Happy Birthday Eric Andersen-*From The Edges Of The Folk Revival- The Work Of Eric Andersen
CD Reviews
So Much On My Mind-The Eric Andersen Anthology, Eric Andersen, Raven Records, 2007
In the great swirl that was the folk music revival movement of the early 1960's a number of new voices were heard that created their own folk expression and were not as dependent on the traditional works of collective political struggle or social commentary associated with the likes of the Weavers, Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie. Although Eric Andersen was a product of the intense Cambridge folk scene and knew and played with many of the stars of that scene he had a distinctive niche in that he performed mainly his own his music and his subject matter tended toward the very personal. It was only political in the most general sense that he, like the others, was breaking away from Tin Pan Alley to express his sentiments.
That said, this anthology is heavily weighted toward songs that he wrote in the 1960's and early 1970’s - the most productive period of his career. I have seen some of his more recent performances (post 1980’s) and listened to his later work and nothing compares with the work of this period. Such tunes of personal sorrow and anger as “Florentine” and “Sheila” (not included here) and well as the classic “Violets of Dawn” and “Leaving You” (not here) come from this period. Here “Time Runs Like A Freight Train” sticks out as does “Sign of a Desperate Man”.
I would note than for veteran folkies this album may suffer, as seems to be fairly common these days when artist cover their originals versions, of being over-produced. If that makes the sound more appealing to younger audiences drawn to this type of music that is to the good. If done for artistic reasons I beg to differ on the value of that effort. Especially with a fine-voiced artist like Andersen, who lived and died by the simple presentation of his songs.
In short, you have listened to (and read) the lyrics of this singer/ song writer from this time to get a real feel for his work. But if you want to take a trip back to a time when a serious argument could, and was made, that the personal was political and that folk music was, above all, about expressing the seemingly eternal notions of the complexities of love and loss then this is a part of the archives.
Thirsty Boots written by Eric Andersen
I note here that this is one of Eric Andersen's more political songs, made famous by Judy Collins, and relates to some of his friends who were working in the civil rights movement down in the South in the early 1960's.-Markin
C C/B C/A C/G
You've long been on the open road
F C C/G
You've been sleepin in the rain
C C/B C/A C/G
From the dirty words and muddy cells
F G
Your clothes are soiled and stained.
C C/B C/A C/G
But the dirty words and muddy cells
F G
Will soon be hid in shame
C F C
So only stop to rest yourself
F G
Till you'll go off again.
C F
So take off your thirsty boots
C F
And stay for awhile
C C/B C/A
Your feet are hot and weary
Dm G
From a dusty mile
C F
And maybe I can make you laugh
C F
Maybe I can try
C C/B C/A
I'm just lookin' for the evening
Dm G C
And the morning in your eyes.
C C/B C/A C/G
But tell me of the ones you saw
F C C/G
As far as you could see
C C/B C/A C/G
Across the plain from field to town
F G
A-marching to be free
C C/B C/A C/G
And of the rusted prison gates
F G
That tumbled by degree
C F C
Like laughing children one by one
F G
They looked like you and me
C F
So take off your thirsty boots
C F
And stay for awhile
C C/B C/A
Your feet are hot and weary
Dm G
From a dusty mile
C F
And maybe I can make you laugh
C F
Maybe I can try
C C/B C/A
I'm just lookin' for the evening
Dm G C
And the morning in your eyes.
C C/B C/A C/G
I know you are no stranger down
F C C/G
The crooked rainbow trails
C C/B C/A C/G
From dancing cliff-edged shattered sills
F G
Of slender shackled jails
C C/B C/A C/G
But the voices drift up from below
F G
As the walls they're being scaled
C G C
All of this and more
F G
Your song shall not be failed.
C F
So take off your thirsty boots
C F
And stay for awhile
C C/B C/A
Your feet are hot and weary
Dm G
From a dusty mile
C F
And maybe I can make you laugh
C F
Maybe I can try
C C/B C/A
I'm just lookin' for the evening
Dm G C
And the morning in your eyes.
VIOLETS OF DAWN
(Eric Anderson)
Take me to the night I'm tipping
Topsy turvy turning upside down.
Hold me close and whisper what you will
For there is no-one else around.
Oh, you can sing-song me sweet smiles
Regardless of the city's careless frown.
Come watch the no colors fade, blazing
Into petaled sprays of violets of dawn.
In blindful wonderments enchantments
You can lift my wings softly to flight.
Your eyes are like swift fingers
Reaching out into the pockets of my night
Oh whirling twirling puppy-warm
Before the flashing cloaks of darkness gone.
Come see the no colors fade, blazing
Into petaled sprays of violets of dawn.
