You Can't Relive the Past
Perhaps you can't relive your past, but for Eric Andersen escape is no option. In these 13 songs--sung in a desolate whisper, played like a seance at Parchman Farm--Andersen, whoBob Dylanhas called "a great ballad writer," pursues his darkest memories with one ear cocked to the Delta, the other listening for "the wisdom of Job ... old as the devil." Andersen recorded half of the album in New York and half in Mississippi:Artie Traumpicks sparkling lines andLucy Kaplanskyadds sweet harmonies on the acoustic New York material, while a small combo of blues musicians--including legendary drummer Sam Carr and slide guitarist Kenny Brown--add a haunting and muscular electric groove on the Delta cuts. There are also notable writing collaborations withLou Reed, who cowrites and sings on the title track, and four songs penned withTownes Van Zandt--brooding meditations on mortality imaged in snakelike roads and meadowlark laments. Easy listening?  No, but essential for devotees of songwriting at its darkest and deepest.--Roy Kasten