"Cornerstone" is the 9th studio album by the American pump rock band Styx. Recorded in 1979 in Illinois, at Pumpkin Studios (Oak Lawn village). The album was produced by the band's musicians themselves. The releasing label is A&M, the release date is October 19, 1979. In the American charts of Billboard magazine, the album reached the 2nd position and brought the band a lot of fame and money. In the years since its release, "Cornerstone" has sold over 3 million copies in the United States alone, thus becoming triple platinum.
Styx's third straight multi-platinum selling album, Cornerstone was Styx's first album to earn a Grammy nomination, which was for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.
From a songwriting standpoint, Cornerstone is dominated by Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw—each is credited as sole songwriter or co-writer for five tracks on the album (including two collaborations between the pair).
Consistent with most of Styx's catalog from 1975 to 1983, DeYoung's contributions to Cornerstone single to be released was also to become Styx's only US #1 single: "Babe," which DeYoung wrote as a birthday present for his wife Suzanne.
"First Time," another power ballad also written by DeYoung, was intended to be Cornerstone. DeYoung predominantly used a Fender Rhodes electric piano on over half of the tracks and the group used real horns and strings on the album on several tracks.
Cornerstone is best known for including the group's only No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 Single, the power ballad "Babe".
The song "Boat on the River" from the album "Cornerstone" became one of the biggest hits of the rock band Styx in Europe, but was not popular in the United States, the band's homeland. At the same time, critics received it well, but even their positive reviews did not help the single get into the American charts. Perhaps that's why not much is known about the history and meaning of the song "Boat on the River", but we managed to extract some information from individual interviews. The author of the words and music of "Boat on the River" was Tommy Shaw. He wrote it in 1979 after a trip to France. Styx was already a very famous band at the time, and Tommy was getting tired of fame with all its side effects. In the song "Boat on the River", he expressed a desire to escape from this madness and take refuge in his parents' house. "Tranquility Base", where, as the text suggests, all roads lead, is the name of the farm where Tommy lived as a child. Tommy performed the song "Boat on the River", accompanying himself on the mandolin. Dennis De Young played accordion, Chuck Panozzo – double bass, John Panozzo – tambourine and drum, and James Young – acoustic guitar.
"Boat on the River" was released as a single from the album "Cornerstone". In the USA, as mentioned above, it did not cause a stir, but in some European countries it entered the top five tracks (in Switzerland it even topped the local charts).
The song features Tommy Shaw on lead vocals and mandolin, with Dennis DeYoung accompanying on accordion and harmony vocals.
In the video for the song, Chuck Panozzo, John Panozzo, and James J.Y. Young play bowed double bass, tambourine/bass drum and acoustic guitar respectively (even though James J.Y. Young does not play on the original recording).
It was popular in several European countries, becoming a top-five hit on the German, Austrian and Swiss charts (reaching number one on the latter).
Styx - Boat On The River 1980
Boat on the river
Take me back to my boat on the river,
I need to go down, I need to calm down.
Take me back to my boat on the river
and I won't cry out anymore.
Time stands still as I gaze in the water,
she eases me down, touching me gently
with the waters that flow past my boat on the river,
so I don´t cry out anymore.
Oh, the river is wise, the river it touches
my life like the waves on the sand
and all roads lead to Tranquility Base
where the frown on my face disappears.
Take me down to my boat on the river
and I won't cry out anymore.
Oh, the river is deep, the river it touches
my life like the waves on the sand
and all roads lead to tranquility base
where the frown on my face disappears.
Take me down to my boat on the river,
I need to go down, won't you let me go down.
Take me back to my boat on the river
and I won't cry out anymore.
Dennis DeYoung — Keyboards, Vocals
Tommy Shaw — Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Mandolin, Autoharp, Guitar (Electric), Vocals
James Young — Synthesizer, Guitar, Autoharp, Vocals
Steve Eisen — Saxophone
Chuck Panozzo — Bass, Guitar (Bass), Vocals
John Panozzo — Percussion, Drums, Vocals
Arnie Roth — Strings, Arranger
Ed Tossing — Arranger, Horn