Beat Avenue

Beat Avenue

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Whoever coined the saying about old dogs and new tricks never anticipated this powerhouse two-disc song cycle. Fueled with an apocalyptic, post-9/11 urgency and driven by far more musical muscle than one expects from this veteran folk troubadour, the collection could stand as a companion piece to Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft". (Andersen acknowledges Dylan's inspiration by dedicating the album to him.) The opening "Ain't No Time to Bleed" sets the tone with a wailing duet vocal by Phoebe Snow and slashing guitar from Eric Bazilian, while "Song of You and Me," "Great Pyramid," and the relentless "Rains Are Gonna Come" sustain the hard-driving dynamic. For fans of Andersen's balladry, "Shape of a Broken Heart" and "Under the Shadows" (with vocals from daughter Sari) evoke the open-hearted spirit of his 1972 classic Blue River. Yet nothing in a career that stretches almost 40 years anticipates the 26-minute title track, an atmospheric, phantasmagoric meditation on the day President Kennedy was killed. Half-spoken, half-sung, it sounds like a cross between Lou Reed and Robbie Robertson while recalling an era when freeform FM radio rewarded such experimentation. With the project taking the sort of risks that one doesn't expect from an artist turning 60, this is easily the most ambitious music that Andersen has ever made, and some of the best as well. --Don McLeese

United Press International, February 28, 2003
"Andersen works within and without traditional song frameworks, wielding a vivid poetic skill and a fearless approach to songwriting."

Beat Avenue

Tracks:

The A-Team - Nic Raine
The Addams Family - Nic Raine
The Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe - Nic Raine
Airwolf - Derek Wadsworth
The Avengers - Mike Townend
Barnaby Jones - Jerry Goldsmith
Batman - Nic Raine
Battlestar Galactica - Nic Raine
Baywatch - Derek Wadsworth
Beverly Hills 90210 - Derek Wadsworth
Bewitched - Nic Raine
Between The Lines - Mark Ayres
The Bill - Nic Raine
Bonanza - The Philharmonia Orchestra
Brideshead Revisited - Derek Wadsworth
Buck Rogers In The 25th Century - Nic Raine
Burke's Law - Derek Wadsworth
Cagney And Lacey - Derek Wadsworth
Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons - Mark Ayres
Casualty - Mark Ayres
Cheers - Mark Ayres
Dallas - Nic Raine
Dangerman (Secret Agent) - Mike Townend
Doctor Who - Mark Ayres
Doctor Kildare - Jerry Goldsmith

Tracks:

Doogie Howser, M.D. - Derek Wadsworth
Dynasty - Nic Raine
The Equalizer - Derek Wadsworth
Falcon Crest - Derek Wadsworth
Fireball XL-5 - Derek Wadsworth
The Fugitive - Nic Raine
Hawaii 5-0 - Mike Townend
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Nic Raine
The High Chaparral - Nic Raine
Highway To Heaven - Derek Wadsworth
Hill Street Blues - Derek Wadsworth
The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - Mark Ayres
The Incredible Hulk - Derek Wadsworth
Jason King - Mike Townend
Jesus Of Nazareth - Paul Bateman
Joe 90 - Derek Wadsworth
Johnny Staccato - Derek Wadsworth
Knight Rider - Derek Wadsworth
Kojak - Mike Townend
L.A. Law - Derek Wadsworth
Land Of The Giants - Nic Raine
Little House On The Prairie - Derek Wadsworth
Lonesome Dove - Nic Raine
Lost In Space - Nic Raine
Lou Grant - Derek Wadsworth

Tracks:

Magnum, P.I. - Derek Wadsworth
A Man Called Ironside - Mike Townend
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - Derek Wadsworth
M*A*S*H - Nic Raine
Miami Vice - Mark Ayres
Mike Hammer - Derek Wadsworth
Mission Impossible - Mike Townend
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Nic Raine
The Munsters - Derek Wadsworth
Murder She Wrote - Derek Wadsworth
Newhart - Derek Wadsworth
North And South - Derek Wadsworth
Northern Exposure - Derek Wadsworth
NYPD Blue - Mark Ayres
The Outer Limits - Nic Raine
Perry Mason - Mike Townend
The Persuaders - Mark Ayres
Peter Gunn - Mike Townend
Police Squad - Nic Raine
The Prisoner - Mike Townend
Quantum Leap - Derek Wadsworth
Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) - Mike Townend
Red Dwarf - Mark Lambert
The Rockford Files - Mike Post
Roseanne - Dan Foliart

