming across a black screen which say, "They said it would never happen. They were wrong."
Then the stage curtains part and four smiling faces emerge. Eric Carmen is grinning like a school kid as the curtain parts, with a loving audience showing their appreciation with screams and applause.
The Los Angeles show was the band's 10th and final show on their 2004-2005 reunion tour, and these guys look so very (or is it Berry?) happy to be in front of an adoring audience. What an amazing experience for artist and fan alike to hook up again after three decades apart. The concert experience transfers very well to this DVD for those of us not at that show.
The band is initially dressed in coats, but Carmen sheds his coat to reveal a sleeveless tank top. Carmen still has the good looks of the teen idol girls used to adore. If you read some of the comments at EricCarmen.Com, those girls are now women who still adore him (but he's married with children now, gang).
The band members have all aged well, still chewing wads of gum to keep their throats moist as they sing. Wally Bryson, chewing a huge wad of gum, seems to be having a blast showing his stuff on various guitars, his newsboy cap atop his very long head of hair, hinting at his Cherokee Indian heritage.
What impresses one most about the video is the energy these guys all still have. On "Ecstasy," the band has more energy than when I saw them in 1973, and they sound better. Bonfanti races the band's pulse while Bryson windmills guitar chords off a dual-necked guitar. Carmen slashes guitar strings as he dances around, while Smalley claps his hands in the air to excite the already-excited crowd. Truly, a moment of "Ecstasy" for fan and artist alike.
Carmen and Bonfanti are as much in synch as I've ever seen a lead singer and a drummer on stage, giving a really unique aspect to "Ecstasy" that can only be seen in a video recording. Their timing is perfect, with Bonfanti's drum pounding accenting Carmen's carefully crafted vocal gymnastics ("...when I think of all your lovin', it makes me shiver..."). I've always loved the original recording, but watching it performed live gives the song a whole new dimension, and I love it even more now.
The band charges through "I Wanna Be With You," does a scorching version of "Tonight" and closes with a stirring version of "Go All The Way". The test of the DVD for me was when my son, who loves Linkin Park and Nine Inch Nails, saw the DVD performance of "I Wanna Be With You," and said, "They sound great!" My son, who is 24, is named Eric after a certain Cleveland singer who shall remain unidentified (hey, one my buddies named his sons John and Paul, so there!).
One really standout moment is "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)". When the band performed it on TV's "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" back in 1974-75, the performance was marred by a broadcast glitch that messed up the song briefly when it aired (when it was rerun later that season, the glitch was still there, and in 1993 when I got a copy of the video, the glitch was still there).
Now, because of the reunion, we have a glitch-free DVD live performance of Carmen's best Raspberries' song. It's neat to watch, as Eric seems very at ease at his piano, with an electric fan blowing his hair (the effect is that of a windblown outdoors concert despite this gig being indoors). Watching the band recreate their finest moment on vinyl in a high quality DVD performance is a terrific experience. The lighting and the sound are perfect.
The band has posted a seven-minute video online that shows bits of this 5-song DVD which is a good way to sample the songs and the DVD. You can view it at: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2010652898
USA TODAY has also posted an exclusive video of Raspberries performing The Who's "I Can't Explain" at http://usatoday.feedroom.com/index.jsp?fr_story=9596955da126d21826db7ede295ac6d675de2da4
Final recommendation:
Obviously, I love Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip in its Deluxe Edition format. I've played it a bunch in the past week, first to savor it from a fan's perspective, and then to enjoy it as a critic. There's nothing, and I mean nothing, not to be enjoyed here.
The album shows why the band has garnered fans like Elton John, Kurt Cobain, Axl Rose, Cheap Trick and others over the years. As Joe Walsh of The Eagles said recently, "We love those guys!"
You can pre-order the album online or head to your local retailer when the album comes out July 31, 2007, but get a copy. If you're a fan of classic rock, you'll love this. Great rock 'n' roll like Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip is a timeless treat.
And if you want to help promote the album, Bernie Hogya has created a downloadable advertising flyer that you can print and post on your favorite store's bulletin board: http://www.ericcarmen.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003333
The complete chart history:
The review is done, but if you're interested in a bit more relating to the band, how about some chart history.
Raspberries in 1972-74 scored seven Hot 100 singles. So, after a heck of a lot of research by me, for the first time in a review, here's the band's complete chart history from the three major record charts of the time, Billboard, Cash Box and Record World (why, because nobody else has ever done this, that's why, and my collection of old magazines is starting to fade away, so I best record this somewhere):
"Don't Want To Say Goodbye" peaked at #86 in Billboard and #90 in Cash Box (but it was on the Cash Box chart for three weeks, a week longer than the Billboard chart) in 1972.
"Go All The Way" peaks were #5 in Billboard, #4 in Cash Box and #3 in Record World in 1972.
"I Wanna Be With You" peaks were #16 in Billboard, #10 in Cash Box and #7 in Record World in 1972-73.
"Let's Pretend" peaks were #35 in Billboard, #18 (for two weeks) in Cash Box and #14 in Record World in 1973.
"Tonight" peaks were #69 in Billboard and #37 (for two weeks) in Cash Box in 1973.
"I'm A Rocker" peaks were #94 in Billboard and #75 in Cash Box in 1973.
"Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" peaks were #18 in Billboard, #24 in Cash Box and #26 in Record World in 1974.
Usually critics say the band had only one Top 10 single and cite Billboard only as a source, but if one cites Cash Box or Record World, both now defunct publications, the band can also be noted as having two Top 10 singles in Billboard's competitors.
On the web:
Raspberries on TV's "The Midnight Special" in 1973 performing "Let's Pretend" (one of many TV appearances available for free online): http://www.ericcarmen.com/multimedia/video21.htm
Official Raspberries website, where one can watch new and old videos of the band in action, as well as listen to a jukebox filled with Raspberries tunes: http://www.raspberriesonline.com
Official Eric Carmen website (with some very rare Carmen videos in its ETV section): http://www.ericcarmen.com
Official Wally Bryson website: http://www.thebrysongroup.com
Official Dave Smalley website: http://www.davesmalley.com
Raspberries on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/officialraspberries
Eric Carmen on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ericcarmen
Jim Bonfanti on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/jim_bonfanti
Bernie Hogya, webmaster of EricCarmen.Com, has created a blog to celebrate the 30th Anniversary (2007) of the release of Eric Carmen's "Boats Against The Current" (featuring new gems of info from Eric's own files, with commentary by Eric Carmen): http://ericcarmen.blogspot.com/
Eric Carmen's most rocking solo CD is Tonight You're Mine, which features such guest players as Carmine Appice (Rod Stewart Band, Vanilla Fudge), Kenny Passarelli (Elton John Band), Billy Peek (Rod Stewart Band), Steve Lukather (Toto), Fred Tackett, Bob Glaub and Davey Johnstone (Elton John Band). The album was produced by Harry Maslin of David Bowie fame: http://www.epinions.com/content_124870692484
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
Choir Practice by The Choir CD (featuring Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti): http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-49D-59376F6-385D8FD9-prod3 (available in either CD or vinyl from Sundazed Records, the manufacturer, at http://www.sundazed.com).
Refreshed by "The Raspberries" ("reunion" album from 2000 with Raspberries' veterans Bryson, Smalley and McCarl and using "The" in front of Raspberries' name for the first time --- the band never called themselves "The Raspberries" during their original existance, 1970-75)): http://www.epinions.com/content_20892847748
Raspberries TONIGHT! by Bernie Hogya and Ken Sharp, a book documenting the Raspberries reunion tour through numerous photos and text: http://www.epinions.com/content_217001201284
Eric Carmen produced a brilliant solo album in 1977, Boats Against The Current, which features guests including Burton Cummings of The Guess Who, Andrew Gold, Nigel Olsson of The Elton John Band, Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys, Jeff Porcaro of Toto and the hit single "She Did It": http://www.epinions.com/content_113921527428
Raspberries leader Eric Carmen was part of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band tour band in the year 2000. "The Anthology...So Far" by Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band features live solo performances by Carmen singing "Hungry Eyes" and "All By Myself" backed by Ringo and his band. The box set also features performances by Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman, Felix Cavaliere, Todd Rundgren, Dave Edmunds, Simon Kirke, Gary Brooker, Jack Bruce, Nils Lofgren, Billy Preston, Clarence Clemons, Mark Farner, John Entwistle, Levon Helm, Dr. John and Timothy B. Schmidt: http://www.epinions.com/content_34313899652
And for something by another artist:
Since Rick Springfield was at the Raspberries show, check out his amazing 153-minute CD set, Written In Rock: Rick Springfield Anthology, for some great music (follows Rick's career from Zoot to the present day): http://www.epinions.com/content_213153648260
Special thanks:
To Epinions.Com music category lead Shelly, aka Lambchops (http://www.epinions.com/user-lambchops), for adding this title to the Epinions' 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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