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Saturday night, September 16, 2023, I attended the Eagles' concert at the Prudential Center ( The "Rock" ) in Newark, NJ When I purchased the tickets two months ago I was focused on getting the best seats I could afford, and not on any other incidental information. I was completely blown away when the warmup act was none other than Donald Fagen and Steely Dan. There was a 12 piece band and vocalists providing the backup and they were fantastic. Donald is 75 years old and still sounds the same. The band had all live and analog music...two saxophones(alto and baritone), trumpet, trombone, lead and rhythm guitars, bass, 2nd keyboard player with Hammond B-3, drums and 3 female vocalists. The unmistakable jazz-rock fusion sound was note for note like the original recordings. They played for over an hour. Fabulous. After a hectic 15 minutes of roadies exchanging Steely Dan equipment for Eagles, the band did a solid 2 hours of beloved hits. Sound was perfect. Midway through the concert, Don Henley addressed the crowd(sold-out at 15,000) to thank the fans for showing up, and for 52 years of support and enthusiasm for the band. Commenting on the many personnel changes to Eagles since 1971, Henley quipped, "We're the best f***ing Eagles Tribute band in history...often imitated, but never equaled". The crowd roared. The three song encore included Hotel California, Rocky Mountain Way, and Desperado. Concert was very special, being the last time I will get to see them live. Reminded me of the last time I saw Raspberries perform at the Highline Ballroom in October of 2007. If you can snag tickets to any of the remaining shows, do it! They wind up the tour in late November. Replacing Glenn Frey with Vince Gill was a great choice. Vince is not only a great vocalist, but a very accomplished guitar player. He is a natural fit.

For the not officially released greatest hits package. Note the mention of an upcoming Eric tour:

Not sure if this was posted here before but “spirited”… https://suzylosquattro.bandcamp.com/track/play-on-the-raspberries

Floyd is instantly recognizable by his distinctive "slip-note" style of playing. He was an original member of the Nashville Sound that was born in RCA Victor's famous Studio B, now a historic site in Nashville. He played piano on hundreds of studio sessions, as well as recording his own albums. In 1960, his self-written "Last Date" reached Number 11 on the charts. I believe that was his most famous recording. He also did a great job on his cover version of Jim Lowe's 1956 #1 hit "Green Door". He has a great many LP's recorded in the 1960's on RCA Victor, many of which were pressed as Dynagroove audiophile-quality vinyl. (Leonardo DiCaprio sang "Green Door" on Hullabaloo , as Rick Dalton, in Quentin Tarantino's excellent "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood").

Finally, the late Floyd Cramer "Class Of '73" album from 1973 can be downloaded on Apple iTunes (all 10 songs) since this morning!!

So, as an avid baseball and hockey card collector, I can tell you that leaf metal is a brand-name for cards, and it is on the higher end of expenses. A box of these cards costs about $235!!! What this looks like to me is there is an actual Eric Carmen card up for auction, which would be cool to have, but if you read the sellers description to Kirk, there is no guarantee you will get the actual card even if you win the auction. These kind of things drive me crazy. They want you to bid, and if you were the highest bidder, and an Eric Carmen card falls in that slot, then you get it, but if it doesn’t, you get nothing and are out the money you have bid. (I think it’s interesting they are charging you a shipping charge upfront and you may not get anything shipped to you.) I did a little card research on this and Eric is in the Leaf Pop Century set for 2023. He is listed as card BSP 45. BSP stands for “back stage pass”, which is what they have named his series. Other people in that set include David Lee Roth, Elton John, the Eagles, etc. it looks to have about 53 cards in that set. So buyer beware that if you bid on this, you may not get anything even if you have the winning bid, but if you wanna throw away five bucks, let’s say, you may get something really cool that has Eric on a trading card. I will try to go to my local trading card shop sometime this week and see if they can give me any information on the way to just buy his card directly and report back.

Ack! 26 years now!!!

Didn’t think I would get the chance, but I got the call tonite to DJay the Rod Stewart/Cheap Trick pre-show concert tomorrow night…Was really looking forward to buying a ticket to see this tour package, but tickets were priced out of sight…Great that I am getting a chance to be there for free…I deejay a little private party in a seperate room in the facility where ticket holders paid extra to have a drink and some appetizers before the show…Once the show starts, I break down my equipment and they let me in to the main arena to watch the show…Good deal, huh?

