THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,235) Eric Andersen — “Looking Glass”
This haunting love song by the first of the new Dylans is the “finest composition [on his debut LP] . . . an elaborate first-person narrative-fantasy with a melody similar to folk tunes such as ‘Scarborough Fair.'” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/today-is-the-highway-mw0000204369)
Peter Stone Brown writes that “It could be said that Eric Andersen was the first of the “new Dylans”. He played guitar and harmonica, his lyrics were poetic ”. . . . [but his] singing style . . . was much gentler, sweeter, and his performances less frenzied.” (https://peterstonebrownarchives.substack.com/p/eric-andersen-today-is-the-highway-june-2nd-1965) William Ruhlmann tells us that:
Since rising out of the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s, Eric Andersen has maintained a prolific, adventurous, and varied career that spans folk, rock, country, blues, and beat poetry. Writing with a philosophical and poetic bent, he . . . recorded a series of albums for the Vanguard label before finding mainstream success amid the singer/songwriter movement with his 1972 standout Blue River. He was part of legendary ’70s tours like the Festival Express and Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, and he toured throughout Europe, Japan, and North America on his own. He later based himself in Norway where in the ’90s he formed the acclaimed folk-rock trio Danko Fjeld Andersen with Band bassist Rick Danko and Norwegian musician Jonas Fjeld. . . . After stints in Boston and San Francisco, fellow folk singer Tom Paxton invited him to come to New York City where he arrived at the height of Greenwich Village’s early-’60s folk scene. He signed with the Vanguard label and released his 1965 debut, Today Is the Highway . . . . Andersen’s second album, ‘Bout Changes & Things, contained some of his best-known songs of that era, including the poetic “Violets of Dawn” and “Thirsty Boots[]” . . . During this period he also made his debut at the Newport Folk Festival, was courted by . . . Brian Epstein, and appeared in one of Andy Warhol’s experimental films. In the latter half of the ’60s, Andersen experimented with country, pop, and rock music . . . . Splitting his time between California and New York, he often stayed at the famous Chelsea Hotel where befriend the likes of Leonard Cohen, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Patti Smith . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/eric-andersen-mn0000799233#biography
Andersen’s website lovingly chronicles his early years:
[A]fter dropping out of Hobart, he hitchhiked west to San Francisco to try his luck singing solo in North Beach coffeehouses and seek out the poets of the Beat Generation. Through the poet David Meltzer [see #873, 874, 1,023] . . . with whom [he] shared a singing group, The Snopes County Camp Followers, along with his wife Tina [see #873, 874, 1,023] and Andersen’s future first wife, Debbie, he met Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti . . . . Weeks later, he heard them recite at a poetry reading in Haight-Ashbury, on the evening President John F. Kennedy was assassinated . . . . There was a gathering afterward at Ferlinghetti’s house where he also met the romantic hero of On The Road, Neal Cassady, and poet/playwright, Michael McClure. . . . [H]e began to write in earnest . . . . While passing through San Francisco, songwriter Tom Paxton heard him . . . performing . . . . and invited him to New York City. In the winter of 1964, [he] accepted the invitation and upon landing in New York was soon introduced to the Greenwich Village songwriting circle of Phil Ochs, Dave Van Ronk, Fred Neil, Bob Dylan, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and many others. . . . His first gig in New York City was as opening act for John Lee Hooker in 1964 at Gerde’s Folk City. Robert Shelton of the New York Times . . . called him “a writer and performer of the first rank…possessing that magical element called star quality.” He soon started playing songwriter protest Hootenannies with Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, and Peter LaFarge at the Village Gate. Through an introduction by the music critic Robert Shelton . . . he was signed to Vanguard Records and began recording his first album. . . . Eric recalled, before he first started out solo. “A traveling band was expensive and venues were scarce, I realized how a single performer armed only with only a song and arresting tales could entertain and spellbind and audience.” Over the next three years he wrote and recorded four albums . . . . Judy Collins, the Blues Project, and Peter Paul and Mary created pop hits of his songs “Thirsty Boots,” “Violets Of Dawn,” and “Rolling Home.” The Brothers Four recorded a single of “Bedside” for Columbia Records and it was immediately banned from AM radio, on the grounds of obscenity. . . . In the spring, he traveled to Hazard, Kentucky with Phil Ochs. They drove down in support of the striking coal miners. That was the south and for protest singers, union organizers, or those volunteers helping to get out the vote in registration drives, it was a dangerous time and dangerous work. . . . [H]e accompanied Jack Newfield to Liberty, Mississippi to witness first hand the struggles of voter registration . . . . Also that year, after meeting with New York publicist Danny Fields, he did two screen tests and starred in the Andy Warhol film Space with Edie Sedgwick. It devolved into an off the cuff, inadvertent, docu-comedy, sans script, of weird camera pans, rambling dialogues, where Eric played guitar and improvised on several songs. . . . Andersen made his Newport Folk Festival debut in 1966 . . . . Manager Brian Epstein expressed his wish to sign Andersen . . . so in 1967, Eric was invited to London where he attended some Beatles’ recording sessions and plans were made. In his posthumous letters Brian is quoted as saying, “Eric’s music makes me happy.” Then Brian died unexpectedly that summer . . . .
https://www.ericandersen.com/index.php/bio.html
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