Ghosts Upon The Road - The Eric Andersen Story Quiz

Answer: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Andersen was born on February 14, 1943, and came from a family with Norwegian ancestors. He was partly raised in Amherst, New York, where he taught himself to play guitar and piano. Early memories were of seeing Elvis perform in his famous gold suit, and the Everly Brothers performing at his high school. Shortly after, Andersen fell under the spell of the writers of the Beat generation and discovered the folk music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. "I was writing stuff with three chords that I learned from Elvis Presley records, Buddy Holly and Little Richard," Andersen later told the 'Buffalo News'.

Answer: Today Is The Highway

"Today Is The Highway" was released on the Vanguard label in 1965. It contained two of his best-known early songs, "Violets of Dawn," and "Thirsty Boots."
Bob Dylan, a Greenwich Village contemporary, described Andersen as: "One of the best ballad writers and songwriters."
In 1975, Andersen was briefly a part of Dylan's "Rolling Thunder Review".

Answer: Cambridge, Massachusetts

"I was stranded up in Cambridge Mass
It was the winter of '64..."
Andersen wrote of making his money mowing lawns and "juking in a band". It was, he claimed, the story of being down and out squatting in an abandoned building eating cold out of cans - and of the people he hung out with - outcasts like him. He said that it was there he wrote one of his early songs, a song about black-faced miner, 'it was a tune by a man named Blue" [David Blue].
This was also the title track of a well-received album released in 1994.

Answer: Tom Paxton

Andersen was deeply influenced by the 'Beat' movement. "Ramblin' Jack was wild, but Lowell Jack was first/And I still tremble from the words", he sang in 'Ghosts Upon the Road'. Lowell Jack was, of course, Kerouac and Ramblin' Jack was Elliott. In the early '60s, Andersen hitch-hiked to San Francisco, where he met the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Neal Cassady at the City Lights Bookstore.

In 1963, Paxton heard Andersen sing at the Coffee Gallery in North Beach and invited him back East to New York.

Answer: Gerde's Folk City

Andersen was an opening act, but he impressed Robert Shelton of the New York Times who wrote that Andersen was: "a writer and performer of the first rank...possessing that magical element called star quality."
Although considered a folkie, Andersen did not produce the same volume of contemporary or 'protest' songs as contemporaries such as Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton and Bob Dylan.

Answer: Brian Epstein

After Andersen's second album "Bout Changes and Things", he was set to be signed by Epstein, until the latter died. Andersen had visited England and met The Beatles.

Answer: Judy Collins

"You've long been on the open road,
Sleeping in the rain,
From dirty words and muddy cells
Your clothes are smeared and stained,
But the dirty words and muddy cells
Will soon be hid in shame
So only stop to rest yourself
Till you are off again"

Chorus:
"So take off your thirsty boots
and stay for a while,
Your feet are hot and weary,
from a dusty mile,
And maybe I can make you laugh,
maybe I can try,
I'm just looking for the evening,
the morning in your eyes"

"Thirsty Boots" appeared on Collins's 1965 release 'Fifth Album".

Answer: Norway

Andersen lived in Oslo and travelled and worked extensively in Europe. In later years he settled near Amsterdam.

Answer: Istanbul

Released in 1985, "Istanbul" was the story of an American writer's experiences when caught up among criminal elements in Europe. The American actor Brad Dourif and the Belgian actor Dominique Deruddere led the cast. Ingrid De Vos, who was Dutch, provided the love interest.
Andersen mixed classical European music with traditional North African sounds.

Answer: Stages

This would have been the follow-up to the critically well received "Blue River" album, but the tapes disappeared and were lost until 1990 when they were found in the Sony tape vaults in New York. The re-mastered songs were released in 1991 as "Stages: The Lost Album". It won the New York Music Award for best folk album of the year.

Answer: The Band

Rick Danko was born in Ontario, Canada in 1942 and died in Marbletown, New York, in 1999. He played with The Hawks before joining The Band in 1968, recording and touring with them until 1977. He had a varied recording career thereafter, and two albums came from the Danko/Fjeld/Andersen trio.
Bob Dylan later described their first eponymous record as "one of my favorite albums of all time".

Answer: Townes Van Zandt

Given that Andersen had been heavily influenced by the Beat movement and had studied James Joyce at college, it was hardly surprising that his lyrics transcended the simple moon/June/spoon type of rhymes.
Van Zandt was one of the most underappreciated songwriters of his generation, partly because he did not promote himself enough, and they gelled as co-authors.

The title track was co-written with Lou Reed:
"What's said is said, what's done is done
you can't relive the past
The water's blown and so's the bridge
you can't relive the past..."

Duke Ellington also worked on the LP.

Answer: Pete Seeger

"Snow, snow, falling down;
Covering up my dirty old town.
Covers the garbage dump, covers the holes,
Covers the rich homes, and the poor souls,
Covers the station, covers the tracks,
Covers the footsteps of those who'll not be back..."

Other tracks on "If I Had a Song: The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol 2" included "Guantanamera" by Jackson Browne & Joan Baez; "If I Had a Hammer" by Billy Bragg & Eliza Carthy; and "Walking Down Death Row" by Steve Earle.
Andersen also took part in a tribute concert for Phil Ochs and contributed to "The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats: The Beat Generation and American Culture" (1999).

Answer: Andy Warhol

Warhol was also a native of Pittsburgh.
"Space" was to be a vehicle for Edie Sedgwick, but it proved difficult to make, not least because Warhol realised Sedgewick would not memorise her lines. It was to be a scripted movie about eight people talking. Andersen, with guitar, sang his lines. The actors remained stationary, reading from cue cards, while Warhol moved his camera about.

Answer: My Land Is A Good Land

"My land is a good land
Its grass is made of rainbow blades
Its fields and its rivers were blessed by God
It's a good land so they say
It's a good land so they say..."

The verses go on: "My land is a rich land"; "My land is a sweet land"; My land is a free land; and "My land is my homeland".
The song appeared on the album "'Bout Changes & Things" (1967).
"What Made America Famous" was written by Harry Chapin; "Power and Glory" by Phil Ochs and "This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie.