"Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" -- a monumental book biography of the singer-songwriter
Written: Aug 30 '04 (Updated Jul 23 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Well-written and researched. A fair and balanced look at singer-songwriter Eric "All By Myself" Carmen.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: Fans of Eric Carmen and The Raspberries will love this book. Should appeal to pop music fans and music students. Book co-author Bernie Hogya created the "Got Milk?" advertising campaign.
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| Don_Krider's Full Review: Eric Carmen: Marathon Man Books |
Book biographies of rock music icons are published by the dozens of titles every year. They usually are either puff pieces aimed at teen audiences in order to make a quick buck off the current musical flavor of the month or are poorly written, multi-pound encyclopedias that are heavy to lift and boring to read.
Once in a while, there is a pleasant surprise. "Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" by Bernie Hogya and Ken Sharp is that oasis of pleasure in a desert of printed sand: it's well-written, well-documented and as eye-pleasing to browse through as it is fascinating to read.
It's the story of Eric Carmen, a musician who turned 55 on August 11, 2004. Carmen's musical career, from his piano studies as a 2-year-old at the Cleveland Institute of Music through his days as a rock 'n' roller in The Raspberries ("Go All The Way") through his multi-decade success as a singer-songwriter since the 1970's ("All By Myself," "Make Me Lose Control," "Almost Paradise," "Hungry Eyes") is told in very honest detail, exposing the artist as a normal man living a very interesting life.
The authors:
"Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" is written by Bernie Hogya and Ken Sharp.
Hogya has written two books based on the hugely successful "Got Milk?" advertising campaign, including "The Milk Mustache Book: A Behind-The-Scenes Look At America's Favorite Advertising Campaign" (http://www.epinions.com/content_79203700356) which made the New York Times best-seller list and sold 250,000 copies. He also plays guitar (his high school band actually beat Jon Bon Jovi's high school band in a competition) and lives in New Jersey with his wife and two daughters, while maintaining the official Eric Carmen website at http://www.ericcarmen.com.
Sharp has interviewed just about every major rock star you can think of, from the members of The Who to Ringo Starr. He has written a number music biographies, including "Overnight Sensation: The Story Of The Raspberries" (http://www.epinions.com/book-review-7ABF-5A754E8-385DC2B5-prod3) and the recently released official Kiss band bio, "KISS: Behind The Mask." He has contributed articles to numerous music publications including Goldmine and 20th Century Guitar. He is also an accomplished recording artist, with his "Happy Accidents" album (http://www.epinions.com/content_81138912900) worth seeking out.
The subject:
Eric Carmen has been recording since his late teens in the 1960s (his bands Cyrus Erie and The Quick both released singles on Epic Records at the end of that decade). He became a pop star as lead singer of The Raspberries, who scored seven Hot 100 singles in 1972-74, and hit the Billboard Hot 100 with 13 more singles as a performer between 1975 and 1988 (hitting the Top 5 with "Make Me Lose Control" and "Hungry Eyes" that year). Two of his singles have earned Gold Records Awards: "Go All The Way" in 1972 and "All By Myself" in 1976.
Carmen was Grammy-nominated with the songwriters on the "Footloose" film soundtrack (he wrote the tune "Almost Paradise" with Dean Pitchford) and his performance of the song "Hungry Eyes" helped sell some 11 million copies of the "Dirty Dancing" film soundtrack.
Carmen's songs have been recorded by such artists as Raekwon of The Wu-Tang Clan (he heavily sampled Carmen's "Sunrise" on his song "Planet Of The Apes"; the book reveals that Eric owns 75% of the songwriting royalties to "Planet Of The Apes"), Shaun Cassidy (who had million-sellers with Carmen's "That's Rock 'N' Roll" and "Hey Deanie"), Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion, Sheryl Crow, The Bay City Rollers, The Lettermen, Frankie Valli, Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, Ann Wilson of Heart, Mike Reno of Loverboy, Peter Cetera, Patti LaBelle, Stanley Turrentine, Hank Williams Jr., Donna Fargo, Louise Mandrell and dozens of other acts.
He's the type of artist that musicians love. When The Raspberries considered a reunion a few years ago and Bruce Springsteen heard about it, Bruce asked Eric's manager, "Do you want me to open? I'll come to every show." That reunion didn't pan out, but a reunion of the band for late 2004 has been confirmed, so one wonders who will "come to every show" this time out (when the band was hot, folks like Paul Stanley of Kiss, Gene Cornish of The Rascals and Todd Rundgren were seen at the group's Carnegie Hall show in 1973).
