Arlo Guthrie

Description:

Singer/Songwriter

Comparisons:

Obviously, Arlo Guthrie has been very influenced by the work of his father, Woody. He also tends to cover songs by his contemporaries, including Bob Dylan, Ramblin' Jack, and Pete Seeger.

Quote From Arlo Guthrie:

"A lot of people think 'Alice's Restaurant' was an anti-war song. It's not. It's an anti-idiot song,”

Starter CDs:

Alice's Restaurant (Reprise, 1967). Washington County (Koch, 1970). Amigo (Rising Son, 1976). Live in Sydney (Rising Son, 2004).

Arlo Guthrie Biography:

Arlo Guthrie was born in July, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York. His father was the preeminent American folk singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie, and his mother, Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, was a former dancer with the Martha Graham Company.

Because of his father's popularity in the folk music circuits, Guthrie grew up surrounded by folksingers and songwriters, like Pete Seeger, Lee Hays (The Weavers), Ramblin' Jack, and Leadbelly. As a result, Arlo became integrated into the singer/songwriter world at a relatively young age.

His first live performance was when he was just 13 years old. After that, he began hanging out in all the major clubs of the folk revival era, and rubbing elbows with the new generation of topical songwriters like Phil Ochs and his father's protegee Bob Dylan.

In 1967, he enjoyed extreme success with his album Alice's Restaurant, which included an 18-minute-long title track that served as a vocal protest against the Vietnam War. The song and album were such a success, that Arthur Penn directed a film version of the song two years later, in which Arlo played himself.

Without ever having actually had a real "hit" record, Guthrie's popularity has continued to grow and expand. He has toured internationally for nearly 40 years, and launched his own Rising Son record label in 1983.

In 1991, he purchased the Trinity Church – the original inspiration behind Alice's Restaurant – and renamed it the Guthrie Center. The Guthrie Center is a non-profit interfaith church that helps raise money and conduct outreach for HIV/AIDS patients and those suffering from Huntington's Disease (from which his father died), as well as offering a meditation space for those wishing to use it.
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