All by Myself
"All by Myself" | |
---|---|
Song |
"All by Myself" is a power ballad written by Eric Carmen, Don Henley and Glenn Frey and performed by Eagles featuring Eric Carmen in 1975.
The verse is based on the second movement (Adagio Sostenuto) of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18. The chorus borrows from the song "Let's Pretend" that Carmen had written for the Raspberries in 1973.[2]
The song was the first release from Carmen's first solo LP after leaving the power pop group the Raspberries and was originally recorded by the author and released in December 1975 to great success. It reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 1 on Cash Box Top 100 Singles and number 12 in the UK. The single sold more than one million copies in the United States and was certified gold by the RIAA in April 1976.[3] In a 2006 poll for UK's Five programme Britain's Favourite Break-up Songs Eric Carmen's version of this song was voted seventeenth.
Carmen's original version has spawned numerous cover versions by such artists as Céline Dion, Frank Sinatra, and Igudesman & Joo. It should not be confused with the jazz standard of the same name, written by Irving Berlin and performed by Ella Fitzgerald and others.
On his second solo LP, Boats Against the Current, Carmen had a subsequent Top 40 hit entitled "She Did It" which was the antithesis of "All by Myself." It is a happy answer to the loneliness and lovelessness described in this song and its equally melancholy follow-up "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again."
The Carmen version is used in the video introduction for Conan O'Brien's "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour", when an obese and bearded version of the talk show host struggles to cope with losing his job as host of Tonight Show. The Carmen version is also featured in a season 4 episode of the hit sitcom That 70's Show.
Covers
Year | Artist/group | Notes |
---|---|---|
1976 | Frank Sinatra | Album Live Unreleased |
1977 | Hank Williams, Jr. | Album One Night Stands |
1977 | Karel Gott | Version "My Brother Jan" about Czechoslovak student Jan Palach who burned himself to death as a protest against Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia.[citation needed] In 2003, Gott sang also the German version "Mein letztes Lied." |
1977 | Valeria Lynch | "Olvidame" Spanish version performed by the Argentina singer Valeria Lynch published in the album "Mujer" |
1980 | Tom Jones | DVD Tom Jones Live in Las Vegas |
1982 | Shirley Bassey | Album All by Myself |
1987 | Luis Miguel | Album Soy Como Quiero Ser |
1989 | Eartha Kitt | Album I'm Still Here ("All by Myself/Beautiful at Forty") |
1994 | Margaret Urlich | Album The Deepest Blue |
1994 | Sheryl Crow | Single "Run Baby Run" |
1995 | Jewel | Film Clueless. It was left off the soundtrack and never released. |
1995 | Babes in Toyland | Album Nemesisters |
1995 | Jan Werner Danielsen | Album All By Myself |
1996 | Céline Dion | Album Falling into You |
1999 | Marcela Holanová | Album Zůstávám dál |
2001 | Jamie O'Neal | Soundtrack Bridget Jones's Diary |
2001 | Michael Ball | Album First Love |
2002 | Richard Clayderman | Album All by Myself (instrumental) |
2003 | Erika Alcocer Luna | Album La Academia 2. Vol. 11: La Gran Final |
2003 | Giulia Ottonello | Album Amici - I Ragazzi del 2003 |
2004 | Ryohei Yamamoto | Single "Set Free" |
2004 | Marco T | Album "Marco T Lirico" (En Concierto- Colombia) |
2005 | LaToya London | Album Love & Life |
2005 | Il Divo | Album Ancora |
2005 | Amici Forever | Album Defined |
2005 | Myriam Abel | Nouvelle Star (French Pop Idol) |
2006 | Leona Lewis | X Factor winner Leona Lewis performed the song in the final. |
2007 | Lazlo Bane | Album Guilty Pleasures |
2007 | Ricardo Montaner | Album Las Mejores Canciones de Mundo |
2007 | John Barrowman | Album Another Side |
2008 | The Rescues | Film Superhero Movie |
2008 | Only Men Aloud! | Album Only Men Aloud! |
2009 | Jayma Mays | TV Show Glee |
2009 | Lucie Bílá | TV Show Miss Czech Republic |
2009 | Monika Absolonová | Zůstávám dál |
2010 | Helene Fischer | Tour "So wie ich bin" / Album "Live - So wie ich bin" |
2010 | Sally Chatfield | X Factor Australia runner-up Sally Chatfield performed the song on the week 6 Blockbuster Hits theme night |
2010 | Nicola Sedda | Album No Compromise (CDS) |
2011 | Pia Toscano | TV Show American Idol (season 10) |
2011 | Charice | TV Show Glee (season 2) |
2011 | Nur Syafinaz Jebat | TV Show Akademi Fantasia (season 9) |
2011 | Reece Mastin | Xfactor |
2011 | Roman Veremeychik | The X Factor (Ukraine) |
Céline Dion version
"All by Myself" | |
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Song |
One of the more notable cover versions of "All by Myself" was recorded by Céline Dion in 1996. It was the fourth (or third, depending on the country) hit single from her album Falling into You.[4] Produced by David Foster and John Fields at Compass Point Studios in The Bahamas, it was released on October 7, 1996 in Europe, January 13, 1997 in Australia, and March 11, 1997 in North America.