Some Prince Charming I'd be on two white steeds
To bring you dappled, diamond crowns
And climb your tower, Sleeping Beauty,
'Fore you even know I've left the ground.
Oh you can wear a Cinderella, Snow White,
Alice Wonderlanded gown.
Come see the no colors fade, blazing
Into petaled sprays of violets of dawn.
But if I seem to wander off in dream-like looks
Please let me settle slowly.
It's only me just starin' out at you,
A seeming stranger speaking holy.
No, I don't mean to wake you up,
It's only loneliness just coming on.
So let the no colors fade, blazing
Into petaled sprays of violets of dawn.
Like shadows bursting into mist
Behind the echoes of this nonsense song
It's just the chasing, whispering trails
Of secret steps, oh see them laughing on.
There's magic in the sleepiness
Of waking to a childing sounding yawn.
Come see the no colors fade, blazing
Into petaled sprays of violets of dawn.
Written by Eric Anderson
Copyright United Artists Music Co., Inc.
Close The Door Lightly When You Go (Eric Andersen)
Turn around, don't whisper out my name
For like a breeze it'd stir a dying flame
I'll miss someone, if it eases you to know
But close the door lightly when you go
Chorus:
Who was the one that stole my mind
Who was the one that robbed my time
Who was the one who made me feel unkind
So fare thee well, sweet love of mine
Take your tears to someone else's eyes
They're made of glass, and they cut like wounding lies
Memories, are drifting like the snow
So close the door lightly when you go
Chorus
Don't look back to where you once had been
Look straight ahead, when you're walking through the rain
And find a light, if the path gets dark and cold
But close the door lightly when you go
Chorus
Turn around, don't whisper out my name
For like a breeze it'd stir a dying flame
I'll miss someone, if it eases you to know
But close the door lightly when you go
My Land Is A Good Land (Eric Andersen)
My land is a good land
Its grass is made of rainbow blades
Its fields and its rivers were blessed by God
It's a good land so they say
It's a good land so they say
My land is a rich land
Its hills and its valleys abound
Its highways go to many good places
Where many good people are found
Where many good people are found
My land is a sweet land
It's a sweet land so I've heard
Its song is made up of many men's hands
And a throat of a hummingbird
And a throat of a hummingbird
(instrumental on 'Bout Changes 2, 1st verse on 'Bout Changes 1)
My land is a free land
It's a free land so I'm told
Freedom is a thing money can't buy
And it's worth even more than gold
And it's worth even more than gold
My land is my homeland
My homeland is a strong land too
It starts where the sun is born each morn
And it ends where the skies are blue
And it ends where the skies are blue
My land is a good land
Its grass is made of rainbow blades
Its fields and its rivers were blessed by God
It's a good land so they say
It's a good land so they say
Waves: Great American Song Series, Volume 2, Eric Andersen and various artists, Appleseed Records, 2005
This first paragraph is taken from a previously reviewed Eric Andersen CD.
“In the great swirl that was the folk music revival movement of the early 1960's a number of new voices were heard that created their own folk expression and were not as dependent on the traditional works of collective political struggle or social commentary associated with the likes of the Weavers, Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie. Although Eric Andersen was a product of the intense Cambridge folk scene and knew and played with many of the stars of that scene he had a distinctive niche in that he performed mainly his own his music and his subject matter tended toward the very personal. It was only political in the most general sense that he, like the others, was breaking away from Tin Pan Alley to express his sentiments.”
Here, Eric, older and wiser (right?) pays musical tribute to his fellow singer/songwriters of the 1960’s who influenced his own work and were in turn influenced by his. An added attraction is accompaniment by Arlo Guthrie, Tom Rush, Judy Collins and other artists that also were instrumental in that period or who were later influenced by the songwriters covered here. So what is good here? Tom Paxton’s “Ramblin’ Boy”; Tim Buckley’s “Once I Was”; Lou Reed’s “Pale Blue Eyes”, and Richard Farina’s “Bold Marauders”. Like I say this is a labor of love and it shows.
Pale Blue Eyes- Lou Reed
Sometimes I feel so happy,
Sometimes I feel so sad.
Sometimes I feel so happy,
But mostly you just make me mad.
Baby, you just make me mad.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Thought of you as my mountain top,
Thought of you as my peak.
Thought of you as everything,
I've had but couldn't keep.
I've had but couldn't keep.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
If I could make the world as pure and strange as what I see,
I'd put you in the mirror,
I put in front of me.
I put in front of me.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Skip a life completely.
Stuff it in a cup.
She said, Money is like us in time,
It lies, but can't stand up.
Down for you is up."
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
It was good what we did yesterday.
And I'd do it once again.
The fact that you are married,
Only proves, you're my best friend.
