Raspberries - Fresh Raspberries

 

With Eric Carmen's untimely death a couple of weeks ago, I pulled out the couple of Raspberries albums that I have on vinyl - surprisingly, nothing on the more easily accessible CD format - and have been giving a listen again. This 1972 release was their second album, where they unfortunately look like a bad wedding band on the cover, but the music inside redeems them!

Eric certainly had a way with melodies, as is readily apparent on the power pop classic opener "I Wanna Be With You" - jangly guitars, lots of harmonies, a rockin' backing and just a hip song. Bassist David Smalley takes lead vocals on some of the tunes here, such as the more mid-tempo boogie rock of "Going Nowhere Tonight", and then Eric returns for his highly melodic teenage love/pop ballad "Let's Pretend". David is back for "Every Way I Can" - assuming that David writes the songs that he sings, he is definitely more of a straight-forward "rock" guy, with less emphasis on the melodies, not that they are not catchy, just not the sweet pop tunes that Eric sings. Side one closes with "I Reach For the Light", another one of Eric's, a slower, orchestrated number which reminds me of a combination of the Beatles and Queen - lots of harmonies, a big build up and just plain enjoyable.

Eric's back for the acoustic-y, mid-tempo "Nobody Knows", again with lots of harmonies, but not as memorable as some of the others. David takes over again with "It Seems So Easy" which again is nothing too special, lead guitarist Wally gets to sing "Might As Well", a nice enough, Beatles-ish acoustic number, although it also isn't highly noteworthy, even with some superior harmonies. Eric's acoustic ballad (complete with strings) "If You Change Your Mind" continues with the "nice but not overly special" tunes, but they close with a strong, Beach Boys-influenced power-pop teen classic, "Drivin' Around".

Eric and the 'Berries were never perfect, but this is a fun one and worth picking up for fans of 70's power pop.