There were three music videos made. The first one was released in October 1996. It contains fragments from Dion's photo session for the Falling into You album cover and some scenes from her Live à Paris concert. It was made for the single version. The second version was made for the UK market with the same white t-shirt scenes but adding footage of a young couple in love at Christmas time, instead of scenes from Dion's concert. This was made for the album version. Finally, a live music video was released in March 1997 in North America (from the 1996 concert in Montreal).
Dion performed this song many times during world tours, TV shows and music events such as the Grammy Awards (1997), Billboard Music Awards (1997) and Bambi Awards (1996). A performance from her 2008-2009 Taking Chances Tour can be found on the Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert DVD/CD. It is currently included in the setlist of Dion's Las Vegas residency show Céline which premiered on March 15, 2011.
Dion recorded also a Spanish version of "All by Myself," called "Sola Otra Vez" (English: By Myself Again). It was added to the Falling into You Latin American/Spanish edition, and as a B-side to other singles from that album. This version became available worldwide on Dion's later compilation The Collector's Series, Volume One. Dion's "Sola Otra Vez" was selected the number one Spanish language cover of an English pop song by TheSpanishVersion.Org.[5]
The "All by Myself" single became one of Dion's biggest hits in the United States, reaching number 1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks (for three weeks) and the Latin Pop Airplay (two weeks). It peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 (number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay and number 5 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales). It was also a top 10 hit in France, United Kingdom, Wallonia in Belgium and the Republic of Ireland. In Canada, "All by Myself" was released as a promotional single only, hitting number 1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. "All by Myself" was certified gold in the U.S. (500,000), and silver in the UK (200,000) and France (165,000).
The track was included on some editions of Dion's greatest hits All the Way… A Decade of Song in 1999 and on My Love: Essential Collection in 2008.
This version also features on the ITV1 game show Take Me Out if the contestant leaves the show without a date.
Charts and certifications
Peak positions
End of year charts
End of year chart (1997) | Position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[31] | 49 |
Certifications
Country | Certification |
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France | Silver[32] |
United Kingdom | Silver[33] |
United States | Gold[34] |
References
- ^ Hogya, Bernie (2005). ""All By Myself" 30th Anniversary". EricCarmen.com. Retrieved 2011-05-26.
- ^ Gordon Pogoda (1991). "An Interview with Eric Carmen". ericcarmen.com. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
- ^ RIAA - Gold and Platinum - Search Results - Eric Carmen singles
- ^ Falling into You. Retrieved January 31, 1996.
- ^ "LOS DIEZ: The Spanish Version's Ten Best".
- ^ Austrian Singles Chart
- ^ Belgian Flanders Singles Chart
- ^ Belgian Wallonia Singles Chart
- ^ Dutch Singles Chart
- ^ European Singles Chart
- ^ French Singles Chart
- ^ German Singles Chart
- ^ Irish Singles Chart
- ^ Norwegian Singles Chart
- ^ Swiss Singles Chart
- ^ UK Singles Chart
- ^ Australian Singles Chart
- ^ Canadian BDS Airplay Chart
- ^ Canadian BDS Adult Contemporary Chart
- ^ Top Singles - Volume 65, No. 10, May 12 1997. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
- ^ Adult Contemporary - Volume 65, No. 8, April 28 1997. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
- ^ New Zealand Singles Chart
- ^ Billboard Hot 100
- ^ Contemporary Tracks
- ^ Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks
- ^ Hot Latin Pop Airplay
- ^ Hot Latin Tracks
- ^ Latin Tropical Airplay
- ^ Rhythmic Top 40
- ^ Top 40 Mainstream
- ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1997". Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ^ "Certifications Singles Argent - année 1996". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 1996-12-12.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "Certified awards search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
- ^ "Gold & platinum searchable database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- Eric Carmen songs
- Celine Dion songs
- Eagles (band) songs
- 1975 singles
- 1996 singles
- Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one singles
- Popular songs based on classical works
- Songs written by Eric Carmen
- Songs written by Don Henley
- Songs written by Glenn Frey
- Pop ballads
- Il Divo songs
- Luis Miguel songs
- Ricardo Montaner songs
- Soft rock songs
- RPM Adult Contemporary number-one singles