With a weathered voice that has been tattered by time, Arlo Guthrie took the stage at the Quick Center Saturday night to a full house for his “Solo Reunion Tour.” Now, 60 years old, Guthrie has been touring for almost 40 years.
With long white hair and a lower voice, Guthrie brings an air of wisdom to his performance and remains the ideal symbol of an optimistic, peace-loving hippie. Like a pro, Guthrie jumped back and forth from stand-up comic to folk singer without missing a beat.
The crowd was at ease as Guthrie casually told stories about life, music and anything else that came to his mind between songs. Some audience members even took their shoes off and propped their feet on the stage.
Most of the crowd grew up with Guthrie and treated him like an old friend, yelling out questions to him as he spoke. Like a pro, Guthrie jumped back and forth from stand-up comic to folk singer without missing a beat. After playing a few songs he took the time to share his philosophy on song writing with the audience.
“For me, song writing has always been more like fishing. Most of it is just sitting there. After a while a song might swim by, if you’ve got a pen, you can catch it. I know because I let a lot go by that was meant for me,” said Guthrie.
“I was busy watching Star Trek or something. They just went on to other people, (pause) Bob Dylan,” said Guthrie. Like the punch line to a joke, the audience burst out laughing when Guthrie said this name.
Dylan, who also performed this weekend in Fairfield, is probably the most famous folk musician. Guthrie’s sound has always resembled Dylan’s, especially now as Guthrie ages, but Guthrie never reached the fame that Dylan has.
What could be seen as a tragedy for Guthrie is really a blessing in disguise. Flying under the radar, Guthrie has developed a fan base of true folk lovers who appreciate him for his talent, not his name recognition. It has also allowed Guthrie to retain the down-to-earth charm that made him famous in the first place with “Alice’s Restaurant.”
This year marks the 40th anniversary of “Alice’s Restaurant Massacre,” which launched Guthrie’s career. Guthrie performed the famous 18-minute-song that tells the story of Guthrie’s arrest and run in with the draft board.
Guthrie joked during the concert that when the song became famous, people would interrupt. He would just try to sing and audience members would yell, “Shut up and talk.” This reflects the nature of folk music as a combination of story telling and singing, which was especially popular in the 1960s.
Guthrie also performed his other famous songs such as “Flying into Los Angeles,” “The Motorcycle Song,” and “City of New Orleans.” Each one was accompanied by a funny story. With “The Motorcycle Song,” Guthrie said he never thought the song would be popular, but it was.
“People actually liked it; then I had to play it for the next 40 freaking years,” said Guthrie.
Guthrie, through his singing, brought back a feeling of a time when people fought for the values of peace and love. Because of that, it is easy to want to see Guthrie as a prophet who will give us solutions to the problems of today.
Guthrie pointed out on stage that he is, at heart, a folk musician.
“I am a simple folk musician just singing folk songs, telling weird tales,” said Guthrie.
Though he says he is just a folk musician, he underestimates the power of that. Guthrie used his words to make the audience laugh and his songs to make them think. This is an incredible power that can still change the world, like it did once in the 1960s.
As Guthrie says, the key is singing.
“We don’t do enough singing in this world anymore, especially in this country and other places,” he said. “It used to be a part of what we did. Now everybody goes home; I mean, we do other interesting things, but I am telling you keep singing together. It does something, it fixes something.”
For Guthrie, singing travels in the air and brings hope. It is for many, “The sound of a world that is right somewhere.”
And that is exactly what we need now.
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