Who Did It Better? Boats Against The Current

Who Did It Better?

Boats Against The Current

Boats Against the Current is as song written in 1977 by Eric Carmen. It was the title track of his second solo album, post-The Raspberries disbanding.. 

The title is taken from a line from  F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Carmen's second album was, as Edward Albee would put it... "a difficult birth."

It began in February of 1977,  with three sessions in three different cities (London, Cleveland, and Los Angeles) with Elton John's producer Gus Dudgeon. Carmen, dissatisfied with the results, decided to begin the process all over again, with himself as producer. In the end, the album cost $375,000 - six times the average cost for an album of that era - to complete, making it, at that time, the most expensive album ever produced. 

Reviews ranged from good to ecstatic (see trade ad with quotes from critics at bottom of this post,) but sales remained elusive. The album peaked at #45 on the Billboard album chart for the week ending October 8, 1977. It spun off three singles, two of which made Billboard's Hot 100. She Did It was the biggest hit, reaching #23 on Billboard and #15 on Cash Box. It also snagged the #11 spot in Canada. 

Boats Against The Current was the second single and reached #88 Billboard and #92 Cash Box. As part of promotional efforts for the album, Carmen performed three tracks (She Did It, Boats Against the Current and Marathon Man) on The Midnight Special on October 14, 1977

Despite its lackluster chart performance, the song perked up the ears of a number of established artists. 

The title song was first covered by Frankie Valli on his 1977 Private Stock album, Lady Put the Light Out. Valli was experiencing yet another career renaissance, thanks to the success of his #1 hit Grease.  

It was also covered in 1978 by Olivia Newton-John, who,  thanks to her star turn in the film Grease, was undergoing a radical image and sound change - transforming herself from a countrified, butter-melts bumpkin to an edgy, sexy diva -  on her album Totally Hot. The song became a concert staple and appeared as the B-side of her single release for Rest Your Love on Me. 

Later, in 1981, Patti LaBelle covered the song for her 1981 LP, The Spirit's In It, as part of her stint on Philadelphia International Records.

And that's the whole story.

Now? On to the competition!

The Song: Boats Against The Current

The Competitors: Carmen vs. Valli vs. Newton John vs. LaBelle

Boats Against The Current - Eric Carmen

Boats Against The Current - Frankie Valli

Boats Against The Current - Olivia Newton John

Boats Against The Current - Patti LaBelle

Eric Carmen

That line from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is not the only thing borrowed for this song. Carmen begins with a variation of a familiar tune, Row, Row, Row Your Boat. He's no stranger to lifting melodies; the album's cut Love Is All That Matters borrows the melody from Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, Second Movement while his debut album contained two Top 40 hits based on melodies lifted from Rachmaninoff pieces.  

Lovely piano intro. A little heavy-handed. Nice quality with the opening vocals, I love that little quiver in his voice. Carmen is a great pianist, even when playing something as simple as this. With the second verse, in come the strings. Everything brightens up a notch, yet everything is kept in check. 

Adore these lyrics. 

By the time we launch into that chorus, I've got my Bic lighter out, ready to wave. Love how he reincorporates Row, Row, Row Your Boat into the bridge to the third verse. That piano continues to be the center of this piece. Adore the syncopation he finds within this plodding 4/4 meter. It gives him plenty of time for interpretation. I think that's one of the reasons his vocals are doing such a great job telling this rather bittersweet story. 

"Pre-ee-tend-dun for one more day..." Odd, but effective.

That slow build is now percolating on high... very dramatic stuff. But Carmen has the chops to pull it off. I do believe that is Toto's Jeff Porcaro on drums, doing an awesome job of ramping up the drama with all those cymbal crashes and downbeat fills. 

You could argue that Carmen sings like he has a mouth full of marbles, or maybe like a Mafia hitman? But I still find him an effective singer. 

How very nice that we return to an even cleaner sound than we began with. A lovely, simple ending. 

Bravo.

Frankie Valli

Valli opts for a very cinematic intro. Nice piano.

His vocals feel incredible truncated and couched. Great pitch. 

Where Carmen breaks it all down into tiny phrases, Valli seems in a very legato mood, stringing one word to another, like pearls on a necklace. It's a choice. 

It gets a bit Vegas by the time we hit the chorus. Piano glissandos abound, some weird sounding synth gurgles beneath, and, Valli, himself, is singing to the back of the house right out the gate. Keep in mind... we have a few more choruses to go.

An unfortunate saxophone instrumental fill. Foreshadowing things to come, perhaps? 

I think this musical arrangement misses the heart of the song. It's not lazy, by any means, it simply lacks focus. 

