Eric Andersen (b. 1944)
Eric Andersen hit the New York City folk scene while barely out of his teens. He was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in Buffalo, New York, and briefly attended Hobart College before dropping out to pursue music full time. After traveling west to California, Andersen worked his way back east, ending up in New York City in 1964. After his arrival, he was introduced to Sis and Gordon Friesen by Robert Shelton, the well-known music critic of the New York Times.
The Best of Broadside: 23. "Plains of Nebrasky-O"
This was the first song Eric Andersen published in Broadside. According to Andersen, after leaving college, he wrote this song as "an impression when I was hitchin' west to San Francisco, I guess in a Woody Guthrie mode." The apparently serene fields of the Great Plains have seen hard times and heartbreak, hope, and violence. The Friesens experienced this firsthand. Yet, similar to Tom Paxton's "What Did You Learn in School Today?," this song notes that schools teach a history that often ignores the sacrifices of the poor and powerless.
The Best of Broadside: 33. "Long Time Troubled Road"
"Long Time Troubled Road" was from Andersen's Broadside period and a song Gordon Friesen particularly liked. The song reminded both Gordon and Eric of Peter La Farge, whom Eric remembers as "one of the greatest songwriters, he might have been the best one of all. People need to know about him; rediscovering him would be like discovering some long-lost Delta blues artist." Andersen never recorded this song for any of his albums.
Eric Andersen. Photo by Diana Davies.
Text extracted from the notes by Jeff Place accompanying The Best of Broadside. Eric Andersen quotes from personal communication, 2000.
Smithsonian Folkways recordings featuring Eric Andersen:
Broadside Ballads, Volume 3 (FW05303)
Broadside Ballads, Volume 6 (FW05315)
Fast Folk Musical Magazine Volume 1 No. 1 (FFSE101)
Fast Folk Musical Magazine Volume 6 No. 9 (FFFF609)