#RSFlashback – ‘All By Myself’ (Celine Dion)

Twenty-five years ago, Celine Dion covered quite possibly one of the most somber power ballads of all-time and turned it into a belt-along vocal anthem for the ages. “All By Myself” debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 this week, landing Dion her third straight Top 10 hit from her Falling Into You album, 1997’s Album Of The Year winner at the Grammy Awards.

The song was originally written and performed by Eric Carmen. It was the first single released by Carmen after leaving the power pop group, the Raspberries. The song zoomed up the charts peaking at #2 on Billboard Hot 100 in early 1976 (kept out of the top spot by “Love Machine” by the Miracles and “December 1963 (Oh What A Night)” by the Four Seasons. The single went platinum, selling more than a million copies and became the first of eight Top 40 hits for the singer.

The song’s co-writing credit is interestingly enough Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. His second piano concerto, a piece infamously used in the 1945 British film “Brief Encounter” was adapted to fit the melody of the verses. As the concerto was in the public domain, Carmen believed there was no copyright required however upon the release and huge success of the single, Carmen was contacted by Rachmaninoff’s estate who informed him that outside of the United States, indeed the music was still protected, hence leading to a co-writing credit on the single.

While Carmen’s version had already been a staple on Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 radio for years, Celine Dion’s cover in 1996 again propelled the song globally to its most prominent levels since the release of the original version. Produced by David Foster, the single was truly a vocal showcase for the singer who already had scored massive hits with her singles “Because You Loved Me” and “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now.” In many ways, it was the perfect single release for Dion after the first two tracks, as it parlayed her from pop diva to rock and roll diva, where she got to channel her inner Bonnie Tyler and Tina Turner – but with a voice that could soar higher and farther than anyone.

In the mid-1990s, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey were the two voices most consistently generating the adulation of singers. But as Carey matured and evolved more towards the R&B end, Dion’s push towards a more rock leaning pop felt like the right move to give her the distinction she needed.

Dion spoke about that infamous high note that we get to hear at the penultimate moment of the song. According to the singer during an interview with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, she had been surprised by Foster during the recording. Foster challenged the Canadian chanteuse, egging her on stating that other singers were capable of hitting that note if she couldn’t and, of course, she promptly had to disprove them.

The rest is Top 40 history as Dion scored one of the biggest hits of her career. The track ultimately peaked within the Top 5 of most markets, and in many ways revived the original for Carmen as those who felt embarrassed to say they listened to Dion, but only discovered the song because of her, started to play the original version by Carmen.

“All By Myself” also proved to be one of the best examples of a gender switch for a single that resonated so strongly and did justice to the original. While this is nothing new and the best proof has to be Otis Redding’s “Respect” by Aretha Franklin back in the 1960s, many artists continue to try and fail. One recent shining exclusion to that, though not a ballad, would have to be Florence + The Machine’s cover of Robert Palmer’s “Addicted To Love”. With Welch’s vocals, the single goes from sleazy 1980’s sex rock anthem to a hypnotic sensual composition.

Dion has covered a great many songs in her 30-year-plus career and “All By Myself” is probably up there as not only one of her best covers ever, but arguably one of her best songs and vocal performances. Is there an artist today that could bring the single justice like Carmen and Dion both did? Time will tell, until then, we’ve got two versions that can get us crying…no matter what.