Arlo Guthrie
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Tuesday 2/28/6
“If you want to end war and stuff, you’ve got to sing loud all of the time.” -Arlo Guthrie
Full band:
Arlo Guthrie: Guitar, Vocals, Piano
Abe Guthrie (son): Keyboards and Vocals
Gordon Titcomb: Steel Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo
David Grover: Guitar
Kathy Jo Grover: Background Vocals
Terry Hall: Drums
(No pictures this time because the Chicago Symphony Orchestra supposedly does not allow them although I did see quite a few others using them and even flashing away. Ah well)
As American folk singers go, Arlo is probably one of the best alive today and considering his genetics and luck, (the genetic talent that he received from Woody and the luck in that he didn’t also inherit Woody’s Huntington’s Chorea), it’s really no wonder that he’s been able to write so many memorable and well written songs.
Arlo is the type of guy you immediately feel comfortable with, as if the two of you were really just sitting in your living room, drinking coffee, and talking about the past and present day, including everything from music to politics.
Arlo began his set with “Ridin’ Down the Canyon” and then talked about Bob Dylan and how when he was about 13 in 1961, he heard a knock on the door and some weird guy was there to see his father. Of course, this weird guy turned out to be Bob Dylan whose records were soon everywhere and who he played harmonica with. This led into a great cover version of “Mr Tambourine Man” which he commented, “When I heard that, I thought, ‘Noone has written songs quite like that yet.’”
Arlo’s third piece was a version of St. James Infirmary Blues. He talked a bit about songwriting after this: “Songwriting is like fishing or something. You’re sitting there and songs are swimming by and if you have a pen there, you can catch them. I know I’ve missed some good songs others have caught…don’t be sitting downstream from Bob Dylan.”
Arlo’s fourth song choice was an old favorite of mine, Darkest Hour which he explained was actually a song he dreamt about writing and wrote it down when he awoke. He followed this up with an instrumental song entitled “On the Eve of Farewell” he did for Birds of Paradise. He explained, “You only get so many words for songs in your lifetime so I have to be careful”
Arlo talked about how he and his band were in Australia on tour and noticed how there was noone around. Then, a huge amount of people started running towards them. It was then,they realized, that they were in the newest Godzilla film. (I think this may have been a joke).
Perhaps, Arlo’s funniest moment came when he said he didn’t want to call the live album recorded in Australia “Live in Sydney” either. “I wanted to call it, ‘He’s mostly dead.’ I got outvoted.”
Arlo switched for piano for his next piece, “Slow Boat” and told us about his very large piano teacher who he would convince to replay the songs enough times that he could remember them and didn’t have to learn to read music. His stepfather at the time was a barber (“so you can imagine how well we got along”) while his mom “had been Beethoven in a former life.” He told us how he wanted to use the car so she and he made a deal that he sit at the piano bench an hour every day. Of course, he would just go get his guitar and play it while sitting on the piano bench but “a deal is a deal.” Arlo followed this up with a cover of a traditional piano piece I am not familiar with but I noticed that the melody of it was somewhat similar to the melody line of Arlo’s song, “Ring Around A Rosy Rag”
Arlo talked more about Australia and how nice it was to be in a place where people aren’t terrified all of the time (even though they still searched him at the airport.) Arlo joked he told the security people, “You don’t understand. I’m nowhere near the threat I’d hope to become.” He talked about how once on a flight one of his band members couldn’t take on his new pair of mandolin strings but could keep the older ones already strung on his mandolin. Arlo quipped, “I didn’t know terrorists only use new strings.”
Arlo followed this up very appropriately with Coming into Los Angeles with an added electric guitar solo and telling us about how at Boston’s Logan Airport, some government agents came up to him and asked, “Are you Guthrie? Are you bringing in a couple of keys?” Arlo was initially panicked until he realized that the agents had grown up with his stuff.
Arlo ended the first set with a song also found on his Live in Syndey album, “Green Green Rocky Road.” After the intermission, he began with another instrumental piece, “Farell O’ Gara” and then delved into Alice’s Restaurant with some noteable changes:
“Well it started about 40 Thanksgivings ago.”
(about the draft): “Alot of people think that was from years ago but alot of guys keep being called back in even today.”
(about if you walk in and sing a bar of Alice’s Restaurant): “That guy is too late! Get that guy out of here!”
“Friends they may think it’s a movement and most of them would be a little too young to know what a movement was.”
He followed this by singing some songs in response to Hurricane Katrina as well as a song he wrote to commemorate the 200th birthday of America, Patriot’s Dreams
Perhaps the second best moment of the evening is when he sang City of New Orleans followed by a cover of his father, Woody Guthrie’s, traditional American folk song This Land is Your Land
Halfway through “This Land is Your Land” he stopped and started talking about making a world of difference even if you’re only one person. He joked that if the world was full of peace and love already, you’d have to go way out f your way to make a contribution but in a world like today anything helps.
Arlo ended his second set with this song but did come out and sing a song he put music to based on lyrics Woody Guthrie wrote in the late 1950s called “My Peace.” Arlo added: “I’m convinced if everyone just took care of their own peace, the bigger peace would come together.”