austinberries

right, we got snowed in an extra day & couldn't fly out & LOVED it (Texans rarely see snow except up in the panhandle) i was sorta joking w/ the post, but i hope they consider it & look into it - the vibe was too cool for just one year

have shiny shirt, will travel! cool pics, & cool recollections of EC's quotes alluding to what they were up against back in those days of transitional radio (AM to FM) & studio production if you think about it, few artists crossed over from AM to FM. however, the Raspberries' natural sound evolved to the point where it should have readily done so (even as they stayed true to their roots), but it's been well-documented how these cards were stacked & didn't necessarily play out for them of course, not all matters are settled in the mainstream court of public opinion - vindication has been long & sweet along the way, starting in the form of Rolling Stone recognizing 'Starting Over' back then, up thru the current day status of their universal respect & acknowledgment of seminal influence by artists & fans far & wide it's kind of interesting - Eric crossed over into monster hit territory as a solo artist, but influence-wise, i think it comes down to the Raspberries' material (w/ Eric writing to their strengths) carrying the heavier weight, sales figures aside

...gearing up for their 2nd Annual Cleveland Christmas Season Reunion Show at the historic & majestic State Theatre? these things take a little advance planning, y'know

you can tell it was lip-synced unlike most of the other performances we've seen from back then. man i wish someone could turn up the missing & fabled Raspberries American Bandstand performance that burned up w/ countless others in Dick Clark's AB warehouse...

these are *classic*... thx bernie, keep 'em coming the white suits are cool ... but ya should have seen them in the Raspberry colored suits ... that was REALLY cool! have these ever been captured in a photo? never seen 'em..

so is there anywhere we can see it online or post it here?

my wife's quote at their Cleveland show was "i don't understand why these guys weren't bigger than they were?!?" - in other words: "Wow!". she allows me to indulge my fandom by going along w/ my idea to haul us halfway across country twice to see them. she digs "Play On" & "Overnight Sensation" & i forget what else. she was totally uninitiated until we met, tho' of course she knew "Go All the Way" but was stunned it was the same guy who did "All By Myself" & all his other solo hits. but i think she didn't really get my fandom until she saw them live herself, & let's face it, you could not walk away from that Cleveland show w/out having been blown away

i agree TP (& band) has always understood the power of keeping it reined in just right & tasty, w/ understated power & licks too bad about SW, sounds like he may have gotten hosed by the soundguys, apart from the extended jams factor. & we all know he can write 3-minute jewels too..

this thread is so funny, it reads like this: guys: oh yeah, check out that plexi guitar, it had a thermastatic hydroxilator, a flux capacitor under the hood, & so & so played one during their April tour of Lithuania in '69 girls: OMG, he's sooooo cute!!!

randy, brook? could it be... a couple of fellow texans here on the ec.com boards? >>I'm familiar with Klein, TX. I have a dear friend who used to be a judge in Angelina County, TX (Lufkin). angelina: altho' lufkin & klein aren't nearby each other, angelina county holds a place dear in my heart - its the only time i ever spent a night in jail! it was a really trumped up charge: we were a couple of teenagers sleeping in our car on a gravel road off the state highway b/c we had a flat tire & no spare late at night on our way back from NE to SE texas, & a couple of redneck sheriff's dep't guys came & woke us up & hauled us in man that was a long night..

oh there's no denying her success, thats for sure. ive never heard her version of ABM & dont really think i want to closet confession: not sure who penned it for her, but i really like her tune 'if you ask me to' - she *wails* at the end

yeah, pretty impossible to diss elvis for such a thing, right? otherwise i think they will always have a place alongside the barbara streisands of the world.. uh-oh, it occurs to me you may be a canuck, marvin? if so, that might be like you dissing bob wills or willie down here! (& willie has sure been known to do a cover or two..)

one day when celine grows up she wants to write one of her own songs; until then, she is a Canadian Idol-esque phenomenon ;-)

wow, real nice version, indeed.. great (& strong) interpretation. eric, has this tune bankrolled a few items for you or what?!? congrats on the deal, this tune is your Hank Aaron on the bench..

that vid was pretty much as good as it gets, such a fine song. i liked eric's previous explanation of how he thought the melody to 'lets pretend' deserved another shot, & thus was 'all by myself' born & if you weren't there when they did it in cleveland in december, you missed a houseful of goosebumps & heartaches & tears (& ecstacy ;-) !

well done, lad - keep up your grades in school too... this is all squeezed in between Raspberries rehearsals & recordings, right? ;-)

go Wally! i thought the pic of Shelly was Barry Manilow... the wooden nickel is hilarious, only in the 70's..

sounds great, very cool, thx for posting

yeah, there are no readily apparent mellotrons in these recordings..

yep, they did do a great job w/ those tunes at the reunion shows; my wife was particularly fond of 'Play On' & 'Overnight' Sensation' of course. wish i could've seen them do 'Starting Over' & 'Cruisin Music'..

holy cow - based on input in another thread i posted ('vintage '74 'berries recording'), i decided to pop in 'Starting Over' & it is now blaring as i type this here's my confession: i, like others at the time, apparently abandoned the Raspberries by the time this album rolled out - what a huge mistake this was!!! as i listen today, i now understand why Rolling Stone gave it such high marks at the time - i mean, this record is so full of gems at literally every turn, it boggles the mind i really like what Eric's collaborations w/ Scott produced.. given how the production of their earlier stuff admittedly is part of the charm (a minor part anyway), what's also helps make this record so amazing is how much better the production was by the time it came out, as compared to their earlier ones (& maybe the repro copy i have is remixed/enhanced since then? bought @ raspberriesonline.com) anyway, just had to share my newfound bliss about this record, so there you have it... now it's time for a 'Starting Over' version of the Raspberries reunion!! ;-) (w/ the Overdubs of course)

btw, the cover they play is a 12 min version of "alright now" & wally rips in the intro & thru'out, & eric wails like a mo'fo'. interestingly, it has them going against the grain of what they didn't want to represent: the long, drawn-out, stoner epic rocker w/ numerous solos, etc that said, it *is* a badass version & shows them as absolutely fearless, which is what got them to where they are & were & is what has garnered them so much respect, on top of EC's brilliant songwriting & singing still doesn't change my mind about the 'berries doing cover tunes tho' - ha! ;-)

i can post them next week sometime unless i hear from EC that he'd rather not; again, it's bootleggy stuff that is prob of interest to diehard fans only, but if you've got your computer hooked up to a good set of speakers, you can hear why they made their magnanimous mark on the music world

i just came across some recordings from a radio station broadcast that was billed by the dj as "the Wednesday Night Agora Concert Broadcast here on (undistinguishable radio call letters: WLMS? WMRS?) , music recorded live Monday night, & the Raspberries are featured tonight.." almost positive there were 5 band members from the sounds of it, & Eric mentions just finishing their 4th album "about a month & a half ago". anyone know the 5th band member sitting in w/ them for this show? the set features some cool bass playing by Scott McCarl too the band was pretty loose & rippin', & you can hear one brief drumstick fumble in "Ecstacy", but very cool to hear for diehard 'berries fans. of the 10 tunes, they do a couple covers, at least i think "Cry" is a cover, but i don't know the tune. sounds like Scott sang it tho' maybe some of y'all know of this recording & i'm late to the party, as usual?..

hollies, this is hilarious, u come up w/ some funny stuff & are quicker than letterman..