Eric Carmen (1975 album)

Eric Carmen is the debut album by American rock and roll 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.

Eric Carmen
Studio album by
Eric Carmen
ReleasedNovember 1975
RecordedAugust - September 1975
StudioO.D.O. Sound Studios, New York City
GenreSoft rock
Length48:19
LabelArista Records
ProducerJimmy 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 [1]
The Village VoiceC+[2]

All tracks were written by Eric 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

All compositions by Eric Carmen with the exception of "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again", whose melody he borrowed from Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 in E minor, "All By Myself", with elements from Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, and "On Broadway", which was written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber. The uptempo Track number 6, "My Girl" — not to be confused with the well-known Temptations hit from 1965 — also exploits a theme from Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.

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."[3] 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."[4] "Sunrise" peaked at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100.[5]

Track listing
  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" – 7:11
  5. "Last Night" – 2:57
  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

Personnel
  • Eric Carmen - lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
  • Dan Hrdlicka - lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Steve Knill - bass, backing vocals
  • Richard Reising - synthesizer, organ, backing vocals
  • Dwight Krueger, Michael McBride - drums, percussion, backing vocals
  • Jackie Kelso - uncredited flute solo on "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again"
  • Hugh McCracken - slide guitar solo on "All By Myself"[6]
Technical
  • Jack Sherdel - engineer
  • Robert L. Heimall - art direction, design
  • Norman Seeff - photography

Charts

Singles
Year US Billboard US Cash Box US Record World US AC CAN CAN AC UK Title
1975 2 1 1 6 3 1 12 "All By Myself"
1976 11 9 9 1 1 1 -- "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again"
1976 34 38 28 33 36 29 -- "Sunrise"

Year-end charts
U.S. year-end chart (1976) Position
All By Myself [7] 40
Never Gonna Fall in Love Again 107
Sunrise 146
Canadian year-end chart (1976) Position
All By Myself 48
Never Gonna Fall in Love Again 26

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Christgau, Robert (22 December 1975). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice.
  3. "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 7, 1976. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  4. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. August 7, 1976. p. 70. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  5. "Eric Carmen". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  6. "Eric Carmen interview". 2005. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  7. "Chartjunkie Top Songs of 1976".
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