Tracks:

The Saint - Mike Townend
Seaquest DSV - Nic Raine
Space 1999 - Derek Wadsworth
Star Trek - Mike Townend
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Derek Wadsworth
Star Trek: Voyager - Nic Raine
St. Elsewhere - Derek Wadsworth
The Streets Of San Francisco - Nic Raine
Stingray - Barry Gray
Taxi - Derek Wadsworth
Thunderbirds - Derek Wadsworth
Thirty Something - Derek Wadsworth
The Time Tunnel - Nic Raine
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - The Philharmonia Orchestra
The Twighlight Zone - Nic Raine
Twin Peaks - Derek Wadsworth
U.F.O. - Derek Wadsworth
The Virginian - Nic Raine
Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea - Nic Raine
Wagon Train - Paul Bateman
The Waltons - Jerry Goldsmith
The Wild Wild West - Derek Wadsworth
Young Riders - John Debney
Xena: The Warrior Princess - Paul Bateman
The X-Files - Mark Ayres

Customer Reviews:

Two tracks I really like.......2007-07-21

The Mission Impossible theme is performed well.
The Fireball theme is actually much improved on this version. I prefer the orchestra and the vocals over the original.

Quantity Over Quality.......2007-01-15

As a musician myself, I know too well that one of the most important ingredients in ANY performance (live or recorded) is passion. The recordings here generally lack the same passion and sheer drama of the originals. Much of the instrumentation has been reduced to a cheezy, thin, plastic synthesized replica. The performances are simply a watered-down lackluster version of the classic originals. If it were not for the sheer volume of tracks compiled here, I would have rated the comp only "one star".

Mediocre.......2006-05-17

The sound quality for this collection isn't much better than the samples offered by Amazon.

One Hundred Greatest TV Themes.......2005-08-06

I have watched almost all the shows that are on these 4 cd's. Many were made before I started watching TV. Most I've seen once or twice before.

Pretty close to original recordings.......2005-07-24

Definitely not as good as the originals. You'll probably notice the slight differences since it's stuff you saw and listened to every week or everyday in reruns growing up, but it's still an amazing collection.

Average customer rating:

One of the Year's Best
continuing greatness
Career Defining at the Age of 60

Beat Avenue
Eric Andersen
Manufacturer: Appleseed Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Contemporary Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Contemporary Blues | Blues | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Singer Songwriters | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Blue River
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ASIN: B000087DRW
Release Date: 2003-02-25

Tracks:

Ain't No Tme To Bleed
Before Everyting Changed
Salt On Your Skin
Song Of You And Me
Shape Of A Broken Heart
Great Pyramid
Under The Shadows
Rains Are Gonna Come
Runaway
Stupid Love
Still Looking For You
Feel Like Comin' Home

Tracks:

Beat Avenue
Blue Rockin' Chair

Amazon.com

Whoever coined the saying about old dogs and new tricks never anticipated this powerhouse two-disc song cycle. Fueled with an apocalyptic, post-9/11 urgency and driven by far more musical muscle than one expects from this veteran folk troubadour, the collection could stand as a companion piece to Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft". (Andersen acknowledges Dylan's inspiration by dedicating the album to him.) The opening "Ain't No Time to Bleed" sets the tone with a wailing duet vocal by Phoebe Snow and slashing guitar from Eric Bazilian, while "Song of You and Me," "Great Pyramid," and the relentless "Rains Are Gonna Come" sustain the hard-driving dynamic. For fans of Andersen's balladry, "Shape of a Broken Heart" and "Under the Shadows" (with vocals from daughter Sari) evoke the open-hearted spirit of his 1972 classic Blue River. Yet nothing in a career that stretches almost 40 years anticipates the 26-minute title track, an atmospheric, phantasmagoric meditation on the day President Kennedy was killed. Half-spoken, half-sung, it sounds like a cross between Lou Reed and Robbie Robertson while recalling an era when freeform FM radio rewarded such experimentation. With the project taking the sort of risks that one doesn't expect from an artist turning 60, this is easily the most ambitious music that Andersen has ever made, and some of the best as well. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews:

