Arlo Guthrie
Encyclopedia
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American
folk
singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie
, Arlo often sings songs of protest
against social injustice. One of Guthrie's better-known works is "Alice's Restaurant Massacree
", a satirical talking blues
song about 18 minutes in length.
and composer Woody Guthrie
and his wife Marjorie Mazia Guthrie
. His sister is Nora Guthrie
. His mother was a one-time professional dancer with the Martha Graham Company
and founder of the Committee to Combat Huntington's disease
, the disease that took her husband's life in 1967. His maternal grandmother was renowned Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt
. Guthrie's mother was Jewish, and he received religious training for his bar mitzvah from Rabbi
Meir Kahane
, who would go on to form the Jewish Defense League
. "Rabbi Kahane was a really nice, patient teacher," Guthrie later recalled, "but shortly after he started giving me my lessons, he started going haywire. Maybe I was responsible." Guthrie attended Woodward School in Clinton Hill Brooklyn 1st through 8th grades and later graduated from the Stockbridge School
, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
, in 1965, and briefly attended Rocky Mountain College
. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Westfield State College
, in 2008.
As a singer, songwriter and lifelong political activist, Guthrie carries on the legacy of his legendary father. He was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience award on September 26, 1992.
song that lasts 18 minutes and 34 seconds in its original recorded version. Guthrie has pointed out that this was also the exact length of one of the famous gaps in Richard Nixon
's Watergate tapes
. He has been known to spin the story out to forty-five minutes in concert. The Alice in the song is Alice Brock, who now runs an art gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts
.
The song lampoons the Vietnam War
draft
. However, Guthrie stated in a 2009 interview with Ron Bennington
that the song is more an "anti-stupidity" song than an anti-war song, adding that it is based on a true incident. In the song, Guthrie is called up for a draft examination, and rejected as unfit for military
service as a result of a criminal record consisting in its entirety of a single arrest, court appearance, fine and clean-up order for littering and creating a public nuisance
on Thanksgiving Day in 1965, when Arlo was 18 years old. On the DVD commentary for the film, Guthrie states that the events presented in the song all actually happened.
For a short period of time after its release in 1967, "Alice's Restaurant" was heavily played on U.S. college and counter-culture radio stations. It became a symbol of the late 1960s and for many it defined an attitude and lifestyle that were lived out across the country in the ensuing years. Many stations across the States have made playing "Alice's Restaurant" a Thanksgiving Day tradition.
A 1969 film
, directed and co-written by Arthur Penn
, was based on the true story told in the song, but with the addition of a large amount of fictional scenes. This film, also called Alice's Restaurant
featured Arlo portraying himself. However, the part of his father Woody Guthrie was played by an actor, Joseph Boley.
Despite its popularity, the song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" is not always featured on the set list of any given performance.
In 1972 Guthrie made famous Steve Goodman
's song "City of New Orleans
", a paean
to long-distance passenger rail travel. Guthrie's first trip on that train was in December 2005 (when his family joined other musicians on a train trip across the country to raise money for musicians financially devastated by Hurricane Katrina
and Hurricane Rita
, in the South of the United States). He also had a minor hit with his song "Coming into Los Angeles," which was played at the 1969 Woodstock Festival
, and success with a live version of "The Motorcycle Song." Guthrie's 1976 album Amigo received a 5-star (highest rating) from Rolling Stone
, and may be his best-received work; unfortunately that milestone album, like Guthrie's earlier Warner Bros. Records
albums, is rarely heard today even though each boasts compelling folk and folk rock music accompanied by top-notch musicians such as Ry Cooder
.
, an entirely different group that had musical hits from 1986 to 2006. Arlo Guthrie's band Shenandoah consisted (after 1976) of David Grover, Steve Ide, Carol Ide, Terry A La Berry and Dan Velika.
A number of musicians from a variety of genres have joined Guthrie on stage, including Pete Seeger
, David Bromberg
, Cyril Neville
, Emmylou Harris
, Willie Nelson
, Judy Collins
, John Prine
, Wesley Gray, Josh Ritter
, and others.
