For whatever reason, folk singer/songwriter Eric Andersen is probably still best known for such self-penned classics as “Thirsty Boots,” “Close the Door Lightly When You Go,” and “Violets of Dawn,” all of which appeared on his 1966 sophomore album, ‘Bout Changes ’n’ Things. Those are great songs, but Andersen crafted many more standout recordings in the years and decades that followed, including numbers on albums like Blue River (1972), Be True to You (1975), Ghosts Upon the Road (1989), and You Can’t Relive the Past (2000).

More recently, the now 82-year-old singer has released LPs that draw on the works of writers Albert Camus, Heinrich Boll, and Lord Byron. He has also served up several live albums, including the terrific three-CD Woodstock Under the Stars (2020). Compared with earlier years, however, he has offered little in the way of original new material during the past two decades.

Until now, that is. Andersen has just released Dance of Love and Death, and it’s a two-disc set featuring nearly an hour and a half’s worth of music. He wrote all its songs except “Cross of Gold,” which is by Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Robin Batteau (who plays violin and classical guitar on the number). Versions of four of the other tunes have appeared on concert LPs, and another two surfaced on digital albums, but none of the remaining songs have been previously released in any form.

Andersen is at the top of his form on every one of the collection’s 17 tracks, all of which feature his distinctive, intimate vocals and immersive, elegantly constructed music. As usual, many of Andersen’s most powerful lyrics—such as those in “Sinking Deeper into You” and “Map of a Woman’s Heart”—explore topics related to romantic love. But he also turns his eye in other directions here. “Singin’ Man,” for example, tips a hat to buskers and appears to limn Andersen’s own early days in the music world. And in “After This Life,” he offers a lighthearted bucket list  for his time in the hereafter that would fit well alongside John Prine’s “When I Get to Heaven.”

Longtime associate Steve Addabbo, who has played key roles on other Andersen albums and produced or mixed LPs by artists such as Bob Dylan, Richard Shindell, and Suzanne Vega, produced the set. Andersen plays guitar, piano, and occasional harmonica, and is joined by more than a dozen other musicians, among them Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye, Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, and multi-instrumentalists Addabbo and Larry Campbell. Andersen’s wife, Inga, to whom the album is dedicated, adds harmony vocals on several tracks and duets with her husband on an affecting number called “At the End of the Day.” Several band members play string instruments—violin, viola, and cello—that fit well with the set’s fervent lyrics and vocals.

Andersen has been serving up poignant, powerful music for six decades now. Dance of Love and Death leaves no doubt that he can still deliver.

Also Noteworthy

Cat Stevens (Yusuf), Saturnight: Live from Tokyo. Cat Stevens (aka Yusuf) was at the peak of his popularity when he performed at the June 1974 concert that is featured here. Originally available only in Japan, the remastered recording includes five Top 20 singles and seven key album tracks.

From 1970’s Mona Bone Jakon comes “Lady D’Arbanville,” while the same year’s superlative Tea for the Tillerman yields “Wild World,” which rose to No. 11 on the singles charts, as well as “Father and Son,” “Hard Headed Woman,” and “Where Do the Children Play.” From Teaser and the Firecat (1971), Stevens performs “Bitterblue” and “Peace Train,” the latter a No. 7 hit. “Sitting,” a No. 16 single from Catch Bull at Four (1972), is here, as are “A Bad Penny,” “King of Trees,” and the No. 10 hit “Oh Very Young,” all from Buddha and the Chocolate Box (1974). Also included is “Another Saturday Night,” a non-album Sam Cooke cover that gave Stevens a No. 6 hit in 1974.

Saturnight is far from the only CD where you can find vintage live Stevens material. The Early Broadcasts collects 22 radio performances from the same period, for example, and expanded versions of several of his albums, issued in the past few years, incorporate concert performances. That said, if you want a succinct, hits-loaded taste of what Stevens sounded like on stage back then, this well-recorded album will deliver.

Wanda Jackson, The Classic Albums Collection. Wanda Jackson is known as the Queen of Rockabilly and, as Andrew Hickey notes in his superb podcast series, A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs, she’s “a towering figure in the genre.” She is also one of popular music’s most enduring artists. Jackson, who had a Top 10 country hit while she was still in high school, began performing in 1948 and continued to give concerts and make records until her retirement in early 2019—71 years later.

Though this anthology spans four CDs, collects the contents of eight original LPs, and has a playing time of nearly five hours, it couldn’t possibly embrace all the highlights of a career that long. Still, it does a fine job of showcasing Jackson’s most important period and facility for rockabilly, rock, and country. Among its 108 remastered tracks, all recorded between the mid-1950s and the mid-1960s, are “Let’s Have a Party,” her first rock and roll hit; “I Gotta Know,” whose verses alternately evoke classic country and the rockabilly that issued from Sun Records; and the high-octane “Fujiyama Mama,” which topped charts in Japan. Also here are more than a dozen songs penned by Jackson and covers of standards like Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away” and Hank Williams’s “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”

This is the place to go if you want to understand why Jackson influenced many later country and rock artists, and why she deserved her 2009 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.