Eric Carmen (1975 album)

Last updated
Eric Carmen
Eric Carmen (1975 Eric Carmen album - cover art).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 1975
RecordedAugust - September 1975
StudioO.D.O. Sound Studios, New York City
Genre Soft rock
Length48:19
Label Arista Records
Producer Jimmy Ienner
Eric Carmen chronology
Eric Carmen
(1975)
Boats Against the Current
(1977)
Singles from Eric Carmen
  1. "All by Myself"
    Released: December 1975
  2. "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again"
    Released: April 1976
  3. "Sunrise"
    Released: August 1976
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Village Voice C+ [2]

Eric Carmen is the debut album by American rock musician and singer-songwriter Eric Carmen. It is also his first of two self-titled albums, the other released in 1984. It peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard album chart upon its release in 1975, the highest position of his career, and generated the No. 2 pop single "All by Myself" in the same year. The song reached No. 1 on the Cashbox and Record World charts. The album also included two follow-up top 40 hits, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" (#11), and "Sunrise" (#34), both of which charted in 1976.

Contents

All tracks were written by Carmen except the Drifters' song "On Broadway", which was written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. This LP also contained Carmen's original version of "That's Rock and Roll", which became a No. 3 hit for Shaun Cassidy in 1977.

The album was Carmen's first solo production after leaving the Raspberries, a power pop group which scored several top 40 hits in the early 1970s.

Songs

Eric Carmen wrote all of the songs on the album except for "On Broadway" (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber). Several of his songs interpolate classical melodies:

Cash Box said of the opening track and third single "Sunrise" that "There's a beautiful introduction, with horns and everything, and then the music breaks into some serious rock ’n’ roll. Carmen's voice is in top form, and he makes the melody soar." [4] Billboard said of it that Carmen's "wonderfully unmistakable sad tenor voice attacks an uptempo lyric message this time and produces the effect of a breaking heart desperately winning through to an optimistic outlook. The melody and production are a sleek counterpoint to Carmen's emotional singing." [5] "Sunrise" peaked at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100. [6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Eric Carmen, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sunrise" 5:21
2."That's Rock 'n' Roll" 3:10
3."Never Gonna Fall in Love Again"3:45
4."All by Myself"
  • Carmen
  • Rachmaninoff
7:11
5."Last Night" 2:57
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."My Girl" 3:02
7."Great Expectations" 3:03
8."Everything" 2:01
9."No Hard Feelings" 5:40
10."On Broadway"3:26
Total length:48:19

Personnel

Technical

Charts

Singles

Year US Billboard US Cash Box US Record World US ACCANCAN ACUKTitle
197521163112"All By Myself"
19761199111--"Never Gonna Fall in Love Again"
1976343828333629--"Sunrise"

Year-end charts

U.S. year-end chart (1976)Position
All By Myself [8] 40
Never Gonna Fall in Love Again107
Sunrise146
Canadian year-end chart (1976)Position
All By Myself48
Never Gonna Fall in Love Again26

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [9] Gold50,000^
United States (RIAA) [10] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<i>Journeyman</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Eric Clapton

Journeyman is the eleventh solo studio album by Eric Clapton. Heralded as a return to form for Clapton, who had struggled with alcohol addiction and recently found sobriety, the album has a 1980s electronic sound, but it also includes blues songs like "Before You Accuse Me", "Running on Faith", and "Hard Times." "Bad Love" was released as a single, reaching the No. 1 position on the Album Rock Chart in the United States, and being awarded a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1990. "Pretending" had also reached the No. 1 position on the Album Rock Chart the previous year, remaining at the top for five weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raspberries (band)</span> American pop rock band

The Raspberries were an American pop rock band formed in 1970 from Cleveland, Ohio. They had a run of success in the early 1970s music scene with their pop rock sound, which AllMusic later described as featuring "exquisitely crafted melodies and achingly gorgeous harmonies." The members were known for their clean-cut public image, with short hair and matching suits, which brought them teenybopper attention as well as scorn from some mainstream media outlets as "uncool". The group drew influence from the British Invasion era—especially the Beatles, the Who, the Hollies, and the Small Faces—and its mod sensibility. In both the US and the UK, the Raspberries helped pioneer the power pop music style that took off after the group disbanded. They also have had a following among professional musicians such as Jack Bruce, Ringo Starr, and Courtney Love.

<i>Live in New York City</i> (John Lennon album) 1986 live album by John Lennon

Live in New York City is a posthumous live album by English rock musician John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band. It was prepared under the supervision of his widow, Yoko Ono, and released in 1986 as his second official live album, the first being Live Peace in Toronto 1969.