Many of Carmen's celebrity fans are quoted in interviews in this book, including Rick Springfield, Shaun Cassidy, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie of The Runaways, Ringo Starr, Ian Lloyd of Stories (and backup singer for Foreigner), John Oates of Hall & Oates, and others. Industry icons like Clive Davis (former president of Columbia and Arista Records) apparently love the guy (Davis in an interview done for the book says, "Eric was and is so gifted. He is a gifted, gifted songwriter.")
Hogya and Sharp know their subject here. They love the artist and his music, but to their credit they don't try to make a god out of an average man. Eric Carmen is presented as who he is: a very talented human being, capable of genius in his work but also with the same flaws as in any man. He's also a guy with allergies and a lazy eye condition --- as I said, a very normal fellow.
They have spent two years researching the book, conducting interviews and finding details not previously published. The writing here is always interesting, and though I know the subject's history quite well, I've found myself reading and re-reading the book time-and-again, each time discovering something I'd missed in a previous reading --- it's that good!
The book:
The book has more than 412 pages (there's a foreward by Raspberries' fan Cameron Crowe, the man behind the film "Almost Famous," which features The Raspberries' "Go All The Way" in one scene).
There are over 100 photos in the book, most in black-and-white, including some that have never seen print before (a shot of Eric with David Cassidy; a photo of Raspberries at Carnegie Hall). There's a four-page insert with eight color photos, including one of Eric performing with Ringo Starr's band during a tour in 2000 and a shot of an 18-year-old Eric sitting in front of a drum kit before a show by The Quick in 1969.
The writing:
"Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" is a richly detailed biography of a guy nicknamed "The Kid."
The book follows the son of Ruth and Elmer Carmen from his birth in Cleveland, through his childhood in Lyndhurst (a small town of 5,000 people outside of Cleveland), when he apparently "was singing before he could talk." He was a musical prodigy, enrolled as a classical piano student at The Cleveland Institute of Music at the age of 2 --- such a quick study of music that he could identify the tone of the family's doorbell, yelling to his mother, "B-Flat!," when he'd hear the doorbell ring.
When the family went to restaurants around town, often little Eric was asked to perform, singing songs made famous by Johnny Ray and Tony Bennett while still a toddler. Early influences included Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. By his early school years, he began keeping a notebook next to his bed so he could write down any melodies he heard during the night as he slept.
He was a kid who loved baseball (he's a serious collector of baseball memorabilia to this day), but knew music was his calling. He was 14 when he heard The Beatles on TV's "Ed Sullivan Show," but it was The Who performing "Can't Explain" on TV's "Hullabaloo" series that really pulled his chain.
The authors take us through Eric's high school years, somewhat nerdy guy who couldn't make it as a "jock" playing sports. He then discovered that girls liked musicians, too, especially one 9th Grade girl he had a crush on who in turn had a huge crush on Paul McCartney.
The 5-foot-9 Carmen decided he could be Cleveland's Paul McCartney. He had an enormous vocal range. He just needed to learn to play the guitar. At age 16, his parents bought him a guitar and amplifier.
Throughout the book it is apparent that Eric didn't like traditional teaching methods in music. He was a quick study, well beyond his teachers' abilities in most cases, and when his guitar teacher wanted him to learn "Red River Valley" instead of "Ticket To Ride," well, he quit class, bought a Beatles' songbook and taught himself to play guitar.
The book's authors take us through the 1960's, a series of formative bands, from folk duos to genuine rock groups, most short-lived, through his one desire, to join Cleveland's The Choir.
The Choir included three future Raspberries (Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti). They had a national Hot 100 hit in 1967 with "It's Cold Outside" on Roulette Records (which spent five weeks at # 1 in Cleveland). They were the most popular band in Cleveland, dressed in Choir-boy outfits and opening for international acts like The Who and Herman's Hermits while only 17-years-old themselves.
Eric saw the hysteria at Choir shows in his hometown. He wanted to be a member of that band. When he put a wig on over his short to try to join the band, his future Raspberries' mates laughed at him.
A very competitive fellow, Eric decided to form a better band, one called Cyrus Erie, a group that later stole Bryson from The Choir and who landed a recording deal with Epic Records.
Eventually, Carmen, Bryson, Smalley and Bonfanti got together as The Raspberries, scoring a million-selling single in 1972 with "Go All The Way." They would meet their idols (there's a photo of Bryson with Pete Townshend) and be praised by them (from Eric knocking down John Lennon at their first meeting ("not how I intended to meet a Beatle," Eric admits) with a door to Lennon later helping the band promote ("love your record") their final album).
What Hogya and Sharp take us through in "Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" is a guidebook of dos-and-don'ts of the music business. The band learned lessons the hard way and wound up broke (never trust your manager, never sign away your publishing rights, never take anything for granted).
They reveal inner personality clashes that break up successful groups. Egos that are easily bruised. Everything from the fun times of a drummer who drives the group around after eating lots of beans, with full control of the car's power windows, to Eric being drug around a parking lot by his hair by his guitarist after taking one too many verbal slaps at his guitarist's work.