Rumor has it there was nothing wrong with Rod´s vocal chords,....it was just that his bus driver couldn´t find Saskatoon on the map. : )

I have never had an account with FB, X, Instagram, or any of the others. Probably should have to promote my books and CD but didn't want my data being sold, etc. This is the only message board I ever participate in (and that's very sporadic). Used to participate road and railroad forums and usenet newsgroups, but that's been several years ago. I have to confess that I didn't post to the Eric's birthday board last year but I thought, why bother, he's not going to read it anyway. However, I did happily do it this year. I really miss his participation here, as I'm sure we all do. But I don't blame him for that - with my own advancing age, I find that some pursuits and interests just go away. I still love teaching my college students and have no plans to retire even though I can in a couple years, but I just don't have any motivation to compose, arrange, perform, or conduct research anymore. (I like to joke that I'm not retiring until they won't let me drive anymore!) Bernie, thanks so much for keeping the website and forums going for all these years. I still remember how excited I was when I discovered it all those years ago.

It's been a little while since I joined, just snooping around to see how this works and what it's all about. Some of the format is not easy to navigate and i guess I'm looking for more interaction with Eric and his career. But here's a little about me and why I've come to connect with Eric's music. Some starts back in the day when he was a student at Brush High School. I was from a neighboring school, and both schools were in the same football conference. We traveled to Brush, and Brush traveled to Wickliffe and you know, the best part of the football games, of course, was the marching bands. I don't know if Eric was in the school band program, but if he showed up at Friday night football, he was sure to notice the marching bands performing, and maybe our paths crossed. If that wasn't a connection, maybe it could have been the neighborhoods, hearing that he liked to hang out at Chester Tavern, one of my favorites too! Or maybe Sara's in Gates Mills! Or maybe at some place in Mayfield, like the local McDonalds. Well, that's not enough to find a connection, but the local home boy making it big sure is, and I never realized there was so much of a story behind his career. After starting my musical interest at 8 years old, I've been playing the flute ever since, not a career, but over 40 years in the Community College's Civic Band, playing local, concerts out of state and traveling within Ohio, the band winning awards and playing challenging music. It's been fun, and during all our concerts and guest conductors and composers who have appeared with the band, I've also come to realize, that writing music is more complex than sitting at a piano without a plan. One of our composers from Cincinnati had a workshop at the college with us on composing during his guest appearance and the very interesting thing he said after I asked him, what do you do with a plain sheet of paper in front of you, and how do you start creating. Well, the answer was, simple he said, he hears the music in his head and goes from there. I thought that was profound, and then come to read about Eric's compositions to hear he too hears the music, it just comes to him, as he once said in an interview, in the shower, in the car... I was very intrigued by that, similar to the Star Spangled Banner, where Francis Scott Key, heard the music in his head before he started writing it. That is certainly a natural talent and gift, Eric and Francis Scott Key have something very similar in common. And Eric is local, and a magnificent song writer and composer, something we in Ohio should be extremely proud of. Which comes to my point, even though during his career years I was too busy raising a family, I've come to study his music and find it goes even farther than that. He knows the psychology of music, why it connects with people, how it makes them feel, and why the complexity of some of the scores have brought so many fans across the planet all still having their favorite Eric Carmen tunes. I hope by being a part of this website that features Eric's talents, that we can look forward to being able to connect with him in some way to encourage his presence with his fans. Would be great to see his fans help him rise to the top of the nominations and an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! What a deserving honor it would be for such a great talent. I look forward to meeting many of you here.

Due to some recent inflammatory comments made during an interview published in the New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine founder and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame co-founder Jann Wenner has been removed from the Hall's board of directors. Apparantly his comments were deemed racist and misogynistic. I thought it was because of his not nominating Raspberries or Eric Carmen for induction into the Hall.😉 Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner removed from Rock Hall leadership after controversial comments | AP News

IWHIFYL:

I'm very late to this 25 year celebration? I am having so much fun being a part of this community!

This was the late Jim Croce's only appearance on NBC "Midnight Special" from June 15, 1973. (complete episode) with guests Little Anthony & The Imperials, Savoy Brown, country singer Barbra Fairchild, Wishbone Ash, the late Bobby Womack, Shawn Phillips & the late Wolfman Jack. (runs 1 hour & 8 minutes with no commercials) Croce would die in a plane crash along with his guitarist on September 20, 1973. Croce did 2 more TV appearances including a PBS 30 minute special that was shown in October 1973 as a tribute & the late Helen Reddy Variety Show on NBC in the first week of September of 1973. My late dad loved his music!!

