Blue River
Studio album by
Eric Andersen
ReleasedFebruary 1972
Recorded1971
GenreFolk rock
Length46:43
LabelColumbia[1]
ProducerNorbert Putnam[2]
Eric Andersen chronology
Eric Andersen
(1969)		 Blue River
(1972)		 Stages: The Lost Album
(1972)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Record GuideC[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[1]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]

Blue River is an album by folk rock musician Eric Andersen, released in 1972.[7][8] The album was reissued in 1999 by Columbia Legacy with two extra tracks.[9]

Production

The album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee.[10] Joni Mitchell contributes vocals on the title track, "Blue River".[3]

Critical reception

No Depression called the album's sound "subtle and incandescent," writing that producer Norbert Putnam "crafted a sound that was both sensual and spacious — at times reminiscent of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks — and always attentive to the languid melodies and sometimes frightening intimacy of Andersen’s lyrics."[10] MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide wrote that the album "stands alongside anything that the singer-songwriter produced during the '70s."[5] The Los Angeles Times deemed it "a delicately melodic, bittersweetly introspective song cycle that found its place within the Carole King-James Taylor-Joni Mitchell-Jackson Browne school of sensitive pop."[11]

Track listing

  1. "Is It Really Love at All" (Andersen) – 5:21
  2. "Pearl's Goodtime Blues" (Andersen) – 2:21
  3. "Wind and Sand" (Andersen) – 4:30
  4. "Faithful" (Andersen) – 3:15
  5. "Blue River" (Andersen) – 4:46
  6. "Florentine" (Andersen) – 3:31
  7. "Sheila" (Andersen) – 4:37
  8. "More Often Than Not" (David Wiffen) – 4:52
  9. "Round the Bend" (Andersen) – 5:38
  10. "Come To My Bedside, My Darlin'" (Andersen) - 4:58 ~*
  11. "Why Don't You Love Me" (Hank Williams) - 2:54 ~*

~* = Bonus Track on CD Release (recorded during album sessions)

Charts

Chart (1972) Peak
position
US Top LPs[12] 169
Canada RPM 100[13] 61

Personnel

  • Eric Andersen - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals
  • David Bromberg - dobro, acoustic guitar
  • Andy Johnson - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vibraphone, background vocals
  • David Briggs - organ, keyboards, celeste
  • Weldon Myrick - steel guitar
  • Norbert Putnam - bass
  • Glen Spreen - organ, harpsichord, keyboards, woodwinds
  • Eddie Hinton - acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • Grady Martin - gut string guitar, acoustic guitar
  • Kevin Kelly - accordion
  • Mark Sporer - bass
  • Kenneth Buttrey - drums, percussion, tambourine
  • Jim McKevitt - drums
  • Rick Shlosser - drums
  • Deborah Andersen - piano, background vocals
  • Joni Mitchell - vocals, background vocals
  • Farrell Morris - vibraphone, background vocals
  • Jerry Carrigan - percussion
  • Millie Kirkham - background vocals
  • Sonja Montgomery - background vocals
  • Laverna Moore - background vocals
  • Florence Warner - background vocals
  • Temple Riser - background vocals
  • The Jordanaires - background vocals
  • The Holidays - background vocals

Production

  • Producer: Norbert Putnam
  • Recording Engineer: Stan Hutto/Glen Kolotkin/Stan Tonkel
  • Production Manager: Jessica Sowin
  • Art Direction: John Berg
  • Liner Notes: Anthony DeCurtis
  • Photography: Urve Kuusik/Sandy Speiser/Don Nelson

References

  1. 1 2 Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 173.
  2. ↑ Duffy, Thom (21 January 1995). "Djanko, Field, Andersen Link Sounds of Norway, America". Billboard. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Blue River - Eric Andersen | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  4. ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG Book '70s: A". www.robertchristgau.com.
  5. 1 2 MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 28.
  6. ↑ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 14.
  7. ↑ "Eric Andersen | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  8. ↑ "Looking back, Eric Andersen savors the hits, shrugs off the misses - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
  9. ↑ Jacks, Kelso (2 August 1999). "Record News". CMJ New Music Report. CMJ. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  10. 1 2 "Eric Andersen – Blue River". No Depression. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  11. ↑ "Wanderings of Eric Andersen Lead Him Back Into Musical Mainstream". Los Angeles Times. September 21, 1989.
  12. ↑ "Blue River - Eric Andersen: Awards". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  13. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Albums - August 19, 1972" (PDF).
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