On Attending Arlo Guthrie's 1st Public Performance Since 2020

Last night, I went to the Shubert Theatre in Boston to attend Arlo Guthrie's first public performance since early 2020. Later that year, Guthrie had announced his retirement from touring following a series of strokes and some performances which he felt were not up to his standards.

However, in October 2022, Guthrie announced he would return to the road albeit for a series of conversations with Bob Santelli, a journalist and former curator with the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame who is currently the Executive Director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music. The first of these shows called, "Arlo Guthrie: What's Left of Me" took place last night with three more dates scheduled in Albany, New York, at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey as well as in Stowe, Vermont. 

I generally have mixed feelings about these conversational formats as the interviewer generally makes long-winded statements often failing to ask a question. However, Santelli was for the most part unobtrusive. 

The evening began with a claymation video of Guthrie's "The Motorcycle Song" which Guthrie said "seemed funny at the time." Much of the conversation in the first half naturally centered around his relationship with his father Woody Guthrie. Given that his Dad was ill most of his life what he learned about him came through his interactions with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Ramblin' Jack Elliott. However, when Guthrie heard "This Land is Your Land" at a school assembly and didn't know the words his Dad did teach him the chords and lyrics. 

While this was fascinating, I found the conversation about his mother Marjorie Guthrie far more interesting. She was a principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company and Graham gave Guthrie her blessings to start her own dance school teaching her methods. For a time, Guthrie's mother taught dance at Indian Hill in Western Massachusetts and young Arlo came along though he was told to go play in music out in the woods. However, after "Alice's Restaurant" came out he suddenly became a "famous alumni". 

Guthrie added that his mother was the most organized person he ever knew which meant he had to keep his room clean and could never quite do it to her satisfaction. However, she also had the wisdom to tell Bob Dylan to take young Arlo to the Newport Folk Festival even if much of his attention was focused on Joan Baez (as was Arlo's). She also collected every scrap of paper both Woody and Arlo ever wrote a note. Across the street from the Shubert Theatre is the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame which is currently showing, "Arlo Guthrie: Ramblin' Son" Exhibit. Guthrie admitted he hadn't seen it. "Why would I want to see it? It's my stuff," quipped Guthrie.

When Santelli asked Guthrie about his Newport Folk Festival appearance, the success of "Alice's Restaurant" and the subsequent movie, he described it as "the end of me as I knew me." As for the song itself, given that it is an 18-minute spoken word piece there came a time that he grew tired of performing it night after night and so he would retire it for a decade or so before playing it again. As for the movie, while the story in the song is a true most of the events in the movie are not true. It would be 20 years before Guthrie saw fit to do any acting again. 

The evening was not devoid of music. Guthrie did play an instrumental, an abridged version of "This Land is Your Land" and closed the show with Pete Seeger's "My Peace". On the question of performing, Guthrie told an anecdote about convincing Seeger to do a show with him at Carnegie Hall. Seeger told him, "Well, I'm not sure. I don't play as well as I used too and I don't sing as well as I used too." To which Guthrie replied, "Well, your audience doesn't hear as well as they used too." Seeger did the show. The point was not how well Seeger played. The people were just glad to see Pete Seeger. Just as the people were happy to see Arlo Guthrie even if some audience members kept asking, "Where's your guitar?"

What struck me most was Guthrie's outlook on life. He no longer felt the need to understand everything and was content to appreciate the wonder of things. Most of these wonders could be found home outside his home in Western Massachusetts. Having my spent my 50th birthday at June Millington's home in Western Massachusetts, I could understand the wonder of what he was speaking and could visualize it. "Life is incredible," said Guthrie.

In retrospect, I do wish I had gone to see Guthrie in concert years earlier when he could do a full show while telling funny stories. Perhaps the opportunity for that could come. Given that he is likely to confine himself to performing in the Northeast there is always the chance he could share a stage with another artist, be it one of his surviving contemporaries or a newer artist and spend an evening performing folk music. So long as life is incredible then it is possible.