(1969) is his best known role, but he has had small parts in several films and even co-starred in a television drama, Byrds of Paradise.
Guthrie has had minor roles in several movies and television series. Usually, he has appeared as himself, often performing music and/or being interviewed about the 1960s, folk music and various social causes. His television appearances have included a broad range of programs from The Muppet Show
(1979) to Politically Incorrect
(1998). A rare dramatic film part was in the 1992 movie Roadside Prophets
. Guthrie's memorable appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival
was documented in the Michael Wadleigh
film Woodstock
.
Guthrie also made a pilot for a TV variety show called "The Arlo Guthrie Show" in February, 1987. The hour-long program included story telling and musical performances and was filmed in Austin, Texas. It was broadcast nationally on PBS. Special guests were Pete Seeger, Bonnie Raitt, David Bromberg and Jerry Jeff Walker.
, Guthrie endorsed Texas Congressman Ron Paul
for the 2008 Republican Party nomination. He said, "I love this guy. Dr. Paul is the only candidate I know of who would have signed the Constitution
of the United States had he been there. I'm with him, because he seems to be the only candidate who actually believes it has as much relevance today as it did a couple of hundred years ago. I look forward to the day when we can work out the differences we have with the same revolutionary vision and enthusiasm that is our American legacy." He told The New York Times Magazine
that he is a Republican because, "We had enough good Democrats. We needed a few more good Republicans. We needed a loyal opposition
."
About once a month, Guthrie posts short writings to the Announcements area of www.arlo.net, often sounding libertarian themes. However, on February 1, 2011, his post was to promote the cause of the public employee unions
being opposed by Wisconsin Republicans, and to favor the cause of labor unions in general. Previously Guthrie had made comments in public disparaging musicians' unions and stating that he had refused to join one.
In earlier years, at least from the 1960s to the 1980s, Guthrie had taken a decidedly leftist
approach to American politics. In his often lengthy comments during concerts his expressed positions were consistently anti-war, anti-Nixon, pro-drugs and in favor of making nuclear power illegal. However, he apparently regarded himself as more an individualist than the major youth culture spokesperson he had been regarded as by the media, as evidenced by the lyrics in his 1979 song "Prologue": "I can remember all of your smiles during the demonstrations, ... and together we sang our victory songs though we were worlds apart."
In 1984, he was the featured celebrity in George McGovern
's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in Guthrie's home state of Massachusetts, performing at rallies and receptions.
, Guthrie often sings songs of protest
against social injustice. He collaborated with poet Adrian Mitchell
to tell the story of Chile
an folk singer and activist Víctor Jara
in song. He regularly performed with folk legend Pete Seeger
, one of his father's longtime partners.
In 1991, Guthrie bought the church that had served as Alice and Ray Brock's former home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
, and converted it to the Guthrie Center, an interfaith meeting place that serves people of all religions. The center provides weekly free lunches in the community and support for families living with HIV/AIDS as well as other life-threatening illnesses. It also hosts a summertime concert series and Guthrie does six or seven fund raising shows there every year. There are several annual events such as the Walk-A-Thon to Cure Huntington's Disease and a "Thanksgiving Dinner That Can't Be Beat" for families, friends, doctors and scientists who live and work with Huntington's disease.
. Guthrie's son Abe Guthrie and his daughters Sarah Lee Guthrie and Cathy Guthrie have also become musicians. Annie Guthrie writes songs and performs, and also takes care of family touring details. Sarah Lee performs and records with her husband Johnny Irion. Cathy plays ukulele
in Folk Uke, a group she formed with Amy Nelson, the daughter of Willie Nelson
. Abe Guthrie was formerly in a folk-rock band called Xavier, and now tours with his father. Abe Guthrie's son, Krishna, is a drummer and toured with Arlo Guthrie on his European tour in 2006 and plays guitar for the 2009-2010 Tour. Krishna plays drums in Modest Me and aspires to be the lead of his own band some day. Arlo Guthrie is a grandfather of Abe's son Krishna and daughter Serena, Annie's son Shiva Das (Mo) and daughter Jacklyn, Sarah Lee's daughters Olivia Nora and Sophia Irion and Cathy's daughter Marjorie Maybelle Midwood.
- shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1995. A character in the novel overhears locals in the small Irish town of Shinrone
, recount the night Arlo Guthrie came to play.
The actual event occurred in February 1988, when Arlo played the local gymnasium in Shinrone
, County Offaly. The concert was organised by a local postman, Tom Stapleton.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
, Arlo often sings songs of protest
Protest song
A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
against social injustice. One of Guthrie's better-known works is "Alice's Restaurant Massacree
Alice's Restaurant
"Alice's Restaurant Massacree" is a musical monologue by singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie released on his 1967 album Alice's Restaurant. The song is one of Guthrie's most prominent works, based on a true incident in his life that began on Thanksgiving Day 1965, and which inspired a 1969 movie of the...
", a satirical talking blues
Talking blues
Talking blues is a form of country music. It is characterized by rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody is free, but the rhythm is strict....
song about 18 minutes in length.
Early life
Arlo Guthrie was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of folk singerFolk Singer
Folk Singer is a 1964 album by Muddy Waters. Waters plays acoustic guitar, backed by Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar...
and composer Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
and his wife Marjorie Mazia Guthrie
Marjorie Guthrie
Marjorie Mazia Guthrie was for a time the wife of folk musician Woody Guthrie, and was the mother of folk musician Arlo Guthrie and Woody Guthrie archivist Nora Guthrie....
. His sister is Nora Guthrie
Nora Guthrie
Nora Lee Guthrie is the daughter of American folk musician and singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie and his second wife Marjorie Guthrie, sister of singer/songwriter Arlo Guthrie, and granddaughter of renowned Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt...
. His mother was a one-time professional dancer with the Martha Graham Company
Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
and founder of the Committee to Combat Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease, chorea, or disorder , is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline and dementia. It typically becomes noticeable in middle age. HD is the most common genetic cause of abnormal involuntary writhing movements called chorea...
, the disease that took her husband's life in 1967. His maternal grandmother was renowned Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt
Aliza Greenblatt
Aliza Greenblatt was an American Yiddish poet. Her works include such well known Yiddish songs as Fisherlid and Du, Du. Her daughter Marjorie was for a time married to folk musician Woody Guthrie...
. Guthrie's mother was Jewish, and he received religious training for his bar mitzvah from Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Meir Kahane
Meir Kahane
Martin David Kahane , also known as Meir Kahane , was an American-Israeli rabbi and ultra-nationalist writer and political figure. He was an ordained Orthodox rabbi and later served as a member of the Israeli Knesset...
, who would go on to form the Jewish Defense League
Jewish Defense League
The Jewish Defense League is a Jewish organization whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary"...
. "Rabbi Kahane was a really nice, patient teacher," Guthrie later recalled, "but shortly after he started giving me my lessons, he started going haywire. Maybe I was responsible." Guthrie attended Woodward School in Clinton Hill Brooklyn 1st through 8th grades and later graduated from the Stockbridge School
Stockbridge School
Stockbridge School was a "progressive" co-educational boarding school for adolescents near the Interlaken section of Stockbridge, Massachusetts and which operated from 1948 to 1976.-History:...
, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census...
, in 1965, and briefly attended Rocky Mountain College
Rocky Mountain College
Rocky Mountain College , located in Billings, Montana, is a private comprehensive college offering more than 25 liberal arts- and professionally oriented majors. In fall 2009, the college had 894 enrolled students...
. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Westfield State College
Westfield State College
Westfield State University is a comprehensive, coeducational, four-year public university in Westfield, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1838 by noted educator and social reformer Horace Mann as the first public co-educational college in America without barrier to race, gender and economic class...
, in 2008.
As a singer, songwriter and lifelong political activist, Guthrie carries on the legacy of his legendary father. He was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience award on September 26, 1992.
