As soon as he answered his phone, Clayton Carmen knew he was getting bad news.
Claytons stepmother, Amy, was on the other end of the line.
She told me, Your dad died yesterday.
The Raspberriesonstage at the Bottom Line in New York in 1974: Carmen led the power-pop band into rock & roll history with influential songs like “Go All the Way” and “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record).”© Bob Gruen / www.bobgruen.com
Eric Carmens brother, Fred, received a similar call from Amy.
He had some questions.
I said, Was he sick?
She said, No.
We went out to dinner the night before and he seemed fine.
We watched TV before going to bed.
The next morning, I ran some errands while he slept in, like he always did.
When I came home, he was gone.
Why did he almost completely abandon his music career after scoring worldwide hits in the late Eighties?
What caused him to sever ties with his only children?
The complex portrait that emerged varies wildly, depending on whos doing the telling.
Eric had every reason for wanting to be estranged from [his family].
But hey, be sure to blame the new wife.
The one thing nobody disputes is that Carmen was a perfectionist and musical genius.
After he died, I saw he hadnt made music in over 25 years, says Steven Van Zandt.
I was like, Goddamn!
They were right at the top.Rightat the top.
It was Amy Murphy, who was then living in Arizona.
I received a Facebook direct message from him, Amy said at Carmens memorial service last year.
It simply read, Did you know you were my favorite weather girl when you were in Cleveland?
Before long, the couple moved into a new house together in Cleveland.
From the start, Carmens children, Clayton and Kathryn, didnt take to Amy.
When my dad was around, she was very smiley, happy, and sweet.
My father was just a very manipulatable, paranoid, isolated person, he continues.
Shell say yes to whatever he wants.
Shell agree with him on his zaniest, most deranged conspiracy theories.
She was just what he wanted.
Amy emphatically denies this categorization of their relationship.
I never asked him for anything, she says.
Unlike the other barnacles in Erics life, I didnt need anything.
I cant stop dwelling on how much I hate them, she wrote.
Clay and I have discussed killing Eric and driving his Jag to California.
Our plan sounds better and better …
I got so angry tonight I couldnt stop shaking.
I cant be responsible for my own actions at this point.
MY FATHER WAS JUST A VERY MANIPULATABLE, PARANOID, ISOLATED PERSON.
She would often comb through my brother and Is rooms looking for anything that could harm a parent-child relationship.
This was Erics choice, Amy says.
Eric had no desire to reestablish contact with any of them.
[Amy] was really good for him, says Raspberries drummer Jim Bonfanti.
She was a different person than Eric, but shes smart, and she really loved him.
He was as happy as Id seen him.
Bernie Hogya, who co-wrote the 2011 biographyEric Carmen: Marathon Manwith Ken Sharp, echoes Bonfantis assessment.
Id never seen him happier, he says.
She really grounded him.
The start of Carmens relationship with Amy happened to coincide with the political rise of Donald Trump.
Unemployment skyrocketed, the lockdown crashed Trumps economy, teachers dont want schools to open, hewrotein one tweet.
People lost businesses they worked their whole lives for.
All to hurt Donald Trump.
Were just collateral damage.
And the REAL point is mandatory vaccination with an ID for all.
Watch Newsmax and OANN …
The entire MSM has called the election for Biden.
Not surprising, since they were all part of it.
just, President Trump, do not concede.
I know all about The Great Reset, hetweetedon Nov. 17, 2020.
Im wondering how they intend to accomplish it.
Whatever it is, it will make Covid look like a small bump in the road.
Some of his friends did their best to ignore Carmens online outbursts.
When he went sideways politically, we just didnt discuss politics, says Van Zandt.
Thats what I do with all my friends when we differ.
We may differ politically, but I dont write people off that way.
Im like, Hey, we see things differently politically, and thats OK.
Lets not make that part of the conversation.
We got plenty of other things to talk about.
Back in Cleveland, Carmens kids were aghast.
