Eric Andersen, The Street Was Always There: Great American Song Series, Volume 1 (Appleseed Recordings, 2004)
As Rod Stewart, and many others, record album after album of "the Great American Songbook," paying tribute to the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer and the rest...old folkie Eric Andersen has launched a new series of recordings on the Appleseed label. With the first volume of The Great American Song Series, Andersen is not going back as many decades as Rod the ex-Mod...he simply looks back to the folk years on Bleecker Street, where Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, David Blue, Tim Hardin and the other songwriters represented here got their start. He is returning to his own roots, to celebrate the solid craftsmanship of his own generation, and a wise choice it is.
Eric Andersen, since signing with Appleseed, has rejuvenated his career, and turned out some of the best music of his life. The two albums with Rick Danko and Jonas Fjeld, and the handful of solo recordings have been inviting, involving, refreshing statements. We should stop to pay tribute to Appleseed for signing the great artists they have, and staying true to their mission statement: "Appleseed Recordings is dedicated to sowing the seeds of social justice through music and exploring the roots and branches of folk and world music." Sounds like an honourable task, and some of their releases have stayed on my playlist for months!
Andersen has a strong deep baritone voice, differentiating him from many of the scraggly singers of the time. There was always a sense of drama within the music on an Andersen album, and that is true here as well. Whether covering Phil Ochs' anti-martial call "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore" or Fred Neil's sombre ballad "Little Bit of Rain," Eric takes ownership of the material. He is accompanied by a strong collection of players, including Robert Aaron on bass and keyboards, Donald Guillaume or Willie Martinez on drums, Pete Kennedy and Eddy Jo Martinez on electric guitar, Happy Traum on acoustic guitar, and others.
The songs include Tim Hardin's romantic "Misty Roses" which Andersen jazzes up with percussion and a sax solo. There are several anti-war classics written during the Viet Nam years but equally appropriate in the Iraq era. Buffy Sainte-Marie's classic "Universal Soldier," Ochs' "Marchin'," and his "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land" state their case clearly. Wyclef Jean joins on guitar and vocals on the latter. Fred Neil is also represented by a second tune, "The Other Side of This Life." And Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" receives a workout too. Other songwriters whose classic tunes appear include David Blue, Paul Seibel, Peter LaFarge, and Patrick Sky (who adds uillean pipes on two tracks). Andersen does two of his own songs, "Waves of Freedom" and the retrospective "The Street Was Always There."
Altogether a worthwhile and interesting project. Can't wait for Volume Two!
