Eric: Question About Locomotion

[steve-o]

Eric: I have heard the Raspberries version of Locomotion/Be My Baby countless times. I also have heard the almost legendary tale how Todd Rundgen was at the Carnegie Hall concert, heard the Berries version and sold Grand Funk on covering the song and the rest is music history. My question is did the Raspberries ever considering covering the tune as a possible single or were you all more concentrated on your own material?

Steve-O

[Paulie Mississippi]

I'll take steve-o's question one notch farther, Eric. Did the Raspberries ever record any cover material while recording their albums. I know that usually more songs are recorded that what make the final cut, so any gems that might resurface one day?

[Eric Carmen]

The 'Berries recorded four albums in two years so, unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of extra material sitting around. The budgets of those albums were very small ( I think the first album was $25,000) so we didn't have a lot of extra time to try things out and experiment. We pretty much went in, recorded the songs for each album, mixed and went home to write the next one. I don't believe there were any songs left over and we never did a cover tune. e

[prettymom777]

I'd rather hear Raspberries and Carmen originals any day.

In reference to "The Locomotion", I took Grand Funk's version over little Eva's because I was a sixties kid. Carole King wrote it well, but I just found Grand Funk did it better, and I grew up on those songs, Raspberries and yours. That's my humble opinion.

Admittedly, I seldom like covers, but only make a few exceptions.

 

 

[Raspbernie]

Of course, Todd Rundgren was at Carnegie Hall in September 1973 when Raspberries closed the show with "The Locomotion"/"Be My Baby." Inspired, he got Grand Funk Railroad (who he was producing at the time) to cut a cover. It went to #1 and was their biggest hit.

Bernie

[prettymom777]

According to Todd Rundgren, his preference is being a producer rather than another artist. He started with blues, and then pretty much anything else he wanted. It would have been neat to see him working with EC. Then again, you just never know!  Miracles happen, you can wish and hope, but from what I've seen, EC has produced quite well.

[Silvia]

Eric: Hello my name is Silvia, but with a low budget, you were very successful, you did good songs

[prettymom777]

Welcome Sylvia. It'ts not so much the money as the will-power and using the musical knowledge, but video and social media (to paraphrase) killed the radio star.

A lot of us long for the less expensive days like the 70s. Raising four kids was tough in the '90s, but we did it.

By the way, how did you manage to highlight the above post?

[Silvia]

Hello prettymom777, I do not speak English because I am Spanish, I have to use the google translator and that is why the text is marked in blue. You're right about what you said, I did not want to bother anyone with my comment. I only know that in 1991 I listened for the first time hungry eyes and I never tired of listening to it, and years ago I discovered many songs of Eric Carmen and me his melody transmits a lot of sensitivity, is a good composer, singer, guitarist and pianist, That behind the star there is a great person and for me people matter.

[prettymom777]

Muchas gracias por Google translator! Some of us were looking for Eric Carmen songs in other languages, and they were very difficult to find any place.

I found "All By Myself" lyrics in Hungarian and my brother-in-law's language but not in songs. In my ciudad, there are many Italianos, Portuguese, Espanols, and I understand some parts of their speech. I needed to learn French in my country, but it's different. There are two kinds of French: Parisian and Patois, a dialect for the French people of the province of Quebec. James knows some Espanol and Marvin knows some French.

 

[Silvia]

I'm glad to be able to help you, Eric comes here a lot ?? I would like you to read what I write too

[LC]

On 3/21/2006 at 2:06 AM, Eric Carmen said:

The 'Berries recorded four albums in two years so, unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of extra material sitting around. The budgets of those albums were very small ( I think the first album was $25,000) so we didn't have a lot of extra time to try things out and experiment. We pretty much went in, recorded the songs for each album, mixed and went home to write the next one. I don't believe there were any songs left over and we never did a cover tune. e

Cool old thread. Two things:

1. Has anyone — Bernie? — seen a verification of Eric's recollection that Raspberries first album had a budget of $25,000? Man, that is remarkable. Even in 1972-era dollars, it just seems so low. Just five years later, Eric spent $375,000 on Boats Against the Current, as reported by Casey Kasem on American Top 40, October 15, 1977 (that's according to Wikipedia). It supposedly was "six times the average cost for an album of that era."  

2. Anyone know what the budgets were for the three subsequent albums? I'm thinking that with the success of "Go All the Way" and "I Wanna Be with You," purse strings loosed a little. But probably not too much.