1977 Eric Carmen – Boats Against the Current

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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 ceaselessly into the past.” It was Carmen’s second solo LP, after the Raspberries disbanded. It peaked at #45 on the Billboard album chart.

The album yielded two charting singles, the title track as well as “She Did It.” “She Did It” is the bigger hit from this album, which reached #23 Billboard and #15 Cash Box, as well as #11 in Canada. The title track subsequently reached #88 Billboard and #92 Cash Box, and “Marathon Man” was released as a third single but failed to chart. “Love is All that Matters” melody is lifted from Tschaikovsky’s “Fifth Symphony, Second Movement.”

Guest musicians on this album included back-up vocals by several of the Beach Boys and Burton Cummings (formerly of the Guess Who), guitar by Andrew Gold, and drumming by Toto’s Jeff Porcaro.

The title song was covered in 1978 by Olivia Newton-John on her album Totally Hot.

Tracks

1  Boats Against The Current (Eric Carmen) 4:25
2  Marathon Man (Eric Carmen) 3:59
3  Nowhere To Hide (Eric Carmen) 5:02
4  Take It Or Leave It (Eric Carmen) 4:00
5  Love Is All That Matters (Eric Carmen) 5:15
6  She Did It (Eric Carmen) 3:50
7  I Think I Found Myself (Eric Carmen) 4:23
8  Runaway (Eric Carmen) 8:05

Musicians

1 Boats Against The Current

Bass David Wintour
Drums Jeffrey Porcaro
Guitar Eric Carmen
Vocals Eric Carmen
Piano Eric Carmen
Synthesizer Eric Carmen


2 Marathon Man

Bass David Wintour
Drums Nigel Olsson
Acoustic Guitar Richie Zito
Acoustic Guitar Richard Reising
Piano Eric Carmen
Synthesizer Michael Boddicker
Synthesizer Eric Carmen
Percussion Gene Estes
Background Vocals Burton Cummings
Vocals Eric Carmen


3 Nowhere To Hide

Bass David Wintour
Drums Nigel Olsson
Piano Eric Carmen
Synthesizer Michael Boddicker
Percussion Gene Estes
Vocals Eric Carmen


4 Take It Or Leave It

Bass David Wintour
Drums Nigel Olsson
Guitar (solo) Richard Reising
Guitar Richie Zito
Acoustic Guitar Richie Zito
Acoustic Guitar Eric Carmen
12 String Guitar Eric Carmen
Piano Eric Carmen
Sax Bobby Keys
Sax Jim Horn
Sax Tom Scott
Trumpet Steve Madaio
Background Vocals Richie Zito
Background Vocals Richard Reising
Vocals Eric Carmen


5 Love Is All That Matters

Bass David Wintour
Drums Jeffrey Porcaro
Guitar Richie Zito
Acoustic Guitar Richard Reising
Piano Eric Carmen
Synthesizer Eric Carmen
Percussion Eric Carmen
Background Vocals Bruce Johnston
Background Vocals Curt Becher
Background Vocals Nigel Olson
Background Vocals Joe Chemay
Background Vocals Richard Reising
Vocals Eric Carmen


6 She Did It

Bass David Wintour
Drums Jeffrey Porcaro
Guitar (solo) Andrew Gold
Guitar Richie Zito
Guitar Richard Reising
Piano Eric Carmen
Synthesizer Eric Carmen
Percussion Ollie E. Brown
Percussion Eric Carmen
Background Vocals Bruce Johnston
Background Vocals Curt Becher
Background Vocals Nigel Olson
Background Vocals Joe Chemay
Background Vocals Richard Reising
Vocals Eric Carmen


7 I Think I Found Myself

Bass David Wintour
Drums Nigel Olsson
Piano Eric Carmen
Synthesizer Eric Carmen
Synthesizer Michael Boddicker
Percussion Eric Carmen
Sax Tom Scott
Background Vocals Bruce Johnston
Background Vocals Curt Becher
Background Vocals Joe Chemay
Background Vocals Richard Reising
Background Vocals Nigel Olsson
Vocals Eric Carmen


8 Runaway

Bass David Wintour
Drums Nigel Olsson
Guitar Richard Reising
Guitar Richie Zito
Guitar Andrew Gold
Piano Eric Carmen
Synthesizer Michael Boddicker
Percussion Ollie E. Brown
Percussion Gene Estes
Vocals Eric Carmen

Liner Notes

Producer – Eric Carmen
Arranged by – Eric Carmen
Arranged (Strings) – Paul Buckmaster, Eric Carmen
Mixed By – Val Garay
Recorded By – Kevin Beamish