"Alice's Restaurant"
His most famous work is "Alice's Restaurant Massacree", a talking bluesTalking blues
Talking blues is a form of country music. It is characterized by rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody is free, but the rhythm is strict....
song that lasts 18 minutes and 34 seconds in its original recorded version. Guthrie has pointed out that this was also the exact length of one of the famous gaps in Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's Watergate tapes
Watergate tapes
The Watergate tapes, a subset of the Nixon tapes, are a collection of recordings of conversations between Richard Nixon and his fellow conspirators plotting a break in to the Watergate Hotel. U.S. President Richard Nixon and various White House staff started communicating on February 1971 and...
. He has been known to spin the story out to forty-five minutes in concert. The Alice in the song is Alice Brock, who now runs an art gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
.
The song lampoons the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
draft
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
. However, Guthrie stated in a 2009 interview with Ron Bennington
Ron Bennington
Ron Bennington born January 9th,1959, is an American radio personality and comedian. He is the primary voice of The Ron and Fez Show, and a stand-up comic...
that the song is more an "anti-stupidity" song than an anti-war song, adding that it is based on a true incident. In the song, Guthrie is called up for a draft examination, and rejected as unfit for military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
service as a result of a criminal record consisting in its entirety of a single arrest, court appearance, fine and clean-up order for littering and creating a public nuisance
Public nuisance
In English criminal law, public nuisance is a class of common law offence in which the injury, loss or damage is suffered by the local community as a whole rather than by individual victims.-Discussion:...
on Thanksgiving Day in 1965, when Arlo was 18 years old. On the DVD commentary for the film, Guthrie states that the events presented in the song all actually happened.
For a short period of time after its release in 1967, "Alice's Restaurant" was heavily played on U.S. college and counter-culture radio stations. It became a symbol of the late 1960s and for many it defined an attitude and lifestyle that were lived out across the country in the ensuing years. Many stations across the States have made playing "Alice's Restaurant" a Thanksgiving Day tradition.
A 1969 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, directed and co-written by Arthur Penn
Arthur Penn
Arthur Hiller Penn was an American film director and producer with a career as a theater director as well. Penn amassed a critically acclaimed body of work throughout the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:...
, was based on the true story told in the song, but with the addition of a large amount of fictional scenes. This film, also called Alice's Restaurant
Alice's Restaurant (film)
Alice's Restaurant is a 1969 American comedy film co-written and directed by Arthur Penn. It is an adaptation of the 1967 folk song of the same name by singer and songwriter Arlo Guthrie...
featured Arlo portraying himself. However, the part of his father Woody Guthrie was played by an actor, Joseph Boley.
Despite its popularity, the song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" is not always featured on the set list of any given performance.
Popular and critical reception
Steve Goodman
Steve Goodman was an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. The writer of "City of New Orleans", made popular by Arlo Guthrie, Goodman won two Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...
's song "City of New Orleans
City of New Orleans (song)
"City of New Orleans" is a folk song written by Steve Goodman , describing a train ride from Chicago to New Orleans via the Illinois Central Railroad in bittersweet and nostalgic terms. Goodman got the idea while traveling on the eponymous train for a visit to his wife's family...
", a paean
Paean
A paean is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice...
to long-distance passenger rail travel. Guthrie's first trip on that train was in December 2005 (when his family joined other musicians on a train trip across the country to raise money for musicians financially devastated by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
, in the South of the United States). He also had a minor hit with his song "Coming into Los Angeles," which was played at the 1969 Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
, and success with a live version of "The Motorcycle Song." Guthrie's 1976 album Amigo received a 5-star (highest rating) from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, and may be his best-received work; unfortunately that milestone album, like Guthrie's earlier Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
albums, is rarely heard today even though each boasts compelling folk and folk rock music accompanied by top-notch musicians such as Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
.
Shenandoah
In the fall of 1975 during a benefit concert in Massachusetts, Arlo Guthrie performed with his band Shenandoah in public for the first time. They continued to tour and record throughout the 1970s until the early 1990s. Although the band received good reviews, it never gained the popularity that Guthrie did while playing solo. This band is not to be confused with the popular country music group ShenandoahShenandoah (band)
Shenandoah is an American country music group founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1984 by Marty Raybon , Ralph Ezell , Stan Thorn , Jim Seales , and Mike McGuire...