The most I can make sense of it is that he did struggle with depression, says Kathryn.
Our jaws were on the ground as we saw everything unfold with his politics.
A Musical Prodigy
Theres no denying the musical talent of Eric Carmen.
Even before he entered kindergarten, the Cleveland Institute of Music recognized something in the boy.
He was playing piano before he could walk, says Fred Carmen.
I could bang my spoon on a steel bowl and hed go, C-flat.
He literally had perfect pitch.
When Carmen was just three and a half, the Cleveland Institute of Music offered him an enrollment.
I took guitar lessons at the same time, says Fred.
It was very frustrating for me, because I was going through one book every three months.
He was going through three books every three days.
He just had incredible natural talent.
His proficiency on guitar helped him stand out in a school where he very much felt like an outsider.
He had a complex about being the Jewish kid with very curly hair, says Kathryn Carmen.
He saw the Beatles with their straight British cuts.
He really, really wanted that hair.
And I think he just became obsessed with trying to get it straight.
(Getting his hair just right was a lifelong quest.
By the late Eighties, he toured with a large suitcase devoted solely to hairbrushes and sprays.)
Eric knew exactly what he wanted the band to be, says Bonfanti.
He wanted us to have something different and special.
He was on a mission.
A big part of that mission was eschewing the excesses that had crept into rock by the early 1970s.
I remember Eric saying, You wont hear any flute solos in this band, says Bonfanti.
We wanted to be the next Beatles, which was a pretty lofty goal.
But Capitol had no idea what to do with the Raspberries.
The label never figured us out, says Bonfanti.
And our big mistake was not finding the right manager.
We handled everything ourselves, and that sort of screwed us.
The Raspberries second LP,Fresh,hit just seven months after the first.
On the cover, they look like an early disco band in matching white suits with giant black-tab collars.
The critics, however, were underwhelmed.
Van Zandt says the reaction was unfair.
The Raspberries were like the Who meets the Beatles, the E Street Band guitarist says.
And now when you look back, you realize they were inventing power pop.
Even then they werent on the same page.
He was really into the Beach Boys, says Bryson.
I didnt see the point in that.
I didnt think you could beat the Beach Boys at their own game.
HE TOURED WITH A LARGE SUITCASE DEVOTED SOLELY TO HAIRBRUSHES AND SPRAYS.
At 25, he was in danger of becoming a one-hit wonder.
One of my favorite records that summer was the RaspberriesGreatest Hits, Springsteen said in 1998.
They were great little pop records.
Two-, three-, four-minute pop songs coming one right after another.
He believes in my philosophy, which is youre only as cool as who you steal from.
David Foster came in and jokingly said, If you cant hit that note, Whitneys two doors down.
The recording made Carmen millions money that went very far in the Rust Belt town of Cleveland.
Celine Dion did us a lot of favors, says Kathryn Carmen.
I grew up very, very privileged.
Like I was talking to a friend, or just thinking out loud.
I guess it all worked.
The problem began when Carmen realized that Arista expected a second album of songs similar to All by Myself.
I assume he meant that you’re able to never be considered a serious rock artist again.
He returned to America with hefty studio bills and, according to Fred Carmen, an addiction to cocaine.
Davis also tore up Carmens carefully crafted track sequence.
Its completely backward from what Eric wanted, says Hogya.
He said to me, If you listen to it backwards, its my biography.
Its my life story.
But if you listen to the way Clive decided to track it, it doesnt make any sense.
Only years later wouldBoats Against the Currentbe recognized as a classic.
Carmen would never again have that much freedom in the studio.
That was a lament of him being forced to do whats going to come in between those songs.
Two more failed albums followed, and Carmen went into career hibernation.
It was also really rough on his voice.
He got a little sloppy, too.
He would have too much to drink, and he would forget the words to the songs.
Carmen was forced to bow out, leaving him with bitter memories of life as a touring artist.
