Eric Andersen (born February 14, 1943) is an American

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

singer-songwriter, who has written songs recorded by

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

, the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

and many others. Early in his career, in the 1960s, he was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene. After two decades and sixteen albums of solo performance he became a member of the group Danko/Fjeld/Andersen.

Personal history

Eric Andersen's grandfather emigrated from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Eric Andersen was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pennsylvania, and grew up in

Snyder, New York Snyder (originally Snyderville) is a hamlet within the town of Amherst in Erie County, New York, that is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The hamlet was established in 1837. It was named for Michael Snyder, its first postmas ...

, a suburb of Buffalo.

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

made an impression on him when 15-year-old Andersen saw him perform. He moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and then San Francisco, where he met

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

, finally settling in New York City at the height of the Greenwich Village folk movement. Andersen was at one point married to former

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

folksinger Debbie Green, who contributed guitar, piano, and backing vocal performances to various records Andersen released between 1965 and 1975. He was a resident of

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...

, between 1975 and 1983. He then moved to

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway, and maintained a residence in New York City. He was cohabiting and has four children with the Norwegian visual artist Unni Askeland. He currently lives in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He married Dutch social scientist and singer Inge Andersen in 2006. He has a daughter Sari (with Debbie Green), who contributed backing vocal performances to his ''Memory of the Future'' album. In 2022, Andersen was awarded an

honorary doctorate degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Hobart and William Smith Colleges Hobart and William Smith Colleges are Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts colleges in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to Geneva Academy established in 1797. Students can choose from 45 maj ...

Musical career

1964–1969: Folk breakthrough

In the early 1960s, Andersen was part of the

Greenwich Village folk scene The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Benn ...

in New York City. His best-known songs from the 1960s folk era are "Violets of Dawn", "Come to My Bedside", and "

Thirsty Boots "Thirsty Boots" is a civil-rights-era folksong by American singer-songwriter Eric Andersen that first appeared on his 1966 album '' 'Bout Changes 'n' Things''. According to the album's liner notes, the song "was written to a civil rights worker-fr ...

" (the latter recorded by

, and John Denver amongst others). In 1964, Andersen made his debut at

Gerdes Folk City Gerdes Folk City, sometimes spelled Gerde's Folk City, was a music venue in the West Village, part of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, in New York City. Initially opened by owner Mike Porco as a restaurant called Gerdes, it eventually began to presen ...

in a live audition for

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

. In 1965 he released his first Vanguard album ''Today Is the Highway''. In 1966 he made his

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

debut. The Beatles' manager

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

was in the process of becoming his manager when he died.

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

cites Andersen as the source of her open tunings.

1970s: Singer-songwriter era

Andersen took part in the

Festival Express ''Festival Express'' is a 2003 documentary film about the 1970 train tour of the same name across Canada taken by some of North America's most popular rock bands, including the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, Flying Burrito B ...

tour across Canada in 1970 with the

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

, The Band, Delaney Bramlett and others. Andersen signed with Columbia in 1972 and issued his most commercially successful album, '' Blue River'', on that label. From that album, the song "Is It Really Love At All?" is the most popular. The master tapes of his follow-up album ''

Stages Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * S ...

'' were lost (until 1989) before the album could be released, resulting in the loss of much of the momentum he had gained with ''Blue River''. 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 with

Arlen Roth Arlen Roth (born October 30, 1952) is an American guitarist, teacher, and author. From 1982 to 1992, he was a columnist for ''Guitar Player'' magazine. Those ten years of columns became a book, ''Hot Guitar''. His father Al Ross (Abraham Roth) ...

at the opening show of Bob Dylan's

Rolling Thunder Revue The Rolling Thunder Revue was a 1975–1976 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan with numerous musicians and collaborators. The purpose of the tour was to allow Dylan, who had now become a major recording artist and concert perfor ...

at Gerde's Folk City and again in Niagara Falls. In the late 1970s, Andersen was also a member of the Woodstock Mountains Revue, a folk group that also featured

Artie Traum Arthur Roy Traum (April 3, 1943 – July 20, 2008) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. Traum's work appeared on more than 35 albums. He produced and recorded with The Band, Arlen Roth, Warren Bernhardt, Pat Alger, Tony Levin, ...