<i>The Rolling Stones, Now!</i> 1965 studio album by the Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones, Now! is the third American studio album by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in March 1965 by their initial American distributor, London Records. Although it contains two previously unissued songs and an alternative version, the album mostly consists of songs released earlier in the United Kingdom, as well as the group's recent single in the United States, "Heart of Stone" backed with "What a Shame". Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote four of the songs on the album, with the balance composed by American rhythm and blues and rock and roll artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Carmen</span> American singer and musician (1949–2024)

Eric Howard Carmen was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of the Raspberries, with whom he recorded the hit "Go All the Way" and four albums. He embarked on a solo career in 1975 and had global success with "All by Myself", "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", "She Did It", "Hungry Eyes", and "Make Me Lose Control". In later years, he toured with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band before reforming the Raspberries in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish Harlem (song)</span> 1960 song by Ben E. King

"Spanish Harlem" is a song recorded by Ben E. King in 1960 for Atco Records. It was written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. "Spanish Harlem" was King's first hit away from The Drifters, peaking at number 15 on Billboard's rhythm and blues and number 10 in pop music chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">On Broadway (song)</span> 1963 single by The Drifters

"On Broadway" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil in collaboration with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All by Myself</span> 1975 song by Eric Carmen

"All by Myself" is a song by American singer-songwriter Eric Carmen, released by Arista in December 1975 as the first single from Carmen's debut album, Eric Carmen (1975). The verse is based on the second movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's 1900–1901 Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18. The chorus was taken from the song "Let's Pretend", which Carmen wrote and recorded with the Raspberries in 1972. The slide guitar solo was performed by studio guitarist Hugh McCracken.

<i>Liv</i> (Livingston Taylor album) 1971 studio album by Livingston Taylor

Liv is the second studio album by the rock artist Livingston Taylor. It was released in 1971 on Capricorn Records. The album's eleven tracks include ten of Taylor's own songs, and a cover rendition of "On Broadway".

"Young Blood" is a song written by Doc Pomus along with the songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit by The Coasters in 1957.

<i>Boats Against the Current</i> 1977 studio album by Eric Carmen

Boats Against the Current is a 1977 album by Eric Carmen. The title is taken from a line in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” It was Carmen's second solo LP, after the Raspberries disbanded. It peaked at #45 on the Billboard 200 for the week ending October 8, 1977.

<i>Change of Heart</i> (Eric Carmen album) 1978 studio album by Eric Carmen

Change of Heart is a 1978 album by Eric Carmen. It was his third solo LP, and reached No. 137 on the Billboard album chart.

<i>Side 3</i> (Raspberries album) 1973 studio album by Raspberries

Side 3 is the third album from the Raspberries, released in 1973. The album cover is diecut like a basket of Raspberries, with the group's name placed at the top of the LP sleeve. Three singles were released from the album: "Tonight" / "Hard to Get Over a Heartbreak", which reached number 69 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 37 on the Cash Box chart; "I'm a Rocker", which reached number 94 on Billboard and number 75 on Cash Box; and "Ecstasy", which did not chart on Billboard but reached number 116 on Cash Box. The album itself reached number 138 on the US albums chart.

<i>How Dare You!</i> (album) 1976 studio album by 10cc

How Dare You! is the fourth album by British band 10cc. Released in 1976, it included UK hit singles "I'm Mandy Fly Me" and "Art for Art's Sake". The album was the band's third to have cover artwork by the Hipgnosis creative team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Go Now</span> 1964 single by Bessie Banks

"Go Now" is a song composed by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett and first recorded by Bessie Banks, released as a single in January 1964. The best-known version was recorded by the Moody Blues and released the same year.

<i>Subtle as a Flying Mallet</i> 1975 studio album by Dave Edmunds

Subtle as a Flying Mallet is the second solo album by Dave Edmunds, principally focused on sound-alike remakes of late 1950s and early 1960s hits. All of the vocals are by Edmunds, and many of the songs are true solo efforts in that Edmunds also plays all the instruments. The album produced two Top 10 singles in the UK, remakes of the Phil Spector hit "Baby, I Love You" and The Chordettes' "Born to Be with You". A 2006 reissue of the album includes two former B-sides as bonus tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Never Gonna Fall in Love Again</span> 1976 single by Eric Carmen

"Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" is a song co-written and recorded by American pop rock artist Eric Carmen. It was released as the second single from Carmen's self-titled debut solo album and peaked at No.11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in June 1976, remaining in the Top 40 for ten weeks. The song reached No.1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. In Canada, it was a hit at No. 1 on both charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Let It Rain (Eric Clapton song)</span> 1972 single by Eric Clapton

"Let It Rain" is a song and single written and released by the British rock musician Eric Clapton and Bonnie Bramlett; it appears on his 1970 debut studio album Eric Clapton. In 1972 it was released as a single as part of the promotion for his compilation album Eric Clapton at His Best

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Let's Pretend (Raspberries song)</span> 1973 single by Raspberries

"Let's Pretend" is a song by Raspberries, released in March 1973 as the second single from their second LP, Fresh. It was written by band leader Eric Carmen, who also provided the lead vocals.

<i>Its the Searchers</i>

It's the Searchers is the third studio album by English rock band The Searchers. It features the band's famous hit singles "Needles and Pins" and "Don't Throw Your Love Away" as well as cover versions of some well known tracks originally recorded by Betty Everett, Carl Perkins, Don Gibson, The Drifters or Tommy Tucker. It was also the last Searchers album to feature singer Tony Jackson. The album peaked at No. 4 in the UK album chart.

References

  1. Ruhlmann, William. "Eric Carmen [1975] Review". AllMusic.
  2. Christgau, Robert (22 December 1975). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice .
  3. Hogya, Bernie (2002). "Interview". ericcarmen.com.
  4. "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 7, 1976. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  5. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. August 7, 1976. p. 70. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  6. "Eric Carmen". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  7. "Eric Carmen interview". 2005. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  8. "Chartjunkie Top Songs of 1976".
  9. "Canadian album certifications – Eric Carmen – Eric Carmen". Music Canada.
  10. "American album certifications – Eric Carmen – Eric Carmen". Recording Industry Association of America.