He has not rehabilitated himself
April 12, 2021 6:32 PM Subscribe
After 50+ years of touring, Arlo Guthrie has gone fishing.
Yes, judging from his writing he's enjoying himself much too much to be dead.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:37 PM on April 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:37 PM on April 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
good for him. an american icon. alice's restaurant is an ancient tune and people still get references to "pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back sayin what it was".
posted by j_curiouser at 6:58 PM on April 12, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 6:58 PM on April 12, 2021 [8 favorites]
I wish him a retirement that couldn't be beat.
posted by PhineasGage at 6:59 PM on April 12, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by PhineasGage at 6:59 PM on April 12, 2021 [13 favorites]
Just so long as he picks up the garbage.
posted by wabbittwax at 7:10 PM on April 12, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by wabbittwax at 7:10 PM on April 12, 2021 [14 favorites]
Add me to the list of those VERY relieved to find out that "not rehabilitated himself" and "gone fishing" are not (yet?) euphemisms for "died".
Thanks for the heart starter, WtP.
Also, the linked post was written last October.
posted by flabdablet at 7:50 PM on April 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
Thanks for the heart starter, WtP.
Also, the linked post was written last October.
posted by flabdablet at 7:50 PM on April 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
Yes, it's old news but somehow word hasn't gotten around.
re: "pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back sayin what it was", someone just used that in a meeting I was in a couple of days ago, and was she was so pleased that someone got the reference.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 8:05 PM on April 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
re: "pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back sayin what it was", someone just used that in a meeting I was in a couple of days ago, and was she was so pleased that someone got the reference.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 8:05 PM on April 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
I remember well the first time a friend played me this really old song about a restaurant. That was over thirty years ago, about twenty years after that really old song was released.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:15 PM on April 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:15 PM on April 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Amusingly, I just learned this earlier today:
While at the Quiet Knight bar in Chicago, Steve Goodman saw Arlo Guthrie, and asked to be allowed to play a song for him. Guthrie grudgingly agreed, on the condition that if Goodman bought him a beer, Guthrie would listen to him play for as long as it took to drink the beer.'Goodman played "City of New Orleans", which Guthrie liked enough that he asked to record it.posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 8:38 PM on April 12, 2021 [10 favorites]
I really expected this to be an obituary. I'm glad it's not. It's not really music I've payed much attention to, but I'm glad he existed and continues to do so.. Cheers!
posted by eotvos at 11:46 PM on April 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by eotvos at 11:46 PM on April 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Alice's Restaurant has been a blessing to me in the last year. While watching or reading the news I play the finger picking guitar for Alice's Restaurant on continuous cycle. It keeps me calm and centered, and all the horror and dread just washes away. Singing the chorus out loud at the particularly bad news is also helpful. I wish Arlo a good and well-earned retirement, but I am going to keep on playing.
posted by drnick at 1:56 AM on April 13, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by drnick at 1:56 AM on April 13, 2021 [11 favorites]
Other ill-advised thread titles:
Arlo Guthrie has reached the end of the roadposted by fairmettle at 2:36 AM on April 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
Spotlight goes dark for Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie exits stage left
The gig is up for Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie has hung up his guitar for the last time
I must admit, I cannot name one Arlo Guthrie song other than "Alice's Restaurant". I should check out his catalog.
I suspect that I am not alone in this! Still, that is one more song that everyone knows than most songwriters get to have.
posted by thelonius at 3:39 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
I suspect that I am not alone in this! Still, that is one more song that everyone knows than most songwriters get to have.
posted by thelonius at 3:39 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
thelonius, I know people in at least 3 countries that are also familiar with The Motorcycle Song.
posted by drnick at 4:24 AM on April 13, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by drnick at 4:24 AM on April 13, 2021 [10 favorites]
Sounds like it was not an expected or desired shift, but that he's enjoying it, so good for him.
posted by rmd1023 at 5:02 AM on April 13, 2021
posted by rmd1023 at 5:02 AM on April 13, 2021
Yes, it's old news but somehow word hasn't gotten around.