It became an even bigger hit.
Carmen all but vanished from the public sphere.
He just didnt know where he fit in the pantheon of music stars anymore, says Fred Carmen.
That frustrated him greatly, and he just retracted.
His son, Clayton, was born in 1997, and Kathryn followed three years later.
To young kids, he was great, says Susan.
Carmen worked meticulously to learn every nuance of the classic-rock set list.
I think it was very important to Ringo to have everybody on the same page, Spero says.
We had guys like Jack Bruce, who was obviously a heavy drinker.
But you dont bring it to work, and Eric brought it to work.
The Ringo tour, including a triumphant hometown show on the Cleveland lakefront, lasted a mere eight weeks.
When it resumed the following summer, Roger Hodgson from Supertramp was given Carmens role as the bands keyboardist.
HE GOT A LITTLE SLOPPY.
HE WOULD HAVE TOO MUCH TO DRINK AND FORGET THE WORDS.
We were so excited.
From the minute we opened with I Want to Be With You, we were floating.
You just felt the love in that room.
For Carmens kids, it was their first real opportunity to see their father perform live.
We didnt really understand how much people loved him, says Kathryn.
It was so funny to see my teddy-bear dad as a rock star.
The one-off gig turned into a small series of shows in 2005 and 2007.
I remember going to the House of Blues in Hollywood, says Sahanaja.
We all couldnt believe we were hearing these songs live.
In rehearsal, he worked up a sax solo to play during Overnight Sensation.
Guess what happens when we get to that part of the song?
Wally played a guitar solo over the sax solo.
I looked over at Eric.
He looked over at me.
I knew it was done.
Bryson doesnt recall this incident but does remember it being a very tense evening.
Erics ego could fill a stadium, he says.
And he kept interjecting with suggestions at soundcheck.
I told him to shut the fuck up.
The Raspberries never played again.
I went to see him after the L.A. House of Blues show in 2007, says Sahanaja.
He was completely tanked.
He kept talking and talking about how much he loved a song of mine.
And I was so, so uncomfortable.
I actually had to leave, because it was like, I dont like seeing you like this.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Theheadline on TMZread Hungry Bloodshot Eyes.
When the cops showed up, there was a half-empty bottle of vodka in the front seat.
His blood alcohol level was .23, nearly three times the legal limit.
His marriage to Susan was in shambles.
He used coke early on, Susan says.
By the time the kids came around, it was just alcohol.
It was a condition of the marriage.
He spent six weeks there, but he just couldnt maintain it.
And as soon as his father died in 2007, he just went off the rails.
I almost mark my time with him into two periods, adds Clayton Carmen.
Before my grandfather died, and after my grandfather died.
It almost felt like anything before then was just childhood.
Carmens brief attempts at Alcoholics Anonymous went nowhere.
He was a pretty stark atheist, says Kathryn.
And my dad couldnt get with the program, quite literally.
He didnt believe in it.
He kept losing his boarding pass, says Bryson.
He was really out of it.
It seemed a little immature to me to get so drunk.
According to Susan Carmen, this incident was followed by one of many interventions that ultimately went nowhere.
This is not an easy topic for Bonfanti to address today.
I did all I could to help him, he says, wearily.
I supported him as much as anybody could.
But it was hard.
(Amy Carmen doesnt deny that Eric had a significant drinking problem before they met.
Carmens alcoholism was his familys primary concern, but they were also worried about his mental health.
As time went on, they occupied even more of his time.
A jet would go over our house and leave a little white trail, says Susan.
Hed look up and say it was an effort to sterilize people.
It was very hard to get him off of the topic of chemtrails, says Fred Carmen.
I would show him the articles that debunked all of that stuff, but true believers are true believers.
There was no talking him out of it.
I left the room to set up some mics, says Sahanaja.
I came back and heard the word chemtrails.
And I had to say Guys, we have to work …
THE HEADLINE ON TMZ READ HUNGRY BLOODSHOT EYES.