Happy Traum Happy Traum (born Harry Peter Traum, May 9, 1938, The Bronx, New York) is an American folk musician who started playing music in the 1950s and became a stalwart of the Greenwich Village music scene of the 1960s and the Woodstock music scene of t ...

and

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Ghosts Upon the Road ''Ghosts Upon the Road'' is an album by the American folk rock musician Eric Andersen, released in 1989. His first release on an American label in 12 years, it was regarded as a comeback album. Andersen had been living in Norway for many years. Pr ...

''. Though the album did only modestly well, it was widely praised and placed on a number of critics' year-end "best of" lists. The title track was a 10 1/2-minute autobiographical song that Andersen wrote about when he lived in Beacon Hill, Boston, and moved to New York City in 1964.

Stages: The Lost Album

The ''Stages'' tapes were found nearly two decades after they had been lost. Forty boxes consisting of the original master tapes were found October 1989 in the vaults at Columbia Records in New York. The album was recorded after ''Blue River'' and featured guest artists Leon Russell,

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

and

Dan Fogelberg Daniel Grayling Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his 1970s and 1980s songs, including "Longer" (1979), "Same Old Lang Syne" (1980), and " ...

, among others. It was issued in 1991 as '' Stages: The Lost Album''.

1990s: Danko/Fjeld/Andersen

At this point in his career, Andersen was living in

, and, in the early 1990s, he joined the trio Danko/Fjeld/Andersen, with

Rick Danko Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. During ...

(the

Band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

) and the Norwegian singer-songwriter

Jonas Fjeld Jonas Fjeld (born Terje Lillegård Jensen; 24 September 1952) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known in the English-speaking world for two albums recorded by Danko/Fjeld/Andersen, a collaboration with Canadian Rick ...

. The trio recorded three albums and performed together for nine years.

1998–present: Late solo work

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 John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

. A

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

, ''Beat Avenue,'' followed in 2003. Besides mostly rock-dominated ballads, the album's 26-minute title track is a jazzy beat poem relating his experiences among San Francisco's beat community of artists on the day of President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

's assassination. Andersen's next albums, ''The Street Was Always There'' (2004) and ''Waves'' (2005), were both produced by multi-instrumentalist

Robert Aaron Robert Aaron (born Robert Arron Vineberg; November 13, 1955) is a Canadian jazz musician. According to John Leland of the New York Times "Mr. Aaron played flute, saxophone, clarinet and piano, then taught himself guitar, trumpet, bassoon, Fren ...

. In addition to covers of his own songs, the albums featured new versions of classics by his sixties contemporaries and friends, including David Blue,

Richard Fariña Richard George Fariña ( Spanish IPA: ) (March 8, 1937 – April 30, 1966) was an American folksinger, songwriter, poet and novelist. Early years and education Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of an Irish mother, ...

Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", becam ...

Peter La Farge Peter La Farge (born Oliver Albee La Farge, April 30, 1931 – October 27, 1965) was a New York City-based folksinger and songwriter of the 1950s and 1960s. He is known best for his affiliations with Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Early life and edu ...

Fred Neil Fred Neil (March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001) was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material&n ...

Phil Ochs Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American ( Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these ...

Paul Siebel Paul Karl Siebel (September 19, 1937 – April 5, 2022) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Buffalo, New York. He is best known for other artists' cover versions of his songs, most notably "Louise". Other frequently cov ...

Patrick Sky Patrick Sky (born Patrick Linch; October 2, 1940May 26, 2021) was an American musician, folk singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was noted for his album ''Songs That Made America Famous'' (1973). He was of Irish and Native American anc ...

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Happy Traum Happy Traum (born Harry Peter Traum, May 9, 1938, The Bronx, New York) is an American folk musician who started playing music in the 1950s and became a stalwart of the Greenwich Village music scene of the 1960s and the Woodstock music scene of t ...

