Eric Andersen

[John Etherington]

I have vague memories of hearing Eric Andersen's song "Violets of Dawn" in the mid-Sixties, and also of his name being spoken of reverentially by a work colleague in the early Seventies, when Ian Matthews recorded his song "Close the Door Lightly When You Go". However, I have to confess that i only became fully aware of Andersen early in 2009, when the BBC showed an edited verstion of the Greenwich Village concert that took place there in January, when he topped the bill with Judy Collins. I was very impressed by his two songs - "Violets of Dawn" and "Thirsty Boots" (the latter sung with Roger McGuinn) and subsequently purchased his Vanguard compilation, which is also titled "Violets of Dawn". In the sleeve notes Andersen is quoted as saying that "Leonard Cohen once came up to me and said 'I'm a poet and never thought of writing songs until I heard 'Violets of Dawn' and then I began to write songs...Kris Kristoffersen liked my my sexy songs, my love songs...It helped him write the kinds of things he did in Nashville like 'Help Me Make it Through the Night". Good credentials indeed!

I finally got to see the great man when he played a concert at The Green Note Cafe on Sunday night. It was wonderful to see him in such an intimate venue, and amazingly there were only about thirty-two people in the audience...just enough to comfortably find seats at the tables. Andersen is a big man, with an intense and mesmerising aura. A young lady who was there commented that he is in remarkably good shape for a man of 67. On Sunday he was wearing an olive coloured casual suit and wide-brimmed hat, and played guitar and organ. He was accompanied by a smaller Italian guy who played the violin passionately. Andersen's work is darkly romantic and serious, but he also incorporates a degree of droll humour. In this respect, there a similarities with Leonard's stage persona in the late 70s.

Andersen began his first set with "Violets of Dawn" and played other classics such as "Close the Door Lightly When You Go" plus later songs such as "Trouble in Paris", "Before Everything Changed" and "Memory of the Future". He clearly has a substantial body of work, as evidenced by the many CDs on sale. The only expected song that he didn't play was "Thirsty Boots" (but hopefully next time). At the beginning of his second set, Andersen announced that when he gets depressed, he listens to Leonard Cohen songs to cheer himself up! One of his colleagues there told me that he Andersen a good friend of Leonard, and Andersen himself took time to chat and kindly sign albums. In conclusion, an excellent and memorable evening.

Here's Eric Andersen singing "Violets of Dawn" from the Barbican concert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKdJX9W9E1g

All good things, John E

[John Etherington]

Oliver -Thanks for your comments. The Google translation of this is:

"Eric Andersen is perhaps the first modern songwriter. His philosophical and introspective songs had little in common with the folksinger at the time. Partly influenced by the myth of Woody Guthrie that moved all the others, and little influenced by the success of Bob Dylan, Andersen remained in the margins of major mass phenomena of the period"

[Jiellen29]

Andersen parted ways with Columbia and recorded sporadically for a number of labels throughout the remainder of the 1970s and into the early 1980s. In 1975 he performed at the opening show of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue at Gerde's Folk City and again in Niagara Falls. After falling into obscurity for a number of years, he reemerged in 1988 with a new album, Ghosts Upon the Road. Though the album only did modestly well, it was widely praised and placed on a number of critics' year-end "best of" lists.
At this time in his career, Andersen was living in Oslo, Norway, and, in the early 1990s, Andersen formed the trio Danko/Fjeld/Andersen together with Rick Danko (The Band) and the Norwegian singer-songwriter, Jonas Fjeld. The trio recorded three albums and performed together for nine years. In 1998, Andersen released his first solo album in a decade, Memory of the Future. Praised as "dreamy and introspective", the album was followed two years later by You Can't Relive The Past, which included original blues numbers as well as a selection of songs co-written with Townes Van Zandt. A double album Beat Avenue followed in 2003. Besides mostly rock-dominated ballads, the album's 26-minute title track was a jazzy beat poem relating his experiences among San Francisco's beat community of artists on the day of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Have a great day to all...
God bless!!

[Diane]

Here's Eric Andersen singing "Violets of Dawn" from the Barbican concert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKdJX9W9E1g

Who says spammers are nothing but a bloody nuisance - I just listened to this, having seen it return to the top so often - and it's great!

[John Etherington]

Eric Andersen is featured on the "Dylanscene" CD, free with the December Mojo. The CD opens with "Boom Boom" (John Lee Hooker), "There But For Fortune" (Joan Baez), Close the Door Lightly When You Go (Eric Andersen) and "We Shall Overcome" (Pete Seeger)...all classic stuff!

[sturgess66]

Here's a nice one - "Drifting Away" from 2004 -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcxaCz14xc8

[John Etherington]

While waiting for "Old Ideas" to be released (no streaming for me, thanks!), I'm listening to some of my Eric Andersen albums. Here's one of my favourite songs, with Eric looking and sounding very Leonard-esque:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHWxW7WfoO8