tages Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Hello all! This is my first post here. It's fantastic seeing that there are so many fans. I was wondering if there were any photos or videos of the time frame when Eric was on bass with The Raspberries. Also, does any one know exactly when/why he switched over to guitar? Just one of those things I've been wondering about ever since I discovered Eric's music a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelina Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Hi Tages.......welcome aboard...you'll have fun here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Eric played bass in Raspberries through the recording of their first LP, switching with Dave Smalley shortly thereafter. As for why, Eric had this to say in Eric Carmen: Marathon Man:"We had actually been playing as a three-man band without Dave prior to his getting out of Vietnam. I had only seen him play in the Choir and I had never actually worked with him. I had always seen him play rhythm guitar, so we just left that slot open. When John Aleksic left the group, I became the bass player by default. I remember buying a Dan Armstrong bass and sitting up all night so I could learn 50 songs and figure some way to sing lead at the same time. I actually liked playing bass. I really enjoyed it. When we did the first album, Dave literally had been in the band only three or four weeks. He played rhythm guitar, but he wasn’t a really super guitar player. We switched instruments between the albums."Bernie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Stig Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 kind of looks like a Hofner Club bass..I liked Erics bass playing on the first LP.... very McCartney-ish style Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 The Stig said: ...looks like a Hofner Club bass I think you're right! Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Eric was like Paul McCartney in terms of playing bass by default -- that job went to Paul by default, too, even though he could handle guitar duties. Also: Bernie -- that Flying V that Wally is playing... that's a different one that the c. 1967 model you and I discussed off line, right?Tages, welcome!Best,Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Larry,I don't think Wally had more than one of 'em, but I could be wrong. More likely, the old photo is just showing some brownish tint where the black body of the guitar is. I guess Ernie would be the best to know.Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Gary is correct! It is a Hofner Club Bass. I have a musician friend who owns one. I have played it. It has a terrific feel! That single cutaway is soooooo cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tages Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Thanks so much everybody! Raspbernie - awesome picture! Are there any shows that exist from around the time of the first album? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
december25 Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Welcome Tages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy-Ann Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Ditto! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bahoodore Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 I gotta tell you that I sttarted as a guitar player, and switched to bass because someone asked me to join an band that already had two guitarists....I had played a little bass, but nothing really too demanding....I was worried because I was singing a lot of lead too...and had to work like crazy to play and sing at the same time....often the bass lines are on the off beat to the singing...that just fucks you up....eventually it clicked and to this day I prefer singing with a bass than with a guitar.... I also recall seeing Eric's "Hear it from your Lips" video , and he is playing bass on it...somehow Eric looks much cooler behind the piano...(big hair or not) I remember the first time i heard this, I thought it was a rip off of Springsteen's "Fire" Bahoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulfreak Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Sweet Jane was one. Just couldn't get it right for the longest time. Talk about your left brain in conflict with the right. I finally figured out that the song is in your right(strum hand). The verse is an Orbison type strum; full,against the grain where the chorus is more stuccao(for lack of better term)in sync. Not easy at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinwilbury Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Digressing back to earlier in this post...it is definitely a Hofner Club Bass. Eric was good enough to let me use it for a while. Extremely lightweight and very easy to play. When John Aleksic left the band and Eric switched to bass, everyone thought it was going to be for about 30 days...until Dave returned from Viet Nam. No one thought it was going to turn out to be months until Dave got back. Something that evolved while they were playing 3-man was a variation on the Curly Shuffle (The Curly Shuffle, think The Three Stooges, was a song released early in 1971 that was a dance based on the backward hopping that Curly did in Three Stooges movies). Wally came in one day and was talking about how the song was really kind of cool. The next gig, in the middle of a set, Wally backed away from his microphone doing the shuffle. The following night, Wally and Eric were finishing a harmony section in a song when Eric looked over at Wally, did a bobbing count, and both of them shuffled away from their microphones. Words don't describe it well... it was actually pretty cool, and funny...you can actually see Eric do it, with an obvious grin, on the reunion DVD (second verse of "Hard to Get Over a Heartbreak" about 1:21:20 into the concert). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinwilbury Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 I was researching Hofner's and this popped up in Google. Regarding the photograph ... it is faded. Wally only owned 1 'V' and it is/was black. The guitar Dave is playing was black (It was mine and I lent it to him). Eric's bass was way darker (the outer edge of the sunburst was a really dark brown). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy K. Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 Bass is a whole world within itself, and opens your eyes to things you didn't notice. I was an odd situation....usually, it's a case of too many guitarists and no bass player......we had a second keyboard player.......but some of the more country and acoustic songs really didn't do well with organ/synth.....and Matt, the guy with the Rhodes, was far more proficient on keys than I was.......so ended up getting a Fender Mustang. You can certainly appreciate what Brian Wilson did, holding the bottom, but singing falsetto at the same time. Difficult at times. 3/4 size makes it easier to concentrate on the singing, compared to a full-scale. Bass also is one of the best songwriting tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Helpful note on the color of the guitars, Marty. Here's another shot from that same night at the Utopia that might be more accurate than the photo above. Bernie PS: Love Jim's "Funny Face" drumhead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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