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

, and

Tom Rush Thomas Walker Rush (born February 8, 1941) is an American folk music, folk and blues music, blues singer, guitarist and songwriter who helped launch the careers of other singer-songwriters in the 1960s and has continued his own singing career f ...

. His next album, ''Blue Rain'', released in 2007, was his first live album. It was recorded in Norway and contains a blend of blues, jazz and folk. In 2011, Andersen released his second live album, ''The Cologne Concert,'' with :it:Michele Gazich (

Mary Gauthier Mary Veronica Gauthier ( ; born March 11, 1962) is a Grammy-nominated American folk singer-songwriter and author, whose songs have been covered by performers including Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Kathy Mattea, Boy George and Jimmy Buffett. She ...

, Mark Olson) on violin and Inge Andersen (his wife) on backing vocals. In 2013, Andersen performed in ''Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation'', a feature-length documentary about the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

music scene, which was issued on DVD in November. In August 2014, Andersen released a limited-edition double 10" vinyl record, "Shadow and Light of

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

", featuring :it:Michele Gazich on violin and piano, with cover design paintings of :de:Oliver Jordan. In May 2017, Andersen released his album ''Mingle with the Universe: The Worlds of Lord Byron'', featuring Inge Andersen (backing vocals), :it:Michele Gazich (violin), Giorgio Curcettie (oud, bass, guitar), Cheryl Prashker (percussion) and Paul Zoontjes (aka :nl:Simon Keats, piano) with cover design paintings of :de:Oliver Jordan. In December 2017, the album ''Silent Angel: The Fire and Ashes of Heinrich Böll'' was released celebrating the centenary of the writer

Heinrich Böll Heinrich Theodor Böll (; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll is a recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). ...

's birth. In March 2018, Sony/Legacy Recordings issued ''The Essential Eric Andersen'', a 42-track double CD release covering fifty years of his recorded history from ''Today is the Highway'' on to ''The Cologne Concert'' album and unreleased New York recordings. A documentary about Eric Andersen, entitled ''The Songpoet,'' premiered at The Copenhagen Music Film Festival on September 13, 2019. Set against the cultural landscapes of his 50-year artistic journey, the film depicts an intimate portrait of Andersen—writing, recording, and performing today and reflecting on his life's work. The film was produced by Toward Castle Films and Skipping Stone Pictures. Beginning in April 2021 ''The Songpoet'' was made available for TV broadcast in the United States by

American Public Television American Public Television (APT) is an American nonprofit organization and syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States. It distributes public television programs nationwide for PBS member stations and indepe ...

, and a free stream of the full documentary became available at the

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

(PBS) website. In June 2020, Y&T Music issued ''Woodstock under the Stars'', a collection featuring a 36-track triple CD drawn from concerts, a webcast and studio sessions recorded between 1991 and 2011. The performances feature special guests

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Garth Hudson Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...

Eric Bazilian Eric M. Bazilian (born July 21, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. Bazilian is a founding member of the rock band The Hooters. He wrote " One of Us", a song first recorded by Joan Osborne in 1 ...

, Inge Andersen (singer-songwriter, Eric Andersen's wife and harmony singer), Joe Flood,

, Gary Burke and

) with cover design paintings of :de:Oliver Jordan. In October 2022, Y&T Music issued ''Tribute To A Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen'', a collection of 42 songs on a triple CD with a cover design painting of :de:Oliver Jordan featuring new (and some vintage) recordings and interpretations of his songs by an eclectic group of artists with musical and personal connections to him. The artists include

Lucy Kaplansky Lucy Kaplansky (born February 16, 1960) is an American folk musician based in New York City. Kaplansky has a PhD in clinical psychology from Yeshiva University and plays guitar, mandolin, and piano. Life and career Kaplansky was originally f ...

Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also mai ...

Scarlet Rivera Donna Shea, better known as Scarlet Rivera is an American violinist. She is best known for her work with Bob Dylan, in particular on his 1976 album '' Desire'' and as part of the Rolling Thunder Revue. Career Bob Dylan is said to have discove ...

