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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZGUTHRIE, Arlo(b 10 June '47, Coney Island NY) Singer, guitarist, songwriter; eldest child of Woody (see below). Sang Woody's songs in public age 13 at Gertie's Folk City. Grew up among visitors like Jack Elliott, Cisco Houston, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan; attended college briefly in Montana but found that he couldn't really do anything but sing: had first coffee house gig in Cambridge MA; soon appeared at WNYC's annual Folk Song Festival (Carnegie Hall '67) hosted by Oscar Brown: told that he had 25 minutes, he filled it with 'Alice's Restaurant Massacree', a hilarious story-song about his arrest for littering in Stockbridge MA on Thanksgiving Day '65 (the offence made him ineligible for the draft). Title track of his debut LP on Reprise became an anthem of the era, once played on WBAI continuously as fundraising gimmick; turned into a film '69 by Arthur Penn (soundtrack charted, two cuts by Arlo; single 'Alice's Rock'n'Roll Restaurant' made Hot 100 same year on Reprise, with Doug Kershaw on violin). Songbook This Is The Arlo Guthrie Book published '69 incl. memorabilia of Guthrie family. Other LPs on Reprise: Arlo '68, Running Down The Road '69 (incl. 'Coming Into Los Angeles', sung at Woodstock Festival), Washington County '70, Hobo's Lullabye '72 (incl. his only top 20 hit, with Steve Goodman's 'City Of New Orleans'), Last Of The Brooklyn Cowboys '73 (incl. Irish jigs, reels with fiddler Kevin Burke, country songs backed by Buck Owens band), Arlo Guthrie '74 (incl. 'Presidential Rag'), two- disc Together In Concert (with Seeger) '75, Amigo '76. All these charted in Billboard. Toured with band Shenandoah '77; Best Of issued that year; Arlo Guthrie With Shenandoah '78 incl. 18-minute track 'The Story Of Reuben Clamzo And His Strange Daughter In The Key Of A'. Outlasting The Blues '79 also featured the band; in '79 dir. Peter Starr incl. his 'The Motorcycle Song' in animated film No No Pickle and other Guthrie material in award-winning semi-documentary about professional motorcycle racing Take It To The Limit; Power Of Love '81 on WB was a welcome return to the charts; two-disc Precious Friend '81 with Seeger also on WB. Band now incl. son Abe on synthesizer; he also worked solo or in combination with Seeger, David Blomberg, John Sebastian, Roger McGuinn, Joan Baez. One of his newer songs, 'Oh Mom', was about a teenager who has no use for his mother's old-fashioned (liberal) values: she is a '60s person. His biggest influences were the Everly Bros and the Beatles: they each 'had a very simple-sounding musical style that's actually quite complex ... They are deviously simple.' He rarely played 'Alice' later, but opened with it for nostalgia at '85 revival of Newport Folk Festival; he was joined by Baez on 'City Of New Orleans' as a tribute to Goodman. Formed own label Rising Son for reissues as well as soundtrack to PBS documentary Woody Guthrie/Hard Travelin'. Like Woody before him, he is one of the most likeable people in music and one of the most important keepers of the folk flame, his material protesting injustice with optimism and humour rather than gloom. Several albums were reissued on Koch '97. |