Waves
The contemporary resurgence of 1960s folkie Eric Andersen continues withWaves, a celebration of the Greenwich Village era in which he cut his musical teeth--a scene that would experience such transformation onceBob Dylanwent electric. The CD's back cover shows an impossible boyish Andersen,Tom Paxton, andPhil Ochsfour decades ago, while the front cover depicts the weathered troubadour that Andersen has become. The music finds him applying his maturity to material from that era, bringing a calypso twist to Paxton's "Ramblin' Boy," a lovely lilt to Ochs's "Changes," and a survivor's sensibility to his own "Today Is the Highway." He makes no attempt to duplicate the distinctive vocal style of the lateTim Buckleyon the opening "Once I Was," though the phrasing ofFred Neilhas plainly influenced Andersen's own on "I've Got a Secret." He acknowledges the kindred spirit (and folk underpinnings) of the era's New York rock with renditions of theVelvet Underground's "Pale Blue Eyes" and theLovin' Spoonful's dreamy "Coconut Grove." The album ends appropriately with a singalong hootenanny, asJudy Collins,Arlo Guthrie, andTom Rushtrade verses with Andersen on a concert recording of his signature ballad, "Thirsty Boots."--Don McLeese