Valli's vocals are not bad - they never are - but the legato approach removes a lot of the rhythmic elements found in the melody. He also has a tendency to swallow some words. It's a very odd reading. 

By the fourth verse, he and the arrangement are actually at odds with one another. And he's pushing too hard. It's a sonic mess. 

You know how I am always going on about loving my open vowel sounds? Well, Valli seems to want to sing them all alike... and exclusively. An approach that has me scratching my head. It doesn't seem very musical. 

And there's that mopey sax. It reminds me a lot of the sound employed during Burt Bacharach's lost years during the late 1970's and his soundtrack for the Jacqueline Bisset film Together, with Libby Titus, Michael McDonald, and Paul Anka. 

Despise the angelic choir singing beneath. Sigh. Very Vegas. 

And we go for a big, widescreen, cinematic ending. 

Back to sappy sax.

And vocally? What is that sign-off? Bizarre. Dare I say, a bit mincing? Certainly not effective.

Olivia Newton John

She retains the original intro, albeit piano light. But then, Liv's vocals are on the light and feathery side of things, so, that is appropriate.

She enters the mix as tiny as possible. Almost a whisper. Great enunciation, which I would have swapped out for a bit of warmth. Still, there is that quiver in her voice, suggesting a brand of vulnerability that no one but ONJ could deliver. 

I do like the simplicity of the arrangement so far. It's very real, of the moment; it almost has a live recording quality to it.  

She wastes little time whipping it up on the chorus. Perhaps it's her accent, but there is both something very clipped about her delivery and sustained.

So far this is very faithful to the original.

But then enters some very odd guitar plucking. It sounds a bit tuneless. 

Lots of syncopation brought to the fourth verse. I like what she's doing. Although her line reading on 'pretending one more day...' doesn't quite make sense to me. And on the second chorus, it gets a bit shrill. 

That is one limp noodle of a guitar line. And it continues so, as ONJ sort of breaks loose.

But it ends well. 

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of depth to this version. 

So, it ends up sounding like exactly what it is - a cover version.

Patti LaBelle

Oh, dear. Ocean noises. 

I'm laughing, because I once did a demo of a song with the exact sound playing beneath the entire ballad. Even at the time, I thought it a bit much.

Interesting instrumental intro. Nothing I expected. 

Oh, so much happening. There's that odd timepiece click track distracting me, the whale wails bringing to mind the ocean. And Patti playing her tiniest self. Too much? 

What a fascinating selection of keyboards. That one entering the picture on the second verse reminds me of Chaka Khan's version of Through The Fire.

Oh, but then, that ramp up to chorus. That's wrong. It's like one of those keyboard harmonicas kids play. 

Wow, but who can argue about Patti's vocals on that first chorus? The lady is dead on. That's some lovely fire she brings to the table. And yet, reigned in just enough that there is somewhere to go.

I think the arrangement is competing, rather than supporting. That's unfortunate. Patti is right on target, doing what she always does. That's not bad, but it would be nice if she threw us a curve ball - this arrangement certainly is doing just that. 

By the fourth verse, does it matter what words she's singing? She's vocalizing like a madwoman, and so on point, but it has nothing to do with the song. I think this is my same complaint of every cover the woman takes on. 

And the cheesy keyboard harmonica reappears. Ugh.

The arrangement becomes more and more shrill as the second chorus goes on. Weird sax squeals. What became of the song?

Awful Vegas-style guitar. Hammond organ. This is absolute overkill. And would drown a lesser singer. Sadly, Patti refuses to give up the fight. 

What should sound triumphant ends up sounding incredibly harsh and discordant. 

My least favorite ending.

The Verdict

I was pulling for ONJ, my dears. 

Because I believe hers is the first version I ever heard. 

When Carmen's second album came out, I was too poor to buy it. 

I think my youngest sister bought Totally Hot for me for my birthday. I loved that album. 

Years later, I got my hands on a copy of Carmen's album and was blown away. I thought it overproduced and 'thick,' but loved the songwriting and his performances. 

And that's the way it ends up today... It's Carmen, for me.

Even though he's in good voice, Valli's cinematic/Vegas approach leaves me cold and I have issues with his phrasing throughout.

LaBelle's version is messy, as both the arrangement and vocalist lose sight of the song. Patti's on fire, but.... isn't that always the case?

ONJ's version lacks bottom and depth. It feels slight and fails to scratch the surface. 

As for Carmen, yes... overproduced. A bit heavy-handed, but I also feel he tells the best story and that's what this song is for me... 

...a very heartfelt, bittersweet love story. 

--- ---

And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn. Leave your choice and thoughts in the comments section. I love to hear what you're thinking.

That's all for now. Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

Boats Against The Current - Eric Carmen