The Well-Tempered Ear

Why did obituaries for pop star Eric Carmen omit Rachmaninoff?

By Jacob Stockinger

The American songwriter and pop singer Eric Carmen  (below) died in his sleep at 74 last Sunday. The cause has still not been revealed.

I haven’t checked out all the obituaries for Carmen, who fronted as the lead singer for The Raspberries before striking out on his own prolific and profitable career.

In the obits I did sample, I heard how the 2001 movie “Bridget Jones’s Diary” used Carmen’s “All By Myself” (1975) — with Renée Zellwegger on drums in the staring role — at the beginning of the hit film.

I heard how Céline Dion scored a huge hit with her version of the same song.

I heard praise quoted from the American superstar horror author, and sometimes amateur rock band member, Stephen King.

But all the obituaries thatI read on the web, saw on TV and heard on the radio omitted a central element of Carmen’s career in soft rock: his “theft” or “borrowing” — depending on what you think of his justification and the results of the lawsuit he lost — of music by Sergei Rachmaninoff (below).

Indeed, Carmen’s two biggest hits owe their irresistible melodies and harmonies — their tunes, if you will — to the Russian late Romantic composer (1873-1943). 

Carmen — who was a trained classical pianist —  certainly had a good ear, as his year-to-year, back-to-back hits demonstrated.

And he wasn’t ashamed to use what that ear heard and what he liked.

“All By Myself” uses a theme from the second movement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (1901). The main melody of the last movement also gave rise to the often recorded popular song “Full Moon and Empty Arms.”

Carmen’s “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” (1976) uses the main theme from the slow movement of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 (1907).

If you liked Carmen’s songs, you just might like the original Rachmaninoff works, if you don’t already know them.

Here is a link to a story by Cynthia Dickison for yourclassical.org that not only recounts what happened with the lawsuit but also — with YouTube videos — offers comparisons between the original Rachmaninoff and Carmen’s reworkings.

https://www.yourclassical.org/story/2024/03/12/eric-carmen-sergei-rachmaninoff

Chances are very good that you will also hear the complete Rachmaninoff works on radio stations and in live performance a lot sooner and certainly a lot longer than you will hear Eric Carmen’s music.

Did you know about Eric Carmen’s “use” of Rachmaninoff?

What do you think of it?

What do you think it was ignored in obituaries?

The Ear wants to hear.