I can't believe I didn't know about this.
He seems happy and contented. I wish him many more years.
posted by james33 at 5:25 AM on April 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
I can't believe I didn't know about this.
He seems happy and contented. I wish him many more years.
posted by james33 at 5:25 AM on April 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
When all musicians have stopped touring, it's less noticeable that a musician has stopped touring.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:17 AM on April 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:17 AM on April 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
I heard the Guthrie version of City of New Orleans before the original Steve Goodman recording. If you ever want to make one of your recordings sound shallow and superficial just let Arlo Guthrie cover it. I like Goodman but it sounded like the teletubbies singing after Arlo’s version.
posted by q*ben at 6:36 AM on April 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by q*ben at 6:36 AM on April 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
Yeah, hadn't heard about any of this, so thanks for the post.
posted by JanetLand at 6:38 AM on April 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by JanetLand at 6:38 AM on April 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
'coming into los angeles' was in the woodstock film. weed-a-riffic.
posted by j_curiouser at 8:44 AM on April 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 8:44 AM on April 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
Musta been somewhere 'round '96 maybe, my wife and I returned to my hometown for a family visit and my Mom announced she had tickets for a show that weekend at the local college, a small-but-esteemed Quaker liberal arts institution. "Oh yeah? What show?" "Arlo Guthrie!" exclaimed my 69-year old Republican mother, an unlikely graduate of said institution in her mid-40's after raising five boys. So off we went to the old auditorium with bleacher seats where an odd assemblage of my rural Indiana townies and a handful of actual students had turned out to hear the famed folkie, anti-government instigator and bona fide son of a by-God American legend. Arlo was okay, pretty much what I imagined he'd be sitting in a 30% full 2500-person hall in a 35,000-person town in the middle of Indiana, reciting the same songs and folksy segues for the 100,000th time. He made a payday easy and affable and, of course, he sang "the song" which ate up easily a third of the show and to which many people from 8 to 80 cheerfully sang along at the end. But for me, the highlight was looking around at that crowd, tapping their feet as he nasally crowed, 30+ years after it was considered subversive, about "comin' into Los Angeleees, bringin' in a couple keys, don't touch my bags if you please, Mr. Customs man." I dunno, man, it was no Woody and it was certainly no Dylan and there was no one going home enlightened to challenge "the man" and it all just seemed kinda sad for one man to spend his entire adult life singing a 30-minute talking novelty and a handful of other tunes that might be recognizable but which most people probably haven't heard in 20+ years and probably won't hear again. I hope he was genuinely happy touring all those years and can enjoy his remaining years out of the spotlight and doesn't despair of his legacy to that of his fathers'.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 9:19 AM on April 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by thecincinnatikid at 9:19 AM on April 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
I know little of Guthrie's catalog beyond "Alice's Restaurant," but the song is a huge patch on the fabric of my cultural quilt.
We had a practice of listening to it every Thanksgiving in my family, on the 8-track, and since leaving the next I've found many friends and found family that also have a special place for it in their hearts and routines. It's also been fun to introduce it to friends who hadn't heard it before, and to my stepkids who had lots of questions.
Anyway, I am inordinately fond of Guthrie as it is, I really should listen to more of his work. Sorry for his health troubles, but I'm glad for him to be able to leave the road life and hope he has many good fishing years ahead.
posted by jzb at 9:31 AM on April 13, 2021
We had a practice of listening to it every Thanksgiving in my family, on the 8-track, and since leaving the next I've found many friends and found family that also have a special place for it in their hearts and routines. It's also been fun to introduce it to friends who hadn't heard it before, and to my stepkids who had lots of questions.
Anyway, I am inordinately fond of Guthrie as it is, I really should listen to more of his work. Sorry for his health troubles, but I'm glad for him to be able to leave the road life and hope he has many good fishing years ahead.
posted by jzb at 9:31 AM on April 13, 2021
thecincinnatikid : I hope he was genuinely happy touring all those years and can enjoy his remaining years out of the spotlight and doesn't despair of his legacy to that of his fathers'.
