I recall not seeing the Raspberries for the first time, rather The Cyrus Erie. It was at the Chesterland Hullabaloo....Before they took the stage, their equipment was impressive, and at that age, these guys had professional gear! Impressive.
When the music began, they were dead on the songs....Can you imagine Nights In White Satin being played on a Farfisa(I think) and sounding exactly like the song?? The Who(pre-Tommy) were my favorites....Substitute was exact...as well as Tatoo...We later found out Townshend personally showed Wally how to play these. Michael McBride was a powehouse drummer...also popped out front to do Mick Jagger songs while Eric manned the skins.....Bob McBride silently buoyed the group with solid bass.... Early on, Marty Murphy was also on guitar...they did songs like "Come On Up" by The Young Rascals.....I recall "Love Is Blue", by Paul Mauriet.....Left Banke songs off the first album...."Positively 4th St." song by Wally....."Rollin Over" by The Small Faces as well as a kick ass version of Tin Soldier, My Way of Giving, I'm Only Dreaming.....Open My Eyes by The Nazz....
You had to be there, gang! Nothing like this group had ever hit the stage before in Cleveland....even eclipsing The Choir.....these guys had the equipment, the songs, the stage clothes....they were stars! Back then every group wore stage clothes....something that isn't done as much nowadays. I saw them at the Hulabaloo's, CYO dances,Clevelands rock & roll bars.....I visited Marty many times at his job at Gateway Drug Store in Lyndhurst while attending John Carroll University...we chatted for hours about the group, equipment,Cleveland music, and music worldwide.
It was not unusual to be at Record Rendezvous browsing the latest 45's and to look up and see Eric & Marty standing alongside you.....or to be shopping at Richman Bros and see Eric searching for new stage clothes. The music community was tight and we all lived within the same culture. Guitars, songs, girls, and gigs were all that mattered.
Great memories of the day...sorry I went on longer than I should have.......