Willie Nile Willie Nile (born Robert Noonan; June 7, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980, Nile released his self-titled debut album. His early career was interrupted by various problems, but he eventually returned to recording and performing i ...

Elliott Murphy Elliott James Murphy (born March 16, 1949) is an American rock singer-songwriter, novelist, record producer and journalist living in Paris. Biography Elliott Murphy was born in Rockville Centre, New York, grew up in Garden City, Long Island ...

Larry Campbell Larry W. Campbell (born 28 February 1948) is a Canadian politician that served as the 37th mayor of Vancouver, Canada from 2002 until 2005 and since 2005 has been a member of the Senate of Canada. Before he was mayor, Campbell worked for th ...

Mary Chapin Carpenter Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit " Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" and the 1975 Top T ...

Steve Addabbo Steve Addabbo is a record producer, songwriter and audio engineer who helped launch the careers of Suzanne Vega and Shawn Colvin. He had a vital hand in Vega's hit single, " Luka" and Colvin's album '' Steady On''. Career He has produced and/or ...

John Gorka John Gorka (born July 27, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1991, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement." Personal life Gorka was raised in the Colon ...

Amy Helm Amy Helm (born December 3, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the daughter of drummer Levon Helm and singer Libby Titus. She is a past member of the Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Band and Ollabelle, as well as her own t ...

, Lenny Kaye,

and many others. Andersen has completed the recording of another new album, ''Dance of Love and Death''. The album was co-produced, recorded and mixed by

(

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the ...

). Other musicians who performed on the album include Lenny Kaye (

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''. Called the "punk poe ...

Group),

(

band; Phil Lesh and Friends,

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

(Band)),

, :it:Michele Gazich and Inge Andersen. The record is expected to be released soon.

Musical legacy

In his lengthy career, Andersen has issued more than 30 albums to which many artists have contributed, including

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...

, Leon Russell, Richard Thompson,

Garth Hudson Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...

, Tony Garnier,

Howie Epstein Howard Norman Epstein (July 21, 1955 – February 23, 2003) was an American musician best known as a bassist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early life Epstein was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up in a musical household. His ...

, and many others. His songs have been recorded by artists all over the world, including the

Blues Project The Blues Project is a band from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City that was formed in 1965 and originally split up in 1967. Their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles. They are most remembered as one of the most artfu ...

Peter, Paul & Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's reperto ...

, the Mitchell Trio, John Denver,

The Dillards The Dillards are an American bluegrass and country rock band from Salem, Missouri. The band is best known for introducing bluegrass music into the popular mainstream with their appearance as "The Darlings" on ''The Andy Griffith Show''. Band ...

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

Ratdog RatDog is an American rock band. The group began in 1995 as a side project for Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir. After the Dead disbanded later that year, RatDog became Weir's primary band. They performed some Grateful Dead songs, a mix ...

(

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

Gillian Welch Gillian Howard Welch (; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, coun ...

, Eilen Jewell Mary-Chapin Carpenter,

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career of ...

, Linda Thompson,

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

and

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

. Richard Harrington, music critic for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', wrote, "No other songwriter born in the generation between World War II and Korea has better explored the insistence of love, whether it be sensible or hopeless, beseeched or betrayed."

Awards

In 2003, Andersen won the :it:Premio Tenco award with

in San Remo, Italy. It is an award given to outstanding songwriters.

Writings

In 1999 Andersen wrote an essay entitled "My Beat Journal" for the ''Rolling Stone Book of the Beats''. That same year he published an article in ''

National Geographic Traveler ''National Geographic Traveler'' is a magazine published by NG Media in Armenia, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Latin America, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the UK. The US ...

'' entitled "Coastal Norway" . In 2009, Andersen contributed an essay entitled "The Danger Zone" to the ''Naked Lunch @ 50: Anniversary Essays'', a book volume edited by

Oliver Harris Oliver C. G. Harris is a British academic and Professor of American Literature at Keele University. He is the author and editor of fourteen books, including a dozen editions of works by William S. Burroughs: ''Letters, 1945–1959'' (1993), ''J ...

and Ian MacFadyen devoted to

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

’ ''

Naked Lunch ''Naked Lunch'' (sometimes ''The Naked Lunch'') is a 1959 novel by American writer William S. Burroughs. The book is structured as a series of loosely connected vignettes, intended by Burroughs to be read in any order. The reader follows the na ...