You mean this???

Maybe they can get Frankie Valli to stand in for Rod...

https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/grow-bigger-ears-17-raspberries-best

Floyd is one of the few keyboardists back in the day who was as great on organ as well as on piano, as in this example. Most players stuck to one or the other. The only other keyboard man who comes to mind for releasing LP's playing piano and organ is Dick Hyman.

Thanks for posting this Matthew. Batman, I love that you know what a "slipnote" is. Floyd, one of the masters...he knows what a good melody is and only chooses the best for his stylings. I've said this before, this has to make Eric Carmen so proud. Love it♥️

Not so weird. I brought Jim Bonfanti to the gig and asked Al Chan if Jim could sit in with them. I had heard the Rubinoos play "Tonight" a few years earlier, with Al doing a great job on Eric's vocals. That's what they played it that night.

"Come on down!" is not what he wants to hear right now. 🫣

Kirk, I ripped this track from an LP for my custom "Eric Carmen: Under Cover" CD set, so yeah...two thumbs up for this remaster!

Welcome!

That last line made me truly ...... laugh out loud!

I too was a music student since age 8, starting saxophone, then clarinet, and finally flute. I played in the school bands from 4th grade through high school, in every capacity: concert band, jazz band, pep band for the basketball games, marching band for the football games and pit band for the junior and senior class plays. I came to appreciate Eric's compostions early on, recognizing the complexity and layers his works all encapsulate. After high school, I played regularly in Top 40 and wedding bands(wedding bands=good $$$$$, Top 40 bands, not so much $$$). I stopped playing professionally in 1986 when my family and health profession demands took precedence. But when I was in the Top 40 bands, the guitar and keyboard players didn't like to play Eric's compositions because they said they required too much effort to play! Welcome Aboard!

We are on the same Bat-page. Thanks for "helping me, Rhonda"!!! (I couldn't resist).😝

For me, Glenn Frey, who passed in 2016, has to be in the mix. Frey wrote/co-wrote the songs that are reminiscent of what we would know as The Eagles and without his voice in performances something is lost, but that's just my opinion. It's his voice I love hearing in these songs: Take It Easy", "Peaceful Easy Feeling", "Already Gone", "Tequila Sunrise", "Lyin' Eyes", "New Kid in Town", "Heartache Tonight". I have also heard the talented tribute band and they are so close to the originals with those tight harmonies and musical arrangements. I was so fortunate to get to see them on their final tour with Glenn Frey in 2013 before his 2016 death. The Eagles then, were one of the only bands that when they play live, sound just like their albums and the harmonies were glorious and unmistakable as The Eagles.

Yay - I found it on YouTube - very poignant song, Pat! 💘

So maybe this ousting will change the tone amongst the Board at the RRHOF?! "A while back, Eric Carmen said that although the Raspberries have long been cited as “power pop” innovators and have been eligible for induction since 1997, they simply lack the political clout to get into the Rock Hall: “Having been in the music business now for 35 years, or whatever it is, and having had situations where I’ve bumped into Jann Wenner and some of the powers that be over there, there is so much politics involved in anybody actually getting into the Rock Hall.”" https://www.alt98.com/i/rock-hall-this-saturday-honors-still-divides-rockers-fans/

Henley fondly remembered Frey and Meisner, and also paid tribute to Jimmy Buffett, whom he called "a brother, now really enjoying his cheeseburger in Paradise". The band dedicated "Boys of Summer" to Buffett. No mention of Felder, not surprising, since I believe it was a hostile separation from the band. Donald Fagen very kindly called out each member of his backup band and made a very sincere remembrance of his partner Walter Becker.

Stumbled on this video of a pre-Eagle Randy Meisner honing his craft with Rick Nelson's band.

The perfection is in the imperfection of this very early Beatles' cover of Roll Over Beethoven. This double album set of the Hamburg recordings is one of my very favorite Beatles albums. It is fresh; it is pure, and it is the vitality that made them the phenomenon that they became. With the speed at which the fellas are playing, I think they qualify as honorary Ramones. Perhaps the Beatles created Punk and failed to get credit. Enjoy the Pre-fab Four... No, not the Rutles.