, an entirely different group that had musical hits from 1986 to 2006. Arlo Guthrie's band Shenandoah consisted (after 1976) of David Grover, Steve Ide, Carol Ide, Terry A La Berry and Dan Velika.
A number of musicians from a variety of genres have joined Guthrie on stage, including Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, David Bromberg
David Bromberg
David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Bromberg has an eclectic style, playing bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll equally well. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the...
, Cyril Neville
Cyril Neville
Cyril Neville , is a percussionist and vocalist who first came to prominence as a member of his brother Art Neville's funky New Orleans-based band, The Meters...
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, Wesley Gray, Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and author who performs and records with The Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006 he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine.- Early life :Josh...
, and others.
Acting
Though Guthrie is best known for being a musician, singer, and composer, throughout the years he has also appeared as an actor in films and on television. The film Alice's RestaurantAlice's Restaurant (film)
Alice's Restaurant is a 1969 American comedy film co-written and directed by Arthur Penn. It is an adaptation of the 1967 folk song of the same name by singer and songwriter Arlo Guthrie...
(1969) is his best known role, but he has had small parts in several films and even co-starred in a television drama, Byrds of Paradise.
Guthrie has had minor roles in several movies and television series. Usually, he has appeared as himself, often performing music and/or being interviewed about the 1960s, folk music and various social causes. His television appearances have included a broad range of programs from The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
(1979) to Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect is a late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997, and later on ABC in 1997, which cancelled it in 2002....
(1998). A rare dramatic film part was in the 1992 movie Roadside Prophets
Roadside Prophets
Roadside Prophets is a 1992 cult film written and directed by Abbe Wool, featuring musicians John Doe of the L.A. punk band X, and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys, with cameo appearances by, amongst others, Timothy Leary, Arlo Guthrie, David Carradine, an uncharacteristic performance by John...
. Guthrie's memorable appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
was documented in the Michael Wadleigh
Michael Wadleigh
Michael Wadleigh is an American movie director and cinematographer renowned for his groundbreaking documentary of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, Woodstock....
film Woodstock
Woodstock (film)
Woodstock is a 1970 American documentary on the Woodstock Festival that took place in August 1969 at Bethel in New York. Entertainment Weekly called this film the benchmark of concert movies and one of the most entertaining documentaries ever made...
.
Guthrie also made a pilot for a TV variety show called "The Arlo Guthrie Show" in February, 1987. The hour-long program included story telling and musical performances and was filmed in Austin, Texas. It was broadcast nationally on PBS. Special guests were Pete Seeger, Bonnie Raitt, David Bromberg and Jerry Jeff Walker.
Politics
A registered RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, Guthrie endorsed Texas Congressman Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
for the 2008 Republican Party nomination. He said, "I love this guy. Dr. Paul is the only candidate I know of who would have signed the Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
of the United States had he been there. I'm with him, because he seems to be the only candidate who actually believes it has as much relevance today as it did a couple of hundred years ago. I look forward to the day when we can work out the differences we have with the same revolutionary vision and enthusiasm that is our American legacy." He told The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
that he is a Republican because, "We had enough good Democrats. We needed a few more good Republicans. We needed a loyal opposition
Loyal opposition
In parliamentary systems of government, the term loyal opposition is applied to the opposition parties in the legislature to indicate that the non-governing parties may oppose the actions of the sitting cabinet typically comprising parliamentarians from the party with the most seats in the elected...
."
About once a month, Guthrie posts short writings to the Announcements area of www.arlo.net, often sounding libertarian themes. However, on February 1, 2011, his post was to promote the cause of the public employee unions
Public-sector trade union
A public-sector trade union is a trade union which primarily represents the interests of employees within public sector organizations...
being opposed by Wisconsin Republicans, and to favor the cause of labor unions in general. Previously Guthrie had made comments in public disparaging musicians' unions and stating that he had refused to join one.
