RASPBERRIES Side 3 Album ingredients: Tonight, Last Dance, Making It Easy, On The Beach, Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak, I'm A Rocker, Should I Wait, Ecstasy and Money Down.   Cooks for 35 minutes and 15 seconds.   Stays fresh indefinitely.   Produced and stirred by Jimmy Ienner.

"We knew from the very beginning what we were out to prove," says Eric Carmen, rhythm guitarist, pianist, vocalist and spokesman of Raspberries. "Our whole concept was, and is, to bring back the golden days of rock 'n roll; to resurrect the good time feeling that was around in the music of the late sixties."
 
From the sweet sounds of their rock'n roll harmonies to their energetic and infectious beat, one would have to say that this Capitol Records' band has achieved its goal, and from the phenomenal success of their singles and albums it is obvious that others share their love for good time rock'n roll.
 
Composed of Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson (lead guitar, vocals), Dave Smalley (bass, vocals) and Jim Bonfanti (drums, vocals), Raspberries started out in Cleveland, Ohio three years ago. In various configurations and incarnations, they had played the local rock scene for about six years, starting in their early teens.
 
Jim, Wally and Dave are veterans of a group called the Choir, and Eric and Wally were in and out of bands together for years, most notably a group called Cyrus Erie which recorded for Epic. Sitting in with each others bands, the four found musical empathy, started to jam together, discovered it was better that way and came together as Raspberries.
 
Trading musical ideas and philosophies, they perfected their sound and began to seek a recording contract. Well-known producer Jimmy lenner came to Cleveland. He liked what he heard and what he saw and within a few weeks had Raspberries signed to Capitol Records. The bands' debut album, named after themselves and containing all original material was released, followed by a single called, "Go All The Way." The rest, as they say, is show business history. The single was a million-selling hit and the Raspberries followed up with two more hit singles, "I Want To Be With You," and "Let's Pretend," and their second hit album, "Fresh Raspberries." They are currently on an eight week tour of the U.S. and have released their new single, "Tonight" from their latest album "Side Three" to coincide with the tour.
 
When they're not in the studio or on the road, they're likely to be at one or the other's home. The interaction is essential, and they feel it keeps their music tight; besides, they like each other. "Our music is based on fun; that's the kind of rock 'n roll we like." As one rock writer described it, "They're a monument to youthful exuberance…"
 
Many have been prone to compare the Raspberries to the Beatles or to dismiss them as mere Beatles imitators. Eric sums up their feelings on this matter rather well: "I like to think of the group as being more American than the Beatles, but more British than the Beach Boys. We don't mind being compared to the Beatles; it's very flattering, but there's a whole lot of other influences working within the group too. Wally really likes the Stones and Free, and that shows up in his guitar work. Dave likes the Everly Brothers and country stuff. We all like the Who, the Bee Gees and the old Small Faces. Naturally we draw on these influences, but the end result is our own sound."
 
Didn't the Beatles imitate Elvis, Chuck Berry and a whole lot of American rock'n roll?"

Eric Carmen: piano, bass, spokesman/leader; music student, Cleveland Institute of Music; former member of the group Cyrus Erie.
 
Jim Bonfanti: drums; extrovert; merrymaker; says he learned to play by rapping a butter knife on the kitchen furniture; former member of The Choir.
 
Wally Bryson: lead guitar; born in North Carolina; says he learned to play by imitating a Rolling Stones bridge; former member of The Mods and The Choir.
 
Dave Smalley: rhythm guitar; born in Oil City, Pa.; moved to Cleveland; joined The Mods and later The Choir.
 
Altogether RASPBERRIES, a quadruple-threat group that calls Cleveland its home and Capitol its record company, both of whom are proud to say. Cleveland was the beginning, where the four young men—all 22 as of this writing—met while playing in separate local groups. Sitting in with each other's bands, the four found musical empathy, started to jam together, discovered it was better that way, and named themselves RASPBERRIES.
 
For a year Eric, Jim, Wally and Dave honed the essential give-and-take from their four quite distinct musical tastes; listened to each other; grew together; became a musical entity; wrote, together and separately; and finally began to seek a recording contract. Jimmy lenner, well-known producer of Lighthouse was brought to Cleveland to hear Raspberries; Jimmy liked what he heard; he also liked what he saw; and within a week he had representatives from eight different record companies in Cleveland bidding on the group, Another week, and Capitol had signed Eric, Jim, Wally and Dave to their first contract as Raspberries. The album was cut at Record Plant, New York, in two weeks and the tapes brought to the West Coast for the addition of Jimmie Haskell's string and horn arrangements.
 
A seven-city tour with The Grass Roots was set, and a follow-up concert schedule immediately planned. Raspberries were, word of mouth had it, a hit act, which their smash hit, "Go All The Way," proved. So some of the best predictors in the business conjure up visions of the halcyon days of 1964 returning, with 1972 élan, when Raspberries are mentioned.
 
Back in Cleveland, Eric lives less than fifteen minutes away from Jim, who lives about the same distance from Wally, and the same for Dave. When they're not in the studio or on the road, they're likely to be at one or the other's home or playing at the nearby club, J.B.'s in Kent. The interaction is essential and, they feel, keeps their music tight; besides, they like each other. "We do light, soft, hard and everything in between," says Eric. "Our music is based on fun. That's the kind of rock and roll we like-and if it's coming back, good!"

Side 3 Songbook / October 1973