Songwriter Eric Andersen Crossed Paths With Everyone From Dylan to Warhol. Now, He’s Getting His Due
David Browne
Even in the Sixties, Eric Andersen was never a typical troubadour.
Harper’s once described him as sporting “high cheekbones like Rudolf Nureyev’s,” and he eschewed folk sing-alongs for his own sensuous ballads, like “Violets of Dawn,” “Thirsty Boots,” and “Close the Door Gently When You Go.” The Beatles’ Brian Epstein wanted to manage him, Johnny Cash invited Andersen onto his network TV series, and Andersen’s friend Joni Mitchell guested on
Blue River, the stately 1972 album that became the singer-songwriter’s commercial breakthrough. Andersen was even cast in one of Andy Warhol’s earliest movies, 1965’s