In earlier years, at least from the 1960s to the 1980s, Guthrie had taken a decidedly leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
approach to American politics. In his often lengthy comments during concerts his expressed positions were consistently anti-war, anti-Nixon, pro-drugs and in favor of making nuclear power illegal. However, he apparently regarded himself as more an individualist than the major youth culture spokesperson he had been regarded as by the media, as evidenced by the lyrics in his 1979 song "Prologue": "I can remember all of your smiles during the demonstrations, ... and together we sang our victory songs though we were worlds apart."
In 1984, he was the featured celebrity in George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in Guthrie's home state of Massachusetts, performing at rallies and receptions.
Legacy
Like his father, Woody GuthrieWoody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
, Guthrie often sings songs of protest
Protest song
A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
against social injustice. He collaborated with poet Adrian Mitchell
Adrian Mitchell
Adrian Mitchell FRSL was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British anti-authoritarian Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's anti-Bomb movement...
to tell the story of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an folk singer and activist Víctor Jara
Víctor Jara
Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, poet, singer-songwriter, political activist and member of the Communist Party of Chile...
in song. He regularly performed with folk legend Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, one of his father's longtime partners.
In 1991, Guthrie bought the church that had served as Alice and Ray Brock's former home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
, and converted it to the Guthrie Center, an interfaith meeting place that serves people of all religions. The center provides weekly free lunches in the community and support for families living with HIV/AIDS as well as other life-threatening illnesses. It also hosts a summertime concert series and Guthrie does six or seven fund raising shows there every year. There are several annual events such as the Walk-A-Thon to Cure Huntington's Disease and a "Thanksgiving Dinner That Can't Be Beat" for families, friends, doctors and scientists who live and work with Huntington's disease.
Family
Guthrie and his wife Jackie reside in the Town of Washington, MassachusettsWashington, Massachusetts
Washington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 538 at the 2010 census.- History :...
. Guthrie's son Abe Guthrie and his daughters Sarah Lee Guthrie and Cathy Guthrie have also become musicians. Annie Guthrie writes songs and performs, and also takes care of family touring details. Sarah Lee performs and records with her husband Johnny Irion. Cathy plays ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
in Folk Uke, a group she formed with Amy Nelson, the daughter of Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
. Abe Guthrie was formerly in a folk-rock band called Xavier, and now tours with his father. Abe Guthrie's son, Krishna, is a drummer and toured with Arlo Guthrie on his European tour in 2006 and plays guitar for the 2009-2010 Tour. Krishna plays drums in Modest Me and aspires to be the lead of his own band some day. Arlo Guthrie is a grandfather of Abe's son Krishna and daughter Serena, Annie's son Shiva Das (Mo) and daughter Jacklyn, Sarah Lee's daughters Olivia Nora and Sophia Irion and Cathy's daughter Marjorie Maybelle Midwood.
In fiction
Arlo Guthrie is mentioned in Tim Winton's novel The RidersThe Riders
The Riders is a novel by Australian author Tim Winton published in 1994. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1995.-Plot summary:The Riders tells the story of an Australian man, Fred Scully, and his 7 year old daughter Billie. Scully, as he is known, and his wife Jennifer have planned to move...
- shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1995. A character in the novel overhears locals in the small Irish town of Shinrone
Shinrone
Shinrone is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It lies at the junction of the R491 regional road between Cloughjordan and Roscrea where it is joined by the R492...
, recount the night Arlo Guthrie came to play.
The actual event occurred in February 1988, when Arlo played the local gymnasium in Shinrone
Shinrone
Shinrone is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It lies at the junction of the R491 regional road between Cloughjordan and Roscrea where it is joined by the R492...
, County Offaly. The concert was organised by a local postman, Tom Stapleton.
Discography
- Alice's RestaurantAlice's Restaurant (album)Alice's Restaurant is an album by Arlo Guthrie featuring one of his most famous songs, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree".-Track listing:All tracks composed by Arlo Guthrie.# "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" – 18:20...
(1967) - ArloArlo (album)Arlo is a 1968 live album by American folk singer Arlo Guthrie.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Arlo Guthrie; except where indicated# "The Motorcycle Song" – 7:56# "Wouldn't You Believe It" – 3:03# "Try Me One More Time" – 2:13...
