"Guthrie Family Rules"
Published in Berkshire Eagle (10/6/09)
Arlo Guthrie
By Jeremy D. Goodwin
HOUSATONIC—Arlo Guthrie presided over a trio of shows this weekend at his Guthrie Center that was sometimes moving, occasionally ramshackle, and ultimately winning. His presence, in a sense, could not be escaped on Friday evening, although it didn’t take physical form—he was forced to skip the first show, apparently due to a back injury, and was not on the premises.
But Arlo was on hand for Saturday and Sunday, steering a large band including daughters Cathy, Annie and Sarah Lee, son Abe, grandchildren Krishna and Sophia, and son-in-law (via Sarah Lee) Johnny Irion. Some more grandchildren hopped (or crawled, depending) around onstage for a few numbers, showing great poise but mainly cranking up the “aww” factor.
The theme was Woody Guthrie lyrics put to music by contemporary artists, and the group launches a long national tour this week that will take it into mid-May. A sub-theme was Woody’s songs for children, particularly those found on “Go Waggaloo,” an upcoming album credited to Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family. (Irion remarked that the goal of the album was to record children’s music that “wouldn’t make you want to jump out of a minivan.”) Yet several of the songs on Sunday, like “Green Rocky Road” and “In Times Like These,” are trusty stalwarts of Arlo’s usual set.
With so many people onstage and so much ground to cover, Arlo stuck relatively close to the script on Sunday, providing requisite references to the likes of Ledbelly and Pete Seeger but only breaking off into true ramble mode when he came to a sudden stop in the middle of “This Land is Your Land,” to discuss the power of music that is passed from person to person “outside of the music industry.”
He also elected not to take a turn at the piano set up at the center of the stage, perhaps because of the back injury. An unexpected side effect was to transform “City of New Orleans” from the piano-driven ballad it’s become in performance to something more resembling the folk rock of Arlo’s early albums.
HOUSATONIC—Arlo Guthrie presided over a trio of shows this weekend at his Guthrie Center that was sometimes moving, occasionally ramshackle, and ultimately winning. His presence, in a sense, could not be escaped on Friday evening, although it didn’t take physical form—he was forced to skip the first show, apparently due to a back injury, and was not on the premises.
But Arlo was on hand for Saturday and Sunday, steering a large band including daughters Cathy, Annie and Sarah Lee, son Abe, grandchildren Krishna and Sophia, and son-in-law (via Sarah Lee) Johnny Irion. Some more grandchildren hopped (or crawled, depending) around onstage for a few numbers, showing great poise but mainly cranking up the “aww” factor.
The theme was Woody Guthrie lyrics put to music by contemporary artists, and the group launches a long national tour this week that will take it into mid-May. A sub-theme was Woody’s songs for children, particularly those found on “Go Waggaloo,” an upcoming album credited to Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family. (Irion remarked that the goal of the album was to record children’s music that “wouldn’t make you want to jump out of a minivan.”) Yet several of the songs on Sunday, like “Green Rocky Road” and “In Times Like These,” are trusty stalwarts of Arlo’s usual set.
With so many people onstage and so much ground to cover, Arlo stuck relatively close to the script on Sunday, providing requisite references to the likes of Ledbelly and Pete Seeger but only breaking off into true ramble mode when he came to a sudden stop in the middle of “This Land is Your Land,” to discuss the power of music that is passed from person to person “outside of the music industry.”
He also elected not to take a turn at the piano set up at the center of the stage, perhaps because of the back injury. An unexpected side effect was to transform “City of New Orleans” from the piano-driven ballad it’s become in performance to something more resembling the folk rock of Arlo’s early albums.
Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion
With the patriarch absent Friday, Sarah Lee become the de facto bandleader that night as the ensemble was forced to dip a little further into the “Go Waggaloo” material than it may have done otherwise. (A very well-behaved two-year-old, sharing lead vocals for a song, is precious; after three songs, though, the limits of the charm are tested.)
Sarah Lee’s beautifully delicate, country-tinged voice was a consistent highlight. A raw, a cappella rendition of “Birds And Ships” (one of the Woody tunes set to music by Billy Bragg and Wilco) delivered on Friday was transformed into a gorgeously expressive trio piece on Sunday. On the latter performance, Sarah Lee’s vocals (evoking the spirit of the great, traditional Scottish ballads) were joined by Arlo’s fingerpicking on acoustic guitar and Abe’s understated keyboard backing. (Two new Sarah Lee and Irion songs bode well for an upcoming album, particularly a Neil Young-like story song about an Appalachian trail hiker knocking on the door and requesting a “ride down the mountain.”)
The big band was really clicking for the slyly profound “Gonna Get Through This World” (Woody as rendered by The Klezmatics), and Pete Seeger’s “Sailing Down This Golden River.” The latter’s poignant melody was voiced by Arlo on harmonica, as Sarah Lee took lead vocals and Irion added subtle piano voicings.
A late-set “Keep On The Sunny Side” was a lovely nod to the Carter Family, but it was Woody’s poetry that truly put the cap on the night. “My Peace” has for years been a frequent encore choice for Arlo, who set the Woody-penned lyrics to music. (In fact, the lyrics are on display in the Guthrie Center’s atrium.)
But with three generations of Guthries onstage, and Woody’s presence even more keenly felt than usual, the offhandedly profound hymn had special effect. “My peace, my peace, is all I’ve known/ My peace is worth a thousand times more than anything I own,” the lyrics go.
On Friday, the group had trouble remembering the words. On Sunday, with two performers holding toddlers in their arms, and the patriarch onstage noting that his late grandparents dreamed of the day their whole family would travel around the country together playing music, there was not a word—or an emotion—awry.
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Sarah Lee’s beautifully delicate, country-tinged voice was a consistent highlight. A raw, a cappella rendition of “Birds And Ships” (one of the Woody tunes set to music by Billy Bragg and Wilco) delivered on Friday was transformed into a gorgeously expressive trio piece on Sunday. On the latter performance, Sarah Lee’s vocals (evoking the spirit of the great, traditional Scottish ballads) were joined by Arlo’s fingerpicking on acoustic guitar and Abe’s understated keyboard backing. (Two new Sarah Lee and Irion songs bode well for an upcoming album, particularly a Neil Young-like story song about an Appalachian trail hiker knocking on the door and requesting a “ride down the mountain.”)
The big band was really clicking for the slyly profound “Gonna Get Through This World” (Woody as rendered by The Klezmatics), and Pete Seeger’s “Sailing Down This Golden River.” The latter’s poignant melody was voiced by Arlo on harmonica, as Sarah Lee took lead vocals and Irion added subtle piano voicings.
A late-set “Keep On The Sunny Side” was a lovely nod to the Carter Family, but it was Woody’s poetry that truly put the cap on the night. “My Peace” has for years been a frequent encore choice for Arlo, who set the Woody-penned lyrics to music. (In fact, the lyrics are on display in the Guthrie Center’s atrium.)
But with three generations of Guthries onstage, and Woody’s presence even more keenly felt than usual, the offhandedly profound hymn had special effect. “My peace, my peace, is all I’ve known/ My peace is worth a thousand times more than anything I own,” the lyrics go.
On Friday, the group had trouble remembering the words. On Sunday, with two performers holding toddlers in their arms, and the patriarch onstage noting that his late grandparents dreamed of the day their whole family would travel around the country together playing music, there was not a word—or an emotion—awry.
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"This Land Is Your Land," with story (live, 10/4/09)
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