The 1965 copyright date on Eric Andersen’s debut album, Today Is the Highway, indicates that this emerging Greenwich Village folk singer/songwriter was among the last out of the gate. The Woody Guthrie–inspired original material (“Dusty Box Car Wall,” “Bumblebee”) recalls the influences heard mostly in the early years of the decade, and even the restless romantic songs like the title track and “Time for My Returning” recall young Bob Dylan’s romantic paeans (from which he was moving away toward an electrified sound). That being said, there’s a sweetness to Andersen that other folkies of the era often avoided in favor of topical material, rougher blues, and ancient folk songs. As a result, tracks such as “Looking Glass” (as opposed to Dylan’s “North Country Blues,” with which the song shares a melody), “Never Coming Home," and “Come to My Bedside” are easier listening than many other folk songs of the era. Even Big Joe Williams’ “Baby, Please Don’t Go” is sung lonely and spare, as opposed to a nasty slashing blues.