(1968) - Running Down the RoadRunning Down the RoadRunning Down the Road is a 1969 album by American folk singer Arlo Guthrie. Guthrie's version of the traditional folk tune "Stealin'" was featured in the film Two-Lane Blacktop.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Arlo Guthrie; except where noted...
(1969) - Alice's Restaurant SoundtrackAlice's Restaurant (film)Alice's Restaurant is a 1969 American comedy film co-written and directed by Arthur Penn. It is an adaptation of the 1967 folk song of the same name by singer and songwriter Arlo Guthrie...
(1969) - Washington County (1970)
- Hobo's LullabyHobo's Lullaby (album)Hobo's Lullaby is a 1972 LP by American folk singer Arlo Guthrie. This album features Guthrie's most recent Top 40 hit to date, a cover of Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans."-Track listing:# Anytime - 1:46 Hobo's Lullaby is a 1972 LP by American folk singer Arlo Guthrie. This album features...
(1972) - Last of the Brooklyn CowboysLast of the Brooklyn CowboysLast of the Brooklyn Cowboys is a 1973 album by American folk singer Arlo Guthrie.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Arlo Guthrie; except where indicated#"Farrell O'Gara" - 2:49#"Gypsy Davy" - 3:44...
(1973) - Arlo GuthrieArlo Guthrie (album)Arlo Guthrie is a 1974 album by folk singer Arlo Guthrie.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Arlo Guthrie; except where indicated# "Won't Be Long"# "Presidential Rag"# "Deportees" # "Children of Abraham"...
(1974) - Together In Concert (1975), with Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
(2 record set), WarnerWarner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
/RepriseReprise RecordsReprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:... - Amigo (1976)
- The Best of Arlo GuthrieThe Best of Arlo GuthrieThe Best of Arlo Guthrie is a 1977 compilation album by Arlo Guthrie.-Track listing:#"Alice's Restaurant Massacree" 18:33#"Gabriel's Mother's Highway ballad#16 Blues" 6:25#"Cooper's Lament" 2:46#"Motorcycle Song" 6:28...
(1977) - One Night (1978)
- Outlasting the Blues (1979)
- Power Of Love (1981)
- Precious FriendPrecious FriendPrecious Friend is a record by Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger with Shenandoah and a Warner Bros. recording.Precious Friend was recorded in 1981 at the Poplar Creek Music Theater, Pineknob Music Theater, Greek Theatre and Concord Pavilion. It is a compilation of songs from when Guthrie and Seeger...
(1982) - Someday (1986)
- All Over the World (1991)
- Son of the WindSon of the WindSon of the Wind is a 1992 album by American folk singer Arlo Guthrie.-Track listing:#"Buffalo Gals" 2:40#"Dead or Alive" 3:03#"Streets of Laredo" 3:48...
(1992) - 2 Songs (1992)
- More Together Again (1994)
- Alice's Restaurant - The Massacree RevisitedAlice's Restaurant - The Massacree RevisitedAlice's Restaurant is a 1996 album by American folk singer Arlo Guthrie. The album is a new recording of all material from the entire original Alice's Restaurant album, as performed live 29 years later at The Church in Housatonic, Massachusetts...
(1996) - Mystic Journey (1996)
- This Land Is Your Land: An All American Children's Folk Classic (1997)
- "BanjoMan - a tribute to Derroll Adams" (2002)
- Live In SydneyLive in SydneyLive in Sydney is the 2001 DVD release of Kylie Minogue's On a Night Like This Tour. The DVD features exclusive backstage footage of the concert, including a look into the dancers dressing rooms and a prank played on Kylie during the show entitled 'Will Kylie Crack'...
(2005) - In Times Like These (2007)
- 32¢ Postage Due (2008)
- Tales Of '69 (2009)
Select filmography
- Alice's RestaurantAlice's Restaurant (film)Alice's Restaurant is a 1969 American comedy film co-written and directed by Arthur Penn. It is an adaptation of the 1967 folk song of the same name by singer and songwriter Arlo Guthrie...
