WALLY BRYSON: Of the Who and the next generation (parentally-speaking)
By Willie G. Moseley
Veteran guitarist Wally Bryson is in a definitive position to know whether or not “Cleveland rocks.” He came of age playing in more than one notable band in that metropolis. His most famous aggregation, the Raspberries, were a primeval and successful “power pop” band. Bryson is still active, most notably with his son Jesse, and we recently talked about his music and his classic guitars.
Bryson’s first band, the Mods, had to change its name to the Choir due to another band, the Modernaires, shortening their name to the same moniker.
“I just recently got my first Mods guitar back; the first electric I ever owned,” Bryson enthused. “An old Silvertone with the amp back built into the case. I had tried to repair a little scratch on the front of it with some model car paint, then I sold it. I saw it in a music store three or four years ago, and checked for my fingerprint where I’d smeared the paint, and sure enough, it was there, and they had the amp in the case in the back.”
“After the Silvertone,” he continued, “I got a Fender Vibrolux (amp) and a Goya Panther with pushbuttons. I don’t know what happened to that one but I wish I could get it back, too. When we became the Choir, I got a semi-solid Gibson, then I also got a Gibson 12-string semi-solid. I got a white Telecaster around that time, too. I broke the headstock off of the Gibson 12-string at a gig we did with the Lovin’ Spoonful; I was pretending to be Pete Townshend. I hit the headstock on the side of my Showman, and when it broke I took it a step further and rammed the guitar through the speaker.”
The guitarist got a Rickenbacker 360-12, which he still has, as a replacement. He played in Cyrus Erie after the Choir split, which was the first band in which he was associated with singer Eric Carmen. Cyrus Erie had a definite Who fixation, which was evident when they performed “Get the Message” on the fabled syndicated “Upbeat” television show.
“‘Get the Message’ has the (Gibson ES-1275) doubleneck 6/12 that I got when I was in Cyrus Erie,” Wally recounted. “Both the Choir and Cyrus Erie had opened for the Who, about a year apart. Townshend had a doubleneck that he was running through Dual Showmen (amps), and I thought it was a cool idea—not having to change guitars, and he sounded great!”
POE, which Bryson says “…stood for ‘Peace on Earth’ or ‘P*** on Everybody’,” was a progressive rock band that was up next, but the guitarist remembers that “…we didn’t get a lot of repeat gigs. We had real long hair, and played what we wanted to. But it was a good guitar jam band, which is what we were into.”
When the Raspberries cranked up in early ‘70s, Bryson got a ‘60s Gibson Flying V and a ’65 Fender Strat. His other primary instruments for that hit band were the Gibson doubleneck, the Rickenbacker 12-string, and a Gibson Blue Ridge acoustic. In addition to the Ric, he still has the V and the doubleneck.
The band’s breakout hit, “Go All The Way”, set the standard for primeval “power pop” singles, but the chord structure of that song and other Raspberries tunes are more complicated than listeners may realize.
“I was into the Who before they even played in America,” said Bryson, “and that energy and the power chords were things I keyed on. But we liked the Beatles, too, and we wanted to write pop tunes to be successful. ‘Go All the Way’ has a ‘power’ intro and open strings, but then it goes into a pop song. I liked the intro, but I didn’t think much of the song, back then…but it worked; it was our first hit.”
All four Raspberries albums were produced by veteran Jimmy Ienner, who had also worked with the Chambers Brothers and Three Dog Night. Bryson remembers that the lead guitar on “Go All The Way” was the six-string neck on the ES-1275 through a Dual Showman.
“It was a battle recording guitars in those days,” said Bryson. “We almost didn’t include ‘Go All the Way’ on the album because it sounded flat, but they brought in a compressor, which made us sound like we were playing live, in an armory. And that’s what brought the track alive.”
The Raspberries’ first album was released in the early ‘70s, when gimmicks were pretty much a given to call attention to a new release. The Cleveland quartet’s initial effort sported an aromatic sticker that gave off an odor that matched the band’s name.
“That was Jimmy Ienner’s idea,” Wally recalled with a chuckle. “He had done some marketing research, and we were the first to use scratch-and-sniff (stickers).”
Following the demise of the Raspberries, Bryson gigged with former Rascals Dino Danelli and Gene Cornish in Fotomaker, a band that was critically praised but commercially unsuccessful. He’s remained in the Cleveland area, has played in and produced other bands, and has participated in Raspberries reunions. He was preparing for a reunion of the Choir when we talked.
Wally has also worked with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, contributing items for display. He also coordinated the Hall’s “Topping Off” concert, which included performances by Bobby Womack, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gilby Clarke.
Bryson’s latest project is the Bryson Group, a collaboration with his son Jesse. Their album, Dry, shows that Jesse’s got the “power pop” facet in his genes.
“I’m really proud of him,” said Wally. “He brought me these songs he’d written, and I said ‘Wow; you wrote these?’, so we worked on an album together.”
Ienner is also impressed, saying of Dry, “The harmonies are so good, they’re absurd. The world needs to hear this music.”
Wally’s still got his cool guitars from the glory days of the Raspberries, and has been playing a Martin acoustic and Parker Fly as of late.
More Raspberries reunions may be in the offing, and longtime Cleveland music fans were anticipating the upcoming Choir reunion as well. Wally Bryson is proud of his musical history as well as his son’s efforts, and plans on continuing to provide great guitar music.
Willie G. Moseley is the senior writer for Vintage Guitar Magazine, and is also presently working on his eighth book. This article originally appeared in the June 2006 issue of Vintage Guitar Magazine. Reprinted by permission.