The book is full of details like that, given in chronological history style. "Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" takes the reader through a rock 'n' roll life in fascinating detail. If you think you "know" the Eric Carmen story, you won't actually know Eric Carmen the man until you read this book.
The book should appeal to music fans of all genres and for anyone with a child looking to be the next "American Idol," "Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" is a must read about one man's rise to fame, one man's fall from the spotlight and one man's "marathon" adventure of survival.
Eric Carmen ultimately found happiness as a songwriter, but he becomes a truly happy man as a husband and father of two children in the book. He redeems himself, through the book's authors' presentation of the facts, as a man who admits his mistakes and who then found a way to heel the wounds of the past while shaping a brighter tomorrow.
Final recommendation:
Like its subject, "Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" is "Cool" with a capital "C." For Carmen fans, this is a must-have. For music fans, I recommend it highly as an addition to your collection. For music students wanting to go professional, the book provides valuable insight into the music profession, good and bad, and provides an insider's guide to the art of songwriting.
Included are bonus sections which feature Eric commenting on most of the songs he has written (including unreleased), an extensive discography and an appendix which lists unreleased demos, live recordings and rarities. The book is thoroughly indexed.
The 412-page-plus paperback is $24.95 from http://www.ericcarmen.com, while a limited edition (250 copies) autographed hardcover is $75.00 from the same site (not many of those left at press time).
Just released:
Bernie Hogya worked on the CD and DVD release of Live On Sunset Strip (Deluxe Edition of 2 CDs and a DVD recorded during the 2005 reunion tour) By Raspberries (what, "Got Raspberries?" wouldn't have a good title?), a 2007 Rykodisc release with liner notes by Bruce 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
"Raspberries TONIGHT!" by Bernie Hogya and Ken Sharp with photography by Gene Taylor --- a full-color, 100-page paperback book about the 2004-2005 Raspberries reunion tour: http://www.epinions.com/content_217001201284
Special thanks
To Epinions.Com Book Category Lead Grace (http://www.epinions.com/user-gracef) for adding this title to the Epinions' database for me.
Related reviews
The Sittin' Ducks featuring Wally Bryson of Raspberries with Dan Klawon and Kenny Margolis, Wally's bandmates in The Choir (see their "Choir Practice" CD): http://www.epinions.com/content_239152434820
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
The British 17-track CD, "All By Myself: The Best Of Eric Carmen": http://www.epinions.com/content_175776566916
In honor of this book and the reunion, I've just reviewed the four Raspberries' studio albums (check out the album cover images, now online):
Raspberries "Raspberries": http://www.epinions.com/content_153014079108
Raspberries "Fresh": http://www.epinions.com/content_153148690052
Raspberries "Side 3": http://www.epinions.com/content_153560452740
Raspberries "Starting Over" (named Best Album Of 1974 by Rolling Stone magazine): http://www.epinions.com/content_152728538756
An inexpensive 2004 collection of Eric's hits is "All By Myself" from Collectables Records (I had some fun with this one since there are so many "greatest hits" collections from Eric on the market): http://www.epinions.com/content_147186945668
Released on CD in Japan only, Eric Carmen's "Change Of Heart" album: http://www.epinions.com/content_165198728836
Jim Bonfanti and Boxer's year 2004 CD, "By The Seat Of Our Pants": http://www.epinions.com/content_180171804292
Book reviews of interest
"The Milk Mustache Book: A Behind-The-Scenes Look At America's Favorite Advertising Campaign" was co-written by "Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" co-author Bernie Hogya: http://www.epinions.com/content_79203700356
"Overnight Sensation: The Story Of The Raspberries" from 1993 is written by "Eric Carmen: Marathon Man" co-author Ken Sharp: http://www.epinions.com/book-review-7ABF-5A754E8-385DC2B5-prod3
"Without You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger" by Dan Matovina is another fine music biography: http://www.epinions.com/book-review-5325-3AD80BD-388EB863-prod1
On the web
The official Raspberries' website: http://www.raspberries.net
The official Eric Carmen website: http://www.ericcarmen.com
The official Wally Bryson website: http://www.thebrysongroup.com/
The official Dave Smalley website: http://www.davesmalley.com/
The official Jim Bonfanti website (featuring his Cleveland band, Boxer): http://www.boxerrocks.com
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Don_Krider
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 in Music, Electronics, Musical Instruments |
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Member: Don Krider
Location: USA
Reviews written: 301
Trusted by: 1004 members
About Me:
Fan of power pop (Raspberries, Badfinger, Cheap Trick, The Knack, Romantics, Slade,Sweet...) --- "Play On"!!!
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