Don_Krider's Full Review: Boats Against the Current by Eric Carmen
Eric Carmen's "Boats Against The Current" album in 1977 was the artist's attempt to prove he was more than a pretty boy teen idol.
Carmen surrounded himself with stellar musicians such as Burton Cummings (The Guess Who's lead singer), Nigel Olsson (Elton John's drummer), Bruce Johnston (The Beach Boys), David Wintour (Neil Sedaka's bassist), Jeff Porcaro (the drummer for Toto, Jeff passed away in 1992), Andrew Gold (Linda Ronstadt's guitarist, later a solo star himself with songs like "Thank You For Being A Friend"), Tom Scott, Gene Estes, Ollie Brown, Curt Becher, Joe Chemay, Richie Zito (the Neil Sedaka guitarist who went on to produce Cheap Trick, among others) and Michael Boddicker.
"Boats Against The Current" was Carmen's second album as a solo artist. The former Raspberries' ("Go All The Way") lead singer had been personally signed by Arista Records' main man Clive Davis in 1975.
Carmen's debut album in 1975, simply called "Eric Carmen," earned a Gold Record Award for sales of over 500,000 copies and produced three Top 40 singles, including the million-seller "All By Myself" (later covered by Celine Dion for a Top 10 single). That album peaked at # 21 in Billboard magazine (# 20 in Cashbox) and produced by former Raspberries' producer Jimmy Ienner created "great expectations" about Carmen's second release.
Carmen replaced Ienner with Gus Dudgeon as producer (Ienner had produced Carmen since 1972, giving Carmen seven Top 40 hits, including four with The Raspberries). Carmen wanted to try a new direction with his music, which had been classic rock-pop up to this time.
Dudgeon and Carmen clashed over recording techniques, and Carmen took over the project from Dudgeon (no credits for Dudgeon appear on the album). Carmen re-recorded the album's tracks and the album was finally released in August 1977, with final production costs pushing the $500,000 mark.
When all was finally said and done, most critics loved the album but it sold poorly, peaking at # 45 in Billboard for two weeks. Worse, Carmen's singles were fairing badly as well, with "She Did It" peaking at # 23 and the title track, "Boats Against The Current," peaking at # 88 (a third single, "Marathon Man," his duet with Burton Cummings, didn't chart at all).
Carmen did, however, gain musical respect as a songwriter. The song "Boats Against The Current" was covered by Frank Sinatra, Frankie Valli, Patti LaBelle, Stanley Turrentine and Olivia Newton-John, among others. Another of the album's tracks, "Nowhere To Hide," was covered by Yvonne Elliman (with Carmen providing backup vocals).
Unfortunately, Carmen's solo career became spotty at best (six studio albums since 1975), with only eight solo Top 40 singles since 1975 (including 1988's "Hungry Eyes" and "Make Me Lose Control," both of which were Top 5 hits). His last U. S. CD, "I Was Born To Love You" in 2000, produced no Hot 100 Billboard hits, the first time one of his albums failed to produce even a minor hit single (though Diana Ross covered one of the album's tunes, "Someone That You Loved Before," and Peter Cetera's cover of Carmen's "(I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight" was a Top 20 adult contemporary hit).
In 2004, Carmen reunited with the original Raspberries recording lineup for a reunion tour that lasted through 2005, attracting fans like Jon Bon Jovi, Rick Springfield, Paul Stanley and others to their shows. A live CD/DVD from the tour will be released by Rykodisc in mid-2007.
This album:
Carmen recorded 10 tracks for the album. He chose to leave two of the tracks off the album, "Hey Deanie" (which he gave to Shaun Cassidy, who scored a million-seller with the song) and "Someday" (a glorious Beach Boys'-style tune with Burton Cummings on piano). Those two tracks, which didn't fit Carmen's autobiographical desires for the "Boats Against The Current" album, were later included on his 1978 album, "Change Of Heart."