Having fun with GATW! The person recording must have been related to either the drummer of the bass player- not much focus on lead guitar or lead vocals:

CHEAP TRICK:SET Hello There Big Eyes Hot Love She's Tight Light Up the Fire Voices I Know What I Want The Flame I Want You to Want Me Dream Police Never Had a Lot to Lose Surrender Goodnight Pretty standard set list from show to show since they were the opening act but they did throw in some different ones on this night… OBSERVATIONS FROM THIS PATRON; ROBIN ZANDER-I don’t know how he does it…I must have seen the Trick 25 or 30 times(along with his solo tour once)and he never seems to mail it in…Always reached for the high notes and still has a strong voice…Looks the “rock star” part…Really should be much more heralded than he is… TOM PETERSON-Glad to see him looking fit(Had open heart surgery a year or two ago)…A very solid bass player who really adds an extra dimension of depth to the sound when he breaks out a 12 string bass… ZAK NEILSEN-Took up a tough spot when he replaced the ousted original popular drummer Bun E.Carlos, but on this night, as on most, does not have the same power as Bun E. but stayed pretty faithful to the original recordings… The problem with this night’s performance as well as most performances that I’ve seen over the past 30 years is Rick Nielsen…The mis was horrible and that seems to be the standard rite…His guitar is turned up so high that it is sooooo distorted and sounds like a buzzsaw…Overpowers everything else…Cosmetically, he’s important to the “live” performance, but musically, he ruins it..,I’ve seen them perform when Rick was absent and they sounded so much more balanced and crisp with Rick’s guitar tech taking over for him… ROD STEWART:SET LIST Addicted to Love (Robert Palmer cover) You Wear It Well Ooh La La (Faces song) Infatuation Young Turks Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover) Forever Young The First Cut Is the Deepest You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim) Maggie May I'd Rather Go Blind Downtown Train Rhythm of My Heart I'm Every Woman I Don't Want to Talk About It Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright) Have I Told You Lately) Lady Marmalade Some Guys Have All the Luck) It Takes Two Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? Encore: Stay With Me (Faces song) I had heard that he has really had some deterioration vocally, but I didn’t hear much signs of that…Considering that, on doctor’s orders, he had to cancel a performance only two days before this one… This show is more like a Vegas revue than a Rick concert…With three lovely young ladies prancing and singing and supplementing the sound and visuals and the kicking of soccer balls into the crowd and Rod’s multiple costume changes, he had really de-emphasized his rock rocks and is more a pop balladeer which is okay in my book…I just don’t get the cover versions like Addicted To Love, It Takes Two(a duet with one of the young ladies) and when he relinquished the stage to the lasses’ for Lady Marmalade(I guess these moments are used for him to accomplish the wardrobe changes).,, Hot Legs and Lady Jane were sacrificed in place of the covers… Rod Stewart still looks exactly the same…I was at the side of the stage, right against the rail barrier, so I was able to see him up close…At one point, he wandered over to where I was standing to shake hands with the 20 or so fans that were assembled there…Unfortunately for cloddish Lew, I fumbled with my camera and got neither a picture nor a handshake… He’s a total pro…Agile for a guy who is in his late 70’s(compared to Springsteen who seems to fall down every other performance…Note to Bruce- try to wear pants that are age appropriate)… If you get a chance to see him, give it a go…A legend and didn’t disappoint…

Was a time…

I’ll go into detail later when I have a couple extra minutes, but gosh darn it-Rod Stewart was absolutely wonderful…

From May of 1989 till late 1993, complete Energizer Bunny commercials (except for Hostess Twinkies cakes, 15 second commercial from early 1990 is missing) (runs 12 minutes)

This is my favorite instrumental by the late Floyd Cramer "Let's Go" (from "Gets Organ-ized" album) (B 45 side single of "Chattanooga Choo Choo") which peaked at # 90 in February of 1962. (stereo version) The album not available on Apple iTunes.

Wow! What a rockin' little version. I love it! This band is opening for the Rubinoos at some upcoming gigs in Spain.

Helen, I've always like this one, also. For some reason it doesn't get a lot of love when it's brought up.

Wow!!!! Love it! Thanks, Lew - that's a wonderful find! That's certainly worthy of a paid download to my smart phone!

OK so...... the biggest surprise for me on that list (buried in the playlist all the way at the end) is "The Lettermen" cover of "Don't want to say Goodbye / Let's Pretend" - wow!!! I've always loved the smoothness of The Lettermen vocals and they really do the original Berries' harmonies true justice - IMO, of course!

Paul's voice sounds shot. But Ringo's drumming is spot on. Peter Frampton's guitar solo is the highlight here for me. He does an outstanding job! Wow! I have no comment on Mick Fleetwood's "percussion." I mean, Davey Jones played tambourine, too.

HBD, Marlene…