 ACK IN 1980 I had my first opportunity to see
Arlo
Guthrie in
concert...He and his band appeared at a night club
which has
changed owners since then and is now MARS
nightclub.
Arlo and the band he had touring with him were
excellent that
evening, and I'm sure many people were treated to
the depth of
his fantastic ranconteurage (story-telling) talent
for the first time.
Whether it's Coming into LA, the Motorcycle song,
or
the...Massacree, Arlo continues to amaze me with
his ever
youthful ability to keep those stories FRESH! Given
that 1980 was
an election year, he was agreeable to "dusting
off" his gem -
Alice's Restaurant, refusing to "stop bringing it
around again on
the guitar" until the crowd joined in on "you can
get anything you
want..."
When the music stopped, I noticed that Arlo
was involved in breaking down as much as the
rest...So, I walked
up to the stage and introduced my self as the local
busking street
singer. His response was cheerful and to the
point. Hey, "I just
wrote a song about singing in the street
recently."
 HEN, Arlo asked me whether I drank beer. I said sometimes. He
invited me to go out to the bar in the front room
of the club and
join him for a pitcher of beer...most of the
concert goers had
already left...we sat down at a table and he
informed me that a
biography, authorized by the family, was written
and would soon be
in print. WHAT A GREAT WAY TO FIND OUT ABOUT THAT!
He explained that the family chose to have him go
to the archives
that Harold Leventhal,
manager for both Woody and Arlo, had carefully
assembled...Arlo
was to go through the personal stuff and decide
whether to let Joe
Klein see all of it...Arlo said that at first when
he read the personal
correspondence between Woody and Marjorie, Arlo,
Joad, and
Nora's mother, he was quite uncertain about letting
Klein peruse
them.
But then Arlo explained that upon reflection
he realized that this book might be what folks'd
read about Woody in 100 years, so he simply told
Klein, we, the
family, trust your judgement in how you handle
writing about the
more personal stuff in Woody's life, you can read
all his letters.
Gentle visitor, I read the biography when it came
out, and I must
say I think the Guthrie family and Leventhal chose
wisely.
 N 1994, Arlo played the same club
with Xavier which included his
son, Abe, on keyboards...that night found me out in
front busking...
The third time was such synchronicity. You can go
to my
Woodyfest 1999 Page:
page
for that
exciting tale of serendipity! Or,
you can read how a Mystery Guest relates to
these tales of Arlo.
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