Still, "Boats Against The Current," finally released with only eight tracks, is a stunning album. This Japanese re-issue CD (twice released on CD in Japan, where the Cleveland-born Carmen has a huge fan base, has never been issued on CD in the U. S.) has been reproduced from the original master recordings, bringing you a crisp, clean sound.
The musicianship is stellar, rich in textures and the vocal harmonies are to die for. Carmen is a die-hard fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" and the album, especially on the title track, often borrows bits and pieces from Fitzgerald's work for its lyrics.
Ultimately, the album is Carmen's autobiography, released as he turned 28 years of age in August 1977, the 5-foot-9, skinny rocker with the big shag hair cut and the sweet voice trying to be himself. Often criticized for imitating his '60s pop idols (Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, etc.), Carmen tries hard here to find his own vocal style and he succeeds in most cases.
This is an album without compromise. Another producer might have sweetened Carmen's vocals, made a bigger production out of some tracks, and might have made the album a bigger hit, but when the artist seeks to establish who he truly is for an audience, that is both a gamble and something to behold. Carmen's gamble with "Boats Against The Current" may not have been a retail success, but it is a success for the artist and the artist's fans.
The CD features 20-bit digitally reproduced sound from the original masters (produced by Carmen with Val Garay (Linda Ronstadt) as engineer and strings by Paul Buckmaster (Elton John) --- the sound is clean and pure, with every instrument gloriously reproduced, including the instrument that is Eric Carmen's unique voice.
The tracks (all composed by Eric Carmen):
"Boats Against The Current," "Marathon Man," "Nowhere To Hide," "Take It Or Leave It," "Love Is All That Matters," "She Did It," "I Think I Found Myself" and "Run Away."
The CD booklet:
The 20-page CD booklet reproduces the original cover artwork (the original "Boats" artwork inside the original gatefold LP is not reproduced here). It features Carmen's lyrics in English and Japanese. The new liner notes, unfortunately, are in Japanese with no English translation.
Recommendation:
Carmen's lyrics will move you (samples appear in song quotes below), and so will the richly textured music on the album. This is songcrafting at its very best and Eric Carmen's "Boats Against The Current" is an album that should appeal to fans of The Beatles, The Beach Boys and '70s pop-rock.
The best songs:
"Boats Against The Current":
Carmen's personal favorite of all the songs he has written and probably his best ballad, the tune opens with the piano-played melody of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" leading into the tune.
"Boats Against The Current" works as a soulful ballad, a tune where Carmen sings from his gut about a failing relationship:
"I know it's over / you know it's over / we're just going through the motions / but we're sailing seperate oceans worlds apart / and you know it's breaking my heart / I was a dreamer / you were a dreamer / but perfection is consuming / and it seems we're all just human after all / and we've both been takin' the fall..."
But ever hopeful, Carmen's chorus gives the listener hope that all is not lost:
"...but tomorrow / we'll run a little bit faster / tomorrow / we're gonna find what we're after at last / feelings that we left in the past / there's romance in the sunset / we're boats against the current 'til the end..."
"Boats Against The Current" has a late '70s "L. A. sound" that reminds one of Linda Ronstadt/The Eagles in ways. It works because the artist's soul isn't hidden by dozens of instruments: you get Carmen on piano, guitars and synthesizer, backed by bass, drums, percussion and strings (arranged and conducted by Carmen on this track). The instruments are understated, allowing the yearning, pleading lead vocal to stand out and tear at your heart.
"Marathon Man":
My college roommate and partner in journalistic adventures on the college newspaper hated Eric Carmen in 1977. He insisted that Jackson Browne would save the world. However, whenever he heard Carmen's "Marathon Man," he would freely admit, "now that's a great song."
Carmen wrote this uptempo rocker after reading the book, "Marathon Man" by William Goldman, but before the film of the same name starring Dustin Hoffman.
Carmen makes "Marathon Man" into his own autobiographical tale of a rock star:
"...wasting my youth / chasing dreams, testing truth / taking turns being decieved and deceivin' / bound with a rope made of heroes and hope / 'til I found nothing left to believe in... / wind is gone and my head's in a haze / but I must keep up the pace / got to think about strategy here / if I hope to win the race / ... I'm a marathon man..."