'', considered one of the landmark publications in the history of

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

. Andersen wrote the lyric texts, composed music, and recorded songs for painter Oliver Jordan's

exhibition called "Paintings out of Revolt". This exhibition first took place for the Camus centenary in Aix-en-Provence in 2013, and was at the

Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn The Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, or LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn, is a museum in Bonn, Germany, run by the Rhineland Landscape Association. It is one of the oldest museums in the country. In 2003 it completed an extensive renovation. The museum has a n ...

, Germany, during the summer of 2014. In 2013 Andersen wrote the liner notes for "The Essential Pete Seeger" for Sony/Legacy Records.

Discography

* ''

Today Is the Highway ''Today Is the Highway'' is the debut album of folk singer Eric Andersen, released in 1965 on Vanguard Records. Andersen's first wife Deborah Green Andersen, accompanied him on second guitar for two tracks, "Today Is the Highway" and "Bumblebee". ...

'' (Vanguard, 1965) * ''

'Bout Changes 'n' Things ''Bout Changes 'n' Things'' is an album by folk singer Eric Andersen, released in 1966. Allmusic entry for 'Bout Changes 'n' Things.Retrieved October 2009. Track listing All songs by Eric Andersen unless otherwise noted. # "Violets of Dawn" � ...

'' (Vanguard, 1966) * '' 'Bout Changes 'n' Things Take 2'' (Vanguard, 1967) * ''More Hits From Tin Can Alley'' (Vanguard 1968) * Single: ''Think About It / So Hard To Fall'' (Vanguard, 1968) * ''A Country Dream'' (Vanguard, 1969) * ''Avalanche'' (Warner Bros., 1969) * ''Eric Andersen'' (Warner Bros., December 1969) *Non-album single: Sitting In The Sunshine (co-written by Carole King and Toni Stern)/Sunshine And Flowers (1970) (Warner Brothers) *Non-album single: Born Again/Rocky Mountain Red (written by Michael Chain) (1971) (Warner Brothers) – ("Born Again" was performed on "The Johnny Cash Show" in 1971.) * '' Blue River'' (Columbia, 1972) * ''Be True To You'' (Arista, 1975) * ''Sweet Surprise'' (Arista, 1976) * ''Midnight Son'' (CBS, 1980) * ''Tight in the Night'' (CBS, 1984) * ''Istanbul'' (EMI, 1985) original soundtrack * ''

Ghosts Upon the Road ''Ghosts Upon the Road'' is an album by the American folk rock musician Eric Andersen, released in 1989. His first release on an American label in 12 years, it was regarded as a comeback album. Andersen had been living in Norway for many years. Pr ...

'' (Gold Castle, 1989) * '' Stages: The Lost Album'' (Columbia, 1991) ostly recorded in 1972–73, the master tapes were then lost, with three brand new tracks* '' Danko/Fjeld/Andersen'' – Rick Danko, Jonas Fjeld & Eric Andersen (Mercury, 1991) * ''

Ridin' on the Blinds ''Ridin' on the Blinds'' was the second and final album by the folk-rock trio of Rick Danko, Jonas Fjeld and Eric Andersen. Released in 1994, it was different from its predecessor in that its focus was rootsier, influenced more by the folk leanin ...