One of the Year's Best.......2003-09-16

"Stranded in the wilderness, high inside my hand, for every act of wickedness, another grain of sand," Eric sings on the opener "Ain't No Time to Bleed" with Phoebe Snow's vocals soaring behind Eric's burning lyrics. When Eric sings "Jesus pawned his cross," it's evident we're in a for a bumpy ride as Eric dedicates this to Bob Dylan who he describes as, "true poet, hard worker, man of constant wonder, good friend, teacher, the master." If Dylan's the master, Andersen's an apt pupil as he changes gears for the midtempo "Before Everything Changed." Eric hits his softer side on "Shape of a Broken Heart," with Joyce Andersen's aching violin giving the bare-bones melody a dream-like quality. Eric rocks again on the haunting "Great Pyramid," "I'm looking for the holy man banished on the cross; I'm looking for the eyes of God, I'm looking for the loss." On "Rains Are Gonna Come" Eric again rocks full throttle. Garth Hudson's piano pounds on the rocker "Stupid Love." Lucy Kaplansky does background vocals on the soft lovely melody "Still Looking for You." "It's time to let the river just flow" Eric sings seeking peace on "Feel Like Comin' Home." On the second disc, the 26 minute "Beat Avenue" is a homage to the beat poets referencing memories of John Kennedy's assassination. Eric's voice talk-sings like a sober Tom Waits alienated and apart from a world that seems out of control. Eric concludes with a slow blues groove and snarls through the 10-minute "Blue Rockin' Chair," "Trying to be a beggar but you don't know how."

Eric Andersen is incredible in so many ways. He is first and foremost an artist striving for quality. His lyrics are some of the most intricate and literate; so it's a shame that they are not printed here. [My apology in advance if I've incorrectly heard the lyrics I quoted.] Eric is also incredible because he is a survivor with a 40-year career in which he is still expanding horizons. Seek & you shall find!

continuing greatness.......2003-03-05

Eric Andersen has been putting out wonderful records for almost 40 years now. From his earliest work he has always been one of the giants of the singer songwriter field, and yet somehow his stature has never received the achnowledgement it has so clearly merited. Has the New York Times devoted an extensive review to any of his albums over the last 15 years (since "Ghosts Upon the Road)? I don't think so. And yet Andersen's work over that time has been among his strongest ever...remarkable work quite simply beyond the reach of anyone other than Dylan. Dylan, of course, has had a great 90's too, but he has also gotten plenty of recognition for it. Will this superb record change that? Probably not, but it should. Musically and lyrically it is a triumph for Andersen. The music is full of energy and variety. The band plays wonderfully behind him. And the lyrics...one song after the next...are astonishingly rich. Beat Avenue is a master at the very top of his game. It is inconceivable to me that a record better than this will come out this year.

Career Defining at the Age of 60.......2003-02-27

Eric Andersen is one of those vanguard pioneers who came out of the Northern snowfields in the 60's and set about blurring the lines as to what songwriting was supposed to be about. As original and creative as his comtemporaries, some of whom inspired him, some of whom he challenged, much as fellow Canadian Neil Young would a few years later, Andersen seemed to trawl the darker waters of the soul, without falling under the sweep of the tide. Nothing's changed. It's only improved with age.
His career hit a watershed moment with "Blue River", and as the "Lost Tapes" confirmed, he was very much the musical counterpoint to Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow." The BIG buisness of recording eventually ignored him, so he took himself back to the woodshed of his origins and began a long, fruitful and philosophically intense sojourn in Norway. All of the CDs from this epoch in his life are worth seeking out, in particular his collaborations with Jonas Fjeld, and later with Rick Danko.
But even with all of these extraordinary achievements, I have to admit I was completely blown away by the power of this CD. As the official reviewer states, this somewhat harkens back to a time when radio was less market researched and would give you a shot at stringing together something bold, creative, innovative. Andersen was all that in spades all along. It has reached its zenith here.
The opening disc, supported by a superb cadre of musicians and singers, including his daughter, has all the trademarks of Eric Andersen at the top of his game. The second disc is a meditation on what went wrong with the world when America slew its leader. As McLeese notes, this is the kind of epic that perhaps only Robbie Robertson or Dylan could pull off with the same cogency, drama, power. It's not like you suddenly become brain dead at 60, but when you consider how safe most people try to play their lives by that point, to summon the courage and integrity to push songwriting and philosophical beliefs at this point in his life is positively Heideggerian in its daunting bravery. Plus it's sheer genius. Andersen went right to the cliff and lept off. His flight into the heavens is a thing of wonder, and he has a lot of very important observations to make that we ought to listen to, if we're not going to kill ourselves off for sure. Essentially, his is a soul that wants to come home. He has sought that home in lovers, family, music, Norway, North America. He looks for it still and will not release his soul or his heart or his mind until he finds it. Quite a statement from an artist who has always made quite a statement. Get this. You owe it to yourself.