Carmen and Guess Who lead singer Burton Cummings ("Stand Tall") exchange lead vocals on the tune's chorus as the wall-of-sound surrounds the listener. That wall-of-sound features dueling drums from Carmen and Nigel Olsson; acoustic guitars from Richard Reising and Richie Zito; strings by Paul Buckmaster; synthesizer from both Carmen and Michael Boddicker; David Wintour's amazing bass work; Gene Estes (The Monkees and Harry Nilsson, among others) providing percussion and Carmen tops off the mix with electric harpsichord.
"She Did It":
The album's only Top 40 hit, "She Did It" is full of Carmen's wonderful lyrics mixed with Beach Boys' vocal backing (from band alumni Bruce Johnston, Joe Chemay, Curt Becher), a glorious guitar solo by Andrew "Lonely Boy" Gold and some prime drumming from Toto's Jeff Porcaro.
Carmen has had a long friendship with The Beach Boys, including Carl Wilson of the band taking Carmen to meet his brother, Brian, in 1975, leading to Carmen touring with The Beach Boys as their opening act in 1975-76. Their love of his music is repaid here as "She Did It" is as much a tribute as it is a tale of a guy discovering the wonders of romance:
"I set to sea on a ship called Emptiness / cast adrift on the Island of Loneliness / lookin' for love, oh and I was lookin' for love / I didn't think she could hear my SOS / but she appeared like an angel of tenderness / sent from above, oh and she was bringin' me love / oh mama, she did it / woh mama, she did it, yeah..."
"Take It Or Leave It":
The tune that kept me alive during late night travels between my hometown of Louisville and college in Bowling Green, Ky., in 1977 as it played on my 8-track player in my 1973 Ford Maverick, "Take It Or Leave It" finds Carmen sounding like Rod Stewart had replaced Mick Jagger as lead singer with The Rolling Stones.
Carmen's voice is rough here, on purpose (Eric was known to sit in the recording room and scream at the top of his lungs until his voice sounded scratchy and unsmooth for some of his recordings).
Eric plays against his romantic balladeer character here, becoming a "love 'em and leave 'em" guy in the tune:
"...take it or leave it / you've been sleepin' on it much too long / and in the bank of my love / your account's already overdrawn..."
Propelling this sizzling rocker along are the horns of Bobby Keys, Tom Scott, Jim Horn and Steve Madaio. Richard Reising (Euclid Beach Band) provides the guitar solo.
"Love Is All That Matters":
Fans of The Beatles and The Beach Boys should adore "Love Is All That Matters": it captures the spirit of "All You Need Is Love" and "God Only Knows" in a single ultra-romantic ballad.
Carmen plays piano, synthesizers and percussion here, as he sings of the glory of falling in love:
"...dreams from the past / comin' true at last / never noticed how my life was changing / now I can see / all that love can be / you saved me / you gave me something that was real / love is all that matters / faithful and forever / keepin' us together / love is all we need / prisoner of illusion / sentence is suspended / loneliness is ended / love has set me free..."
"I Think I Found Myself":
I was 20 and trying to figure out who I was in 1977. Then I heard this song, a song by a guy who seemed to have felt as I did and who finally seemed to find out who he was, and I thought "there's hope for me yet."
Synthesizers by Carmen and Michael Boddicker swirl around Nigel Olsson's drums, Beach Boys' vocals and Tom Scott's sax. The tune was arranged by Beach Boy Bruce Johnston (he's also the guy that wrote Barry Manilow's hit "I Write the Songs").
It's a totally out-of-charcter tune for Carmen --- not a rocker; not a classic pop ballad. Truly unique. In essence, this is Eric Carmen finding himself in song:
"...well, I got sidetracked somewhere / tho I really can't recall just when / I lost my inspiration and I couldn't get it back again / I trusted everyone else so completely / well, I was deaf, dumb and blind / but I'll be damned if I'll let them defeat me / I'm tired of tricks and politics / and futures burning bright / I'm on the line and out of time / for once in my life / I'm gonna do what I think is right / ... / I think I found myself / I think I found what I'm looking for..."
