Unlike Dylan, who, in his (current issue) interview for Rolling Stone, is trying more than ever to sound like Salvador Dali, Andersen, speaking from his current home in Amsterdam, stayed on point when asked about his years in Woodstock and his work and adventures since then. His voice, deeper and more textured than in days of yore, weathered by the magnetic fields of far-flung microphones, (or “aged in an oaken cask” as Hollander suggests, noting that Andersen had sent charts of new chords to accommodate tonal variations in the songs they will perform) ranges a bit lower; the new kid on the Bleecker block has become a seasoned master of the world stage. Enthusing about the avid receptions he had enjoyed at concerts in Japan just days before, Andersen credited a special feeling to playing in this upstate area filled with many old friends and memories for him. Andersen spoke of his current agreeable surroundings in Europe, rewarding museum visits, a book of fiction he has been five years in the writing of (thus far), a documentary about him in the works, the first showing of his own photography scheduled in Cologne and how, in his view, the most vital element of a song is its memorability. Ah, yes. That’s surely the formula he used for the brilliant selection of timeless tunes he exquisitely resurrected to tribute his fellow song-writing friends, many of them familiar names in the Woodstock music community as well as in Village lore…like Paul Siebel (who last performed in this area at private memorial for guitarist and tour companion Peter McKeel a few years ago, traveling up from Maryland and musical retirement to do so) and Happy Traum, selecting one of Happy’s songs from the first of two extraordinary albums he recorded for Capital with his late brother, Artie – both of which should be reissued.
Other artists whose songs are featured on Andersen’s remarkable celebration CDs left us far too soon…Phil Ochs, Tim Hardin, Peter LaFarge, Tim Buckley, David Blue, Richard Farina. Memorable? Heck, for those who know the songs, the opening chords are like turning on the light in a darkened room and touching places you almost forgot were there.
For those new to these unbound classics, it is an enviable voyage of indelible discovery. The same can be said for Andersen’s own tunes here, from the “Thirsty Boots,” drawn from the periphery of the spirit of the civil rights movement and the aimless wanderlust of troubadours, to the yet-to-be heard new songs written for the next volume of this tribute series.
As for new songs issued from the “post-Woodstock Andersen,” there are many of special note in the numerous albums issued since his departure. None as close to home, perhaps, as Tom Pacheco’s “Hills of Woodstock” (written while Pacheco was spending a decade in Dublin), but with heavy with intriguing and luring images…like “Hills of Tuscany” from his Memory of the Future album; “Belgian Bar,” “Spanish Steps,” “Trouble In Paris” and “Irish Lace” from his Ghosts Upon the Road album; “The Great Pyramid” from his Beat Avenue album; “Girls of Denmark” (which sounds somehow more romantic than “Girls of Hoboken”) from his Exile album, which also contains music from the soundtrack he composed for Marc Didden’s 1985 Belgian movie Istanbul (which features a riveting lead performance by another Woodstock-familiar name, Brad Dourif). Spain, Italy, Egypt. The man must wear thirsty boots.
We cannot pass over the acclaimed trio recordings Andersen did with our ol’ buddy, the late Rick Danko and Norwegian songster, Jonas Fjeld or the esteemed Italian Premio Tenco songwriting award he received in 2003, joining the ranks of contemporaries like Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Randy Newman and other masters of the art. Let’s also mention his appearance in the raucous, spellbinding “Festival Express” movie along with Janis Joplin (yep, another Woodstocker but, sorry, folks, Jimi, who lived in Olive, does not appear in this fabulous cross-Canadian romp.) A DVD of last year’s acclaimed webcast from Chris (no relation) Andersen’s Nevessa Studio in Woodstock (with John Sebastian, Happy Traum, Joe Flood and Andersen’s harmonizing wife, Inge) is in the pondering stage.
A prime focus of the show in Rosendale will be the 40th anniversary of Andersen’s largest selling album, Blue River, which he recorded for Columbia after a pair of vastly underrated albums for Warner Brothers didn’t chart nearly as high as they deserved. Despite great sales, Andersen left the Columbia label when they misplaced the tapes for his follow-up to Blue River for an astonishing 19 years. (It was finally located in a vault and issued by the company in 1991 as Stages-The Lost Album.) Can anyone blame Andersen for leaving the label? Not me.
Eric Andersen, with his guest Brian Hollander, will be performing at 8 p.m. Saturday, October 6 at the Rosendale Café, 434 Main Street, Rosendale. Admission is $15. For more information, visit rosendalecafe.com or call (845) 658-9048.