If all else fails, he can say that he didn’t exaggerate the fascist-killing power of his musical instrument.
posted by dr_dank at 9:48 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
If all else fails, he can say that he didn’t exaggerate the fascist-killing power of his musical instrument.
posted by dr_dank at 9:48 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
While I use far too many AR phrases anyway, I probably use "a third possibility we hadn't even counted upon" most, usually in work situations, while enumerating possible causes for data problems.
For a while in my perl scripts, after closing file handles named DUMP, I would put the comment "## And we had never heard of a dump closed on Thanksgiving before..."
I hope his retirement is still joyful and peaceful.
!
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 10:01 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
For a while in my perl scripts, after closing file handles named DUMP, I would put the comment "## And we had never heard of a dump closed on Thanksgiving before..."
I hope his retirement is still joyful and peaceful.
!
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 10:01 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
I dunno, man, it was no Woody and it was certainly no Dylan and there was no one going home enlightened to challenge "the man" and it all just seemed kinda sad for one man to spend his entire adult life singing a 30-minute talking novelty and a handful of other tunes that might be recognizable but which most people probably haven't heard in 20+ years and probably won't hear again.
I saw him a million years ago with Pete Seeger at Carneige Hall in NYC. Seeger, whom I had seen several times by then, projected a sense of earnest pleasure at performing and seemed to be giving 100% to the time allotted to him on stage. Guthrie, by contrast, was almost kind of snarly and took what seemed like a perverse pleasure in teasing the audience. In particular, while it was clear he wasn't going to play 'Alice's' (fine with me, TBH) he insisted on playing little snippets of the chorus on his guitar in between songs and at one point going as far as mentioning the song in response to Seeger's performance of 'Garbage': "I once wrote a song about a restaurant...(audience applauds)...but I'm not going to play it." I was turned off forever.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 10:02 AM on April 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
I saw him a million years ago with Pete Seeger at Carneige Hall in NYC. Seeger, whom I had seen several times by then, projected a sense of earnest pleasure at performing and seemed to be giving 100% to the time allotted to him on stage. Guthrie, by contrast, was almost kind of snarly and took what seemed like a perverse pleasure in teasing the audience. In particular, while it was clear he wasn't going to play 'Alice's' (fine with me, TBH) he insisted on playing little snippets of the chorus on his guitar in between songs and at one point going as far as mentioning the song in response to Seeger's performance of 'Garbage': "I once wrote a song about a restaurant...(audience applauds)...but I'm not going to play it." I was turned off forever.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 10:02 AM on April 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
As you all know, and as fate would have it, he didn't die. He landed on a police car, and it died.
posted by buildmyworld at 10:05 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by buildmyworld at 10:05 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
P.S. I'm sorry he's having health issues & do wish him only the best in his retirement.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 10:05 AM on April 13, 2021
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 10:05 AM on April 13, 2021
I'm a longtime fan, having seen him in concert many times, and even then I felt privileged he was still doing it. I'm sorry future generations won't be able to see his great shows in person, but I'm pleased I got to. Thanks, kid.
posted by hoborg at 10:30 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by hoborg at 10:30 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
it is important to listen to the best version of the motorcycle song
I started reading, terrified, that of all people, Arlo would somehow have managed to write his obituary in the first person...
...come to think of it, it would probably be a first person song...
posted by albion moonlight at 10:37 AM on April 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
I started reading, terrified, that of all people, Arlo would somehow have managed to write his obituary in the first person...