But it's truly, truly a sin.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
CD Reviews
So Much On My Mind-The Eric Andersen Anthology, Eric Andersen, Raven Records, 2007
In the great swirl that was the folk music revival movement of the early 1960's a number of new voices were heard that created their own folk expression and were not as dependent on the traditional works of collective political struggle or social commentary associated with the likes of the Weavers, Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie. Although Eric Andersen was a product of the intense Cambridge folk scene and knew and played with many of the stars of that scene he had a distinctive niche in that he performed mainly his own his music and his subject matter tended toward the very personal. It was only political in the most general sense that he, like the others, was breaking away from Tin Pan Alley to express his sentiments.
That said, this anthology is heavily weighted toward songs that he wrote in the 1960's and early 1970’s - the most productive period of his career. I have seen some of his more recent performances (post 1980’s) and listened to his later work and nothing compares with the work of this period. Such tunes of personal sorrow and anger as “Florentine” and “Sheila” (not included here) and well as the classic “Violets of Dawn” and “Leaving You” (not here) come from this period. Here “Time Runs Like A Freight Train” sticks out as does “Sign of a Desperate Man”.
I would note than for veteran folkies this album may suffer, as seems to be fairly common these days when artist cover their originals versions, of being over-produced. If that makes the sound more appealing to younger audiences drawn to this type of music that is to the good. If done for artistic reasons I beg to differ on the value of that effort. Especially with a fine-voiced artist like Andersen, who lived and died by the simple presentation of his songs.
In short, you have listened to (and read) the lyrics of this singer/ song writer from this time to get a real feel for his work. But if you want to take a trip back to a time when a serious argument could, and was made, that the personal was political and that folk music was, above all, about expressing the seemingly eternal notions of the complexities of love and loss then this is a part of the archives.
Thirsty Boots written by Eric Andersen
I note here that this is one of Eric Andersen's more political songs, made famous by Judy Collins, and relates to some of his friends who were working in the civil rights movement down in the South in the early 1960's.-Markin
C C/B C/A C/G
You've long been on the open road
F C C/G
You've been sleepin in the rain
C C/B C/A C/G
From the dirty words and muddy cells
F G
Your clothes are soiled and stained.
C C/B C/A C/G
But the dirty words and muddy cells
F G
Will soon be hid in shame
C F C
So only stop to rest yourself
F G
Till you'll go off again.
C F
So take off your thirsty boots
C F
And stay for awhile
C C/B C/A
Your feet are hot and weary
Dm G
From a dusty mile
C F
And maybe I can make you laugh
C F
Maybe I can try
C C/B C/A
I'm just lookin' for the evening
Dm G C
And the morning in your eyes.
C C/B C/A C/G
But tell me of the ones you saw
F C C/G
As far as you could see
C C/B C/A C/G
Across the plain from field to town
F G
A-marching to be free
C C/B C/A C/G
And of the rusted prison gates
F G
That tumbled by degree
C F C
Like laughing children one by one
F G
They looked like you and me
C F
So take off your thirsty boots
C F
And stay for awhile
C C/B C/A
Your feet are hot and weary
Dm G
From a dusty mile
C F
And maybe I can make you laugh
C F
Maybe I can try
C C/B C/A
I'm just lookin' for the evening
Dm G C
And the morning in your eyes.
C C/B C/A C/G
I know you are no stranger down
F C C/G
The crooked rainbow trails
C C/B C/A C/G
From dancing cliff-edged shattered sills
F G
Of slender shackled jails
C C/B C/A C/G
But the voices drift up from below
F G
As the walls they're being scaled
C G C
All of this and more
F G
Your song shall not be failed.
C F
So take off your thirsty boots
C F
And stay for awhile
C C/B C/A
Your feet are hot and weary
Dm G
From a dusty mile
C F
And maybe I can make you laugh
C F
Maybe I can try
C C/B C/A
I'm just lookin' for the evening
Dm G C
And the morning in your eyes.
VIOLETS OF DAWN
(Eric Anderson)
Take me to the night I'm tipping
Topsy turvy turning upside down.
Hold me close and whisper what you will
For there is no-one else around.
Oh, you can sing-song me sweet smiles
Regardless of the city's careless frown.
Come watch the no colors fade, blazing
Into petaled sprays of violets of dawn.
In blindful wonderments enchantments
You can lift my wings softly to flight.
Your eyes are like swift fingers
Reaching out into the pockets of my night
Oh whirling twirling puppy-warm
Before the flashing cloaks of darkness gone.
Come see the no colors fade, blazing
Into petaled sprays of violets of dawn.
