Saturday 15 November 2008

The pre 'Blue River' electric recordings of Eric Andersen

I heard 'Blue River' for the first time in the early 80s and it instantly became a record that would always stay in the canon of great albums for me regardless of what else I heard and has remained there ever since. When I lived in Massachusetts in 1989, I became a big fan of Eric Andersen's earlier music, which I heard for the first time sitting in my flat in Worcester. My introduction was the Vanguard ‘best of’ double album compilation. This was the year that 'Ghosts upon the road' came out and I was lucky enough to see Anderson play the title song at a very small folk venue near Boston that year. There are few other concert that come close in my memory. Recently I have heard all of vanguard albums in their entirety for the first time and have been transported into a land inhabited by only the great singer songwriters. The compilation below is the one I have made for Emily.

Tin Can Alley Part 1
16 year grudge
(sitting) on the dock of the bay
hey babe, have you been cheating
champion at keeping them rolling
honey
thirsty boots
we were (foolish like the flowers)
blind fiddler
it’s comin’and it won’t be long
what is it like to be free
so hard to fall
close the door lightly
think about it
violets of dawn
my land is a good land
Tin Can Alley Part 2