He liked engaging in conversation about such controversies, but that did not make him a conspiracy theorist.
People who want to disparage Eric by claiming this most certainly have their own agendas in doing so.)
Eric Carmen also refused any offers to perform live.
He could have been a huge casino act, says Spero.
But he was afraid of failure.
He was afraid hed be playing in front of empty houses.
You couldnt ask for a better deal.
He wouldnt do it.
No member of Carmens family had heard this story before, but they arent surprised.
We never went anywhere, really, because Eric didnt want to travel, says Susan.
He became very reclusive when we were in L.A. in the mid-Nineties, and then grew more intensive.
We could never plan a vacation where he would ever have to get up before noon, she adds.
He wouldnt go to things at the kids school if it was in the morning.
To put it mildly, Clayton doesnt feel that Carmen was a very good father.
There was always an excuse.
He was very, very different from your standard paternal, father-figure archetype.
There should be no mistake that he loved Clayton and Kathryn, Fred Carmen says of his brother.
But I dont think he really had a concept of what it was to be a parent.
They eventually reached a shared-custody agreement that left no one satisfied.
There wasnt much communication between the two of them, says Kathryn.
Carmen eventually moved into an apartment near the Beachwood Place mall on the east side of Cleveland.
He tried to date women online, but it didnt go very well.
They spoke on the phone nearly every day for almost two years, often for hours at a time.
But they never met, despite some close calls where she canceled at the last minute.
My sister and I basically told him for eight months, Youre getting catfished.
And he was completely in denial about it.
I remember printing out an article that said Top 10 Ways to Know Youre Being Catfished, adds Fred.
She checked every box, and he refused to believe it.
Fred Carmen says that was by Amys design.
To her credit, she was very effective.
Again, Eric is a conspiracy theorist.
She made him believe his entire family was engaged in a conspiracy against him.
We were excluded from their lives, replies Amy.
In the early days of the marriage, Amy says, she was a devoted stepmother.
I [tried] to include Clayton and Kathryn in our lives, she says.
I was very happy to help both of them with their homework, and prepare meals.
It was like they were strangers in their own home.
My nephew came to me, says Fred.
He said, you better watch out for Amy.
Amy says this is completely inaccurate.
I only saw Freds deck one time, and frankly it wasnt that impressive, she says.
I never told Eric or concluded that Fred was stealing from him.
Fred denies any wrongdoing.
They wound up settling out of court.
She provided an email Eric sent to his son regarding college housing.
We are talking about your college education.
The education for which I am paying.
Claytons tuition bill remained a point of acrimony.
Amy scoffs at this.
Says his former manager Spero: He didnt take care of himself.
Towards the end, hed gained a lot of weight.
Amy said Eric was taking 200 supplements in the morning and 200 vitamin supplements at night, says Fred.
And he had lost 11 pounds because he was taking Ozempic.
When Clayton and Kathryn asked about a memorial service, Amy was initially vague.
To verify Clayton, Kathryn, and Fred wouldnt come, she stationed armed guards outside the doors.
(I chose to have a beautiful but private celebration of Erics life, says Amy.
I unapologetically did not invite anyone who was disparaging or hurtful to my husband.)
Nobody in attendance had any idea there was backstage rancor.
Although, I have all day felt him with us in spirit.
The word that comes up most often when people talk about Eric Carmen is perfectionist.
It was an attitude that produced stunningly brilliant pop music that will endure for generations.
It also caused him to abandon his career, and retread inward in the latter years of his life.
Eric was, on balance, generally, a good person, says Fred.
But did he have a bad heart?
No, he didnt have a bad heart.
He had a good heart.
He told me music was the only connection to something divine he ever had in his whole life.
I would watch him sit at the piano and just lose himself.
I got to see so much of that.
And I do feel so, so lucky.
Despite the past seven or so years, I wouldnt trade any of it for a normal childhood.