'' – Rick Danko, Jonas Fjeld & Eric Andersen (Grappa, 1994) * '' Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness'' – Various Artists (1997) * ''Memory of the Future'' (Normal, 1998) * ''You Can't Relive The Past'' (Norske Gram, 2000) * ''One More Shot'' – Rick Danko, Jonas Fjeld & Eric Andersen (BMG Norway, 2001) (2 CD's) * ''Beat Avenue'' (Appleseed, 2002) (2 CD's) * ''Street Was Always There: Great American Song Series, Vol. 1'' (Appleseed, 2004) * ''Waves: Great American Song Series, Vol. 2'' (Appleseed, 2005) * ''Blue Rain'' – live (Appleseed, 2007) * ''So Much on My Mind: The Anthology (1969–1980)'' (Raven, 2007) * ''Avalanche'' (re-issue) (Warner Bros., 2008) * ''The Cologne Concert'' - live (Meyer, 2011) * ''Shadow and Light of Albert Camus'' (Meyer, 2014) * ''Be True to You / Sweet Surprise'' (re-issue) (BGO, 2017) * ''Mingle with the Universe: The Worlds of Lord Byron'' (Meyer, 2017) * ''Silent Angel: The Fire and Ashes of

'' (Meyer, 2017) * ''The Essential Eric Andersen'' (Sony/Legacy, 2018) (2 CD's) * ''Woodstock under the Stars'' (Y&T Music, 2020) (3 CD's) * ''Tribute To A Songpoet: Songs of Eric Andersen'' (Y&T Music, 2022) (3 CD's)

Filmography and DVD appearances

In 1965, Eric Andersen starred in the

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

movie ''

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

'', in which he sang. In 1974, Andersen appeared in the

Les Blank Les Blank (November 27, 1935 – April 7, 2013) was an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians. Life and career Leslie Harrod Blank Jr. was born November 27, 1935 in Tampa, Florida. He atten ...

documentary '' A Poem is a Naked Person'', which covered three years in the life of rock star Leon Russell. The film remained unreleased for forty years but was finally released in 2015. In 1984, Andersen appeared as a guest in a film documentary about Phil Ochs called ''

Chords of Fame ''Chords Of Fame'' is a two-LP compilation from American folk singer Phil Ochs, compiled by his brother Michael Ochs shortly after Phil's death and released in 1976 on A&M Records. With the exception of 1969's ''Rehearsals for Retirement'', all ...

'' and sang the Och's song, "When I'm Gone". In 1985, Andersen wrote original music for the movie ''Istanbul'', starring

Brad Dourif Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Oscar, and won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for his film debut role as Billy Bibbit in ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975). He is also kno ...

. In 2011, filmmakers Paul Lamont and Scott Sackett began production on ''The Songpoet'', a documentary exploring Eric Andersen's uncompromising 50-year artistic journey. The film has been finished in February 2019 and had its premiere at The Copenhagen Music Film Festival, September 13, 2019. * ''Judy Collins Wildflower Festival'' –

, Eric Andersen,

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gu ...

(2003) (2 DVDs) * ''

: Woman of Heart and Mind'' (2003) (DVD) * ''

'' – Various Artists (2004) (2 DVDs) * ''

'' – Various Artists (2014) (Blu-ray, reissue) * ''

: A Multimedia Life'' (2006) (DVD) * ''Judy Collins & Friends, Live in San Diego, 2002'' –

, Eric Andersen,

(2012) (2 DVDs, reissue) * ''Greenwich Village: Music that defined a generation'' (2013) (DVD) * ''

: Roads Rapidly Changing – In & Out of the Folk Revival 1961–1965'' (2015) (DVD) * '' A Poem is a Naked Person'' – Leon Russell & Various Artists (2016) (DVD, Blu-ray)

Sources

*—
Eric Andersen
, ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

, 2001). *James Ketchell, , ''Rockbeatstone'' (August 2007). * Documentary Fil
The Songpoet
(April 2012). *
Greenwich Village: Music that defined a generation
(January 2013). *

(November 2013). *

(January 2014).

References

External links

home – ERIC ANDERSEN

Eric Andersen

Grateful Dead Family Discography:Home

Eric Andersen , Biography, Albums, Streaming Links
*

Naked Lunch @50
*
''The Songpoet'' full documentary at www.pbs.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Eric 1943 births Living people American folk singers American male singer-songwriters Arista Records artists Columbia Records artists Fast Folk artists Musicians from Pittsburgh People from Greenwich Village Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Vanguard Records artists Warner Records artists American expatriates in Norway American expatriates in the Netherlands Singer-songwriters from New York (state)