(1969) - Renaldo and ClaraRenaldo and ClaraRenaldo and Clara is a surrealist movie, directed by and starring Bob Dylan. Filmed in 1975, during Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, it was released in 1978...
(1978) - Baby's Storytime (1989)
- Roadside ProphetsRoadside ProphetsRoadside Prophets is a 1992 cult film written and directed by Abbe Wool, featuring musicians John Doe of the L.A. punk band X, and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys, with cameo appearances by, amongst others, Timothy Leary, Arlo Guthrie, David Carradine, an uncharacteristic performance by John...
(1992)
Notable television guest appearances
- Beat Club (episode # 1.52) February 28, 1970
- Byrds of Paradise (1994)
- Relativity December 29, 1996
- Renegade in episode: "Top Ten with a Bullet" (episode # 5.14) January 24, 1997
- Rich Man, Poor Man: Book 2 2 episodes, 1976
- The fourth season of "The Muppet ShowThe Muppet ShowThe Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
".
Film and television composer
- Alice's Restaurant (1969) (song "The Alice's Restaurant Massacree")
- WoodstockWoodstock (film)Woodstock is a 1970 American documentary on the Woodstock Festival that took place in August 1969 at Bethel in New York. Entertainment Weekly called this film the benchmark of concert movies and one of the most entertaining documentaries ever made...
(1970) (song "Coming Into Los Angeles" - the song heard on the officially released soundtrack recording was not played at the Woodstock festival. Rather, it is a recording of a previous live presentation.) - Clay Pigeon (1971) also known as Trip to Kill (UK)
- Baby's Storytime (1989)
Appearances as himself
- Hylands hörna (episode # 4.4) January 31, 1970
- Woodstock (1969) (also known as Woodstock 25th Anniversary Edition and as Woodstock, 3 Days of Peace & Music)
- The Dick Cavett ShowThe Dick Cavett ShowThe Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:* ABC daytime ...
September 8, 1970 - Arthur PennArthur PennArthur Hiller Penn was an American film director and producer with a career as a theater director as well. Penn amassed a critically acclaimed body of work throughout the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:...
1922-: Themes and Variants (1970) (TV) - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
playing "Himself" August 17, 1972 - The Muppet ShowThe Muppet ShowThe Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
(episode # 4.8) June 19, 1979 - The WeaversThe WeaversThe Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
: Wasn't That a TimeThe Weavers: Wasn't That a Time!The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time! is a 1982 documentary film about the blacklisted folk group The Weavers and the events leading up to their 1980 reunion concert at Carnegie Hall.The film was the inspiration for the 2003 mockumentary film A Mighty Wind....
(1982) - Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin (1984)
- Farm Aid '87 (1987) (TV)
- A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly (1988)
- Woodstock: The Lost Performances (1990)
- Woodstock Diary (1994) (TV)
- The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1994) (TV)
- The History of Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 6 (1995) (TV) (also known as My Generation)
- This Land Is Your Land: The Animated Kids' Songs of Woody Guthrie (1997)
- Healthy Kids (1998) (TV series)
- The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack (2000)
- Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The Early Years (1955–1970) (2000) (TV)
- Last Party 2000 (2001) (also known as The Party's Over)
- Pops Goes the Fourth! (July 4, 2001)
- NPR's Talk of the Nation radio broadcast (Nov. 14, 2001)
- St. James Infirmary and The City Of New Orleans
- Singing in the Shadow: The Children of Rock Royalty (2003)
- Get Up, Stand Up (2003) (TV series)
- From Wharf Rats to the Lords of the Docks (2004)
- Isn't This a Time! A Tribute Concert for Harold Leventhal (2004)
- 1968 with Tom Brokaw (2007)
- Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (2008) (American MastersAmerican MastersAmerican Masters is a PBS television show which produces biographies on the artists, actors and writers of the United States who have left a profound impact on the nation's popular culture. It is produced by WNET in New York City...
PBS TV special) - The 84th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (2010) (TV special)