Some Prince Charming I'd be on two white steeds
To bring you dappled, diamond crowns
And climb your tower, Sleeping Beauty,
'Fore you even know I've left the ground.
Oh you can wear a Cinderella, Snow White,
Alice Wonderlanded gown.
Come see the no colors fade, blazing
Into petaled sprays of violets of dawn.
But if I seem to wander off in dream-like looks
Please let me settle slowly.
It's only me just starin' out at you,
A seeming stranger speaking holy.
No, I don't mean to wake you up,
It's only loneliness just coming on.
So let the no colors fade, blazing
Into petaled sprays of violets of dawn.
Like shadows bursting into mist
Behind the echoes of this nonsense song
It's just the chasing, whispering trails
Of secret steps, oh see them laughing on.
There's magic in the sleepiness
Of waking to a childing sounding yawn.
Come see the no colors fade, blazing
Into petaled sprays of violets of dawn.
Written by Eric Anderson
Copyright United Artists Music Co., Inc.
Close The Door Lightly When You Go (Eric Andersen)
Turn around, don't whisper out my name
For like a breeze it'd stir a dying flame
I'll miss someone, if it eases you to know
But close the door lightly when you go
Chorus:
Who was the one that stole my mind
Who was the one that robbed my time
Who was the one who made me feel unkind
So fare thee well, sweet love of mine
Take your tears to someone else's eyes
They're made of glass, and they cut like wounding lies
Memories, are drifting like the snow
So close the door lightly when you go
Chorus
Don't look back to where you once had been
Look straight ahead, when you're walking through the rain
And find a light, if the path gets dark and cold
But close the door lightly when you go
Chorus
Turn around, don't whisper out my name
For like a breeze it'd stir a dying flame
I'll miss someone, if it eases you to know
But close the door lightly when you go
My Land Is A Good Land (Eric Andersen)
My land is a good land
Its grass is made of rainbow blades
Its fields and its rivers were blessed by God
It's a good land so they say
It's a good land so they say
My land is a rich land
Its hills and its valleys abound
Its highways go to many good places
Where many good people are found
Where many good people are found
My land is a sweet land
It's a sweet land so I've heard
Its song is made up of many men's hands
And a throat of a hummingbird
And a throat of a hummingbird
(instrumental on 'Bout Changes 2, 1st verse on 'Bout Changes 1)
My land is a free land
It's a free land so I'm told
Freedom is a thing money can't buy
And it's worth even more than gold
And it's worth even more than gold
My land is my homeland
My homeland is a strong land too
It starts where the sun is born each morn
And it ends where the skies are blue
And it ends where the skies are blue
My land is a good land
Its grass is made of rainbow blades
Its fields and its rivers were blessed by God
It's a good land so they say
It's a good land so they say
Waves: Great American Song Series, Volume 2, Eric Andersen and various artists, Appleseed Records, 2005
This first paragraph is taken from a previously reviewed Eric Andersen CD.
“In the great swirl that was the folk music revival movement of the early 1960's a number of new voices were heard that created their own folk expression and were not as dependent on the traditional works of collective political struggle or social commentary associated with the likes of the Weavers, Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie. Although Eric Andersen was a product of the intense Cambridge folk scene and knew and played with many of the stars of that scene he had a distinctive niche in that he performed mainly his own his music and his subject matter tended toward the very personal. It was only political in the most general sense that he, like the others, was breaking away from Tin Pan Alley to express his sentiments.”
Here, Eric, older and wiser (right?) pays musical tribute to his fellow singer/songwriters of the 1960’s who influenced his own work and were in turn influenced by his. An added attraction is accompaniment by Arlo Guthrie, Tom Rush, Judy Collins and other artists that also were instrumental in that period or who were later influenced by the songwriters covered here. So what is good here? Tom Paxton’s “Ramblin’ Boy”; Tim Buckley’s “Once I Was”; Lou Reed’s “Pale Blue Eyes”, and Richard Farina’s “Bold Marauders”. Like I say this is a labor of love and it shows.
Pale Blue Eyes- Lou Reed
Sometimes I feel so happy,
Sometimes I feel so sad.
Sometimes I feel so happy,
But mostly you just make me mad.
Baby, you just make me mad.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Thought of you as my mountain top,
Thought of you as my peak.
Thought of you as everything,
I've had but couldn't keep.
I've had but couldn't keep.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
If I could make the world as pure and strange as what I see,
I'd put you in the mirror,
I put in front of me.
I put in front of me.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Skip a life completely.
Stuff it in a cup.
She said, Money is like us in time,
It lies, but can't stand up.
Down for you is up."
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
It was good what we did yesterday.
And I'd do it once again.
The fact that you are married,
Only proves, you're my best friend.
But it's truly, truly a sin.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
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