This classic album was the early culmination of Andersen's rise to prominence in the sixties with its thoughtful, poignant, and philosophic look both within Andersen himself and in the world as he saw it during a period of personal difficulty and inner turmoil.Eric Andersen is nothing if not a consummate writer, performer, and interpreter of classic folk melodies and subjects, and he delivers on his considerable promise. Certainly both earlier and later professional efforts by Andersen indicate just how talented and durable his abilities as a writer and performer he is. Here he is in superb form, with original songs ranging from the opening stunner "Is It Really Love At All" to "Wind And Sand" to other wistful interpretations like "Florentine" and the very wry "Faithful", which Linda Ronstadt did a terrific cover version of years later. My personal favorites here are ""Blue River", a haunting and evocative song about life simply led, and "More Often Than Not", an unusual (to say the least) take on life as a road-traveling performer. One often hears albums described as a collection of songs, but this is truly a song cycle that has a special mood, atmosphere, and timbre of its own. This is a special album by a monumental talent who has never gotten the wide acclaim and popular recognition his unusually gifted abilities seem to deserve. Buy this CD and I guarantee you will soon find yourself referring to it reverently, as most "folkies" do.
