Tom Rush / Eric Andersen
Hello, Friends --
I'm sitting here listening to Tom Rush's extremely important Circle Game album from the '70s. This is the recording where Tom says he was "just looking for 12 strong songs." What he came up with, of course, was work by three new singer-songwriters named James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell. I've long felt that Tom Rush is one of our most under-credited musical influences here in the folk / acoustic / country / urban singer-songwriter / etc. sphere.
Employing Bruce Langhorne and his electrified classical guitar as far back as the early 60s, Tom Rush foreshadowed the emergence of folk-rock as certainly as did Eric Andersen with his "experimental" Bout Changes 'n Things--Take Two recording featuring Paul Harris on piano, Herbie Lovell's drums and the incomparable Harvey Brooks on Bass. Roundly misunderstood by the more die-hard folk fans and subjected to somewhat unfair Monday-morning quarterbacking by critics years later, Eric's 'Take Two " record is almost impossible to find, but Tom's 'Circle Game' is available on CD and you simply must have it in your collection. I'll wait while you run out and buy it.** Bruce Langhorne is the electric 'water-guitar' behind 'Urge for going" and 'Circle Game"
Write if you get the chance,
** Update: Just in case you STILL don't have all of Tom's work in your collection, they made it even easier for you: http://tomrush.com/
Also, while 'Bout Changes 'n Things - take Two' remains, inexplicably, out of print, you may well enjoy a
visit to: http://www.ericandersen.com/