"Run Away":
With a melody that borrows a bit too much from Elton John's "Funeral For A Friend" (perhaps because the strings are by Paul Buckmaster, famed for his work on Elton John's albums, and Elton John's drummer, Nigel Olsson, also plays here), "Run Away" is still a stunning story of long-lost love. The tune moves from smooth, string-smothered ballad into a guitar-drenched rocking close (three electric guitars propelled by Olsson's powerful drumming) in its eight-minute running time.
Carmen tells us in lyrics that continue to remind me that he should write his own lyrics all the time (these days he teams up with lyricist Dean Pitchford, among others, for songs like "Almost Paradise" from the film "Footloose") of that youthful infatuation:
"She was just an average blue-eyed / golden high school dream / an illusion nothing real could ever touch / funny love seemed so much more intense at seventeen / when I knew she'd never love me half as much / I recall the desperate vow I made / I must find a way somehow to win her heart / I've got to make her mine..."
As "Run Away" continues, the young man grows older and jaded, as the "illusion" fades away, as Carmen sings:
"Long ago an innocence / lived deep within my soul / in a yesterday where love and dreams remain / but disillusion clouds my eyes / and the winter takes its toll / for the spring has gone and will not come again."
"Nowhere To Hide":
Carmen is at his lyrical best on "Nowhere To Hide," itself a life story built around a piano melody (Carmen plays piano, electric harpsichord, synthesizer and drums here), lifted by the moving string arrangement by Paul Buckmaster:
"Lovers come and lovers go / but it's never twice the same / happiness is hard to show / when you're numb to all the pain / and I've been floatin' round like an old newspaper / blowin' down some windy street / feelin' so alone and incomplete / but there's nowhere to hide / where the night can't find me / where the light of the sun can't blind me / like the light in a woman's eye..."
For the 30th Anniversary Of "Boats":
Bernie Hogya, webmaster of EricCarmen.Com, has created a blog to celebrate the 30th Anniversary (2007) of the release of Eric Carmen's "Boats Against The Current" (featuring new gems of info from Eric's own files, with commentary by Eric Carmen): http://ericcarmen.blogspot.com/
Just released:
Live On Sunset Strip (Deluxe Edition of 2 CDs and a DVD recorded during the 2005 reunion tour) By Raspberries, a 2007 Rykodisc release with liner notes byBruce Springsteen and a photo of John Lennon in a Raspberries sweatshirt in the CD booklet, produced by Mark Linett and Eric Carmen: http://www.epinions.com/content_393207123588
On the web:
The official Eric Carmen website: http://www.ericcarmen.com
The official Raspberries website: http://www.raspberriesonline.com
The official Dave Smalley (Raspberries) website: http://www.davesmalley.com/cd/reviews/
Related reviews I've written:
Capitol/EMI's 24-bit digitally remastered CD "Greatest" by Raspberries was released in May of 2005 in the U. S. and Europe. It features all 7 of Raspberries Hot 100 singles, has 20 tracks and runs 78:53 minutes: http://www.epinions.com/content_186044681860
Carmen's Raspberries bandmate, Dave Smalley, also has a terrific CD out, "Internal Monologue," which reminds me of Carmen's album in its introspective nature: http://www.epinions.com/content_112634596996
Carmen's Raspberries' bandmates Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Scott McCarl reunited in 2000 to record as "The Raspberries" with the album "Refreshed," reviewed by me at: http://www.epinions.com/content_20892847748
And, believe it or not, I used to write short reviews, as in the case of the Rhino Records re-issue of 1975's Arista "Eric Carmen" album (which featured Carmen's "That's Rock 'n' Roll," a tune covered by Shaun Cassidy for a million-selling single) that I reviewed in 1999: http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-2A40-33C7F7A-385486BE-prod4
To Epinions.Com Music Category Lead Shelly, aka Lambchops (http://www.epinions.com/user-lambchops), for adding Eric Carmen's "Boats Against The Current" to the Epinions' musical database.
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