...come to think of it, it would probably be a first person song...
posted by albion moonlight at 10:37 AM on April 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
In honor of his retirement as well as of next Tuesday:
The Alice's Restaurant Multi-colored Rainbow Roach Affair
posted by y2karl at 11:37 AM on April 13, 2021
The Alice's Restaurant Multi-colored Rainbow Roach Affair
posted by y2karl at 11:37 AM on April 13, 2021
Chilling of the Evening is one of my favorite songs, full stop. It's on the Alice's Restaurant album, which of course I listen to every Thanksgiving and have since...I was in high school at least? I never got to see him live, which I am sorry about, but I hope he enjoys his retirement.
posted by kalimac at 11:38 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by kalimac at 11:38 AM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
At least Arlo Guthrie hasn't gone electric.
posted by chavenet at 1:43 PM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 1:43 PM on April 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
At least Arlo Guthrie hasn't gone electric.
And too bloody bad it's too late, 'cause Robby Robertson is still breathing and has yet to stop looking for things to take credit for.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 3:42 PM on April 13, 2021
And too bloody bad it's too late, 'cause Robby Robertson is still breathing and has yet to stop looking for things to take credit for.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 3:42 PM on April 13, 2021
And too bloody bad it's too late, 'cause Robby Robertson is still breathing and has yet to stop looking for things to take credit for.
Aye, and 'fore "that guy" reminds me, I know, it's Robbie - perhaps I should cross-post this with the NYT drinking during Covid piece.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:46 PM on April 13, 2021
Aye, and 'fore "that guy" reminds me, I know, it's Robbie - perhaps I should cross-post this with the NYT drinking during Covid piece.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:46 PM on April 13, 2021
A few years back Arlo was in town, to play a show at the Guthrie Theater, and I’m still a bit miffed that I didn’t go. I mean, Arlo Guthrie at the Guthrie? It’s almost too much Guthrie. But like so many live shows, I usually hear about them only at the last minute and they’re usually on a weeknight. I’m game but my wife less so, and trying to find a sitter for the kid on short notice is never fun. While I didn’t get to see him in person I still have my dad’s copy of Alice’s Restaurant, and I find time every Thanksgiving to sit down with my son and play it through, with the crack and pop of the needle on the vinyl just like it ought to sound.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:03 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by caution live frogs at 6:03 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
If you haven't seen a really *good* Arlo Guthrie concert, you've missed something astounding.
Carnegie is the only venue that made him nervous, by his own report, so that might account for the "snarling" insert clever name here reported, but check out the recordings of his concerts with Pete, and you won't find any of that in evidence.
His later tours have been with his kids and grandkids, and they all just seem really happy to be able to work together.
Arlo is loved by thousands, and uses the old church in western Mass as a community center, for music, service, and feeding the people. He's also supporting the center devoted to his father's legacy in Okemah. Has played thousands of benefits and many a corny folk festival. One time I got to take a picture of Richie Havens taking a picture of Arlo at a Ben & Jerry's festival at UCLA. Arlo's friends are good people, and I'm happy to have been acquainted.
(Y'all, Pete admitted that electric guitars had come along way by the 70s. Just because you knew something once, doesn't mean it's still true.)
Check out "Last to Leave" and "Last Train to Glory" from the Greatest Hit(s) album. His cover of "Hobo's Lullaby" is divine.
posted by allthinky at 6:17 AM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
Carnegie is the only venue that made him nervous, by his own report, so that might account for the "snarling" insert clever name here reported, but check out the recordings of his concerts with Pete, and you won't find any of that in evidence.
His later tours have been with his kids and grandkids, and they all just seem really happy to be able to work together.
Arlo is loved by thousands, and uses the old church in western Mass as a community center, for music, service, and feeding the people. He's also supporting the center devoted to his father's legacy in Okemah. Has played thousands of benefits and many a corny folk festival. One time I got to take a picture of Richie Havens taking a picture of Arlo at a Ben & Jerry's festival at UCLA. Arlo's friends are good people, and I'm happy to have been acquainted.
(Y'all, Pete admitted that electric guitars had come along way by the 70s. Just because you knew something once, doesn't mean it's still true.)
Check out "Last to Leave" and "Last Train to Glory" from the Greatest Hit(s) album. His cover of "Hobo's Lullaby" is divine.
posted by allthinky at 6:17 AM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
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