https://variety.com/2024/music/obituaries-people-news/eric-carmen-dead-raspberries-singer-all-by-myself-go-all-the-way-1235938937/

Fun fact about "All By Myself": it's kind of harmonically based on
the middle movement of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto (one of
the monumental works of that instrument's repertoire). That concerto
was in the public domain in the U.S., so Carmen just went ahead and
used it. When it became a big international hit, royalties on playing
it in many countries were owed.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone objects to any statement I make, I am
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / baldwin@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it.-T. Lehrer
***~~~~----------------------------------------------------------------------

J.D. Baldwin wrote:

> https://variety.com/2024/music/obituaries-people-news/eric-carmen-dead-raspberries-singer-all-by-myself-go-all-the-way-1235938937/

> Fun fact about "All By Myself": it's kind of harmonically based on
> the middle movement of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto (one of
> the monumental works of that instrument's repertoire). That concerto
> was in the public domain in the U.S., so Carmen just went ahead and
> used it. When it became a big international hit, royalties on playing
> it in many countries were owed.

Also known for his work with the Raspberries ("Go All the Way" and "I Wanna Be with You")
Plus solo hits “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” and "Hungry Eyes" (of Dirty Dancing fame.)

On Tue, 12 Mar 2024 03:24:12 -0000 (UTC),
INVALID_SEE_SIG@example.com.invalid (J.D. Baldwin) wrote:

>
>
>https://variety.com/2024/music/obituaries-people-news/eric-carmen-dead-raspberries-singer-all-by-myself-go-all-the-way-1235938937/
>
>Fun fact about "All By Myself": it's kind of harmonically based on
>the middle movement of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto (one of
>the monumental works of that instrument's repertoire). That concerto
>was in the public domain in the U.S., so Carmen just went ahead and
>used it. When it became a big international hit, royalties on playing
>it in many countries were owed.

I wonder how he felt about Celine Dion ruining his lonely, melancholy
signature song by making it into a bombastic shout-a-thon.

David Carson
--
Dead or Alive Data Base
http://www.doadb.com

In the previous article, David Carson <davidc@wa-wd.com> wrote:
> I wonder how he felt about Celine Dion ruining his lonely,
> melancholy signature song by making it into a bombastic
> shout-a-thon.

I'm guessing the massive royalty checks helped ease the pain.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone objects to any statement I make, I am
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / baldwin@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it.-T. Lehrer
***~~~~----------------------------------------------------------------------

On 3/12/24 4:53 PM, J.D. Baldwin wrote:
>
> In the previous article, David Carson <davidc@wa-wd.com> wrote:
>> I wonder how he felt about Celine Dion ruining his lonely,
>> melancholy signature song by making it into a bombastic
>> shout-a-thon.
>
> I'm guessing the massive royalty checks helped ease the pain.

With a 12% share going to the Rachmaninoff estate until 2014.

https://www.classicfm.com/composers/rachmaninov/piano-concerto-2-all-by-myself/

[Sorry for the late reply; my HDD went on-topic
a couple of weeks ago and I'm only now back in
service after spending an incredible amount
having a data recovery service clone the
contents to a new drive]

It's not "kind of...based" on the concerto, the
verse is a direct lift from it (the chorus was
lifted from a song Eric had earlier written for
his band, The Raspberries), just as his later
hit, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", was taken
from the third movement of Rachmaninoff's Second
Symphony. Neither was the first time a
Rachmaninoff theme was used for a pop tune
(e.g. "Full Moon and Empty Arms" back in 1945).

I had occasion to talk with Eric only once during
my mercifully brief tenure at Arista but I dealt
several times with his father/manager, Elmer--a
really nice fellow.

On 3/11/2024 11:24 PM, J.D. Baldwin wrote:
>
> https://variety.com/2024/music/obituaries-people-news/eric-carmen-dead-raspberries-singer-all-by-myself-go-all-the-way-1235938937/
>
> Fun fact about "All By Myself": it's kind of harmonically based on
> the middle movement of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto (one of
> the monumental works of that instrument's repertoire). That concerto
> was in the public domain in the U.S., so Carmen just went ahead and
> used it. When it became a big international hit, royalties on playing
> it in many countries were owed.